For seven years now, British developer Insurrection has honed and enhanced its craft on iterative sequels. A second Evil Genius, a fourth Zombie Military, a fifth Sniper Elite — all completely good to nice video games in their very own proper, however primarily based on an already fine-tuned method. Atomfall, then, the studio’s first new IP since Unusual Brigade, represents an eye catching break from that norm.
With shades of Disco Elysium and immersive sims like Deus Ex and PREY, the crew has swapped easy motion for thriller and suspense. It’s about meddling in locations you don’t belong, working for and towards folks to get what you need, and discovering a means out of an English quarantine zone. It’s an idea so nicely executed that Atomfall clears Insurrection’s previous efforts to turn into its biggest achievement thus far.
Set within the picturesque Lake District of northern England, the village of Wyndham and its environment have been closed off from the surface world for 5 years. The sport makes use of the real-life Windscale nuclear catastrophe and creates an alternate timeline the place the as soon as peaceable countryside surrounding the plant by no means recovered. The village now finds itself underneath authorities management, with robots patrolling the streets and violent, excessive clans looking anybody not sporting their colors outdoors of its partitions.
You get up sooner or later in a bunker contained in the quarantine zone with essentially the most candid of goals: escape. As everyone knows, nevertheless, it’s by no means that straightforward. Conspiracy theories and rumours are rife all through the village, and you could separate truth from fiction with a view to style a dependable getaway. The magic of Atomfall is there’s no assure your discoveries will even result in something of be aware — deadends are frequent and false hope is frequent. As such, the expertise turns into one you’ll wish to poke and prod to see the way it reacts again (and probably reload a save), at all times doubtful over whether or not you’ve been manipulated into taking the improper path.
The title presents this investigation to you within the type of Leads, that are a substitute for the standard RPG quests system. As a substitute of markers routinely littering a map, you’ll speak to folks and discover notes that reveal extra concerning the world as you go alongside. These clues are then documented and grouped collectively so you possibly can discover an total idea of escape somewhat than finishing a singular goal in isolation.
Places will likely be marked in your map primarily based on the proof you discover, opening up extra locations to pursue the hearsay and work out whether or not it’s a viable approach to depart the quarantine zone or not. There are simply as some ways to interrupt free and end the sport as there aren’t, making the expertise ripe for replay to see what alternatives you missed the primary time.
Tying all these inquiries collectively is a gameplay loop of exploring, speaking, crafting, and the occasional capturing. The sport adopts an open zone construction, with Wyndham Village at its centre and a handful of various areas surrounding it, all accessed by brief load screens. Inside its partitions, Wyndham prioritises the investigation by character interactions and sneaking previous guards. Exterior of them, killing cult members — both with a gun or melee weapons — replaces any introductory pleasantries.
You could scavenge for provides, sources, and ammo to outlive out within the wild, however there’s greater than sufficient to go round. Whereas it’s been marketed as a “survival-action recreation”, the crafting system is the one mechanic that comes near one thing you’d count on of a survival expertise. You don’t have to handle any starvation, thirst, or sleep meters — there’s nothing near that in Atomfall. And even then, we had been by no means low on therapeutic objects or bullets, permitting us full freedom in how we approached any state of affairs.
That is, for all intents and functions, a standard motion recreation once you resolve to struggle again towards the cults — but it surely’s additionally the place the expertise slips considerably. The melee fight and gunplay are each slightly clunky, with disappointing hit suggestions that makes swinging the likes of cricket bats and knives notably unfulfilling.
There’s additionally a stealth system and a easy trespassing mechanic for locations you’re not presupposed to be in, alerting close by enemies once you’re noticed. Each really feel tacked on, nevertheless. Regardless of it clearly not being the primary focus of the sport, you have interaction in fight usually sufficient for it to remove from the general expertise. Atomfall is way and away at its finest once you’re pursuing Leads by dialog and espionage because the countryside’s James Bond, not bashing an enemy’s head in with a cricket bat.
Insurrection not less than does a unbelievable job of guaranteeing you’re partaking with the previous as a lot as doable because of an exquisite recreation of a typical, quaint English village. Hailing from the UK, we instantly fell in love with Wyndham and its dry stone partitions, pub, and the identical model of village corridor with a stage in all places appears to have.
Complementing the setting is social and political commentary performed over loudspeakers all through Wyndham that makes enjoyable of assorted British stereotypes and themes, together with Conservative slogans from the COVID-19 pandemic. A number of the magic will likely be misplaced on gamers from outdoors of the UK. Nevertheless, for anybody who can determine with that small-town nature the place everybody is aware of one another, and native gossip and grudges are the speak of the place, then Wyndham proves a particular setting.
On the PS5 Professional not less than, all of it runs excellently too. Save for a rogue audio cutout concern, the sport performs at a really clean 60 frames-per-second with first rate visuals to match. Wyndham seems beautiful regardless of the ruins round its perimeter, and the encompassing zones are simply as a lot of a deal with to discover with attention-grabbing landmarks and attractive underground areas.
Conclusion
Atomfall commits to embodying all the pieces it means to be British, and it comes out the opposite aspect all the higher for it. The thriller on the coronary heart of the alternate Nineteen Sixties setting is gripping, ceaselessly teasing clues and options to a means out of its rural quarantine zone. Its fight programs and mechanics let the expertise down, however Insurrection’s newest peaks when it makes you the countryside’s Inspector Gadget with a bunch of Results in pursue and villagefolk to suspect.
