Long before Bethesda took the reins of the Fallout series and Walton Goggins donned the ghoul make-up for his captivating performance in its TV adaptation, Fallout was an isometric action RPG viewed from a bird’s eye perspective. This classic style of wasteland exploration serves as the inspiration for the upcoming Survive the Fall, evident from the initial hours of gameplay I experienced. This post-apocalyptic survival tale builds directly on the original Fallout's framework, particularly in its robust camp development system. The game introduces squad-based combat and scavenging, crafting an experience that feels both fresh and familiar. However, the somewhat static story presentation can sometimes hinder the game's personality from fully emerging.
*Survive the Fall*'s ruined world wasn't caused by nuclear fallout, but rather by a catastrophic comet strike that decimated a significant portion of the global population. This event left behind a smoldering crater that emits a toxic mist known as Stasis. Survivors must either avoid this deadly mist or harness its otherworldly power, which mutates them into stronger beings at the cost of their humanity. Throughout the game, your squad of scavengers must form alliances with various factions scattered across three distinct biomes, ranging from the Stasis-huffing Shroomers to the enigmatic cult called the Sighted.I found the squad-based mechanics in Survive the Fall to be instantly engaging. As you navigate your party of up to three survivors through the expansive national park setting that introduces the story, you have the option to manually search for resources or delegate tasks to your team members. This division of labor feels more natural and accelerates the process of scavenging each new settlement. However, the interface can become cluttered with button prompts when interactive elements are closely grouped, though such instances are infrequent.
Combat in Survive the Fall is also team-oriented. Given the scarcity of rifle and shotgun ammunition in the early stages, I prioritized stealth in encounters with marauders and ghouls. Approaching enemy camps felt reminiscent of Commandos: Origins, involving tactics like hiding in tall grass, creating distractions with thrown stones, and silently taking out enemies within their vision cones. Environmental hazards such as explosive barrels and dangling cargo pallets added strategic depth to these encounters.
Survive the Fall - Preview Screens
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Clearing out clusters of cultists was satisfying, but combat became more challenging once my stealth approach was compromised. While using a controller, aiming with the lasersight felt imprecise, often leading me to rely on melee attacks and dodging to whittle down enemy health. Fortunately, the ability to pause the action and direct squadmates to target specific enemies – similar to systems in Wasteland or Mutant Year Zero – proved invaluable, especially against tougher opponents.
After a day of battling mutants and gathering resources in the game's hazardous badlands, Survive the Fall transitions into a base-building simulation at your camp. By researching documents found in the wild, you earn knowledge points to invest in a comprehensive technology tree. This unlocks the crafting of various items, from bunk beds and kitchen areas to water filtration systems and an armory. Resources like timber can be converted into planks for building structures such as plant boxes or defensive gates, while foraged herbs and salvaged meat can be turned into meals for your expedition teams. The depth of this system suggests that transforming your settlement from a dilapidated state to a thriving community will be a rewarding experience.
Beyond your base, Survive the Fall offers a variety of intriguing locations to explore. From a converted passenger plane turned enemy fort to a farmstead infested with Stasis-infected ghouls, each area feels distinct and rewarding to discover. However, the impressive detail in some environments, like the luminescent mushroom clusters in the Mycorrhiza swamplands, can sometimes lead to performance issues, such as framerate drops. Additionally, occasional game-breaking bugs, like getting stuck in menus, were encountered during my play session. With Survive the Fall set to release on PC in May, there's hope that Angry Bulls Studio will have time to optimize performance further.
The game's use of onscreen text for interactions with squad members and NPCs can feel somewhat flat, lacking the depth that voice acting might bring. While some characters, like the quirky Blooper who humorously refers to Stasis as "fart wind," provided a few laughs, most interactions felt more like setup for the next quest than opportunities to build meaningful connections with the game's factions.
As Survive the Fall nears its release, there's potential for deeper bonds to develop over the course of the full game. With its rich post-apocalyptic setting and engaging mechanics, Survive the Fall has the makings of a compelling survival-based action RPG, provided that the current rough edges in controls and performance can be smoothed out by launch.
