“ Atomfall ” looks like ‘Fallout’ but it is refreshing original

When the games are becoming of the efforts of several million dollars, it is rare for a studio to take daring risks. Many stick to what they know, polish successful formulas or occasionally reorganize them. If they offer a new project, it generally remains in their wheelhouse.

This is why it is remarkable that rebellion developments have made “Atomfall”. The British studio is best known for its series “Sniper Elite”, which has caused several suites and benefits. The developers could have continued to make the same stealth and shooting games, but it is creative.

“Atomfall” extends far from their previous work, and at first glance, the framework of the alternative 1960s and the first -person perspective will make comparisons with “Fallout”, but the project is different. It is more a survival game in a region in quarantine after the nuclear disaster in windshield, which is based on a real event. The players assume the role of an unnamed protagonist who wakes up in the area and finds a world that has been isolated from civilization for five years and has broken down.

Inside the quarantine area
The players discover an oppressive military force Helbent on the maintenance of order, a worship deeply living in the woods, and outlaws which recover and murder to survive. The objective of “Atomfall” is to escape and return to society, but while the players explore the five regions, they discover that there is a deeper and darker story behind the forties. It is this mystery, the suspicions of the building and the paranoia pure and simple which make this adventure in open world captivating.

Rebellion masterfully shows how developers can develop a tight game open with several quests, but do it in a way that makes each wire important. The team does it via a head system that keeps the track and organizes the many missions of the game, but it never tells players to go to point A, then to point B. It pushes them to know more about the world and to invest in order to unlock new areas.

For example, they will trip on clues on church murder and will have proof of what has happened exactly, but it is the player to use this information to their advantage. They could choose to help one person or a singer another. The choices unlock the opportunities that throw themselves into the global story.

Knowing the patterns and secrets of people is important because “Atomfall” has several characters who promise a way out, but they are not all trustworthy. To find the best end, players must know all angles.

Survival aspects
Being a survival game, the players will make their recovery share for the remains, the glass and other materials. They will learn recipes to make Shivs, Molotov cocktails and bandages that heal the injuries. Regarding the fight, the campaign encourages stealth. It is often wiser to avoid the confrontation than to head towards a patrol and start eliminating people with a pointed club.

A major reason for this is that firearms in “Atomfall” are not widespread and that ammunition can become rare, especially when outlaws reappear. If players do not keep ammunition, they can find themselves armed with a knife in a shooting. The skirmishes work better if the players are methodical or can at least use a weapon like the bow and the arrow, which is the most effective weapon of the game against almost all enemies and which can be reused.

“Atomfall” also has an unusual layer system in layers in addition to its gameplay. Players do not acquire experience points, but rather, they collect training manuals that have skills. To acquire these skills, players must locate training stimulants that allow the protagonist to learn them. Some skills unlock the ability to create better firearms while others act almost as a way to do the door of certain areas of the game. Players will have to develop concocts to survive the radiation or infection areas. Meanwhile, the tools become keys to access other areas.

Again, this is another way of pushing players to explore the world and to deepen their mastery of combat or stealth. If players have no skill, they can find ways to compensate for a certain time, but some skills and elements become almost compulsory to survive certain areas.

In addition, these elements are good, but “Atomfall” attaches them with a convincing mystery that raises all the experience. In several ways, the campaign reminds me of the first days of “lost”. The deeper players go, the more the campaign aspires them, and the project turns into an interesting adventure on which players should take a risk.

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‘Atomfall’

3½ stars out of 4
Platform: PC, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X and Series S, Xbox One
Notation: Mature