Throughout the list of features showcased in the trailer are bursts of fast-paced gameplay from Zombie Army VR. All of these bits of gameplay showcase the various features of the game, including progression systems, the famous kill cams, and the fast-paced and brutal combat that players will get to take part in with their weapons of choice.

According to a description of Zombie Army VR provided by its developers, the fact that it is a VR game will mean that it will offer a “new level of immersion.” Players will have to learn how to use the various ranged weapons offered by the game. A side-arm can also be used simultaneously as a dual-wielding option in case a player happens to run out of bullets in their primary weapon but doesn’t have the time to reload.

Zombie Army VR was announced for PlayStation VR2, SteamVR, Meta Quest 2 and Meta Quest 3 at the end of March. The game, priced at $29.99, is available for pre-order on all of the digital stores for your platform of choice.

Zombie Army VR is a direct sequel to the previous Zombie Army games. Rather than being a spin-off, the story picks up right after the death of Zombie Hitler. Players take on the role of a Deadhunter that has to take down undead war criminals. In their adventure of taking on the zombie hordes of Nuremberg, the Deadhunter will eventually meet Deadhunter leader Hermann Wolff, and will be tasked with helping him and his family survive.

Despite being a VR-only game, Zombie Army VR won’t be skimping on the arsenal that the franchise has been known for. Along with a variety of assault rifles and sniper rifles, players will also get access to pistols, submachine guns, and even melee weapons for some brutal up-close action. There are also upgrade kits that can be used to further upgrade and modify weapons.

The previous mainline game in the Zombie Army series was 2020’s Zombie Army 4: Dead War. Originally released for PC, PS4 and Xbox One, the game also eventually got updated to make better use of the more powerful hardware offered by the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.

Along with the other games in the series in the form of the Zombie Army Trilogy, Zombie Army 4: Dead War has also since been brought over to the Nintendo Switch. A trailer released for the game leading up to its Switch release revealed the various features of the port. It also revealed that the title would run at 30 FPS at up to 1080p on the console.

Players have discovered more than 12.7 million caches, scored over 5.9 million kills with the Cricket Bat, and drank over 500,000 cups of tea. They also found 3.6 million comics and suffered 420,000 deaths from irradiated rat swarms. Regarding the top foods consumed, the Tin of Meat won out with 14.1 million consumed.

Regarding the scientist in the opening, 59.1 percent opted to help him, while 21.6 percent chose to dish out threats. A little over 19 percent followed up on said threats and killed him.

Though sales numbers are unknown, especially with the title available on Game Pass, Atomfall has proven quite successful for Rebellion. It’s playable on Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5, and PC. Check out our review here.

Zombie Army VR is a continuation of the story set forth by the Zombie Army franchise. In the game, players take on the role of a Deadhunter tasked with taking down zombie war criminals. Players will have to take on undead hordes near the bombed-out city of Nuremberg, and in the process, help Deadhunter leader Hermann Wolff find his family.

As the game’s own store description puts it, the story of Zombie Army VR will ultimately revolve around bringing peace back to Europe, which still remains ravaged by war and zombies even after the death of Zombie Hitler.

In Zombie Army VR, players will be able to make use both of their hands for an immersive experience. The use of both hands carries over to a number of gameplay options, including aiming down a gun’s sights, dual-wielding pistols and submachine guns, and even reloading when you run out of bullets.

Among the vast arsenal players will have access to in Zombie Army VR are various kinds of sniper rifles, submachine guns, pistols, and other tools. All of these will be based on real-world World War 2 weaponry. Players will also be able to get their hands on upgrade kits to further make their guns more powerful, as well as earn experience to level up in order to get better accuracy.

The traditional X-ray Kill Cams from the Zombie Army series will also be returning in Zombie Army VR, along with the kind of gameplay that fans of the series expect. Check out the trailer below for more details.

The most recent title in the franchise was Zombie Army 4: Dead War, which was originally released back in 2020 on PC, PS4 and Xbox One. The game has since also been brought over to the Nintendo Switch. For PS5 and Xbox Series X/S players, Zombie Army 4: Dead War also got updated to make use of the most powerful hardware on current-gen consoles, allowing for better frame rates and higher resolutions.

