After two hours, open world shooter Atomfall is far more Far Cry than S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

I was towards the extremity of my Atomfall demo erstwhile it clicked for maine - clicked similar the gravelly study of a ammunition entering the breech of my rusty yet devastating shotgun. Guided by the deteriorated authorities of my weapons, and by James' Gamescom write-up, I’d been trying to play Rebellion’s alt-Sixties unfastened satellite FPS similar S.T.A.L.K.E.R., hoarding my ammo and avoiding unnecessary bloodshed arsenic I crept astir an English woodland afloat of druids ranting astir atomic fungus. I’d made it to the bosom of the druid encampment - a National Trust castle of the benignant that would typically beryllium 30% wedding venue, 50% giftshop - lone to scope a dormant extremity successful a banqueting hall. I had a cardinal for a fastener I couldn’t find. Perhaps it laic successful a structure extracurricular the castle, oregon successful 1 of the surrounding caves?

I went backmost extracurricular and contemplated each the defender patrols I’d conscionable artfully threaded connected the mode to the castle. I remembered the deceptively low-key parting words of my quest-giver, a mightily behatted woman called Mother Jago, who’d sent maine to the castle to retrieve a publication with the knowing that it was "nothing worthy sidesplitting over". I weighed these perchance plot-shaping sentiments against the 30 minutes near successful my hands-on session, past pulled retired my shotgun and started blasting. And it was past that I realised I’d been playing Atomfall wrong.

This isn’t S.T.A.L.K.E.R., nary substance what that atrocious James mightiness archer you – it’s a Far Cry that has wandered northbound of Ubisoft's accustomed equatorial settings and into the realm of acheronian Satanic mills. It’s not, successful my experience, a crippled of grating deprivation and gradual fearfulness wherever decease is often invisible. It’s a crippled wherever you burst retired of the agelong writer and clobber loudly dressed goofballs with a cricket bat. It’s a crippled wherever you propulsion aromatic bait astatine campfires to summon swarms of mutant wasps. It’s a crippled wherever enemies often signifier a heedless Conga enactment into your bowsights, and you forgive them this due to the fact that the combat barks are pleasantly daft.

Image credit: Rebellion

"Stop your whinging," bellows a painted antheral successful braces, arsenic helium smacks maine with a pipe. "Bloody hell!" helium squeals, arsenic I chuck a fireaxe astatine his head. None of the lines are hilarious individually, but slap them unneurotic during a rapidly evolving gunfight and you get a beauteous pantomime that makes a virtuousness of the AI’s tactical ineptitude. Together with the quality to sic creatures connected humans, it coaxes retired memories of definite peculiar moments successful Far Cry 3, erstwhile I’d skirt an outpost lone to perceive the distinctive carnival ruckus of pirates getting each fucked up by a cassowary.

The S.T.A.L.K.E.R. parallels are beauteous abundant too, successful fairness. Atomfall is acceptable successful the Lake District countryside pursuing a real-life atomic accident, upgraded by Rebellion’s writers into a disastrous paranormal experimentation of immoderate kind. The fields and woods are littered with burned-out tanks and helicopters, and the quarantined locals person separated into militant factions. The druids aside, there’s speech of a town’s worthy of radical Keeping Calm And Carrying On that puts maine successful caput of We Happy Few.

The spillage from the reactor has besides transformed the wildlife into assorted taxon of McMonster, portion filling the heads of definite humans with predatory, cordyceptic whispering. There’s are definite Annihilation vibes here, positive immoderate simple B-movie paganism. In 1 peculiar underground area, I recovered altars hung with skulls and a chasm afloat of luminous bluish histrion ears with a reactor halfway mildly fizzling astatine the bottom.

Image credit: Rebellion

The geography successful wide is rather uncanny, but possibly not by intention. There are touches of agrarian Britannica that punctual maine of my ain clip successful the Lake District: chromatic packhorse bridges, a peculiar taxon of zebra-striped signpost, the obligatory Very British reddish telephone booths (where you’ll sometimes person guttural, anomalous telephone calls – I fishy it’s the fungus again). I glimpsed a upland extracurricular the demo play country that could person been Scafell Pike. But each the specificity has been fed to a stealth-action blueprint that needs a peculiar equilibrium of paths and overlooks and crevices, with tentpole clusters of foes and resources, and evenly-distributed patches of writer to fell in.

This isn’t a damning observation: I’m ever fascinated by however games re-interpret settings, and successful this case, I person immoderate section familiarity to bring to bear. I’m little fond of the game’s dungeon-style spaces, ranging from caves to cellars, which play retired successful a precise evident mode with tripwires to leap over, discarded letters astir sinister goings-on, and swiftly-found crawlspaces providing entree to storerooms afloat of goodies. The predictability present is simply a small compensated by the request to stitchery clues astir quest destinations, alternatively than straightforwardly unlocking a waypoint. There are letters and references successful dialog you’ll request to drawstring together, though this didn’t marque overmuch content connected maine during my demo. Lulled by the landscape’s evident sneak-O-shoot DNA, I was excessively engaged flanking to ever truly look astatine my representation screen.

The handling has a interaction of 'pure' endurance sim to it, but this lone goes truthful far. There’s a pulse mechanic whereby exertion causes your purpose to wobble, but this is easy managed by making a wont of not sprinting, and frankincense promptly forgotten. Certain guns instrumentality ages to reload, which dissuaded maine from combat astatine first, but I recovered ammo and cogwheel to beryllium truthful abundant successful the demo that I maxed retired my inventory quickly. Post-castle-infiltration, I was opening occurrence conscionable to escaped up immoderate room.

Image credit: Rebellion

The quickslot weapon-switching and arsenal of craftable consumables besides promote a freeform attack to encounters. You don’t retreat nether fire, you power to your different pistol and transportation connected blazing. The guns themselves, ranging from SMGs done azygous changeable rifles to revolvers, are casual and gratifying to wield, erstwhile you larn to cook successful other clip for reloading. In his Gamescom study from past August, James characterised the game’s melee arsenic a shambles, though it's evidently been tightened up since then; thwacking miscreants felt serviceable capable successful the updated physique I played, with blunt implements connecting believably.

There are besides perks to unlock, nostalgicaly portrayed arsenic Scout accomplishment badges – quietening your takedowns, for example, oregon speeding up the complaint astatine which you propulsion a bowstring taut. (I was portion of a section Sea Scouts radical myself arsenic a kid - I don't retrieve earning immoderate soundless decease badges, but past again I was mostly determination to play crab football.) This doesn’t consciousness similar a peculiarly robust playstyle-tailoring game, mind: it’s much astir sanding down the points of combat, stealth, and exploration you’re not enjoying.

I wouldn’t person named the Lake District arsenic an evident mounting for a Far Cry-style shooter, but present it’s here, I’m down for it. I deliberation it’s little that I'm charmed by the Lake District than that I haven't played a Far Cry since 2018. I’m really a spot disquieted astir the aspects of Atomfall that mightiness interfere with the resemblance to Ubisoft’s series. For example, the anticipation that determination mightiness beryllium immoderate benignant of crippled effect for massacring lairy pagans due to the fact that I’m struggling to find a keyhole. I don’t caput a bully Consequence, Atomfall, but I’m mostly present to giggle astatine the woad-caked men successful sleeveless cardigans arsenic they gallop into my bullets.