When you think of survival games, what games come to mind? Resident Evil, Ark: Survival, Fallout New Vegas, State of Decay, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, Day Z, Palworld, or Minecraft might be some of the games that come to mind.
Survival games and RPGs typically go hand in hand, with hardcore RPG fans either playing on survival difficulty or creating rules that make the games more difficult (EX Nuzlocke—Pokemon). This week, we had the chance to meet with Rebellion Developments to preview their upcoming game, Atomfall; Atomfall is set to release on March 27th, 2025, on the PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
During this preview, we were given free rein to explore the map and find hints/leads to figure out what has transpired in the Lake District of Cumbria. For the preview, we were loaded into a point roughly two hours into the game with our character was unaware of how they got there and even events that had previously transpired. With a majority of the map open, we could wander to our heart’s content for the demo; the demo gave us an hour and a half to explore and do whatever we wanted, kill whoever we wanted.
For the demo, we were paired off in groups of three where we could see each others’ screens but not directly influence one another. Since we were all predominantly focused on our own game, I would occasionally look over at the other two screens and wonder how they got there, but then go back to what I was doing.
For the first thirty minutes of the demo, I primarily spent time wandering around the dam and exploring the factory. After feeling like there wasn’t much I could uncover at that immediate moment, I decided to explore the right side of the map finding a nice old lady, a secret bunker, and a fortified town.
No matter where we went, it felt like there was something hidden we could find, something tucked in a nook and cranny that was easy to miss but could lead you down a whole different rabbit hole. Rather than having markers on the map point you in specific directions, the game forces you to explore and discover where you want to go.
As you gather more information, you can uncover new details that can unravel different mysteries and change your opinion on certain characters. The landscape within the game is beautiful with eye-catching colors and a high attention to details
As previously mentioned, in Atomfall you can kill whoever you want. If they are a named character, you can kill them and ally yourself with someone else, but in doing so, you can miss out on vital information that they could have shared with you. The game does feature generic NPCs as well that can be used to farm materials, weapons, and ammo.
During our playthrough, we decided to kill the general in the fortified town. At first, the soldiers were in shock at what we had done but then started to attack. Luckily, we were able to take them out quietly before they could raise the alarm in the town. With the general dead and body hidden, we were able to ask leading questions as if he sent us out on a mission.
Combat within Atomfall is fairly smooth. Yes, you do have to manage your resources but otherwise, you just have to monitor your health bar and heart rate (Stamina). While we were playing, we found a ton of bandages to be able to heal ourselves, however, medkits were scarce. While exploring the Quarantine Zone (wasteland), you could find recipes and skill books.
These recipes allowed you to craft items like bandages, sticky grenades, and stimulants while the skill books unlocked new skills in the different trees. As you level, you could get more skill points to help learn new abilities or be more resourceful. One skill we took increased our health, while another made it easier to kill silently.
In Atomfall there are a variety of ways you can play the game. You can choose to avoid combat as much as possible or you can be more aggressive and take enemies head on. If you are using melee weapons, they will increase your heart rate faster but not be reliant on ammo. Ammo within the Quarantine Zone can be scarce; bullets are harder to come by than arrows, however, arrows do not work on all things.
In the Quarantine Zone, you will find some things are not easy to kill with melee weapons such as a knife or cricket bat. Instead, you will need guns with bullets to take down the radiated creatures and the mechanized robots. Robots are not easy to take down and require a good bit of damage before they do go down. Once they are down, you will need to remove their atomic core in order to stop them from getting back up.
Although our preview of Atomfall was only an hour and a half, we still had the opportunity to see a good bit of what it has to offer. The combat within the game is smooth and similar to other survival action games; at one point, the combat mechanics reminded us of Bulletstorm, especially with the kicking option.
Although bullets and arrows were scarce, it felt like there was just enough to survive and make it through; it never felt like we were struggling to move forward. The Hint/Tip system could be a bit more thorough leading the player to the next clue or other help leads; this is potentially another game option we did not get to check out.
Combat within the game can be as challenging as you want to make it. If you want to be stealthy, you can take down foes one by one. If you want to be more aggressive, you can alert a bunch of enemies, get them to clump up, and then throw a grenade at them. As someone who hates being forced into stealthy situations, it was nice to be able to take down enemies however I wanted.
The metal detector within the game is a fun side-questing experience that allows you to find resources in order to survive. Yes, it does take a little bit to get used to, but once you have figured it out, it can be quite handy.
Finally, the vast openness of the world and everything that you can discover gives players hours of possible exploration. Even within the demo time, it felt like we had just barely scratched the surface of the area we were in and that there were a lot more leads and mysteries to uncover. As I rewatched the playthrough, I noticed stuff that I missed or things that I could have done differently. This will give adventure seekers a wide variety of things to explore.
So throughout my playthrough, only two things really bothered me. One, when trying to run we were required to hold in the stick to continue running. For the demo, we were asked to not change any settings so that everyone could have a similar experience. Our second grievance was the lack of markers in the cardinal direction bar.
This resulted in us having to consult the map more often than we would have liked to in order to make sure we were going the right way. Both of these aspects might be able to be changed in the game settings once the game launches. Yes, it is nice to explore and find points of interest, but a little directional help doesn’t hurt anyone.
If you are looking forward to Atomfall, make sure to check out our above preview video. Atomfall is set to release on March 27th for Windows PC (via Steam, the Microsoft Store, and the Epic Games Store), Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, PS5, and Xbox Game Pass.
