I realize that July just saw the launch of Fallout: London, a massive, total-conversion mod that needed five years of all-volunteer development to bring to term. Still, there is something about Atomfall, Rebellion Developments’ own take on a post-nookular United Kingdom with a 1950s vibe, that I find appealing.
Full disclosure, there are few Rebellion games I won’t at least try, and most of them I genuinely enjoy, going back to a dream I had in 2014 when Obi-Wan Kenobi told me to try Sniper Elite 3 because I would like it (I am not making that up). I did and Ben was right.
Even if to video gaming at large, Rebellion’s games draw so-so aggregate review scores and rarely figure in end-of-year lists or awards, there’s an atmosphere and consistency of fun that I do admire, especially in Sniper Elite and even in titles like Strange Brigade and the Zombie Army Trilogy. We play video games because they’re fun, first and foremost.
So I’m willing to give an ambitious project like Atomfall a little extra rope, even if it is derivative of things Bethesda Game Studios and its army of devoted modders have already done well for 15 years. On Wednesday, Rebellion brought its next game, due for launch in March 2025, to Xbox’s show from the Gamescom floor.
If you’re wondering, yes, this will be a legitimate, open-world action role-playing game — it’s not just a linear set of shooter missions with the odd vendor or two to resupply your ammo or upgrade your weapon. Crafting, dialogue options, and basic scavenging/resource hunting all figure in, as it’s a survival game after all.
Atomfall’s influences: Sniper Elite, and a real atomic disaster
“We always value sandbox exploration and giving the player lots of freedom in their objectives,” Ben Fisher, the game’s design director, said in a discussion with Xbox event staff after the latest trailer aired. “At the same time this is a survival game with RPG elements, there’s skill, there’s crafting, the story of the game unfolds as you explore.”
Intriguingly, Atomfall is loosely based on the very real Windscale fire of October 1957, the worst nuclear accident in the United Kingdom’s history. It’s one of seven accidents rated a five or higher on the seven-level International Nuclear Event Scale (Americans, think Three Mile Island, another 5 on that scale).
“We took that as a starting point and then said, ‘What’s a Rebellion interpretation of that event?’” FIsher said. “It’s an alternate history story.”
Character or avatar creation does not sound like it will figure into the RPG experience Rebellion is delivering, though. The player character isn’t voiced and there are no signifiers to their age or gender (Fisher noted they wear gloves).
The player’s mysterious background is part of the story, “that you may or may not uncover,” he said. “We wanted it to feel not so much a war zone as it is a pub crawl. [But] you’re desperately attempting to survive.”
How big is Atomfall’s open world, though?
Atomfall’s world comprises “five or six” sandbox maps, Fisher said, and as a point of reference he invited Sniper Elite fans to think about how its maps are constructed, in that the exploitable and explorable terrain still looks natural without giving away its usefulness or secrets.
Players will be able to travel freely between these maps at any time, Fisher added, and they’re supported by building interiors and even bigger set-piece locations for the game’s major conflicts. “We wanted to lean into that densely packed puzzle box,” for which Rebellion is known, Fisher said.
We’ll see how well Rebellion performed outside of its comfort zone when Atomfall launches in March 2025. They are taking on a considerable challenge in that a lot of what Atomfall is striving to do either has been done, if not already done as well as it ever could be, and this is a shooter studio’s first crack at the genre.
But, speaking personally, the goodwill they’ve built up with both Sniper Elite, and rollicking spinoffs using its engine, means it’s worth at least a chance. And as it will be launching simultaneously on Xbox Game Pass when it does arrive, there’s not much risk in giving Atomfall at least a look-see.
Atomfall will launch for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
Featured image via Rebellion Entertainment.
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