Atomfall – Roadside Tea Party Review

Played on PC

Sometimes you come across games whose essence is impossible to grasp before the release. You read interviews with the authors, watch gameplay demos, and still the picture doesn’t come together. That’s what happened with Atomfall. At first glance, it resembles a mix of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and the latest Fallouts, only with a British accent. Its main highlight — the storytelling through investigations — is revealed only after hours of independent playthrough. But I’ll try to convey the idea.

⇡#Where to run, what to grab onto

The Chernobyl accident is the most famous, but unfortunately not the only nuclear disaster. Long before it, in 1957, there was a fire at the Windscale Nuclear Power Plant in the UK. This event was used as the basis for the story of Atomfall – a story, of course, alternative, not documentary. Immediately after the emergency, a high concrete wall is built around the perimeter. Due to interference, radio signals do not pass in either direction. There is no way out. But the outside world sometimes tries to check the situation in the zone.

Where would Britain be without red telephone boxes?

Five years have passed since the disaster. The main character, without a name or past, comes to his senses in a shabby bunker. A wounded scientist greets us, but he is of little use – he will briefly outline the exposition to the curious and ask you to find a secret object called “Denouement”. Atomfall immediately emphasizes its main feature: the character will not give you any directions, no marker will appear on the map, there is not even a pointer on the compass. You get out into the fresh air and begin to explore this world literally by touch. Blooming nature spreads out before you, the very same nuclear power plant is visible on the horizon. Trust your instincts and follow any path.

Even the quest log is called “investigations”, where “hooks” are sorted into groups – useful information that you follow to advance through the story. In essence, these are beautiful names for a completely familiar quest system. The difference is in the approach. You can grab onto a chain of quests from any end: for example, find a note that will lead you to a character, who will direct you to search for a colleague, from whose corpse you will pick up coordinates to a secret bunker. Or you can stumble upon the same bunker, simply exploring the surroundings.

The line between the main story and side quests is very blurred. Many investigations will be connected to the disaster in one way or another and will add their piece to the overall mosaic of events. In principle, you can get to one of the endings in about five hours if you set yourself the goal of getting out of the zone as quickly as possible. Or you are free to stay, get to know several factions, enlist the support of some and conflict with others. The outskirts of Windscale are full of all sorts of secrets.

Mutants are rare and pose a high risk

But you should immediately curb your imagination a little, if you suddenly imagined a large-scale RPG – Atomfall is extremely focused, even compact. If you exclude simple merchants, then there are a maximum of ten heroes with whom you can talk. There are not many fateful decisions, and the whole point is precisely in the lack of markers and, as a result, the lack of a single sequence of actions (which can sometimes affect the available options.)

For example, at some point you will probably (but not necessarily!) need to rescue an important character from prison. On the surface, there are two obvious ways: break through with a fight or sneak past the guards. But if you do a favor for the military in advance, you will be given a pass to freely visit the facility. The game does not talk about this option – it is nice to find alternative ways to solve the problem yourself.

Atomfall rewards curiosity. Even behind the waterfalls there are not empty caves with a glowing chest. Behind one I found the last refuge of a wounded soldier, with a bloody trail leading to it and bandages scattered around. Behind another was a secret passage to an abandoned warehouse. The world is small, but it is carefully crafted and hand-filled, so you constantly feel like a pioneer.

If you get hold of a metal detector, you can wander around looking for buried treasures

⇡#We survive as best we can

In terms of gameplay, Atomfall is a shooter with survival elements, where a little bit of everything is mixed. Shooting is generally pleasant: the weapons have a recoil and a rich sound, enemies react vividly to bullets. But the artificial intelligence leaves much to be desired. Bandits, for example, willingly run into the house one after another, ingloriously dying from well-aimed headshots.

Although the open levels are more interesting to shoot at. Supplies are scarce, the enemies shoot accurately, and the protagonist can withstand a few wounds at best. You have to think about positioning and use ammunition sparingly (one well-thrown grenade will save a couple of pistol magazines). And sometimes it is better to run away from a fight – you can’t secure some territory forever anyway. As soon as you leave the location and return, the enemies will “come to life” again. What is sometimes annoying: if new patrols in the open air are easy to explain, then repeated settlements of bunkers or caves look very strange.

Most shootouts are easy to avoid. Representatives of different factions walking around the zone will only threaten to kill you if you just pass by. And only in specially protected areas will they open fire on you without warning. Stealth (or friendship with the right faction) can help there, but it is too superficial. There is no visibility indicator. Even if you hide in a dark corner, you will be noticed with one glance in your direction. Only the grass serves as additional camouflage, as indicated by the corresponding inscription at the top of the screen.

Molotov cocktails are effective against any enemy, and the flames look beautiful

Other mechanics are also not very deep. Take close combat: there are strong and weak blows, a kick, and that’s where all the tactical moves end. No block or other means of defense, just turn around and run away – the protagonist moves very slowly with his back. Although the blows themselves, like the shots, feel pleasant, so giving out slaps on the back of the head with a cricket bat does not get boring.

In fact, the only thing that Atomfall has in common with survival games is its limited inventory. There are only four slots for two-handed weapons (all firearms except pistols), and another twenty are reserved for all sorts of small items. The authors have provided storage in the manner of Resident Evil, and even justified it in the plot – a network of pneumatic tubes will allow you to save surplus items and return them at another point. But they are rarely placed. Often you will have to decide what is more important – to take a first aid kit or a grenade.

Fortunately, crafting resources do not take up space. Assembling consumables from scrap materials also fulfills the minimum program: find a recipe (or exchange it with a merchant), get the opportunity to craft a makeshift bomb, an antidote, and so on. Nothing outstanding, but nothing superfluous either. And with pumping, you can improve the quality of the guns you find. This is especially valuable, because it is extremely difficult to acquire good weapons.

Post-apocalyptic Hogwarts would look something like this

The hero has as many as thirty-six skills to develop. But the game does not offer any experience or level system. To develop a talent, you first need to find a special textbook that gives access to one of the categories, and then spend several ampoules with a learning stimulator, which you still need to get. Moreover, their presence is also justified by the mythology of the game – such an interweaving of the scenario and mechanics always plays into the hands of the atmosphere.

* * *

In one of the interviews, the developers said that they are well aware of the limits of their capabilities and do not try to embrace the immensity. Atomfall perfectly illustrates their credo. It is small, but well thought out. It skillfully interweaves simple mechanics that together create a picture of something greater than the sum of individual elements. And as soon as you think that the game has exhausted itself, you can rush to the finale and put a logical end to your unique adventure.

Advantages:

• Intriguing storytelling system through hooks;
• A small but rich game world that encourages curiosity;
• Nice shooting.

Disadvantages:

• Secondary mechanics lack depth;
• Obsessive resurrection of enemies.

Graphic arts

A rare project these days on its own engine. The game works great, pleases with nice landscapes and decent detailing, although without frills.

Sound

There is almost no music. The sound engineer relied on natural ambient: the murmur of a river, the rustle of grass, the growling of mutants. You feel like you are at a picnic outside the city – except that you need to deal with the mutants before enjoying a day in nature.

Single player game

A competent shooter with a few additional mechanics like stealth and crafting, and a strong emphasis on exploration.

Estimated time of completion

From five to twenty hours – depends on how many secrets you want to reveal.

Collective game

Not foreseen.

General impression

Atomfall is unlikely to make any lists of the best games of the year, but it’s surprisingly original and fun.

Rating: 8.0 / 10

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