Darren Price
Drawing on the very real 1950s nuclear disaster at Windscale in the UK, Atomfall is a very British take on the post-apocalyptic game from Rebellion, the publisher of Sniper Elite.
The player awakens in bunker five years after a mysterious event in the nearby Windscale nuclear plant, echoing the real-life disaster. With the area placed under quarantine, the local population has, for years, had to fend for itself, creating various factions. Elements of the British Army, known as The Protocol, have commandeered the otherwise quaint English village of Wyndham.
Set across a series of interconnected open-world areas, the gameplay is very loose. Players must find leads and resolve investigations themselves to uncover what is going on. This may be off-putting for players who prefer more handholding and guidance. It’s easy to find yourself backtracking or exploring areas unnecessarily.
This makes the game more about exploring and surviving the somewhat inhospitable world than simply following points on a map. Instead, it’s up to the player to plot areas of interest and follow up on leads.
Every character seems to have a secret. Navigating the politics and alliances of the post-apocalyptic Lake District is fraught with challenges. There’s a lot of talking with NPCs to unravel the game’s mysteries. There are also a lot of choices to be made. You can accept tasks from the various characters, double-cross them and even kill them.
The game’s survival credentials are all on full display with ammo being scarce and the essential need to scavenge whatever you can. It’s a hostile environment with bandit patrols that won’t hesitate to attack on sight. Some genuinely scary moments will have you running through abandoned facilities hoping to outrun the seemingly invulnerable creatures that lurk within.
The AI isn’t bad, either. Of note, pointing a gun at an opponent armed with just a melee weapon will make them back away. But they are rarely alone, and it’s very easy to become overwhelmed.
Atomfall uses the same aging engine as the Sniper Elite games, which meant, for my PC gaming experience, a lack of anti-aliasing and shimmering distant textures, giving the game a rather dated overall look. It’s not a bad-looking game, but not up to the standard we really should be expecting.
The game has an oddball, almost clichéd sense of “Britishness”. This design choice is aimed, I think, at those not necessarily from the Sceptred Isles. It’s all a bit too quaint at times, with its atypical English village, red phone boxes, and cheery “Tommys”, for this British expat. The game does, however, benefit from the unnerving and rather bleak flavour of British horror/sci-fi offerings such as The Quatermass Experiment, Day of the Triffids, The Midwich Cuckoos and even The Wicker Man.
Atomfall offers a fresh experience for players with the patience to discover the game’s mysteries for themselves. Visually, it is acceptable, if a little dated. The design style and quirky setting elevates the game. Overall, it’s fun to play, but falls just short of being great.
Released: March 2025
Rating: M
Platform reviewed: PC
Genre: Action
Developer: Rebellion Developments
Publisher: Rebellion Developments
