The Atomfall Developers Knew It Would Be Compared to Fallout as Soon as It Was Revealed, Average Playthrough Around 25 Hours

At first glance, you might mistake Atomfall for a Fallout-style game, perhaps even an *actual* Fallout game set in a post-apocalyptic England rather than America. Atomfall is a first-person, post-nuclear game with an alt-history design, much like Fallout. However, Ryan Greene, art director at developer Rebellion, understands the comparisons but emphasizes that Atomfall is its own unique experience.

"Once you play the game, you realize it's not Fallout, but yes, we knew," Greene told IGN. He added that one of Rebellion's owners, Jason Kingsley, is a big Fallout fan, so some parallels were inevitable. "And those guys are great at what they do. And that's cool," Greene said, appreciating the skill of the Fallout team.

Despite initial similarities, Atomfall isn't just another British Fallout. IGN pointed this out last August, noting that Atomfall offers something much more interesting. Greene himself warned that the Fallout comparison is "misleading." He explained, "Once you play it for a bit, you're like, oh, this is its own thing for sure." Rebellion, the independently owned British studio behind the Sniper Elite franchise, has created an ambitious game, but it's not on the scale of Elder Scrolls or Fallout. "The reality is, here’s this very successful franchise and we're version 1.0," Greene said, expressing gratitude for the comparisons but highlighting Atomfall's unique identity.

Atomfall Screenshots

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Greene mentioned that an average playthrough of Atomfall would take about "25-ish hours," with completionists being able to extend their playtime significantly. For a detailed look at how the game plays, check out IGN's recent hands-on preview, where Simon Cardy explored a more violent path, killing everyone during his playthrough.

Interestingly, Atomfall allows for a wide range of play styles. "You can kill anyone or everyone if you choose," Greene confirmed. "That's fine. We have multiple finishes to the game, so some of those would shut down if you were supposed to work with them throughout, but you'll find multiple other routes to finish the game and achieve a result."

Atomfall doesn't follow the traditional RPG structure of main and side quests. Instead, Greene described it as "a spider web of connected story." He explained, "So even if you sever one thread, you can usually find another thread that leads you back to the overall mystery."

For those who prefer a non-violent approach, Greene is "fairly certain" it's possible to complete the game without killing anyone. "I've made it about nine hours in, probably close to halfway running at a pretty fast dev play speed and killed no one," he said. "I'm fairly certain you can do it and there's no gating of having to kill anyone ever."