Last Updated on Oct 29, 2025 @ 14:46:42 PM.
Rebellion has done it again, as Atomfall has received a brand-new DLC under the name Atomfall: The Red Strain, in which players need to return to the Lake District within the UK once again in an attempt to figure out what perplexing situations are taking place within the quarantine zone in order to save the civilians trapped in this unfortunate situation.
However, this DLC takes the weirdness up a notch, as I was able to discover during my time with the game, as I explored the new location, Stafell Crag, to its fullest, while also attempting to do each ending that I could, to get the full scope of this bizarre DLC.
Due to this being a review of a DLC for Atomfall, please be warned that there will be spoilers for the main story of Atomfall and its DLCs.
Atomfall: The Red Strain Takes the Weirdness to the Max, and Then Adds a Bit More
The world of Atomfall is already incredibly unique and bizarre, with the situation taking place within the Windscale power plant, the strange voices from the soil, and the giant mechs walking around, but now Atomfall is taking things even further as it brings even more sci-fi aspects into the game.
A big part of what makes Atomfall, Atomfall, is the fact that it uses a lot of science fiction to tell a unique story, and now with The Red Strain DLC, players will be able to see this aspect of the game cranked up to an 11, as there is a lot more strange science taking place within the Lake District.
During this DLC, players will come across a whole group of new characters within Stafell Crag that seem to have had a spell of bad luck, as they have undergone surgery to place their brains in jars to preserve their knowledge, as well as other things the player will discover as they venture through the DLC.
This to me just sings sci-fi, as it is a common staple within the genre that somehow scientists with great intellect will eventually preserve their heads or brains in jars to save humanity in the future, and this is something that was very fun to see in Atomfall while also being a bit creepy and showing an even stranger side of Atomfall that we haven’t seen yet.
While I played through Atomfall: The Red Strain, I constantly found myself unsure whether I was doing the right thing in moral terms, as there was no clearly correct solution to the situation I was placed in. However, to me, that just made the story even more compelling, as I found myself wondering as to whether or not I was acting as the good guy or the bad guy in this scenario, which, in terms of Atomall, is a key aspect of the game, as we imprint our own choices and personality onto a blank slate of a character.
My only complaint regarding the story of the Atomfall: The Red Strain was the fact that, sadly, there wasn’t a whole lot of story there. In terms of my time playing through The Red Strain DLC, I spent a larger majority of my time searching the map in the hopes of properly starting the story than actually taking part in the story itself.
Once I did find the start of the DLC’s actual story, however, it did begin to open up a lot of doors for me, both literally and figuratively, allowing me to search for answers both from the NPCs and hidden lore within the game’s world, but even then I still found myself wanting more by the end of the DLC, as it was a unique premise that felt more of a gimmick than anything else.
Atomfall: The Red Strain Cranks the Difficulty to the Max, While Adding New Enemies to Fight
Even though the story of Atomfall is incredibly important and interesting, another large aspect of the game is the combat. In the past, Atomfall has always had rather difficult combat, as the player character isn’t exactly well-versed in combat, but can just about use guns when controlled by the player. Now these skills are really being put to the test, as the difficulty within The Red Strain DLC goes above and beyond what players have seen within Atomfall.
Within the base game and the previous DLC of Atomfall, players will already be used to the punishing combat system of the game, as many enemies are able to chunk your health in seconds and absolutely obliterate the player with ease.
Now it seems this has gone even further, as during my time within Atomfall: The Red Strain, I constantly found myself either fleeing from combat in an effort to heal or dying in a near instant, as the enemies do not want the player to survive their onslaught.
Upon entering The Red Strain DLC, I found myself lulled into a false sense of security, as I had played the whole game and its past DLC before, and I felt relatively prepared entering this new section, thanks to my previous adventures, but I was not prepared for what was waiting for me.
In the early stages of the DLC, I found myself being humbled very quickly as a group of enemies, who were patrolling, ended my adventure expediently with the use of their fast-firing and high-damage SMGs that shredded my health bar to pieces. Due to this, I found myself cowering a lot within The Red Strain DLC and attempting to take on these enemies one by one or by using silenced weapons, which were heavily introduced in this DLC, in order to survive these groups of enemies.
However, the “humans” weren’t the main risk to my health and sanity within The Red Strain DLC, as the new mechs that were unleashed upon me were also devastating, to say the least. In the base game, the mechs are already a force to be reckoned with, with their miniguns, flamethrowers, and giant hands that can squash the player. But adding in mechs with a rocket launcher that sets the ground on fire just added insult to injury.
I would like to add, this is in no way a complaint from me, as for me, this made the DLC even more interesting, as I wasn’t just clearing out locations with ease and adventuring through the new location with ease, but I even began to even attempt to stealth a bit more rather than go in guns blazing, which is what I feel was the reason behind adding these monstrosities into the game, as well as a few other enemies that players will likely find stressful to come across.
Running Around Can Get Boring, and it Definitely Did in the Red Strain DLC
For my final note on the Red Strain DLC, I would just like to talk about the ending a little bit, avoiding spoilers for the Red Strain DLC as much as I can. As said above, I have previously played both Atomfall and its previous DLC, as well as completing as many of the multiple endings as I could, and for me, this was fun, as I got to see the different endings and stories that took place.
However, during this DLC, I found myself wanting to avoid doing this after I completed the first ending, as the final mission felt like such a boring and arduous journey. In terms of the story, it was incredibly interesting, but the inevitable run back to the main game’s end objective, which was required to be completed to complete the DLC, made the ending feel a bit tedious for me.
After completing the numerous endings of the main game and completing the numerous endings of the first DLC, all of which required me to venture to the main ending of the game, doing it again just felt tiresome, as the distance to run is incredibly long. In terms of the original game and its first DLC, these runs were relatively short in comparison to The Red Strain DLC, so it wasn’t as problematic, but unfortunately, that isn’t the case with this DLC.
Atomfall: The Red Strain
Summary
In terms of the story of Atomfall: The Red Strain, I found the story to be quite interesting with a lot of unique twists and turns that kept me guessing and wondering as to whether or not I was the good guy in the situation.
When it came to the overall experience of the DLC, I found that the difficulty did spike in a very harsh way, but it was warranted due to this being the second DLC, and many players will likely be entering the DLC with numerous upgrades and high-powered weapons.
HOURS PLAYED: 6
PLAYED ON: PS5
- Lots of exploration to keep the player busy.
- Plenty of new weapons to try as well as enemy weapons.
- Expands on the original story with even more chaos and weirdness.
- Story itself is relatively short, with very few interactions.
- Enemies are incredibly difficult leading to a lot of deaths.
- The final mission feels boring and tiresome due to the long journey and repetitive quest steps.
If you would like to read our reviews on Atomfall or its previous DLC, Wicked Isle, check out these links.
For more Thumb Wars Gaming coverage, check out our review of Captured, or check out these different titles that have had their prices slashed during the end-of-summer sale!
Liam is a Senior Editor, Writer, and Critic for Thumb Wars and has been working with the team since day one. Liam is a big fan of all things gaming, as you will catch him playing all of the new releases from every genre you can imagine. Whether you find Liam gaming just for fun or spending his free time streaming, you will always find a smile on his face when it comes to all things gaming.
That score surprises me. The review was mostly negative and sure didn’t read like a 4.5-5.