Atomfall Devs Anticipated Fallout Comparisons; 25-Hour Gameplay

At first glance, you might mistake Atomfall for a Fallout-style game, perhaps even an *actual* Fallout game set in a post-apocalyptic England rather than America. Atomfall is first-person, post-nuclear, and features an alternate history design, much like Fallout. However, despite these similarities, the game stands on its own unique merits.

Ryan Greene, the art director at developer Rebellion, acknowledges the inevitable comparisons to Fallout. "Once you play the game, you realize it's not Fallout, but yes, we knew," Greene told IGN. Rebellion's owner, Jason Kingsley, being a big Fallout fan, also contributed to these parallels. "And those guys are great at what they do. And that's cool," Greene added, showing respect for the Fallout team while emphasizing Atomfall's distinct identity.

IGN pointed out last August that Atomfall is more intriguing than a mere British version of Fallout. Greene himself warned that the Fallout comparison is "misleading." He explained, "Once you play it for a bit, you're like, oh, this is its own thing for sure." Rebellion, the independent British studio behind the Sniper Elite franchise, has crafted an ambitious game, but it's not on the scale of Elder Scrolls or Fallout. "The reality is, here’s this very successful franchise and we're version 1.0," Greene noted, appreciating the comparison but highlighting Atomfall's unique approach.

Atomfall Screenshots

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Greene mentioned that an average playthrough of Atomfall lasts about 25 hours, with completionists able to extend this significantly. For a detailed look at gameplay, check out IGN's recent hands-on preview where Simon Cardy explored the game's violent possibilities. Greene confirmed that players can indeed go through the entire game killing everyone, saying, "You can kill anyone or everyone if you choose. That's fine. We have multiple finishes to the game, so some of those would shut down if you were supposed to work with them throughout, but you'll find multiple other routes to finish the game and achieve a result."

Atomfall deviates from traditional RPG structures by not having a main quest or side quests. Instead, Greene described it as "a spider web of connected story." He explained, "So even if you sever one thread, you can usually find another thread that leads you back to the overall mystery." Interestingly, players can also opt for a non-violent approach. Greene is "fairly certain" it's possible to complete the game without killing anyone, saying, "I've made it about nine hours in, probably close to halfway running at a pretty fast dev play speed and killed no one. I'm fairly certain you can do it and there's no gating of having to kill anyone ever."