HAVE you heard about the new game coming out that's set in Cumbria? We've put together a guide about what we know about the story and gameplay of Atomfall so far.
Atomfall is a single-player survival action game set in a fictionalised quarantine zone five years after the 1957 Windscale disaster.
The trailer for this highly-anticipated game was released at Gamescom last week, it shows the rolling landscapes of the Lake District interspersed with giant robots, feral humans, and a little bit of mysticism.
Associate head of development Ben Fisher recently shared more details about what players can anticipate from the gameplay in an episode of the Xbox Podcast.
Here's what we know so far:
Atomfall is set five years after the 1957 Windscale Disaster when your character wakes up with no idea of where they are. There's a person in a hazmat suit leaning over them who attempts to explain what they know whilst bleeding out. They tell you that all the disaster that's befallen the area is a result of the Windscale plant and the way to get there is through the Interchange.
From here, you do some detective work to piece together clues and leads to discover what has happened. It's up to the player to choose who to trust among the various factions vying for power in the post-apocalyptic world.
"We wanted to be respectful to the actual disaster, so that was one of the things we factored into our creative process," said Ben.
To build on this, the developers looked at how fiction was written in the 1950s to determine how they would tell the story and the cultural references that they would include to strengthen the world building.
Stories at the time would look at an anxiety that was affecting the world and bring in otherworldly aspects to make it accessible to people.
There are different ways that players can approach the game, with stealth mechanics enabling players to sneak around and take out enemies.
Alternatively, they can go in guns blazing... but players might run into difficulty facing groups of three or more enemies.
He added: "The combat is high stakes enough that your chances of survival are pretty slim."
There are also plenty of accessibility options within the game to create a play style that is tailored to each player's needs.
Combat intensity, quest guidance, and resource scarcity are among some of the options that can be tweaked.
Release date: Atomfall is set to be released in March 2025.
Where to play: It will be available on different platforms including Steam, XBox, and Playstation 4 and 5.
To find out more about the game, visit the website.
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