I’ve been struggling for a little while now to find a game I could sink my teeth into. I’ve dipped in and out of titles, but nothing has gripped me enough to keep me coming back. I’m not even sure what kind of game I was looking for. Then I saw all the chatter about the latest release from game developer Rebellion, Atomfall, which finally dropped last month.
The suggestion by many is that this is Britain’s answer to Fallout. Having enjoyed that series, I thought it worth giving Atomfall a try, especially considering it was a Day One release on Game Pass and would cost nothing to play. But, having now completed multiple endings for the main story, I can assure you it is much more than some British clone.
For starters, Atomfall is inspired by a real-life event, the Windscale Fire. It’s one of the worst nuclear disasters that have happened in the world, and the worst to have ever happened on the British Isles. Which struck me as a surprise because I’d never heard of it. Probably because there was a massive government cover-up of just how bad it was, and what really happened at the time.
What Rebellion have done is gone with an alternative timeline in history, in which the disaster occurs as it did in 1957. But what caused the disaster and the fallout that followed is a new fictional story. Or maybe the developers know something we don’t, and this is the actual truth finally coming out. I guess only they know.
Waking up and wandering through the British countryside
Atomfall starts with you (we have no idea who YOU are by the way) waking up in a bunker, alerted by a scientist in a yellow suit who happens to be bleeding out. He asks for your help to patch him up, and you can opt to do that. Or follow the footsteps of over 300,000 other players who killed the poor guy. You’ll then pick up, as a reward, or recover from his cold, dead body, a modified key card that will let you into a place called “The Interchange”.
Now, besides hearing the name of this place, we know nothing else. You’ll then head out of the bunker. Once you’re out in the open, you’ll see one of Blighty’s iconic red telephone boxes. The handset will begin ringing. You’ll answer. A mysterious voice will speak, making little sense. And this is the start of your adventure.
I won’t spoil anything too much, but I advise you to travel up to the right first and explore that way before heading down into Slatten Dale. Because you’re basically forced into exploring the British countryside, and there are a couple of useful items you can find that way.
You’ll then begin discovering leads through scraps of paper you find lying around, or by talking to some locals. All of whom are trapped here behind a giant wall that was put up to contain whatever it is that has happened. Leads are tracked in your notebook, and while places you have visited will be marked on maps, rumoured locations are put in the general vicinity. And other notes only give you coordinates that you must mark out and inspect for yourself.
I will say, I really enjoyed how much Atomfall makes you explore, and even when it doesn’t force you to, you just end up wanting to anyway. Because you never know what you might come across. But how much work you must put in may differ depending on which difficulty level you pick.
I personally went for a more challenging experience. However, there are options to make things like combat less daunting, or to offer more help with exploration. But we haven’t explored the other options to see how they really differ.
Friends, foes, and everything in between
Be wary on your travels, not everyone is friendly. Outlaws roam many of the areas in the game, and they’ll shoot first and not bother asking questions. As do the Druids who reside in nearby woodland. However, unlike the Outlaws, the druids can become somewhat more friendly to you over time if you follow a certain questline.
The final main group in the game are the Protocol, soldiers tasked with enforcing the containment of whatever it is that is going on here. However, while they patrol some areas, they’re mainly found inside Wyndham Village. They won’t attack you, unlike the others, unless you cause trouble.
By completing another of the questlines, the Protocol will again be more friendly to you later in the game, allowing you to access some restricted areas. But a key component of this group is their giant mechs, armoured units equipped with heavy weapons, which help patrol areas.
These mechs are powered by atomic batteries that will come in handy when you finally make it to The Interchange. They can be easily taken down by causing damage, which makes them overheat, offering an opportunity to remove their batteries.
You don’t have to follow each of the questlines I’ve mentioned, not if you don’t want to. But it can help massively to make friends with everyone you come across, as it makes the game easier to play through.
Should you want to be more of a shoot first, ask questions later kind of experience, you can sneak around by hiding in long grass and behind walls. Taking down enemies stealthily and stealing key items from the corpses of your victims. It’s entirely up to you.
Outside of that, there are a few more enemies you can stumble across. The main ones will be rats and other pests that roam the countryside. Easy enough to deal with as long as you have a melee weapon equipped, or a lure bomb to blow them up. But the best way to deal with them is by destroying their nests, or they just keep coming.
