In “Atomfall,” the survival mystery game from Rebellion Developments, players wake up with no memory in a quarantine zone in 1960s United Kingdom, years after a mysterious disaster at the Windscale nuclear plant and are tasked with unraveling the truth behind the cover-up. 

There’s a lot about “Atomfall” to appreciate. The setting is vibrant, colorful, and pleasing to look at. The difficulty settings have a level of customizability I’ve never seen before. Combat, survival, and exploration can all be set to varying levels, or you can use one of five settings suggested by Rebellion. There’s a steep difficulty curve to start with at the default setting, where everything is “challenging” — the game doesn’t hold your hand but also doesn’t leave you clueless. The limited inventory makes resource management vital, and the lack of fast travel makes the focus on the gradually unlocked hub area reminiscent of a “metroidvania” or “soulsborne” game.

“Atomfall” is short and sweet. The history of the world is told in the details around you, and much of the progression is based on reading notes found during the game. Other games would make notes like this long, and deciphering the important information in them would be a slog, but these messages are short and to the point. You can figure out what you need to do, but you also aren’t beaten over the head with blatant direction. Players explore a small world, but it’s packed with detail that’s often easy to overlook. It makes for an exciting, pulse-pounding game, particularly during the final moments. 

A few classic gameplay elements are missing from “Atomfall” that players might expect from this kind of game, such as armor or companions. There’s a pretty basic skill tree, and many of the upgrades feel insignificant, which is both bad and good; improving in “Atomfall” is all about learning how the game works rather than forcing your way through. Additionally, “Atomfall” could have used a better focused narrative, and it lacks satisfying answers to some of the game’s bigger questions. 

I had a lot of fun with “Atomfall,” much more than I was expecting. It’s like “Fallout” and “Bioshock” had a baby and raised it in northern England, yet it manages to be distinct and memorable while making its influences clear.