A Nuclear Nightmare in the Lake District?
Rebellion have made it their wheelhouse recently to release alternative history shooters, with the Zombie Army and Sniper Elite series doing great guns.
Atomfall also falls into that category, but is a very different beast entirely. Whilst the former games rely on the World Wars of the early 20th century as a focus, Atomfall takes its inspiration from the real-life nuclear Windscale fire of 1957.
Set five years later in 1962, the nuclear disaster has left much of the Lake District in the UK as a quarantine zone. As an amnesiac awakening in this unfamiliar landscape, you must attempt to piece together the mystery, starting with a note that all secrets lead to a place called the Interchange.
The Fallout and STALKER series are immediate comparisons to make, but Atomfall doesn’t offer this playground to you to fire Fat Boys at Super Mutants or chase after anomalies. This is a radiation zone in its infancy, and your primary task should be survival. And after spending a couple of hours in the game, the Northern English accents made me feel right at home in this strange and dangerous new land.
Exploring the Fallout
Our preview build of Atomfall started a couple of hours into the game, as we arrived at a forest called the Casterfell Woods. Our primary objective here was to meet a lady called Mother Jago, but first we needed to cross an area patrolled by druids who believed the radiated soil was speaking to them. You know, the kind of people you’d meet on a regular night out in Carlisle.
Our briefing for Atomfall warned us that combat is much more melee focussed; more like a Dead Island where guns and ammo are scarce. And combat shouldn’t always be sought out, as sometimes laying low and staying quiet is a much better idea. It is easy to get outnumbered in Atomfall, and even a two-on-one situation can quickly go awry. However, after quickly finding a supply cache with some shotgun shells, I was feeling quite brave.
Atomfall is a survival game, but Rebellion made a conscious decision to not have you constantly topping up hunger and thirst bars to survive. Yes, there is still crafting, done in a standard crafting menu, but you will need to monitor your heart rate more than anything else. Any expenditure of energy other than walking will increase your heart rate, unsurprisingly, and an increased heart rate can lead you to becoming less stealth-like and also negatively affect your senses such as hearing and vision. Getting into combat sees your heart rate shoot up as the adrenaline kicks in.
Atomfall’s Narrative and Quests
After exploring the Woods for some time, avoiding druids and mutated wasps and worse, the dreaded Ferals, I came across a downed helicopter. There was a mayday recording from a survivor called Dr. Garrow. In it, they said they were heading towards the village of Wyndham to see if anyone could help them there. At this point, it popped up on my screen that I had a new lead to follow.
One of the most intriguing parts of Atomfall is the mystery surrounding it all, and how you are able to piece it all together. My arrival in Wyndham was interrupted by a red telephone box ringing. On the other end was a voice simply telling me not to trust Mother Jago. Okay, completely trustworthy mystery voice.
Arriving in Wyndham felt like a quintessential English village. The kind that tourists flock to and the locals begrudgingly hate, only with a suspicious looking nuclear plant in the distance, and plenty of condemned buildings. You’ll be pleased to know the essentials were still open: the local bakery, village hall, and of course, the pub.
Choice and Consequence
After hearing some commotion in the village square, I happened to have a chat with Captain Grant Sims. He is the head of an army-like team known as Protocol. The locals and Protocol do not get along, so me being an outsider can work to their advantage. Quickly, Sims wants me to investigate the bakery as he believes something strange is going on there. I headed over to see what I could find.
Not just being able to follow leads at your own leisure, Atomfall allows you to play however you want. It is possible to complete the game without killing anyone. Likewise, you can kill everyone if you are that way inclined. How far that method will get you to the conclusion is debatable.
Without going into details about how I managed it, I got the information I needed and returned to Sims where he gave me the next step to follow. Turns out, a certain Dr. Garrow was closer than I thought.
Atomfall Promises a Unique and Atmospheric Survival Experience
This structure is where I think Atomfall will excel; possibly a reason for us including it in a recent ‘Best Games of March 2025’ article. Following a lead that crosses paths with another feels like a jigsaw piece falling into place, but I am instantly then looking for the next piece to further make sense of things. And even after just a couple of hours, I am eager to find out as much as possible.
And that wait is almost over; Atomfall launches on Xbox – and straight into Xbox Game Pass – on March 27th. Will you be able to discover the secret of the Interchange? You don’t have much longer to find out.
Huge thanks go out to Rebellion for the hands-on time with Atomfall. You’ll find Atomfall launching on Xbox, PlayStation and PC come March 27th 2025. It’s a Day One drop onto Game Pass too.
