Rebellion is known for itsSniper Eliteseries, but over the past few years, it’s been working on the “slow burner” ofAtomfall. The action survival game, releasing March 27, puts players in a radically changed world of Northern England where the Windscale Incident has seen this section of the UK quarantined. Five years have passed when players boot upAtomfall,but the problem is that their character is an amnesiac with no memory. Everything becomes a mystery that players are freely encouraged to pursue…or not.
Overall, freedom is a core tenet ofAtomfallbecause players can basically do anything, at any time, including avoiding combat or killing everyone, including story NPCs. So much so that Rebellion head of design Ben Fisher describedAtomfallas a spider-web in its narrative and game designin a previous Game Rant interview. For Game Rant Advance, we spoke with him again, alongside audio director Graham Gathedral, aboutAtomfall’s development, the plans for launch, and what to expect after its release.The following transcript has been edited for clarity and brevity.
Atomfall Has Been a Slow Burner for Rebellion
Q: What did the first week, months, and year of Atomfall’s development look like?
Fisher:At its heart, it’s always been a homage to the British countryside, but it is probably fair to say that Atomfall did not look like Atomfall in the early days. The game has been a slow burner for Rebellion, and it’s gone through many different guises, originally starting life as a technology project,codenamed ‘Windscale’a number of years ago. This then spawned various ideas and opportunities which had us thinking “what if we did x or y?”
In essence, the game became what we now know as Atomfall around two and a half to three years ago when it gained added focus and momentum. We adopted an approach of iterating and refining the experience, where we built layers in the game and tested our ideas to see which worked. Through this, we developed a game that was exciting and captured the imagination of more and more of the team who developed it.
Q: Can you discuss any major changes or iterations that existed throughout Atomfall’s in-development lifespan?
Fisher:At one point in development, the game was structured in an open-but-linear way,almost like a Metroidvania– you would uncover tools and skills that helped you explore further into the game world, reaching a climax at the Windscale plant. We felt that, although this was a good game in its own right, we wanted to take a risk and really trust our creative pillars, so we asked the questions, “What happens if we unlock the progression and let you go anywhere? What if all the characters are optional? What if you can kill anyone? What if there are no quests at all?” Answering these questions resulted in the “leads” system you see now, and the sense of nonlinear freedom that seems to naturally, organically, drive you toward the Windscale plant.
Q: Alongside science fiction, you’ve also cited folk horror and the Cold War as influences on Atomfall. Can you discuss these and how they manifest in the game a little bit?
Fisher:When we were finding the right “voice” for Atomfall, we really started to build up momentum when we looked back to the storytelling style of 1950s/’60s/’70s Britain – and there really wasn’t a clear division between genres at the time because the genres were still forming. We looked for patterns and noticed that folk horror andcold war fictionhave a few traits in common. They are usually about an uneasy “peace” that has formed, that sits on top of a bedrock of secrets and lies, and that uncovering the truth is dangerous and painful. They are both thematically about the tension between different organizations of belief and culture – tradition vs modernity, urban vs rural, eastern bloc vs western bloc, and so on.
This manifests in-game in several ways. First and most obviously, we evoke a lot of the tropes of folk horror and cold war fiction (alongside period sci-fi) to build the right atmosphere. The situations the player finds in the game world are also presented as morally ambiguous, no clear “good guy” and “bad guy,” but a lot of people making questionable decisions in difficult circumstances. Additionally, the characters the player finds in the game may well be misleading or manipulating you one way or another, so you have to keep your guard up and remain observant.
To say anything more specific would be a spoiler, so I won’t!
Q: What has the last year or so of Atomfall looked like?
Fisher:Like any game, we have spent the last year making refinements to the gameplay and adding on those extra layers of polish. The main change during that year was to really double down on openness and freedom, and find ways to connect the game together no matter what route you take. A lot of effort has gone into trying to find the sweet spot where the player has JUST ENOUGH to go on, while staying engaged with the observation/planning /deduction aspects of the game.
Gamescomlast year was the first time we let external audiences play Atomfall, and we learned so much, which helped us fine tune elements, like combat, even further.
Q: Rebellion is most known for the Sniper Elite series. Despite the core differences, how has Rebellion’s work on Sniper Elite informed Atomfall?
Fisher:Firstly, we share the same technology and development practices. Both Atomfall andSniper Elite are built using Rebellion’s proprietary Asura engine. The familiarity our teams have with the engine allows us to be quick and agile in the way we work.