Check out our review of Zombie Army 4: Dead War from back in 2020 for more details.

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.

The problem? The Druids have it, and they’re none too keen to welcome outsiders. Naturally, the only solution is to barge into their camp and systematically decimate them, whether it’s with firearms and arrows or throwing knives. It’s not something you have to do, but it reinforces the ability to kill anyone in Atomfall.

Upon retrieving the book for Mother Jago, she offers an escape from the suffering. While it may seem like a means to breach the quarantine (one of your character’s main goals), there’s a sinister vibe to what she may propose. The showcase ends on that note, but if you don’t want to listen to Mother Jago or even kill her, that’s your choice.

Atomfall launches on March 27th for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, and PC alongside Game Pass. Check out our feature for more details on what to expect.

It’s ambitious in many ways, but I came away impressed after spending some hands-on time. Here are 15 things you should know about Atomfall before it launches on March 27th for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, PC, and Xbox One alongside Game Pass.

Setting

Set in Northern England five years after the Windscale fire of 1957, Atomfall is about you, but who you are is the big question. Awakening with no memories, you wander across the landscape, trying to piece together what happened. What is the strange pillar of light emitting from the Windscale site? Who is the voice on the phone telling you to kill Oberon? How do you escape this quarantine zone? It’s up to you to solve these mysteries.

Complete Freedom of Choice

Alternatively, don’t. Answering a random call from a phone booth out in the wilderness (inspired by a similar incident that Rebellion CEO Jason Kingsley faced in the past)? It’s insane, but that’s one of the cooler parts of Atomfall. I could follow that random note telling me to locate Mother Jago at the Old Mining Site or walk right through the door of the Druid camp and raise hell. I could investigate the old dam, try to find Joyce Tanner or sneak into the Protocol soldiers’ watch tower (which goes wrong). You’re not on a fixed path but not left to your own devices either.

No Quests, Following Leads Instead

Rather than a traditional questing structure, Atomfall provides Leads. Think of them as suggestions rather than instructions with clues to investigate or watch out for. The Lead to find Mother Jago led to another where she asked if I could retrieve her herbalism book from the druids, but this isn’t a fixed course, and I’m not on the clock.

The same goes for finding Joyce – she provides the coordinates, but it’s ultimately up to me to locate her bunker and decide whether to follow her Leads. It’s very engrossing, encouraging exploration while facilitating the nonlinear storytelling that Rebellion is after.

Locations

My playthrough started several hours into the game and offered a variety of locations. Two were notable – The Old Mine, where Mother Jago took refuge and the dam. Otherwise, there’s no indication of anything else – I discovered the druids’ camp purely by accident (or by murdering way too many druids on the way, but in my defense, they started it).

Some are discovered by walking around, like the random radio tower where I found Joyce’s message and coordinates or a helicopter crash site. Though the entire scale of the map is unknown, the locations felt naturally spaced out – like I was exploring the actual countryside, albeit with much more danger.

Dialogue Choices

Fallout fans will be familiar with dialogue choices, especially those requiring skill checks and whatnot. Atomfall offers the same, but your responses also have helpful tags to indicate your nature. For example, when I met Billy Gorse, a traveling merchant who was clearly infected (but not fully mutated), I could react with shock, saying his appearance bothered me.

I could also go with indifference or wariness, leading to other choices (including impatience with all the questioning). While the consequences of these choices weren’t obvious, they made me consider my interactions all the more. This was especially so when speaking to Mother Jago, measuring the need to pry versus giving away too much information or deciding whether I should convince Joyce to trust me.

Kill Everyone

Though the inner murder hobo didn’t activate against the more amicable lot, I still found myself leaping into combat with the druids, outlaws and Ferals dotting the landscape. You don’t have a choice in many circumstances, though in many others, it’s possible to back away before combat starts or scare enemies with a gun. However, Rebellion confirms that you can kill just about any enemy and NPC (or none at all). The choice, once again, is ultimately yours, but the consequences are a different story.

