"Atomfall Massacre: I Snapped and Killed All"

Join me on a thrilling, if somewhat violent, journey through the English countryside with *Atomfall*, the new survival-action game from the creators of Sniper Elite, Rebellion. I recently visited a pub in North London to enjoy a pint and some hands-on playtime with the game, and I came away both intrigued and slightly disturbed by its open-ended mission design and eerie atmosphere. My experience took a wild turn when I decided to attack everyone in sight, including an innocent old lady, with a cricket bat. Let me delve into the details of this chaotic adventure.

In *Atomfall*, every NPC, from the lowliest grunt to the most crucial quest-giver, can be killed. As I began the demo, I set myself the task of testing this feature. My approach was far from subtle; within minutes of exploring the digital Cumbria, I tripped a wire, alerting three guards whom I dispatched with a cricket bat, now baptized in blood.

Later, I found a bow and arrow, which I eagerly equipped, embracing my love for archery in games. This allowed me to tackle both long and short-range encounters, giving my cricket bat a break. As I ventured further, I spotted a towering wicker man, a clear nod to the game's folk horror theme that permeates the segmented world of Atomfall, divided into multiple "open zones". This eerie setting added to the mysterious backdrop of this now-irradiated corner of England, which I was trying to unravel.

My contemplation was interrupted by a group of druids, likely connected to the wicker man. They became my archery practice, falling one by one as I channeled my inner Robin Hood. The bow felt satisfying to use, but what truly caught my attention was Atomfall's innovative stamina system. Instead of a traditional bar, a heart rate monitor increases with physically demanding actions. For instance, sprinting raises your heart rate over 140 bpm, affecting your aim when you need to stop and fight. I later discovered a Bow Mastery skill manual that mitigated the impact of a high heart rate on drawing the bowstring. While the skill tree might not be the most complex, it offers enough flexibility to tailor your character's abilities to your preferred playstyle, whether it's stealth or combat.

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Despite my initial success in eliminating druids, my overall goal remained unclear. I explored the Casterfall Woods region, following a note that led me to a herbalist named Mother Jago near an old mine. Along the way, I noticed environmental storytelling cues, such as a shimmering, oily swirl over a power plant hinting at the cause of Britain's post-apocalyptic state, and a phone box with a creepy warning to stay out of the woods.

The game's environment is littered with these small, unsettling details, like an old boathouse with an alarm system and a warning painted across it, surrounded by skulls and bones. The atmosphere shifts from serene forests to zones of terror, evoking comparisons to *Stalker* rather than *Fallout*. The game encourages thorough exploration, much like classic point-and-click adventures, where every conversation and corner might hold a clue.

After another druid massacre, I met Mother Jago at her allotment retreat. She looked like Angela Lansbury if she had taken up black magic instead of crime-solving. My hopes of unraveling Atomfall's mystery through her were dashed as she provided only vague answers. Eventually, she offered valuable information in exchange for her herbalism book, which was being held at the druids' fortified castle.

Atomfall's freeform design allowed me to approach the castle from any angle. I chose a side attack, encountering a druid patrol near an abandoned petrol station. The ensuing battle was chaotic but fun, though the enemy AI could use some improvement. Inside the castle's outer walls, I found a locked hut with a note hinting at distant keys. Atomfall eschews objective markers, requiring players to manually mark points of interest on their map.

Inside the castle's central keep, I found no sign of the book, only crafting materials. After a thorough search, I followed the map coordinates to retrieve the keys, facing a poison plant monster that required quick thinking to bypass. Returning to the hut, I found only a perk point and ammo, not the book I sought.

Venturing deeper into the castle, I killed the High Priestess and her followers, finding an SMG, poison bomb recipe, and an atomic battery that hinted at new quests. Yet, the book remained elusive. It was only after my demo ended that I learned the book had been on a table I'd overlooked several times.

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Frustrated and confused, I returned to Mother Jago, only to kill her in my descent into violence. Searching her body, I found a recipe that could have helped against the poison monster, the information she had promised in exchange for the book. It seemed we could have saved a lot of time.

Atomfall's runtime is substantial, with developers estimating a minimum of four to five hours to complete the story, and most players taking around 25 hours. The game's varied paths were evident when another demo player shared an entirely different adventure involving a crashed helicopter and a region filled with killer robots and mutants. Atomfall's depth and secrets are vast, and its obtuse quest design may not appeal to everyone, but it rewards those who engage deeply with its world.

The blurred lines between side and main objectives add a thrilling element of peril to every action, encouraging players to craft their own narrative and uncover their own explanations for the events in this irradiated English countryside. Despite my violent detour, I'm eager to see how my story unfolds, likely quite differently from others.

With my hands bloodied from my chaotic journey, I embraced my British roots, taking my cricket bat to the pub to wait for the dust to settle on this wild adventure.