When I saw that Rebellion logo appear at the Xbox Games Showcase, I immediately thought we were getting a look at a new Sniper Elite game (which I’d be very happy about). But, to my surprise, we got our first look at a brand new game, dubbed Atomfall.
Atomfall is a single player survival-action game set in Britain (UK) after the second world war. The story will feel familiar to Fallout fans, as a nuclear disaster leads to some weird goings on in the area of Wyndham in the Lake District.
Of course, this is a much more contained situation than a Fallout story (we haven’t seen the end of civilisation as we know it…yet). Set five years after the incident (inspired by what is known as the UK’s first and worst nuclear disaster) at the ‘Windscale Atom Plant’, there’s a mix of cults, factions, and inhuman creatures to contend with. Plus, everyone seems positively hostile in the Quarantine Zone.
Speaking in a blog on Xbox Wire, Rebellion note that your actions in the game will help shape the story and the outcome in the end. Best start making some friends.
A key hook of Atomfall is that one of your main pieces of equipment is a metal detector. You’ll be using this to seek out as much salvage as you can to help you figure out what’s going on in Wyndham.
The trailer shows a first-person perspective, swinging bats at Morris dancers, glowy blue zombie type creatures, and taking on imposing mechs. It looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun combat wise. I’m intrigued to see what else there is, but we did get a peek at a bow and arrow, pistols, and machine guns in the trailer.
The more I saw of this game, the more I liked the look of it. To me, it seems to be doing a good job of capturing the British charm of the Lake District, alongside the familiar feel of Sniper Elite and Zombie Army games which Rebellion are known for. I hope we get to see some of that British humour embedded in the tone (especially if it’s been inspired by British classics such as Doctor Who), the trailer gives me high hopes.
With Todd Howard stating that Fallout isn’t likely to leave the United States, it’s nice to see somewhere experience something of a nuclear disaster themed narrative (in a game obviously!).
I’m intrigued to see if they tie this to the Sniper Elite universe. Of course, there’s no reason to, but given the time it’s set in, it’s reasonable that this could be what follows after the adventures of the series’ protagonist, Karl Fairburne. There’s still time for him to feature in future iterations of that series too ahead of this game’s setting.
For now, I have three questions:
- Will Atomfall have x-ray kills from Sniper Elite?
- Will there be some sort of cameo of Karl Fairburne, maybe some hints as to the locale of Sniper Elite 6?
- Can I pilot those mechs?
Oh, and the telephone box you can see in the key art isn’t bigger on the inside, as per Rebellion’s Twitter (X) post:
I can’t wait to see more from Atomfall ahead of its anticipated release in 2025, where it will release on PC, PS5 and Xbox Series consoles. It’s also coming to Game Pass, day one.
