I knew little aboutAtomfallbefore play a demo of it at a recent Xbox case in Los Angeles . I saw its trailer during June’sXbox Games Showcaseand assumed it was just a British take onS.T.A.L.K.E.R , which is start a subsequence this year . AlthoughAtomfallcertainly has that same endurance edge and nuclear catastrophe setting , it also has RPG elements redolent of games likeFallout : New Vegas — specially when it comes to its dialogue organisation . Atomfallis a bold cut for a game developer best have a go at it for theSniper Elite serial , and I was left want more after my brief hands - on time with it .
The trailer build up ofAtomfallI play start near the jump of the game . My amnesic player character emerged into a postapocalyptic - wait countryside in this alternate history where the Windscale fire atomic disaster in Northern England was a sight more withering . As is the case inS.T.A.L.K.E.R , players are thrust into a quarantine zone wall this nuclear disaster , and almost everyone else there is out for rip . In this early - game country , I walked around the ruins of a village while attempting to stealthily take out the crazed crook in the domain , who had set up an outpost nearby .
Atomfall’ssurvival game roots really flare up here , as the game seems quite difficult . While enemies will go down after a duet of gunfire wounds and react to where they are shot , players are equally thin . I could n’t break the game to heal , so I had to take invoice of that during gunfights . At least too soon on , stealth seemed to be the mode to go so I could build up my armory of pistol , scattergun , cricket bats , and other jury-rigged weapons to fight down through this apocalypse .
After that , I had an easier time taking on these crook , but then ammo and healing item constraints became my biggest concerns . It ’s intentionally tough . Unfortunately , the autosave necessitate some oeuvre to support that challenge , as I got caught in a frustrating instantly - spotted - after - respawn loop at one tip during my playtime . That ’s the only aspect of the difficulty that does n’t feel reasonable decently now , but it ’s certainly something that developer Rebellion Developments can tweak and sort out before launching .
WhileAtomfallwill launching afterS.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 , it does seem like this will be a solid alternative for those already looking to move on from GSC World ’s latest by next March . It also does a better job of appealing to more general gaming lover , mainly those of westerly RPGs like Fallout . While almost every NPC inAtomfallwanted to kill me , one did n’t . His name was Nat Buckshaw , and when I spoke to him to accumulate entropy about this British atomic wasteland , the conversation act out like it would inFallout : New Vegas . I had full lines of dialogue to choose from , each associated with a unlike emotion or tone .
Buckshaw would give different resolution bet on what the participant enunciate to him , and I even had the choice to murder him with my weapons if I wanted to . There are also skill and crafting systems , although I did n’t have much clock time to go too deep with either of these during my playday . None of this needs breaks newfangled ground when it come to RPGs , but it was a surprise to see those systems coupled with the nonlinearity and chroma of a survival game . reckon that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and Fallout are both series about nuclear apocalypses , maybe I should n’t be surprised that the gameplay system of rules each utilizes mesh well together .
It ’s quite the engaging intermixture , and if Rebellion sorts out the autosave proceeds I encountered , I ’d play more . There were quite a few area , namely nuclear dugout , that were not accessible in this demo , and I really want to know what ’s behind those locked door .
Atomfalllaunches for PC , PlayStation 4 , PS5 , Xbox One , and Xbox Series X / S in March 2024 . It will be on Xbox Game Pass from day one .
