Back in the day it was a risky thing to buy a brand new game without having waited for the magazine reviews. You could get home with it and find out quickly that it was not the game you were hoping for based on the box art and description on the back. These days, there are downloadable demos, quick internet reviews, plus the fact that many new games end up in one of the subscription services that exist.
I admit to not taking full advantage of XBox's Game Pass Platinum Ultimate Game Pass thing, but rather just using it to try out one or two new games a year. It was in this manner that I came across Atomfall, a new first-person adventure set in 1960s England in a countryside area sealed off after a science experiment goes wrong. I tried it out for a few hours to see if it was worth diving into, and it was.
It's got first person gunplay and melee combat, lots of exploration across 5 large areas, with smaller areas opening up within them. The areas are gorgeous, with ruined buildings, flowing rivers, and trees and bushes all over. Learning each area, and the various routes to navigate through them and between them, was a blast. The world is very well designed in this manner.
Combat is fun first-person stuff but there are limited weapons available, as one would expect in an area of the country that has been shut off for apparently years before the gamer joins. There are some slight upgrades available, I think, but I never explored that.
Enemies are limited to several factions, one being the usual post-apocalyptic outcasts, another being fascist British soldiers that are oppressively locking down a tiny town with like 15 people. The fascists have tall robots which are fun to fight, too. Finally there are nature freaks deep in the woods that are trying to make things worse as well.
Critters include ferals, bees, and very angry plants, so there is medium variety. You can clear an area out for awhile but return visits later usually result in respawned foes. Random patrols also come through to keep things interesting, so the frequent backtracking one does can be full of surprises.
The player gets a couple of cool gadgets in the form of a metal detector and a signal redirector. The detector beeps when the player is close to something, but then requires a few seconds of finesse to nail down the exact spot before the loot can be had.
The signal redirector allows power to be rerouted at junctions and a few other functions. These puzzles are pretty easy but rewarding nonetheless. The player doesn’t get the metal detector or signal redirector right away, so lots of Metroidvania backtracking is needed, but I found it enjoyable as the map design is devious at times, with tunnels and other routes between areas.
The game’s story concludes with not a boss fight (although there are tough enemies to fight if one chooses) but with several choices based on what faction or scientist or other asshole the player decides to listen to. I enjoyed the ending I choose but could easily load up a save before the final area and make a different choice to see the other endings.
I enjoyed Atomfall quite a bit. It was big enough and deep enough to pull me in but didn’t bloat itself up with content. It concluded in a timely and satisfying manner and gave me the first person adventure fix I was looking for.
