Atomfall finds a middle ground between S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and Fallout

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This story is part of our Summer Gaming Marathon series.

I knew little about Atomfall before playing a demo of it at a recent Xbox event in Los Angeles. I saw its trailer during June’s Xbox Games Showcase and assumed it was just a British take on S.T.A.L.K.E.R, which is getting a sequel this year. Although Atomfall certainly has that same survival edge and nuclear catastrophe setting, it also has RPG elements reminiscent of games like Fallout: New Vegas — especially when it comes to its dialogue system. Atomfall is a bold swing for a game developer best known for the Sniper Elite series, and I was left wanting more after my brief hands-on time with it.

The preview build of Atomfall I played began near the start of the game. My amnesiac player character emerged into a postapocalyptic-looking countryside in this alternate history where the Windscale fire nuclear disaster in Northern England was a lot more devastating. As is the case inS.T.A.L.K.E.R, players are thrust into a quarantine zone surrounding this nuclear disaster, and almost everyone else there is out for blood. In this early-game area, I walked around the ruins of a village while attempting to stealthily take out the crazed outlaws in the area, who had set up an outpost nearby.

Atomfall’s survival game roots really flare up here, as the game seems quite difficult. While enemies will go down after a couple of gunshot wounds and react to where they are shot, players are equally fragile. I couldn’t pause the game to heal, so I had to take account of that during gunfights. At least early on, stealth seemed to be the way to go so I could build up my arsenal of pistols, shotguns, cricket bats, and other makeshift weapons to fight through this apocalypse.

After that, I had an easier time taking on these outlaws, but then ammo and healing item constraints became my biggest concerns. It’s intentionally tough. Unfortunately, the