When Atomfall was released to the world back in March, there were a lot of comparisons between the Fallout series and developer Rebellion’s new take on nuclear apocalypse type gaming. Ultimately, players found that Atomfall stood on its own with a new apocalypse-light setting. Even though Atomfall was a little bit rough around the edges, our review of it pointed out that it nevertheless presented one of the most unique storylines for the survival shooter genre to release in a long time. And with a very British flavor to boot, Atomfall earned a respectable 4 GiN Gems out of 5 and is more than worth playing.
The plot for Atomfall can be completed in about 20 hours or so, which is kind of brief for these kinds of titles. But this is understandable given that its world is confined to the area inside the walled-off quarantine zone surrounding the Windscale nuclear reactor, which caught fire in real life in 1957, and which the plot of Atomfall is loosely based on. All of the areas to explore within the main game are well-crafted, but there are only five maps, so it can feel a bit limited compared with something like Stalker 2 which provides about 90 square miles to roam around. That is one thing that developer Rebellion is addressing with the Wicked Isle Story Expansion Pack because it brings a sixth playable area to explore. And I do have to say up front that Wicked Isle quickly became my favorite area in the entire game.
Now, because many players have probably already explored and significantly changed the dynamics of the maps in the main adventure, it makes sense that Wicked Isle needed to be disconnected from the mainland. You can get there easily enough as soon as you have access to Wyndham Village. A humble fisherman standing on the docks offers to take you there to help with a problem he is having and offers a great reward if you can find the time to help him out. Once you accept, he will row you out to Wicked Isle, which is completely detached from the mainland. After a brief cut scene, he gives you permission to use his boat. Thereafter, you can cross back and forth from the island to the mainland as often as you like.
The really amazing thing about Wicked Isle is that it is not only physically detached from the mainland, but it has its own adventure and quests that have little to do the main plot. It was actually kind of refreshing to be presented with this new, unique adventure. In a lot of ways, it reminded me of Fallout 4’s Far Harbor DLC, which I found to be one of the best in the entire Fallout universe. Not that Atomfall should be subjected to any more Fallout comparisons, but in this case it kind of fits.
The neat thing about Wicked Isle is that nothing is what it seems to be, and the problems facing the island are even more wacky than on the mainland. It involves medieval monks and their secrets buried in the ruins of a crumbling old monastery, ancient bottles of mead with magical properties, a supposedly fallen angel and a plot that would have made H.P. Lovecraft proud.
In addition to the new adventure, we are treated to quite a few new items and enemies. The most dangerous threat in terms of monsters is an aquatic feral who jumps out of almost any body of water (you are on an island, so there are quite a few) to attack with both devastatingly fast melee attacks and powered up ranged bombs that they spit from quite a distance away. They are very good at surprise attacks, and the title sets players up by, for example, putting a really big treasure chest sitting in plain sight at the end of a very long pier. Other than that, both the druids and the bandits that live on the island have gotten slight upgrades in both gear and numbers, so be prepared for more intense fights if things go down.
To combat these threats, the island provides a small bounty of new weapons, all of which can also be taken back to the mainland to be used there with lethal effect. The coolest new weapon is the blunderbuss, which is a shotgun that fires two shells each time you pull the trigger. It does massive damage and sets enemies on fire, which is pretty much an instant kill for many opponents. On the melee side, many bandits carry cutlasses, which goes with their nautical, pirate-like theme on the island. Each cutlass offers a fast attack, high damage and the ability to cause opponents to bleed, making it pretty much the perfect bladed weapon in Atomfall. You can find those big knives in chests or the cold, dead hands of fallen bandits. There are a few other new weapons too, ceremonial knives and things like that, but the blunderbuss and the cutlass are the two S-tier items you will want to grab as soon as you can.
The Wicked Isle Story Expansion Pack offers a nice change of pace and a really good standalone adventure and mystery. You can solve it in about six to eight hours, maybe a little longer if you explore everywhere and do every side quest. Some of the quests will also require you to head back to the mainland, which can add a little bit more playtime. Overall, Wicked Isle is a really amazing DLC that adds a lot to the core adventure. It should also excite players about what is possible if Rebellion decides to further expand the world of Atomfall in the future. Because if Wicked Isle is any indication of what we can expect, then Atomfall has a very bright future ahead as its world continues to evolve.