1950s FPS Atomfall takes from Fallout, Metro, and BioShock to create "something new"

Big yellow mech in a screenshot from Atomfall
(Image credit: Rebellion)

Atomfall - the survival action game set in a freaky, alt-history 1950s Yorkshire - is pulling from some of your favorite single-player FPS series.

We already knew that Atomfall was launching next year on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Game Pass, but last night's Future Games Show gave us an updated look at the nuclear disaster romp. That's also where Ben Fisher, the game's associate head of design, shed some light on developer Rebellion's inspirations.

"With Atomfall we wanted to try something new and that involved brining in lots of different reference points," Fisher explains in the gameplay overview below. "One of the games that has influenced Atomfall is, obviously, you can see some parts of something like Fallout in there. But also other games in that similar genre, like Metro, even a bit of Bioshock."

Atomfall Gameplay Overview - Future Games Show Gamescom 2024 - YouTube Atomfall Gameplay Overview - Future Games Show Gamescom 2024 - YouTube
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You can definitely see all of those influences gushing out of Atomfall's desperate scavenging, desperately low-ammo shootouts, and oddly lush quarantine zone setting - maybe there's even a little bit of Stalker here as well?

Combat has our amnesiac protag scrambling about with melee weapons, rusty guns, and tools that you can craft on-the-go (molotovs, traps, etc), just in case your attempts at stealthing go awry. And you'll almost definitely need to try your hand at tip-toeing since limited ammo means you'll need to "choose every shot carefully."

Rebellion are apparently building the game's difficulty options to accommodate all players, though, regardless of whether you prefer shooting or scavenging. Atomfall will let players "fine-tune" the survival, combat, and investigation elements independently "to have the play experience that they prefer."

Atomfall is releasing next March, but check out the other best FPS games you can play right now.

Freelance contributor

Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that's vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he'll soon forget.