"Survive the Fall: Initial Preview Released"

Before Bethesda took the helm of the series and Walton Goggins donned ghoul makeup for the enthralling 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 game, Survive the Fall. Based on the first few hours of gameplay I experienced, this title closely emulates the original Fallout's template, especially in its robust camp development system. Survive the Fall builds upon this foundation with squad-based combat and scavenging, creating a fresh experience despite a somewhat static story presentation that hinders its full personality from shining through.

Unlike many other post-apocalyptic settings, Survive the Fall's ruined world was not caused by nuclear fallout but by a cataclysmic comet strike, reminiscent of the event that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs. This disaster left a smoldering crater that emits a toxic mist known as Stasis. Survivors either avoid this mist or embrace it, gaining otherworldly powers at the cost of their humanity. Throughout the game, you'll build bonds with various factions across three biomes, from the Stasis-huffing Shroomers to the enigmatic cult called the Sighted, to survive and thrive in this new world.

The squad-based setup of Survive the Fall quickly grew on me as I undertook quests. Navigating your party of up to three survivors through the sprawling national park that sets the stage for the story's beginning, you can manually search for resources or delegate tasks to your team members. This division of labor feels natural and speeds up the process of exploring and looting settlements. However, the interface can become cluttered with button prompts when interactive elements are too close together, though these instances were fortunately rare.

Combat in Survive the Fall is also team-oriented. Given the scarcity of rifle and shotgun ammunition in the early game, I prioritized stealth, approaching enemy camps with tactics reminiscent of Commandos: Origins. Utilizing stealth mechanics, environmental hazards like explosive barrels, and strategic positioning, I managed to clear out enemy camps efficiently. However, when stealth failed and combat ensued, the controls felt a bit clunky, especially with a controller. Aiming was less precise, and I often resorted to melee attacks and dodging. The ability to pause and direct squadmates to focus on specific targets was a helpful feature, akin to systems in Wasteland or Mutant Year Zero.

Survive the Fall - Preview Screens

14 Images

After a day of battling mutants and scavenging, Survive the Fall transitions into a base-building management sim. Documents found in the world can be researched to earn knowledge points, which you can invest in a technology tree to unlock crafting options for bunk beds, kitchens, water filtration systems, and even an armory. Resources like timber can be transformed into planks for constructing new structures such as plant boxes or gates to fend off nighttime raiders. Foraged herbs and salvaged meat can be prepared into meals for your expedition team. The depth of the base-building system promises hours of engaging gameplay as you transform your settlement from a heap of rubble into a thriving community.

Beyond your base, Survive the Fall offers a variety of intriguing areas to explore, from a crashed passenger plane turned enemy fort to a farmstead overrun with Stasis-infected ghouls. While the detailed environments are impressive, they occasionally come at the cost of performance, particularly in areas like the luminescent swamplands of Mycorrhiza, where the framerate can be unstable. Additionally, I encountered some game-breaking bugs that required me to quit and reload my save. With the game's release approaching, there's hope that developer Angry Bulls Studio will address these issues.

The lack of voice acting in Survive the Fall is noticeable, as interactions with your squad and NPCs are limited to onscreen text. While some characters, like the quirky Blooper who humorously refers to Stasis as "fart wind," provided moments of levity, most conversations felt more like quest prompts than opportunities to deepen character relationships.

As Survive the Fall is set to release on PC this May, it holds significant post-apocalyptic potential. If the developers can smooth out the rough edges in controls and performance, this survival-based action RPG could prove to be a worthy addition to the genre, deserving of your hard-earned bottlecaps.