Rebellion’s newly released Atomfall is a survival-action game set in the Lake District, United Kingdom, and takes place five years after the Windscale fire, which occurred in 1957. This guide will tell you all about Atomfall’s story, gameplay, and more!
Atomfall’s Windscale Disaster: The Real Story
In real life, the Windscale fire is the worst nuclear accident to date in the UK. The island very nearly had its own Chernobyl-like disaster because of it. After a bit of ghosting from the American government after the Second World War on the topic of nuclear technology – despite the UK’s own Tube Alloys atomic bomb project collaborating with the Manhattan Project – the British government were feeling particularly slighted. They were also fearful that the cold shoulder from their ally meant that they would lose their power in world affairs and have to face potential threats alone. Wanting to prove themselves as one of the nuclear cool kids, the British government set up the Gen 75 Committee to form its own nuclear weapons programme.
Nuclear weapons facilities were constructed throughout the UK, including plutonium processing facilities at in Cumbria – the reactors were called Windscale Pile 1 and Pile 2. Of course, desperation meant that the planning and construction was rushed. Not to mention, the British government was utterly broke following the Second World War, so corners were cut to save time and money. This resulted in an aluminum canister in Pile 1 bursting and the uranium rod inside catching fire. This burned for three days and radioactive material passed through the filters and out of the chimneys.
Just like the Chernobyl incident, the British government were slow to evacuate the local population or even inform them of what had happened, instead opting to recall and destroy milk from the farmlands surrounding the facility. In fact, the British government also prevented the news from being published in hopes that the American government might not notice what had happened. It’s estimated that 100 to 240 people have died from cancer as a result of the fire.
Atomfall’s Story: A New Take On The Windscale Fire
Atomfall takes place in an alternate reality to this event, which has seemingly turned out worse than it did in real life. Whereas in real life you can now go to the Lake District to have a lovely weekend canoeing and hiking, in Atomfall, the Lake District and its surrounding areas have been walled off and completely cut off from the rest of the country – canoeing and hiking is still an option for those trapped inside, though! Later, soldiers were sent by the British government to keep the peace, but found out after they arrived that they weren’t allowed to leave either.
We play as a faceless protagonist who wakes up in a bunker in the quarantine zone with no memory of who they are or how they got there. As we traverse this forsaken land, we keep getting mysterious calls from a stranger from the telephone boxes we pass along the way – yes, the same telephone boxes that have had their lines cut.
Unsurprisingly, a lot of people have gone insane under the circumstances. While the quaint Wyndham Village seems pleasant enough, and its residents welcoming (albeit the soldiers are a little controlling, having apparently turned quite bitter over the fact that they can’t return to their families,) outside the village’s walls is a different story. Once you’ve ignored the warnings blaring from the overhead speakers and strolled out into the wilderness, you discover that a lot of the Cumbria region’s inhabitants have ended up joining one of two erratic factions: the Outlaws and the Druids.
Meanwhile, the soldiers remaining in the region have formed their own authority group called Protocol, sticking to what they were sent to do: maintain order. This involves keeping civilians from investigating the secret facility abandoned by The British Atomic Research Division (B.A.R.D.) on the day of the incident and burning any evidence that some kind of strange vegetation is growing across the region. They use the power of B.A.R.D.’s abandoned robots, manufactured as part of the technological advances from its nuclear research, to do so.
We must find a way to escape the quarantine zone, and the enigmatic voice speaking to us from the telephone boxes seems to think B.A.R.D.’s secret underground facility is the answer. There is one slight problem with this however – no one else hears these telephone boxes ringing.
Atomfall Gameplay Basics
The main thing to take into consideration when playing Atomfall is that this is your story. There are multiple ways to progress in the main story and also approach each side quest, but the game will very much not hold your hand with this. Your quests will be added to your journal, however, they will not have objectives. Instead you will gather ‘Leads’ by reading notes or talking to NPCs, and these will be jotted down under each quest.
But these Leads will not leave objective markers on your map or compass; it’s up to you to piece them together and decide where to go next. Sometimes you’ll be approaching a quest one way, will find a letter while snooping around, and that will take you in a different direction. Sometimes, your leads will oppose one another, and it’s up to you to make a choice. Because of this, Atomfall is very much a game that can be played multiple times.
Navigation takes the form of working out where you need to go, marking it on your map and then finding your own way to that destination. Like the quests, the map in Atomfall offers multiple routes to get to a single destination; you can take various paths and even use underground tunnels and sewage systems if needs be. The map is split into four different regions: Slatten Dale, Wyndham Village, Casterfell Woods, and Skethermoor. Different factions patrol each region, so it’s essential to be wary when trespassing over enemy territory.
Atomfall has a multitude of difficulty options available which can also be customized. However, playing it on the recommended setting means that ammo is incredibly scarce. This is a game where picking your battles wisely really counts, and the game offers plenty of alternatives to getting in a fight. As mentioned before, the land has multiple pathways heading to your destination so you can take an alternative route if you see a patrol heading your way. If you do bump into them, the enemy will often give you the chance to turn back and leave peacefully, with a bar indicating how close they are to breaking into an attack. Inside enemy territory where they will attack you on sight, stealth is a viable option and you’re offered a choice of weapons that allow you to take down enemies quietly one by one, or go in guns blazing if you have the ammo to spare.
Exploration means you will be more likely to come across recipes for ammo, weapons, buffs and medicine. In this world where ammo is so scarce, these recipes can be gold dust as they give you further options to use the resources you have available to stay alive. However, your inventory is incredibly limited and you will also spend a lot of time having to decide what to pick up and what to leave. Luckily, B.A.R.D. facilities are connected to the Pneumatic Dispatch Tube Network. Much like real life pneumatic tubes, this system allows you to not only store items, but also access them from other facilities to help lessen the load on your inventory.
Will you be picking up Atomfall when it releases? What burning questions do you have before playing? Let us know in the comments and also stay tuned for our full review!