Enemy Types

I was admittedly skeptical about the kinds of enemies that Atomfall would present, but even among the human types, there’s some strong variety. Outlaws usually had firearms and felt more armored, making it riskier to barge into fights. On the other hand, druids will rely on bows, arrows, knives, and even Molotov cocktails to kill you.

I was also surprised to find mutated plants that spit poisonous projectiles when infiltrating the druids’ camp. Then you have the Ferals, mutated humans that will charge with abandon and can infect you with their hits. Other notable threats include the Protocol soldiers (if you get on their bad side), the B.A.R.D. robots and even mutated rats attacking in swarms.

Combat

Defending yourself is easy enough with various melee weapons like the trusty cricket bat and axe, each with their own properties. You can execute the standard combos or even throw weapons, which is ideal when carrying multiple hatchets and knives. Firearms like rifles, shotguns, revolvers, and handguns are also available, though the scarce ammo meant considering which ones I should have at the ready.

A full suite of firearms and explosives in case things go loud? Or perhaps using a bow for an initially stealthy approach and a cricket bat for more close encounters? Either way, it encouraged thinking about engagements and planning on the fly.

Pneumatic Cache

You’re limited in the amount of items that can be carried, but Atomfall has somewhat of a solution to this with the Pneumatic Cache. When discovered, you can shove any desired items – like bandages, food, explosives, and whatnot – and retrieve them at another location. The catch is that you’re not sure, at least from the outset, if a Pneumatic Cache station is present, adding to the risk. Marking their locations on the map is yet another key facet of survival.

Skills

As you progress, new skills become available, allowing you to lean into melee combat, survival, ranged combat, and conditioning. Kill Momentum will grant a buff to melee damage, while Quiet Movement reduces the sound of your footsteps. Taking down enemies can be noisy, but thankfully, there’s a skill for muffling it. You can even disarm traps and harvest their materials.

Crafting

The world of Atomfall isn’t littered with junk to collect by the truckload, but you will find cloth, scrap, gunpowder and other materials that can come in handy. Bandages are cheap to make, and on top of recovering health over time, they cure bleeding and temporarily provide resistance to its build-up. You’ll discover – or sometimes have to barter – for recipes to be able to craft antidotes, Explosive Lures, and whatnot, but they could come in handy when you least expect it.

“Bonkers” Choices to Influence Enemy Population

By head of design Ben Fisher’s own admission, Atomfall features “some experimental stuff” that wouldn’t be attempted anywhere else because “you can’t guarantee a result.” “There’s some bonkers stuff in Atomfall,” he told VideoGamer. “There are events the player can trigger or completely miss that can have a huge influence on the enemy population in the game world and stuff like that.” While he noted that it might or might not work, he’s looking forward to “finding out.”

Callbacks to other Rebellion Games

During a recent Q&A, the development team was asked if there were any nods to Sniper Elite to discover in Atomfall, to which it enthusiastically replied, “Yes,” followed by, “No, we’re not going to tell you.” Regardless, players can find “lots of fun things,” including references to other Rebellion titles and even British media (including the BBC).

Story Expansion

Alongside three days of early access, the Deluxe Edition also includes a “Story Expansion Pack.” There isn’t much information, aside from not launching on day one, and Rebellion has remained tight-lipped on what it could offer. We’ll have to wait for more details.

Playtime

With all these different choices and paths, how long will it take to beat Atomfall? In the same Q&A, Fisher said a full playthrough could take 15, 20, or even 25 hours, though it depends on how you play. Another team member commented how they had a playthrough of 20-odd hours and still hadn’t ventured into some parts of the woodlands or conversed with half the cast. Fisher promises a “single meaningful narrative experience” but also that you can revisit it for something completely different.

In a new extended gameplay showcase, head of design Ben Fisher discusses the title’s influences, mechanics and structure. Instead of a quest system, Atomfall emphasizes investigation and following leads. The telephone booth at the start, inspired by a similar incident that occurred to Rebellion CEO Jason Kingsley, is one such lead.

