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0 Atomfall has been out for almost two weeks, and I’ve been playing the game quite a bit. You might have checked out our exclusive preview article previously, but now it’s time to do a proper review. So sit back relax as we venture into the North of England and find out just what might have been.
Lead The Way
As with the preview article, I don’t really want to give away too much of the game. I honestly feel that this game is best going in blind, but that’s no good for a video game review. So what I’m going to do is try and keep it as vague as possible. Just talk about some of the mechanics involved in the game. If you want to know anything about the story, then check out the preview article.
Gameplay
Atomfall is a vast game, there are a number of areas that you can explore. Discovery is key in the game, whether that’s a new location or even just a new character who might give you a quest. These quests, though, are called Leads. With your main task being to try and find out whats happened and how to get out of the quarantined area. You need to follow these leads through to the end. Some give you a glimpse into the lives of characters, others lead you onto other quests.
One of the quests you get early involves having to make a decision of taking action into your own hands or not. I chose the not route, and subsequently, when I went back to the Bakery, the owner was no longer there. Things like this happen a lot while playing through Atomfall. It’s one of the many parts of the game that I really enjoyed.
You have a lot of free will in the game. Some of my game time was just spent exploring different areas on the map. Often coming up against some outlaws, but that’s fine, a swift axe to the face and off I go again.
Combat
The combat in Atomfall is one of the highlights for me. It feels not only substantial, but also with the lack of bullets available to you, each battle often turns into me steaming headfirst with axe in hand. The gun mechanics are good, I often had a single shot shotgun, rifle and pistol in my inventory slots. Hand-to-hand combat can be just as satisfying. Using a nice bladed weapon, you get a nice bloody splatter, although no decapitation. Which I’ll be honest I’m a little disappointed at. Especially with Rebellion being the champions of the slow-mo camera from Sniper Elite.
Skills
As you move throughout the game, you can find certain items that give you skill points. These skill points can then be redeemed against a number of different skills. Ranging from weapon buffs to the ability to pick up the weird blue flowers dotted around the maps. Giving you the necessity to search everywhere as well as build a character to suit your play style. Whether that is someone who is going to do the right thing all the time. Or just become public enemy number one. My personal playthrough was of the former. I wanted to be on the side of the Protocol, the army throughout the game.
Travelling Man
However you choose to play the game, you better be prepared to run a lot. With no fast travel system, you sometimes have to move throughout the maps quite a bit. Thankfully, the entire map isn’t so big that it will take you forever to travel. There are also plenty of choices to get from one side to another. Although an overview map showing each of the areas would have been handy. So I know whether to go through the caves or go through the forests.
Discovery is key in Atomfall, as well as bartering. Using your bartering skills, you can get the metal detector. With this in your inventory now and again, you might hear it beep. Get it out and start scanning the floor. Follow the lights for the direction and the number dial for proximity. Then dig up your findings. These range from collectable lunch boxes to supply caches containing some well-needed items.
Using these items, you can then craft items. From bandages to sticky bombs, you will use up all sorts of items that you’ve picked up. So it pays to venture into the broken and burnt-out buildings and homes. As well as those tunnels that are neatly dotted around. Avoid the Interchange, though… well, only at first. The Interchange holds the secrets you might want to know.
Graphics & Audio
Playing on a PC with a 3080 GPU, the game ran at the highest settings. However, it wasn’t as smooth as I had liked. So I dropped it down an option to just high and the game runs like a dream. With a constant 90fps, the game was beautiful. The vibrant countryside and lush greenery stand out to me as one of the highlights of the visual aspect.
Not to mention the internal areas being claustrophobic and dank. Giving the impression of the oppressiveness of the dark that the characters in the game would have dealt with. Everything just all works together, giving Atomfall an incredibly immersive experience.
From an audio point of view, the voice acting on the characters is great. Along with the variety of accents that you will come across, this all gives a much more rounded gaming experience. My favourite is the threats that you get from the NPCs, I found myself muttering to myself before I inserted an axe into their heads. Did I mention that you can throw the axes as well? Such Fun!
Longevity
Atomfall isn’t a super-long game. Coming in at around 10 hours if you just concentrate on the main objective elements of the game. However, if like me, you like to explore and do as much as possible, you are looking at around 25 hours worth of gaming here. Exploring the world can take up so much time, especially if like me you want to see every inch of each area. The character interactions make the game enjoyable from start to finish though. So definitely explore and see everything you can.
Final Thoughts
So, what do I think of Atomfall in general? It’s bloody brilliant. I’ve enjoyed so much of my time playing through the game and I’ll probably go back and explore some more. Its environments and characters make the world breathe with life. Add a sprinkling of mystery with what happened at the Windscale Nuclear Plant.
Atomfall easily receives the Thumb Culture Platinum Award.
Disclaimer: A code was received in order to write this review.
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