Atomfall (PlayStation 5)

Bought this on a whim and find it really enjoyable. Big selling points are the gorgeous Lake District environment and little villages, which feels quintessentially like the English countryside, and borrows heavily from British sci-fi and horror in its world design. The cast of characters are also well fleshed out, speaking a variety of different British dialects and a lot of them with their own take on the current quarantine you find yourself in (which is presumed to be caused by the Windscale Fire nuclear disaster, but as the story unfolds it's clear there's more to it than that). Quests have branching paths and can be completed a variety of different ways, which curry favour with the different factions. The game favours exploration, with 'leads' giving you things to do and a lack of quest markers in the default setting. The well-crafted environments are small enough that you can usually get to the bottom of these leads without too much hassle.Gameplay-wise combat is simple but functional - with melee, firearm and stealth options, and with throwables like Molotov cocktails and grenades. There's a kick option to stagger enemies, which is a must, and most of the combat relies on your physically getting out of the way of enemy strikes. There's a simple skill system which lets you specialise a bit into your preferred weapons, but the RPG elements are light. Consumables (from weapon upgrades to healing supplies) can be crafted with materials from the environment - overall I'm not too much of a fan of crafting in games but here it didn't feel too burdensome with enough findable in your environment to ensure you're not pulling up the crafting menu continuously.I've heard combat and exploration are highly tuneable in the options menu, but I've never felt a need to deviate from the recommended difficulty. I've experienced an audio glitch a couple of times (where all sound cuts out) which caused me to restart - but otherwise it has been bug free to far about 8 hours in.Overall I like it, run time feels appropriate for an AA experience and it has enough personality that it feels distinct. I would recommend it if you're looking for something a bit more scaled back than a AAA game but that still has a great story and fantastic world to sink your teeth into. In terms of price you will get 'more game' in AAA for sure, but sometimes that does feel more like quantity over the quality on display here.

Let me be clear, this game is not a ‘British Fallout’.Atomfall is a is a fun game to play with a unique experience and at times a beautiful environment .The game is a mix between; Bioshock, STALKER with " the last of us" elements to the way it plays.There are multiple endings, play styles and fun ways to complete it. I loved the exploration parts of the game and finding all the various clues darted across the different areas and locations.I also love the Britishness of the game and appreciated the work the development team put into the game.My only criticism is that it is short (my first playthrough lasted shy of 18 hours long)Overall it was great (8/10)

for the price its a great gamemuch like fallout 4 with a brit twistexcellent voice actingcombat is great but the melee combat is janky on a lock or fighting numbersthe world design is amazing with nods to Brit icons and lore... cornish pasties tea its all there even Mr Bean and Dr Who easter eggs ....sound is great and the only negative is the grass no one can see u in bit of a daft thing to leave inwhat's great is the no hand holding find out whats going on ...basically your columbo with a gun lolall in all best £35 quid ive spent since KCD2 and that game was a beast .... buy Atomfall you wont regret it

I had not even heard of this game until a few weeks before release, but the hype about Fallout set in England got my attention.Now yes, you can certainly see there is a Fallout influence (the creators even say New Vegas was one of their biggest influences), the similarities are minimal. Yes it is a third person shooter set in a world affected by nuclear disaster in the 50s, that is about where it stops. Due to the disaster not being as wide ranging, the environments are much prettier than Fallout and there are less dramatic effects on the locals and wild life. There are variations on the feral ghouls, and there are robots that do security, but its far less over the top.The main meat and bones of Atomfall is exploration and survival, which means there is no levelling up RPG elements, with the exception of skills you can unlock. To this end, your inventory stays pretty small for the "realism" aspect and your health isn't exactly large either, meaning you have to be more careful in combat or around rats, bats and buzzing creatures.NPCs are also quite minamalistic.Unlike Fallout there is not just one big sandbox, but there are several smaller maps that you move to and from via doors or tunnels. Sadly, when inside a facility or cave there is no map so exploration can get a bit annoying, especially when it comes to finding your way back out.The controls can be a bit clunky, especially with climbing and switching between weapons. And be aware that the game does not pause while perusing your inventory, viewing the map or checking what your next goal is.With the small inventory, you can store stuff in pneumatic tubes that can be accessed anywhere that has one, which you will want to do as traders do not accept any kind of monetary payment (no bottlecaps here) but instead work on a barter system, which is slanted in their favour. Want one item, you might have to give them six items in trade, although this can be lowered if you decide to learn the bartering skill. Also worth storing weapons in the tubes for when you unlock the upgrade skill for weapons, as you will need an extra version of the weapon you are upgrading to basically be stripped for parts.Even though the individual maps are smaller, it's still quite annoying that there is no fast travel, but once again, this is probably due to the focus on survival skills.Stealth is in the game, but it really does not work that well to be honest.Over all it's not a bad game, but lacks excitement and just feels a little dated.

From the team who brought you the sniper elite series and I must say they’ve done a good job. Interesting gameplay with great graphics and it doesn’t hold your hand so be prepared for lots of exploration. Be prepared to be hunted down by mad axe wielding welshmen a lot. My biggest gripes so far is the lack of fast travel and stealth could be better. But I am enjoying it so far and it’s not as terrible as some will have you believe.