The brand-new title from Rebellion, Atomfall, is finally making its way onto players’ consoles as they take control of a blank slate character in the lovely picturesque Lake District in the United Kingdom as they attempt to discover the secrets behind a nuclear catastrophe that took place in Windscale back in the 1960s.
Atomfall’s Story is full of Mystery That Takes the Player All Over the Map
One of the biggest draws of Atomfall is its incredible story that takes the player through a wonderful landscape as they attempt to discover the secrets behind a catastrophe that has led to a quarantine of a portion of the United Kingdom.
When you start Atomfall, you discover that you are a character who has no memory of their past, or of the situation that is taking place within Windscale. This allows the player to imprint their own decisions and thoughts onto the character as they explore the wonderful world that is laid before them. During my time with the title, I found this was a very interesting concept that allowed me to explore the story of Atomfall in my own way without worrying about the decisions or thoughts of the character I was playing, providing me with complete freedom.
Along with this design choice, the fact that Atomfall is also an open world allows for even more freedom as there is the choice to do what you want, when you want, whether it be save the world, destroy the world, save everyone, or kill everyone; there is no limit to what you can do and no moral compass besides your own.
Due to Atomfall being set in the 1960s in a place like Windscale, there are a lot of opportunities for the player to enjoy. With dozens of people to meet who all have their personalities, as well as unique locations to explore, whether they be caves, bunkers, mansions, a castle, or a classical village, there is plenty to enjoy.
While I explored Atomfall, there were countless moments in which I just wandered around the wide maps that Rebellion Studios had created as I looked for every secret that I could find. Although the maps can easily be traversed in less than a few minutes if you run from one side to another, they are full of content that will slow the player down and turn each location into an expedition that could go from 15 minutes of exploration to well over 3-4 hours worth of exploration, especially once the player acquires items that can unlock new opportunities in each location.
Atomfall’s Combat is so Realistic it Brings a Whole New Level of Gunplay to the Gaming Industry
In a step up from Rebellion’s other project, Sniper Elite, Atomfall takes gunplay to a whole new level as it utilizes all kinds of different weapons that the player can acquire and upgrade to aid them in the numerous combat scenarios that they will encounter within Atomfall.
However, guns aren’t the only weapons that players will have at their disposal, as they will also be able to acquire numerous different throwable weapons as well as melee weapons such as a cricket bat, a police officer’s baton, and even a famous sword from British mythology.
Although the main character in Atomfall isn’t particularly skilled in combat, they can use each of these weapons rather well, especially after the player acquires upgrades to help improve their combat capabilities, as well as find more powerful weapons that can make exploring the world of Atomfall a breeze.
Along with the combat being full of weapons, each weapon is also very detailed in terms of design, as each weapon looks hyperrealistic and functions as you would expect. Speaking as someone who is constantly spraying and praying, this forced me to slow down in terms of combat and think more tactfully when it came to using my limited amount of bullets, as firing into a random crowd and missing half the bullets could be the difference between life and death.
Unfortunately, this hyperrealism did tend to become quite irritating after playing for so long as yes, my weapons worked as they were supposed to, but so did the enemies, meaning that there were numerous situations in which I would enter a combat encounter thinking I had the upper hand, but instead being humbled rather quickly as 3 enemies would be able to snipe me just as fast as I could snipe them. However, this was slightly impacted by the difficulty setting that I had chosen, which is the recommended setting of Survivor, which does provide a challenge for players.
Atomfall’s Enemies and Characters are Unique and Witty With Plenty of Secrets to Uncover
Atomfall is full of characters that the player can meet throughout their journey, and each character is just as bonkers and secretive as the last, whether it be Mother Jago who hides out in a forest selling a mysterious tincture, the numerous villagers hiding their secrets, or just simply the voice on the telephone guiding you through your story.
There are dozens of characters to meet, all with their own stories that the player can happily explore, or happily ignore, depending on whether or not they want to enjoy the large, wonderful story that Rebellion has crafted for Atomfall.
But there is one thing for certain within Atomfall, and that is you have no idea what these characters are hiding, or whether or not they can be trusted. With each character hiding some form of secret, whether it be good or bad, I was constantly put to the test of figuring out whether or not I should trust certain characters or if I should betray them and trust someone else.
As much as this seems fun on paper, it was quite stressful for me as I was constantly worrying about whether or not I was doing the right thing, as I always tend to aim toward a good ending in a video game, but after exploring Windscale and delving deep into its secrets, these decisions become much easier and the line between good and evil becomes more and more obvious.
Unfortunately, this fleshing of characters didn’t reach the enemies that I came across during my time with Atomfall, as some of the factions had little to no part in the actual story of Atomfall itself and were ultimately just enemies that blocked your path rather than playing a vital part in the story of the game that influences you to support them in the final moments of the game.
The only exception to this was that some characters within the story had an affiliation to these different factions, allowing for a small amount of backstory to each of these factions as well as providing a small amount of personality to these different factions, but not enough to make you want to choose sides with any of them; at least that was how I felt by the end of my experience with Atomfall.
Atomfall is a brand-new IP from Rebellion, and it tasks the player with exploring Windscale in the Lake District in the United Kingdom in an alternate timeline where a nuclear catastrophe sends the local area into quarantine as it tasks the player with finding out what has happened, and whether it can be fixed.
Summary
Overall, my experience with Atomfall was more than pleasant, as I enjoyed the gameplay that the game offered, as well as the different characters I met along the journey. Unfortunately, the narrative let Atomfall down in some areas, as I felt relatively underwhelmed regarding the enemy factions and their overall role in the game’s story.
HOURS PLAYED: 18
PLAYED ON: PS5
- Gunplay is fun and realistic allowing for a unique set of gameplay.
- Beautiful locations that are awaiting for you to explore and enjoy.
- The world and characters are full of unique interactions and mystery.
- Enemies were too good at noticing you causing too many fights.
- Story started well but didn't hold up by the end.
Atomfall is set to release on PlayStation 5, PC, and Xbox Series X/S on March 27th, 2025.
For more Thumb Wars Gaming coverage, check out our article that tells you how long it takes to beat Atomfall, or our review of Split Fiction.
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