Atomfall drew plenty of comparisons to Fallout in the lead-up to launch, and while they’re not entirely accurate, Bethesda should take note of one standout feature for their future action RPGs.
As soon as Atomfall, the latest project from Sniper Elite devs Rebellion, was announced, it was immediately labelled as “British Fallout” by many fans. It’s easy to see why, given that it takes place in the aftermath of the real Windscale nuclear disaster and has giant robots patrolling the Cumbrian countryside.
But once you step out of the bunker and start getting your hands dirty, it soon becomes clear that, while the inspirations are clearly there, it’s more of a brutal survival game than anything Bethesda has ever done.
Instead, the way Atomfall approaches exploration should influence Fallout, Elder Scrolls, and any other open-world title you can think of, as the Leads system creates one of the most rewarding worlds I’ve ever poked around in.
Atomfall leads the way
The appeal of any open-world game is the sheer freedom it gives you. You’re dropped into a huge map that sprawls in every direction, knowing that every mountain peak or far-away castle is an area you can reach.
But while you can wander off the beaten path, those games also like to hold your hand to ensure you never get truly lost. Clear quest markers point you in the exact direction you need to go in order to progress the story, and the map is always on hand to show you the nearest settlement or NPC to visit.
While this can occasionally be a godsend, especially in the unfathomably big worlds that The Witcher 3 or Kingdom Come: Deliverance offer, it does ruin the immersion from time to time.
Atomfall solves this issue perfectly with the Leads system. Rather than showing you the path and marking key locations on the map, you’re presented with a completely blank slate. Once you emerge from the bunker into the rolling British hills, you know what you need to find, but you can go in any direction in pursuit of that goal.
Locations aren’t even marked on the map unless you talk to someone or find a note that mentions a supposed village that might be close by. It’s truly down to you to find your own path, making exploration and the main story feel completely organic. Every time you make a major discovery that helps unravel the central mystery or track down a vendor with useful supplies, there’s an incredible sense of accomplishment as if you actually found them.
The genius part is the way it saves every note read or important conversation had into the Leads menu. So, if you’re truly at a dead end with nowhere to go or need a reminder after a long break, there’s an entire list of potential threads to pull on and see what turns up.
As mentioned in our review, this also blurs the line between main quest and side mission in an intriguing way. When there’s no big marker telling you to go a specific direction, every interaction and fetch quest feels like the main story in that moment, and even the most random encounters could reveal the next major area to visit.
This is a feature that would lend itself beautifully to Fallout and Elder Scrolls. Bethesda are known for creating vast worlds just begging to be explored, and taking off the training wheels and trusting us to piece it together ourselves would only make them more rewarding.
BethesdaImagine how much more satisfying the Megaton moment in Fallout 3 would be if no arrows were telling you to go there, but you stumbled across it yourself. Or if you decided to climb the mountain in Skyrim on a whim and just happened to find a talking dragon sitting at the top of it.
Of course, this won’t be for everyone, as some players just want to experience the story rather than getting bogged down with side activities. But just like in Atomfall, an option in the settings to turn the feature on or off based on your preference.
Elder Scrolls 6 is still likely years away, and who knows when we’ll finally get another Fallout? But when we do, it’d be great to see this system implemented in some way to give these open worlds a sense of wonder unlike anything we’ve seen previously.
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