Atomfall review: A brutal and gripping sci-fi mystery

Atomfall takes you on a journey through the idyllic Lake District, but this is no pleasant ramble through the UK countryside. Expect an intense, gripping survival adventure that, despite some combat issues, is impossible to put down.

Rebellion (Sniper Elite, Zombie Army), the UK-based developers of Atomfall, have spent 20 years creating wonderfully gory third-person shooters set in France or Germany, but now they’re returning home.

Announced in 2024, Atomfall has been hyped as Fallout in the UK. To be honest, it’s a lazy comparison as it’s only the post-nuclear countryside setting that bears a resemblance to Bethesda’s action RPGs. This is not the game that Rebellion has made and despite its flaws, that’s probably a good thing.

Rather than deep systems and action-packed combat, we’re left with a compelling mystery in a picturesque setting that constantly entices you to venture ever deeper into its deadly world.

Atomfall screenshots

What is Atomfall about?

Right off the bat, Atomfall’s story draws you in perfectly. You awake in a bunker inside the Quarantine Zone, five years after the Windscale nuclear disaster in northern England. You have no memory of who you are or how you got there, and you emerge into the sprawling countryside to find out what happened. Oh, and a mysterious voice on a telephone tasks you with finding The Interchange and destroying Oberon.

If you have no idea what any of that means, don’t worry, you’re about to spend the next 15 hours or so painstakingly searching for clues to shed light on what exactly happened here, culminating in a finale that’s satisfying but sadly lacks any shocking twists (in the ending I got, anyway.)

Don’t expect any glaring quest markers to point you in the right direction either – you’re very much given the freedom to poke around, find notes, and talk to the zone’s quirky inhabitants to find clues.

Everything you uncover is compiled into the Leads menu, which neatly keeps all your findings in one place to ensure that you never lose track of what you’re doing, but lets you tackle each one in any order you wish. You’re encouraged to fully explore each area and speak to every settler you come across.

This beautifully blurs the line between the main objective and side quest, as even the most seemingly random activity can bring an important revelation, or win you favor with someone you’ll need later down the line.

This is Atomfall’s greatest strength. The sense of discovery when you stumble across a major clue or manipulate a character into giving you access to a blocked area is palpable, and makes you feel like a genius when that “a-ha!” moment hits.

None of this would matter if the setting was dull, but the rolling Cumbrian hills and bubbling streams are an absolute joy to nearly be murdered in. Rebellion perfectly captures the quaint vibe of the area, and the village shops and traditional cozy pub are immediately welcoming — angry Druids and glowing monsters aside, obviously.

Combat is harsh but dull

Rebellion

This is no quiet stroll in the country, though. The grassy lanes and underground tunnels are full of danger, from outlaws armed with cricket bats to infected scientists that stomp toward you like a silent terminator.

Fortunately, you have a sizeable arsenal of weapons to defend yourself, mostly consisting of rusty shotguns and rifles you find in the wild. However, ammo is scarce and enemies can make short work of you if you’re not careful, adding a great deal of tension to every fight. 

You’re no supersoldier, so it can feel extremely punishing when you’re still learning the ropes. Plus, going into your inventory doesn’t pause the game, so trying to restore health or cure debuffs like bleed, infection, and burn mid-fight is almost impossible.

This uncompromising design made every decision and engagement a life-or-death situation. But it did lead to more than a few frustrating deaths, where I began bleeding from a stab wound or became infected by a Feral’s long-range spew. In these moments, I resigned myself to the fact there was nothing I could do and accepted my fate.

With this in mind, I opted to try and avoid combat wherever possible, instead favoring a stealthier approach, which felt like the right way to play.

Rebellion

But when the knives inevitably come out or the bullets start to fly, combat was a fairly dull affair. Melee battles soon devolved into wildly swinging a hatchet at each other. Besides carefully timing a kick to stagger enemies, there was no real strategy to consider. While the more traditional guns are serviceable enough to get you out of a pinch, they often felt clunky to use, as most shots required a lengthy reload that left urging my character to hurry up. 

There are a few skills to unlock that ease some of this pain later on in the campaign, but nothing that completely changes the flow of each fight. This is a tale of survival about an average Joe battling through great adversity – not a deep RPG that lets you hone in on a specific playstyle.  

It’s far from Fallout, and that’s ok

Atomfall shakes off the Fallout comparisons and stands on its own as a captivating sci-fi mystery. The gripping central story and wonderfully realized setting make it easy to forget about its shortcomings, and the lack of hand-holding is a refreshing change that other open-world games like Elder Scrolls or Assassin’s Creed should take note of.

The combat is far from the sleek action seen in Stalker or Bethesda RPGs like Fallout that clearly inspired it, and the punishing difficulty can be frustrating when you’re just trying to get from A to B. But even after rolling credits, I can’t wait to jump back in and explore some of those lingering threads and see where they take me this time.