However, you can ignore it and go your merry way. All character interactions are pretty much optional, and story progression is completely nonlinear. Whether you kill everyone, look at ways to escape the quarantine village, or dig deeper into what’s going on is up to you. Fisher emphasizes that no two playthroughs are the same in this regard, even among the development team.

Atomfall launches on March 27th for Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, and PC for $59.99. It’s also available on day one for Game Pass. Deluxe Edition owners will get three days of advanced access.

The trailer places an emphasis on players needing to be careful about searching and scavenging for things that they might need. It kicks things off by showing off a player stealthily exploring some ruins for gear. Along the way, the player also has to figure out how to deal with gangs of roaming bandits.

During their time scavenging for crafting materials, players will also be able to find notes that will allow them to get more leads to continue their investigations to figure out what really happened to cause the current state of the world.

The trailer caps things off by giving us a look at some combat. Kicking things off with a stealth kill, things quickly degrade into an all-out fight. After the protagonist runs out of bullets for his guns, he has to switch to melee weapons to take on more enemies.

The previous trailer released for Atomfall focused more on the upcoming game’s investigative aspects, and showcased how players would need to solve various mysteries across the game’s world.

Fisher had previously spoken about how the development of Atomfall went through quite a few iterations before the studio was able to settle on what they wanted from the game. He put this down to the fact that plans made early on in development often have to be changed down the line.

“So you’d have to approach any piece of design, any piece of content, bearing in mind that you don’t know if that’s the right answer,” he said. “It’s your best guess so far, but you’ll only find out once it’s actually in context. You absolutely have to leave room for iteration. But you also need to do the work in a way that allows you to iterate. That doesn’t come for free.”

More recently, the studio has spoken about how Atomfall will feature some of its most experimental and strange ideas. In an interview earlier this week, Fisher spoke about how Atomfall being a new project for the studio allowed for more experimentation.

“We took the creative pillars we were aiming for and just ran with them, so there’s some experimental stuff you wouldn’t try somewhere else because you can’t guarantee a result,” he said.

Art director Ryan Greene has also spoken about the investigative aspects of the game, and how players will have to set off into the world to find their own leads rather than being handed objective markers to follow.

“Right from the outset, you can do whatever you want. You can follow whatever lines of investigation that you want. Now, given that you’ll be poorly equipped, some choices may lead to bad results,” said Greene.

Atomfall is coming to PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on March 27. Check out the trailer from January that showcased its world design and premise.

That seemingly extends to the development process, with lead designer Ben Fisher promising some “experimental stuff” you won’t find anywhere else. On VideoGamer’s upcoming podcast episode, Fisher said, “We took the creative pillars we were aiming for and just ran with them, so there’s some experimental stuff you wouldn’t try somewhere else because you can’t guarantee a result.”

Such is the experimentation that Fisher isn’t even sure it will pan out. “There’s some bonkers choices in Atomfall. There are events the player can trigger or completely miss that can have a huge influence on the enemy population in the game world and stuff like that…It might work, it might not…I’m looking forward to finding out.”

That part about influencing the enemy population is interesting, especially since games like Bethesda’s Fallout 4 let you destroy almost all the factions. How much further Rebellion will go remains to be seen, but it’s an exciting proposition, especially with all the iterations it went through during development.

Atomfall launches on March 27th for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5, and PC. Check out this trailer outlining the gameplay, world, and enemies.

Kicking off its second Season Pass, Sniper Elite 5 has seen the launch of the Rough Landing DLC, which is available via the Season Pass and can also be purchased separately, and adds a new titular mission set “deep in a forest and featuring a cramped mine shaft”. The DLC also adds two new weapons with the Mosin-Nagant rifle and Sjögren shotgun.

Meanwhile, Rebellion has also released the new Trench Warfare Content Pack for free, which adds more weapons to the game with the Carl Gustav M/1945 SMG, the Trench Gun shotgun, and the Double 1866 pistol.

Sniper Elite 5 is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Read our review of the base game through here.