Atomfall is a hardcore semi-realistic RPG where the player finds themselves in the disaster zone and must investigate, fight, and evade their way around different locales. All while utilising stealth, full-on action and a unique bartering system that relies on item-for-item trades over currency. It has released to great acclaim.
Known for their grisly sniper sim games, Sniper Elite, British developer Rebellion this time takes a stab at the post-apocalyptic genre with a alternate-history survival game inspired by real life events. Atomfall takes place in the north of England after the Windscale Nuclear disaster.
In reality, the Windscale disaster was the result of a fire breaking out in Unit 1 of the two-pile Windscale site in Cumbria. The game, however, posits that the disaster was much larger and more apocalyptic in an alternate-reality re-telling of one of the worst nuclear disasters in the world, ranking a 5/7 on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale, only coming behind Chernobyl, Fukushima and Kyshtym respectively.
While it is perfectly understandable that you will want to throw yourself headfirst into this amazing game, with the cost of games what they are, it isn’t always possible. That’s why we’ve compiled this list of the top 10 games like Atomfall to help you scratch that itch!
8. Fallout: New Vegas
Arguably the best Fallout game, Fallout: New Vegas is set in the Mojave desert in the aftermath of a nuclear war between the United States and China. New Vegas focuses on the main character – The Courier – and their quest for revenge after being left for dead by Benny, a gangster voiced by the late, great Matthew Perry.
In this post-war version of Vegas, factions are fighting over turf and don’t take kindly to visitors in most instances.
You can, however, choose to side with many of them, while manipulating others – rather like in Atomfall. Every dialogue can go many ways depending on your choices and these will change how the narrative is shaped along the way.
The other way that New Vegas is like Atomfall is in the characters and the personality of the environment. Where Atomfall is decidely British, with its many regional accents and slang terms, along with a focus on small-town living, New Vegas is the opposite. New Vegas is the height of decadence, even at the end of the world, in Vegas, Capitalism wins out.
7. Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl
The Ukrainian-made hardcore combat sim is, in no uncertain terms, a masterpiece of game-making. Where Atomfall takes place in the British countryside, inside the Windscale exclusion zone, Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl takes place within the Ukrainian Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. As with Atomfall, the zone is filled with radiation effects, remaining human factions fighting for control, and – of course – mutated creatures aplenty.
The game eventually returned to development in May of the same year, even continuing following the death of GSC developer Volodymyr Yezhov in combat in December.
The passion and strife of the Ukrainian people can be felt throughout, and just as with Atomfall, the developers took a real-life disaster and piece of timeless art which will be enjoyed for many years to come, not to mention being quintessentially Eastern European in its narrative and atmosphere.
6. Rage
Coming to us from the same studio that brought us Doom, Rage takes place in a world destroyed by an asteroid, as opposed to the tried-and-tested demons and hell playbook of Doom.
Originally releasing on Xbox 360 and PS3, it is a beautifully bleak game world capable of running at 60FPS. It’s another post-apocalyptic experience that relies heavily on factions to tell the narrative but enthusiastically encourages combat at every turn.
Perhaps more grisly and gruesome than the polar opposite appearance of Atomfall, the world of Rage is desperate and dilapidated in every sense. But every turn of the corner in Rage results in an experience long ruminated on after the credits roll.
5. Metro: Exodus
Feeling very close atmospherically to Atomfall, Metro: Exodus stands out as it expands from the claustrophobic closures of the Metro tunnels and into the vast, open, desperate Russian wasteland. As with Atomfall, the world is broken up between different open-world like zones which you can explore, as opposed to the huge open worlds of games like Fallout and The Outer Worlds (more on that later).
Throughout Metro: Exodus, you play as survivor Artyom, as he tries to find a new home while dealing with rival groups, the radiation in the play area and mutants that occupy every known space.
The studio, 4A games, is the brainchild of the original Stalker games and their inspiration and essence is felt throughout.
Metro: Exodus is a desperate and frantic fight for survival, which puts you in the shoes of a man with nothing left to live for and nothing left to lose. To call it bleak is decidedly an understatement.
4. Still Wakes the Deep
Another deep dive into the British environment (see what I did there?), Still Wakes the Deep may not be similar in genre to Atomfall, but it certainly passed the baton when it comes to the cultural inspiration.
Pulling a huge amount of influence from one of the best horror movies in history, John Carpenter’s The Thing, Still Wakes the Deep is an isolated and claustrophobic survival horror game.
The Chinese Room, the developer behind another British-based game on this list (Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture), has experience with creating realistic and faithful British landscapes and it is never more obvious than during the time you spend on Still Wakes The Deep’s oil rig.
As you fight for survival, stranded in the North Sea, the story revolves around the workers left to die, as an other-worldly horror hunts and kills everyone aboard.
While not technically an RPG, the impact of Still Wakes the Deep is felt throughout, and culminates in a heart-wrenching climax that needs to be seen to be believed.
3. We Happy Few
Atomfall’s British atmosphere is – arguably – its unique selling point for Brits and non-Brits alike. Only seen a handful of times before, it is always lends itself to a charming and – often – hilarious environment. We have seen this many times, and most notably recently with We Happy Few.
We Happy Few takes place in an alternate-historical version of the mid-1960s after an alternate version of World War II. People are being forced to take a mood-enhancing drug called JOY, which also enables the receiver to forget how terrible things are. Obviously taking massive inspiration from Animal Farm, 1984 and less heavily on Fahrenheit 451, it covers the concept of societal collapse.
It features heavy role-playing elements with splashes of Roguelike features and – while not being the most successful game – definitely leaves a funny and interesting taste in the mouth after playing it for too long – rather like the mood-enhancing drug JOY does.
We Happy Few doesn’t just live-and-die on its role-playing elements, it also has a large amount of stock in its Britishness. The whole game is peppered with British culture and references for any keen eyes on the lookout for them. Definitely a go-to for anyone wanting a similar cultural experience to Atomfall and its Anglican affectations.
2. Subnautica
Atomfall couldn’t be further from Subnautica in setting, yet the constant threat one feels while playing is certainly akin to it.
Subnautica is a survival game that sees the player dropped into an alien world where nothing can be trusted and the environment is as hostile as the enemies that are encountered.
As with Atomfall, solving the planet’s mysteries and dodging the beasties is thrilling as an experience itself, but combining this with the humour and personality makes -as with Atomfall – a game worthy of the genre. Tense, terrifying and terribly well-presented, Subnautica is the survival game for any underwater enthusiast striving for a humorous and horrific experience throughout.
1. Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture
While Atomfall may have the occasional encounter with the eccentric and excitable occupants of Windscale, Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture has the player exploring an abandoned town in the south of England. The Chinese Room delivered a blockbusting experience with the narrative of a game that has you discovering and exploring an eerie town after all the residents have vanished.
Following the events where a disease which kills people without contact and can be transferred through technology that then culminates in their vanishing as they pass, the player must investigate by finding relics of the population that once occupied the small village of Yaughton.
The game contains a number of side missions which all feed into the uncovering of the mystery which befell this small fictional Shropshire town.
Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture is a perfect narrative, which – like Atomfall – doesn’t outstay its welcome, and encourages multiple play-throughs to experience all the weird and wonderful goings on that preceded your arrival.
Atomfall has only just released, and will surely sell many copies before the momentum expires. It delivers one of the most immersive and fun experiences of recent times and shows that AA games still very much have a place in today’s modern gaming world.
