Atomfall is a fascinating alternate history take on a real-life disaster (hands-on preview)

After playing a bit of Atomfall, I’ve found that I’m quite taken with it. I love historical fiction, and while I do have some complaints, this take on 1960s speculative fiction is one I do appreciate, for what it is. It’s not trying to be a Fallout-clone — this isn’t even a post-apocalyptic setting. It is set after a nuclear disaster, but not one that ruined the entirety of the planet - just the north of England.

Coming later this month, Atomfall will drop players into the Lake District of northwestern England during the 1960s. That means you shouldn’t expect powerful laser rifles, or really, anything crazy in terms of technology. There will be some technology, since this is historical fiction, but I wouldn’t expect to see anything on the level of, say, Fallout’s Fat Man.

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Atomfall drops players into a historical fiction take on the Windscale nuclear disaster of the 1960s

Before we get into the nitty gritty, a bit of backstory for Atomfall. The story takes place in the 1960s, after the Windscale nuclear disaster, which covered the north of England in nuclear fallout. The whole of the Lake District is a quarantine zone. The player character wakes up here five years after the incident.

I got into mischief incredibly early, by running blindly into the world. Sometimes, you need to stop and hide (Image via Rebellion Developments)

The goal is to uncover what exactly happened here, while dealing with a doomsday cult, the military, robots, and the British Atomic Research Division — a fictional group. The preview was set in what I imagine is a fairly early portion of the game. Without any real direction, we were set into the world with a few weapons, and some supplies. Here’s how it all went down and how I felt about it.

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Atomfall has “Leads” that guide players to a variety of experiences

Sure, we could go look for Mother Jago, but why not instead explore this off-limits cave filled with druids? (Image via Rebellion Developments)

Atomfall has “leads” instead of “quests.” We were given one at the start, which I presume was the Main Story — finding a specific woman to help us, in the north of the map we were on. However, we weren’t forced into going that way. We were encouraged to explore, and find other Leads.

You can find Leads in a variety of ways — reading things, talking to people, probably by killing people, too. That’s what I like about it, though. It’s very open-ended, letting me, the player, sort of go where I want, and do what I please — likely within reason, though.

Instead of taking on the first Lead I had, I chose to randomly wander off into the wilderness, which led to me trespassing through the doomsday cult’s territory. It did also lead me to one minor complaint. I was really hoping that caves would have their own map. That’s more of a personal complaint, as I can get lost in areas like that.

Our character doesn’t have superpowers, and can’t see in the dark. You need a flashlight for that. This kind of deep exploration also led me to another thing I found a little frustrating - the inventory. You aren’t able to hold very much, in terms of gear and items.

Again, I understand the why of it, but it still led to a kind of vexing experience. I constantly found myself dropping items that could have been useful, in lieu of something else. I guess that’s the point of survival games, though.

It was very tempting to blitz this poor old woman and steal the key, that's for sure - but that's the nature of the unknown (Image via Rebellion Developments)

I also discovered fairly early that you can be friendly with people, and help them, or you can also decide to be a monster. While exploring someone’s home, a woman who was having some issues with memory held a key I desperately needed.

I had a chance to take her down and claim the key — but I didn’t. I kind of wish I had saved and done so, though - I badly want to know what’s in that Conservatory in Atomfall.

Instead, it led me to a giant dam, with its own set of challenges and enemies. There was so much to do in this small region, and I really appreciate that. From what I understand, Atomfall features a variety of these small, but dense regions to explore, creating an interconnected world. However, I do want to talk about something that might excite, or upset, players — the main character.

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Atomfall’s character isn’t a superhuman killing machine - not by a long shot

I only won this fight because of Superior Tactics (tm) (Image via Rebellion Developments)

I get it - some people just want to be a monstrous killing machine in games like this. It’s a fun power fantasy, that’s for sure. However, the protagonist of Atomfall is definitely an everyman — though they can affect great change in this setting, they aren’t especially powerful — nor is anyone else. Everyone can die pretty easily, at least, that I’ve seen.

It’s clear to me that the developers went to the Jerrid Messa school of protagonists — nobody here is a superman. It’s pretty easy to see the sorts of things that inspired the game, too. I like it, though. It has a real desperate air to it. I mostly ran into the doomsday cult that has infested this region, with their wicker masks and deer horns.

A cricket bat, a fire axe, and a few rusted guns are all I had to make my way through the woods of the north of England. On one hand, sure, I’d love to see some crazy weapons, but I understand that’s not likely in this setting. England had, and has, far more stringent gun laws than we do.

I perished here quite a few times - just because you only see one enemy, doesn't mean more aren't lurking (Image via Rebellion Developments)

However, combat is still excellent — that’s not a surprise. This is Rebellion, after all, and they put together the incredible Sniper Elite games. You can expect the ranged weapons to be accurate and feel good to use. That includes the Bow and Arrow, Pistol, Rifle, and Shotgun — all of which I took for a spin.

Speaking of the main character though, instead of a stamina meter, you have a heart rate to worry about. As you grow exhausted and get into sticky situations, that heart rate will rise, causing you to be less accurate.

This is a really cool twist on the stamina/combat system that’s common in first person action-adventure games. If it gets too high, you just need to step back, calm down, and wait for it to wind down. You also have to consider how many enemies are around - unless you have the ammo and cover to deal with everyone. Though it does lead me to one thing I think is neat.

Pulling your weapon can really create a variety of responses. Sometimes, it will make people angry and they’ll attack. Other times, they’ll back off and try to be civil. Ammunition is fairly scarce, so you have to use it sparingly.

As long as you have the material components, you can make bandages, explosives, and more (Image via Rebellion Developments)

I’m also a fan of the crafting system, though I do wish the menu paused encounters — though I get why it doesn’t. You can make a wide assortment of useful items for healing and combat.

You also don’t gain levels and grow more powerful quite in that normal action adventure way. You need to find magazines that unlock skill points, which let you pick up useful abilities — but nothing crazy and superhuman.

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Atomfall’s terrain is thankfully, a lovely shade of green

Life's been hard for the survivors since the event - some harder than others (Image via Rebellion Developments)

I’m so glad that, despite this being a nuclear event, the world of Atomfall isn’t a shade of dead brown and gray. The Lake District is still picturesque and beautiful, with familiar stone structures, and plenty of still-living plant life. It’s a nice change of pace. I might love Fallout, but I’m so sick of seeing wastelands. It’s rubbish, and I’m glad that the Windscale event didn’t wind up ruining the terrain here.

Now, there are still plenty of nuclear areas to worry about, and having radiation resistance will help, but the areas I explored were really quite lovely — except the caves, I guess. That was still dark and foreboding, exactly as it should be. I didn’t speak to many NPCs, but the ones I did were voiced quite well.

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Atomfall shows a great deal of promise as a survival hit

There's no telling what awaits us when get to explore Atomfall in greater depth - but I am excited for it. (Image via Rebellion Developments)

Most of my complaints about Atomfall are really quite minor. I didn’t appear to be able to run anywhere, the inventory is quite small, and things like that. However, that aside, I had a lot of fun playing. Being able to explore this world so openly was a nice change of pace.

There does appear to be plenty of secrets to uncover, too. One of the neat features was the metal detector, where you can find useful items buried under the ground. You may not have a lot of space in the inventory, but you’ll learn to make do. It’s a really fun, challenging game, and I think it’s going to win people over.

The fact that it is not a Fallout clone acts in its favor. It’s very much its own thing, and that’s what the open-world survival game needs right now — something fresh.

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Atomfall launches on March 27, 2025, for Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S platforms.