Then you have the Ferals and Thralls. These are people who were infected by what happened during the disaster, and who are no longer human. Much more difficult to deal with than any of the other enemies, dishing out damage and taking more hits to kill. So be sure to be smart when approaching them.
Combat, crafting and upgrades
Three key areas of Atomfall. Let’s start with combat. Throughout the game, you’ll find various weapons, from melee items such as cricket bats and survival knives, to guns such as revolvers and shotguns. Personally, the melee options aren’t the best, especially when attacking a group of enemies, unless you’re clever and lure them to you one at a time. But at times, swinging your weapon, especially if you get the mace, can feel quite clunky.
Guns make life easier in Atomfall. But ammo is limited, so I found it best to try and play as stealthily as possible, until the time called for using my weapons for survival. The good thing is, you can upgrade your guns so things like damage and accuracy improve over time, but to do this, you have to pick up some skills along the way. And you get these skills from reading survival guides, which you can find in certain locations, as well as from a few of the game’s traders.
These skills can be upgraded using stimulants that you find throughout Atomfall, allowing you to improve your chances of survival. For example, you can upgrade your ability to throw weapons, to increase speed and lessen the noise of takedowns, among many other options.
Then you have crafting, the ability to make items from materials you gather from your journeys. From explosive devices to healing potions, you will be able to craft everything you need to survive. And it’s easy enough, especially when you combine it with the skill to carry more of these items, making sure you never run short of what you need to help you get out of a sticky situation surrounded by bandits, or to help you recover or reduce damage after and during a fight.
An ode to British culture
One of the things that Atomfall does so well is refer to so many areas of British culture. Some things you won’t even notice at first, but look closely and you’ll discover so many Easter Eggs to be found. My personal favourite is the one you can see in the image below, found in the hardware store in Wyndham Village. If you understand what it’s getting at, let us know in the comments.
But this is just the tip of the iceberg. From pots of tea available to pour in the village to scenes from classic sitcoms and a wide range of accents heard coming from NPCs, it’s a real tribute to all that is British. And it doesn’t go amiss. Atomfall genuinely warms the heart and puts a smile on your face.
Is it all so hunky-dory with Atomfall?
I’ve given Atomfall a lot of love in this review, but is it all sugar, spice and all things nice? No, there are moments the game does frustrate you. As mentioned, combat can feel clunky, but it’s not too bad with relevant upgrades and a little practice. However, towards the endgame, I found it almost too easy. Whether that was a fact of my weapons and abilities being too OP, or just enemy AI lacking any real intelligence, I’m not too sure. But eventually, you can wander anywhere you want without issue. Even tougher enemies can be dealt with easily, although they do consume a lot of ammo.
The other issues I’ve found in Atomfall have all been minor, but still annoying at times. Upon release, there was an audio bug where it would cut out, and you had to relaunch the game to hear anything again. Fair play, though. This was fixed pretty quickly by the Atomfall dev team shortly after release. But there were numerous times where I felt like I was getting stuck when going between areas, it’s like my character froze and couldn’t move for a few minutes until the game’s engine caught up. Again, nothing major, but frustrating nonetheless.
Final thoughts on Atomfall
It’s still early days yet, I mean, we’re barely a third of the way through the year, and there are so many more games due for release in 2025. But even with that in mind, I think Atomfall could be a contender for GOTY. It’s fun, it’s fresh, and it got me out of my gaming slump by actually delivering an enjoyable game.
From the storyline to the exploration of this alternate bit of history, Atomfall is fantastic. Is it perfect? Nope, it has a couple of bugs, and the combat, even on a challenging difficulty, felt too easy at times. But neither is Britain. Sure, there are good things about it; we’re good at some sports, have some nice places to visit, and know how to make a good cuppa. But we’re also a country full of morons who believed a banner on a bus claiming Brexit would deliver £350m a week to the NHS.
Either way, Atomfall captures Britain at its best. When we’re put against the ropes and all hope seems lost. We always find a way. And that’s what the game is all about. Finding your way through this chaotic mess in the Lake District, carving out your own story, and at the same time, not taking life too seriously. So, if you haven’t yet, go and play it. You won’t regret it. And before I go, thank you, Rebellion, for creating this masterpiece. It’s the game I didn’t know I needed in my life until I stepped foot outside the bunker.
Atomfall is developed by Rebellion Studios. It’s available to play now on PC, PS5, and Xbox. For more information on Atomfall, head to the official website. If you want to check out what other games we’ve been playing and how they stack up to our writers, click right here.