We also used the same photogrammetry methods we have employed in the most recent Sniper Elite games to create many of the assets that you see in Atomfall. This can be anything from a dry-stone wall to a pint glass you find in the pub. We feel this greatly adds to the level of immersion you have in the game world and the beautiful landscape.
The Sniper Elite serieshas refined our understanding of sandbox gaming. We present the player with large, open maps for them to explore and conquer. We give the player complete freedom as to how they approach each mission and, indeed, each encounter or objective. This allows you to play in the way you want to play. We have taken these learnings and dialed this up a notch in Atomfall by increasing the scope of the sandbox and offering the player even more agency in the way they play the game. For example, it’s possible to complete the entire story without fighting absolutely anyone, but at the same time, you can also choose to wipe everyone out! Player choice and agency is hugely important to us.
Q: How did you approach Atomfall’s Soundtrack? What musical qualities did you feel fit best for Atomfall?
Gathedral:One of our key goals was to give the player a sense of normality at the start of the game before gradually introducing the strangeness of the microbiome and the otherworldly phenomena tied to it. Early on, the music relies more on orchestral, string-led pieces, establishing a familiar ground. As the player ventures deeper and encounters more unsettling things, we introduce experimental elements (electronic textures, unorthodox time signatures, unconventional instruments) to reflect the unfolding weirdness and heighten the sense of mystery and unease that permeates Atomfall’s world.
Each faction in the game also has its own distinct musical style. These themes reflect the wide array of influences that shapeAtomfall’s world, from outlaw culture and military force, to cultist rituals and sci-fi futurism.
Q: Even ahead of its day one release on Xbox Game Pass, how has its inclusion on the service helped the game - if at all?
Fisher:Game Pass allows players to experiment and try out games and genres that they would not otherwise have played, essentially widening the player base for the game. A player may not consider themselves to be a fan of survival/action games, but they can now try Atomfall as part of their subscription and could well find that they are encapsulated by the story and the world that we have created.
We’ve seen so many comments from players excited thatAtomfall is coming to Game Pass, and we can’t wait for them to try it.
Q: As release day gets closer, what would you say to any player as they dive into the world of Atomfall if you could?
Fisher:Atomfall is a unique and very British experience where you get to choose your own narrative arc. We are genuinely excited to see the different paths players take as they embark on their journey to unravel the mystery of what happened at Windscale. One of the most satisfying things we have seen during the early gameplay previews is two people sitting next to each other having completely different experiences, despite starting at the same point just 30 minutes ago.
Post-Launch Plans, DLC, and More
Q: As you reflect on Atomfall and its development, what immediately comes to mind?
Fisher:It’s been a long road to get to Atomfall – it has taken a lot of work and experimentation and faith to develop new systems that in many cases go against “automatic” design instincts. It’s great to see everything come together into something new, and it feels like we’ve found the first installment in a new type of game for Rebellion.
Q: Does Rebellion hope or intend to develop Atomfall into its own franchise or does the team foresee this as a one-off game?
Fisher:It’s quite possible that there could be a sequel to Atomfall. But, for now, we are just focused on the final polishing and the upcoming DLC content that we’ve announced. There is also a 4-part comic miniseries coming in the 2000 AD Magazine.
Q: In the realm of post-apocalyptic games, what do you think is unique about Atomfall?
Fisher:One of the big pieces of feedback we’ve seen is that thepost-apocalyptic genretends to lean into grey, urban areas that have been abandoned. Instead, Atomfall takes us to a rural setting that has largely been untouched and so remains lush and green.
Q: What do you hope Atomfall players walk away from the game with? Once they’ve completed it, what kind of message or feeling do you want them to have?
Fisher:We hope that players will leave wanting more! Atomfall has multiple different ways to play and paths to take. We can’t wait to see the different ways players approach Atomfall, but we also hope there will be a sense of, “I wonder where that decision would have led,” or “What would have happened if I had sided with that person?”
Q: Is there anything you can perhaps tell us or tease about the post-launch story DLC?
Fisher:We have two planned DLC updates at the moment, both taking the story in distinctly different directions. I can’t say more than that now, but stay tuned for more updates!
Q: How will the team at Rebellion be celebrating come launch day? Any special plans?
Fisher:In traditional British style, I’m sure we’ll find a pub somewhere – we’ll just aim to find one outside the Quarantine Zone!
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