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Have you ever thought to yourself, “What if Stalker was extremely British?” Okay, probably not, but if you have—or if you are now intrigued by the suggestion—then you might also be interested in Atomfall, a game that looks as though it just might fit that bill.
Developed by Sniper Elite studio Rebellion, Atomfall is a singleplayer “survival-action game” set in the fictionalized aftermath of a real-world nuclear catastrophe—in this case the Windscale fire of 1957, the biggest nuclear accident in the history of the UK. While nowhere near as devastating as the 1986 Chornobyl disaster, the Windscale fire burned for three days and released radioactive fallout across the UK and over much of Europe.
The real-world government of the time apparently covered up much about the accident, but Atomfall imagines a different outcome: Instead of trying to bury the whole thing, authorities establish a quarantine zone around what is, for the most part, an idyllic, pastoral landscape—the sort of locale you’d see in a typical episode of Midsomer Murders.
As usual, looks can be deceiving: Atomfall is set five years after the Windscale accident, and things aren’t going especially well. Five years is a long time to be cut off from the world, and some of the locals are starting to get a little twitchy. You’ve also got military encampments and the armed fellows who live in them to deal with, abandoned underground bunkers, pagan ruins, giant robots that don’t look especially friendly, and other “secrets buried beneath the surface,” which your trusty metal detector will help you dig up.
And what is your job amidst all this? Figuring out why the supposed short-term quarantine is now up to five years and counting, I suppose. “Explore the fictional quarantine zone, scavenge, craft, barter, fight and talk your way through a British countryside setting filled with bizarre characters, mysticism, cults, and rogue government agencies,” the Steam page says. “Unravel a tapestry of interwoven narratives through exploration, conversation, investigation, and combat, where every choice you make has consequences.”
Stalker isn’t the only post-apocalyptic comparison you could make here. The 1950s setting makes Fallout an obvious choice, and I even get a bit of an Atomic Heart vibe off it here and there. But for my money, Atomfall looks like Very British Stalker, and for that, yes, you can very much have my money.
Atomfall is set to come out in March 2025, and is available for wishlisting now on Steam and the Epic Games Store.
