Atomfall Review — Fallout Meets Peaky Blinders?

If you’ve been craving some post-apocalyptic shenanigans with a cockney twist, you’d better shift your peepers over to Atomfall; a first-person survival game is mixing up the usual formula to deliver something familiar yet fresh to the genre.

Of course, any game that explores the fall of civilization following a nuclear incident will undoubtedly be compared to the now-uber-popular Fallout franchise. And while Atomfall‘s inspirations are apparent, Rebellion Development’s experience with the open-world playground and versatility of the Sniper Elite series shines through to this new adventure. There’s not as much heavy-RPG tinkering as you’d maybe expect, relying more on fun exploration and snappy combat to deliver a more action-adventure wasteland experience.

Atomfall‘s captivating premise plays on the actual history of the real-world Windscale fire of 10 October 1957 (which was the worst nuclear accident in the United Kingdom’s history, and one of the worst in the world), and cranks it up to 11. The whole region is completely radiated and has left a lot of chaos in the world, forcing many to fight for survival, join gangs, and do whatever it takes to make it through the day.

Playing as an amnesiac (a classic affliction) who has to get to the bottom of the incident, you have to battle your way through mutated creatures, members of a violent doomsday cult, rogue military agents, and robots. The beauty of Atomfall, though, is that there’s no direct route to the finish-line — you’re dropped into the world, forced to explore, and stumble upon NPCs and areas that will direct you through missions to progress. This non-linear approach makes it a really interesting world to explore, and you feel like everything you stumble upon is important and not just a side distraction.

While exploring, you’ll find scraps and resources to use to craft weapons or items, although, like many other survival games, ammo is pretty scarce, so you’ll be forced into a fair bit of melee combat in the game. Whacking someone with a pipe or bat in first-person is always a tricky feeling to get right, but Atomfall does a good job at making melee combat feel impactful and fun, rather than a stop-gap until you find the next batch of bullets.

However, stealth also plays a role, and you’re able to sneak up behind enemies and dispose of them with a single attack, or avoid them altogether. The game can really be played how you see fit, and that’s what makes it so freeing. Of course, games with so much versatility are not without their bugs. Due to the lack of guardrails around the direction of missions, you’ll end up encountering some janky moments, but they’re few and far between and never ruin the experience.

Ultimately, where other open-world imitators have failed, Atomfall is one of the better and more interesting ones around. Its non-direct and experimental gameplay allows you to just trudge into the action as you see fit, and the British setting gives it a fresh spin. Atomfall is well worth a play if you’re willing to accept some of its rough edges.

Atomfall is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.