Straight off the bat, I will say Atomfall is one of those games that some will be die-hard fans of, and some will hate it with a passion.
Billed as Fallout but set in England, Atomfall tries to do something different. It succeeds in many ways but really falls short in others.
At its heart, Rebellion has crafted a truly fascinating world, and the story’s structure lends itself to wanting to know more about what happened to its residents and where you stand in all of this.
Before I delve deep into each section, I want to get across that this is a game every Xbox Game Pass owner should give a go and see if it scratches that Fallout-RPG-style itch for you.
Story
I think the story of Atomfall will be like Marmite for people. Its structure is charming, but while my partner watched me play, she was befuddled. After a brief bit of exposition as to where you are and what happened prior to your starting point, you’re plopped into the world and have no real idea who you are or what you’re doing.
The game is set in the Lake District in the North of England. It focuses on the areas of Wyndham/Windscale, where a meteorite crashed into the countryside in the 16/17th century and was later discovered to have some incredible scientific properties.
Over time, the British Atomic Research Division (BARD) built a facility around the meteorite called the Interchange and the Windscale Nuclear Plant to cover up experiments on the meteorite. During the experiments, BARD discovered a fungus that they used to create an almost supersoldier serum, but it had unusual side effects.
When one scientist tried to whistle blow on this stuff, disaster struck, and well, that is when the game’s central event happened: an explosion at the nuclear plant, which essentially created an Avengers-style beam that shot to the sky, and that’s where our protagonist comes in. With your adventure set a few years after this disaster, you are essentially tasked with discovering what happened to cause the disaster and what’s happened to the area since then.
This is where the Marmite effect comes in. There is no real set objective. You are drip-fed these things called “leads” with rough ideas about where people and places are, and it is your job to make all the discoveries for yourself.
Explore every nook and cranny of this small open world to discover the horrors beneath the surface.
I know for a fact that some modern gamers will hate this concept as they don’t have the time or energy to explore this world and discover all the little Easter eggs and nuggets of information around.
I actually loved the story, and the twists and turns really do make this worth seeing through to the end.
Graphics and Gameplay
I can’t decide whether this game is beautiful or rough around the edges. Well, it’s probably both. The character models and grandeur of the environments are lovely, but there is a fair amount of pop-in and iffy textures throughout the world.
It’s not so much about the graphics, but I have encountered one almost game-breaking bug. At random points, when going through to a new area, the sound completely goes off. This is incredibly annoying as the only fix seems to be closing the game and re-launching. Hopefully, this will be fixed in the next patch.
Moving onto the gameplay, Rebellion is known more for its long-range combat in the Sniper Elite series, and it does show. The melee combat is a bit wimpy. None of the melee weapons have any weight to them, and it’s just quite funny knocking out soldiers and mutants with a cricket bat, but I digress.
The only real survival element of this RPG has to do with your heart rate. Every action you do, from running to climbing, to jumping, makes your heart beat faster, and if it reaches a high enough level, you feel the thuds in the controller, and you can guess what happens when it gets too high.
You don’t really need to think too hard about this element, but just be mindful when you try to sprint across a large field full of enemies.
The gameplay is just about serviceable and well enough to get you to the next area. Given the developer’s pedigree, the guns in this game are the most satisfying things to use, as you would imagine.
Your character has one low point. You are essentially a mute who has conversations using Fallout-style dialogue trees, and you never learn your name or your relevance to the situation, and that is just weird. This is done so you’re malleable to the story and go where you feel best.
Conclusion
Overall, Atomfall is a breath of fresh air in the modern gaming space. What the game lacks in polish and riveting gameplay, it makes up for with an interesting story that really is what you make of it.
This approach to storytelling also makes this game insanely replayable as it has six possible endings.
If you do have Xbox and Game Pass, as I said near the beginning of this review, you should download Atomfall immediately and see if you like it. It will be one of the more unique experiences you have this year. If you are on other platforms and on the fence, wait for it to hit around £30 and give it a go.
Developer: Rebellion Developments
Publisher: Rebellion Developments
Platforms: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PC
Release Date: 27th March 2025
Gaming Respawn’s copy of Atomfall was provided by the publisher.
