When you play a post-nuclear game like Fallout 4 or even S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, one of the first eye-catching things is the map. Some of the dialogue and annoying responses in the former might be one, while the utterly gorgeous visuals and relentless hounds of the latter may be another. But when you open that map, there’s a moment of awe at the sheer size and scale of the world, especially as you discover landmarks and start to fill it out.
The same goes for many open-world titles, even if the map is mostly shrouded in the unknown, like Ghost of Tsushima. There’s just something that tickles the brain when you see the entire scale of the world encapsulated at once. Of course, some may go the opposite route, overwhelmed and even threatened at the sheer amount of stuff, potentially paralyzed at the sheer amount of choice.
Which is why Atomfall is such an interesting deviation from the norm (in this and many other ways). As Rebellion Developments’ latest upcoming title, deviating from its usual array of Sniper Elite games, it’s several shades of different genres. There’s a dash of survival crafting but none of the hunger and thirst meters to micromanage. The dialogue systems immediately call first-person role-playing games to mind, except you’re not seeking someone’s approval so much as wading through a sea of emotions, choosing the most appropriate for the situation.
Guns are a thing, though the sporadic nature of bullets often makes stealth and melee combat more inviting options. “Quests” exist in anything but name and are known as leads. Follow them if you’d like. Kill everyone if you don’t. There’s some conclusion that hopefully ends with you outside of the quarantine zone.
But what impressed me most was – you guessed it – the world design. Set in Northern England several years after the Windscale fire, you’re an individual with no memories who explores the countryside, trying to make sense of it all. The Windscale nuclear site was emitting some kind of strange skybeam, which hung over the proceedings like a specter, even if I was nowhere near enough to gauge what it meant.
Starting roughly a few hours in, my one lead was to find Jago at the Old Mine in Casterfell Woods. Open the map and two icons are notable – the Old Mine and what seems to be an abandoned dam. Very little else and certainly nothing telling me what takes priority. Even the lead felt more like a suggestion, offering little to no assurance that I would even find Jago, much less live to tell about it. But there were no icons. No question marks begging me to investigate and shoot some rocks to activate some nodes, clear a monster nest, engage in a treasure hunt or dip in a hot spring.
Though this was only one section of the overall map, with the rest shrouded in fog, its scale didn’t really prove to be overwhelming. Casterfell felt like a hop, skip, and jump away, considering the sheer odysseys undertaken in other open-world games (like, say, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey). However, the map didn’t say everything about the world, and therein lay the charm.
I discovered a crashed helicopter site beneath a ruined bridge en route to the mine and didn’t really stop to investigate. I somehow ended up en route to the old dam and after running into druids, began venturing into their camp (which, as you might imagine, they didn’t take kindly to).
Failing to assault their castle, I doubled back to the northeast and somehow found a radio tower that required reactivating power supplies to function. A recording from Joyce Tanner was nice enough to tell me this while also providing coordinates to her secure bunker.
Again, no waypoint or marker telling me where she was. Just reading the map, guesstimating the coordinates, and keeping an eye out. While she didn’t trust me, I managed to learn about the mysterious Interchange, which could be the key to restoring power.
Underground, the Interchange is a separate convoluted array of leads that spread across different areas, never mind the broken down sectors that needed repairing or the Outlaws scavenging for supplies (and none too happy to see me). At some point, I wandered into the remains of a town where Protocol soldiers were patrolling. After accidentally wandering into their watch tower and getting shot up, I decided not to meet them face-to-face. Would the response have differed if I ventured into the main town and perhaps met with their leadership?
I also learned to be careful when approaching Feral, the mutated humans of the region, since their melee attacks hurt. They also allow “The Voice” to communicate with me, much like entering a room of spores in the Interchange did. This same “Voice” is apparently heard by the Druids, and Jago is seemingly involved in some respect. Don’t even get me started on that other voice on the telephone who really wants Oberon to die.
Amid all these different points of interest, leads, plotlines, and characters – again, for this one section of the entire map – I was impressed at the natural proximity of everything. A large open world is impressive, sure, but there’s some merit in exploring a smaller space with more content tightly packed together.
Atomfall strikes a decent balance in that regard – nothing felt too far that random encounters had to fill the gap, and yet, it felt like there were interesting things to discover at a consistent clip. The fact that Northern England as a setting is so unique as a setting also helps. As desolate as the post-nuclear disaster has made it, the world feels lived-in and organic (Rebellion examining the real-life version to capture all the nuances also helps).
Speaking to IGN, art director Ryan Greene revealed that an average playthrough might be about “25-ish hours” while adding that completionists can go a “long way” towards extending that. The Q&A with Rebellion after my hands-on time offered up other numbers – 15, 20, and 25 hours, with one team member revealing that they were 20 hours in and still hadn’t spoken to half the cast. It all makes sense when Greene describes the experience as a “spider web of connected story.”
“You can kill anyone or everyone if you choose. That’s fine. We have multiple finishes to the game, so some of those would shut down if you were supposed to work with them throughout, but you’ll find multiple other routes to finish the game and achieve a result.” Even if one lead is a dead end due to some good old ultraviolence, Greene says, “You can usually find another thread that leads you back to the overall mystery.”
Atomfall excites me because even if you resolve the main story thread, there’s still so much to return to. Design head Ben Fisher says players can experience a “single meaningful narrative” in their playthrough, but on a repeat, they may discover “something completely different.” Will that aid your understanding of the main plot? Uncover more stories? I can’t say for sure, and while Rebellion is worried that some things may work and others not, I’m eager to dive in and see what awaits.
Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.
