It’s intrigue, not action, that makes Atomfall such a compelling Lake District trip gone wrong

Mysteries and pasties await down this door

Today’s advent calendar hails, successful some mounting and make, from the RPS homeland of the United Kingdom. Which means, similar astir of RPS, it’ll astir apt walk Christmas predominantly unconscious, driven into a coma by a operation of tiredness, pigs successful blankets overreach, and acute vulnerability to King Charles. Best play it earlier then, eh.

It’s Atomfall!

In hindsight I deliberation we, myself included, did Atomfall a disservice by pelting it with comparisons to different escaped roaming shooters. It does person escaped roaming, and shooting, but 1 of its astir endearing qualities is that it inactive feels unique, adjacent erstwhile it’s wrapping itself up successful familiarities.

Jokes aside, the Lake District surroundings are a portion of that. There’s a delightful, profoundly British irony successful framing Atomfall’s grim survivalism against the rolling hills and curtain-twitching parish villages of 1960s Cumbria. Its champion trick, though, is revealing itself arsenic a detective crippled – and a truly alternatively bully one. Atomfall trusts you to excavation up its secrets yourself, with advancement measured successful mysteries solved alternatively than bodies dropped. There is regular gunplay, of the dilatory and ammo-scarce kind, and much than a small scavenging and crafting. But ruffians with misappropriated cricket bats are truly conscionable obstacles to beryllium removed truthful you tin firearm done their things, successful hunt of mislaid keys oregon scribbled notes that mightiness hint you successful connected wherever an probe goes next.

And you’ll privation to know, due to the fact that Atomfall is arsenic skilled astatine piquing your curiosity and throwing up its stock of surprises. Half the colonisation look to fell unspeakable secrets, slips-of-the-tongue by bored neighbours being capable to acceptable you connected their trail, and the different fractional are consenting to lie, scheme, and execution their mode into the enigmatic (and perchance cursed) ruins of the Windscale powerfulness plant. You’re escaped to spot who - if immoderate - mightiness marque bully connected their committedness of reciprocal help, a prime that whitethorn go easier oregon harder depending connected however profoundly you poke around.

Go successful expecting Fallout: Oop North, and Atomfall’s absorption mightiness disappoint. Meet it connected its ain terms, and it’s a likeably cerebral instrumentality connected first-person wandering.

Head implicit to the RPS Advent Calendar 2025 to unfastened different door!