For seven years now, British developer Rebel has honed and enhanced its craft on iterative sequels. A second Evil Genius, a fourth Zombie Military, a fifth Sniper Elite — all completely good to nice video games in their very own proper, however primarily based on an already fine-tuned formulation. Atomfall, then, the studio’s first new IP since Unusual Brigade, represents an eye catching break from that norm.
With shades of Disco Elysium and immersive sims like Deus Ex and PREY, the workforce has swapped simple motion for thriller and suspense. It’s about meddling in locations you don’t belong, working for and in opposition to individuals to get what you need, and discovering a manner out of an English quarantine zone. It’s an idea so effectively executed that Atomfall clears Rebel’s previous efforts to change into its best achievement so far.
Set within the picturesque Lake District of northern England, the village of Wyndham and its environment have been closed off from the skin world for 5 years. The sport makes use of the real-life Windscale nuclear catastrophe and creates an alternate timeline the place the as soon as peaceable countryside surrounding the plant by no means recovered. The village now finds itself below authorities management, with robots patrolling the streets and violent, excessive clans looking anybody not sporting their colors exterior of its partitions.
You get up in the future in a bunker contained in the quarantine zone with essentially the most candid of goals: escape. As everyone knows, nonetheless, it’s by no means that easy. Conspiracy theories and rumours are rife all through the village, and you will need to separate truth from fiction with the intention to vogue a dependable getaway. The magic of Atomfall is there’s no assure your discoveries will even result in something of be aware — deadends are widespread and false hope is frequent. As such, the expertise turns into one you’ll wish to poke and prod to see the way it reacts again (and probably reload a save), all the time doubtful over whether or not you’ve been manipulated into taking the mistaken path.
The title presents this investigation to you within the type of Leads, that are a alternative for the standard RPG quests system. As an alternative of markers mechanically littering a map, you’ll discuss to individuals and discover notes that reveal extra concerning the world as you go alongside. These clues are then documented and grouped collectively so you may discover an total principle of escape slightly than finishing a singular goal in isolation.
Places can be marked in your map primarily based on the proof you discover, opening up extra locations to pursue the hearsay and work out whether or not it’s a viable approach to go away the quarantine zone or not. There are simply as some ways to interrupt free and end the sport as there will not be, making the expertise ripe for replay to see what alternatives you missed the primary time.
Tying all these inquiries collectively is a gameplay loop of exploring, speaking, crafting, and the occasional taking pictures. The sport adopts an open zone construction, with Wyndham Village at its centre and a handful of various areas surrounding it, all accessed by quick load screens. Inside its partitions, Wyndham prioritises the investigation by character interactions and sneaking previous guards. Exterior of them, killing cult members — both with a gun or melee weapons — replaces any introductory pleasantries.
You need to scavenge for provides, sources, and ammo to outlive out within the wild, however there’s greater than sufficient to go round. Whereas it’s been marketed as a “survival-action recreation”, the crafting system is the one mechanic that comes near one thing you’d anticipate of a survival expertise. You don’t have to handle any starvation, thirst, or sleep meters — there’s nothing near that in Atomfall. And even then, we have been by no means low on therapeutic gadgets or bullets, permitting us full freedom in how we approached any scenario.
That is, for all intents and functions, a conventional motion recreation once you determine to struggle again in opposition to the cults — nevertheless it’s additionally the place the expertise slips considerably. The melee fight and gunplay are each slightly clunky, with disappointing hit suggestions that makes swinging the likes of cricket bats and knives notably unfulfilling.
There’s additionally a stealth system and a easy trespassing mechanic for locations you’re not alleged to be in, alerting close by enemies once you’re noticed. Each really feel tacked on, nonetheless. Regardless of it clearly not being the principle focus of the sport, you have interaction in fight usually sufficient for it to remove from the general expertise. Atomfall is much and away at its finest once you’re pursuing Leads by dialog and espionage because the countryside’s James Bond, not bashing an enemy’s head in with a cricket bat.
Rebel not less than does a implausible job of making certain you’re partaking with the previous as a lot as potential due to an exquisite recreation of a typical, quaint English village. Hailing from the UK, we instantly fell in love with Wyndham and its dry stone partitions, pub, and the identical model of village corridor with a stage all over the place appears to have.
Complementing the setting is social and political commentary performed over loudspeakers all through Wyndham that makes enjoyable of varied British stereotypes and themes, together with Conservative slogans from the COVID-19 pandemic. A number of the magic can be misplaced on gamers from exterior of the UK. Nonetheless, for anybody who can determine with that small-town nature the place everybody is aware of one another, and native gossip and grudges are the discuss of the place, then Wyndham proves a particular setting.
On the PS5 Professional not less than, all of it runs excellently too. Save for a rogue audio cutout problem, the sport performs at a really clean 60 frames-per-second with first rate visuals to match. Wyndham appears pretty regardless of the ruins round its perimeter, and the encompassing zones are simply as a lot of a deal with to discover with attention-grabbing landmarks and engaging underground areas.
Conclusion
Atomfall commits to embodying all the pieces it means to be British, and it comes out the opposite aspect all the higher for it. The thriller on the coronary heart of the alternate Nineteen Sixties setting is gripping, endlessly teasing clues and options to a manner out of its rural quarantine zone. Its fight programs and mechanics let the expertise down, however Rebel’s newest peaks when it makes you the countryside’s Inspector Gadget with a bunch of Results in pursue and villagefolk to suspect.
