Atomfall's Factions Explained

In Atomfall, players will face mutated creatures, cultists, rogue military agents, robots, and more. Exploring a game’s world is always richer with NPCs adding life to the landscape, and Atomfall indeed has a rich group of NPCs, including ordinary citizens, dotting the landscape.

The Best War Games recently spoke with Rebellion head of design Ben Fisher about some of the factions in Atomfall, namely what they bring to the game and what role they play in the quarantine zone.

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By LB Beistad

The Major Players in Atomfall’s Quarantine Zone

B.A.R.D.

The most impactful players in the quarantine zone might be B.A.R.D.–the British Atomic Research Division. B.A.R.D. Was responsible for operating the Windscale Nuclear Site in the fictional timeline of Atomfall. Following the disaster, B.A.R.D. Fractured. Some went on to search for a deeper truth, a reason for the disaster and the isolation those in the quarantine zone have lived with for five years. All of that won't prevent players from encountering and fighting Atomfall's B.A.R.D. Robots.

A robot uses its flamethrower in Atomfall

Protocol

Others joined forces with another faction, Protocol. It might be a little more straightforward than B.A.R.D., but they are also the ones enforcing an authoritarian regime in the quarantine zone. As Fisher described them,

"One of the factions you will meet early on is Protocol. This was the initial government-backed response force that was tasked with keeping people safe. But after five years, their outlook has soured and they have become increasingly authoritarian in their attempt to govern the inhabitants of the quarantine zone. When designing the different characters and factions we really went back to our influences. So Protocol reflects the Cold War espionage and government oversight that was deeply rooted in British society during the ‘50s and ‘60s."

Atomfall Has Druids Too

Another group is the druids, who pull from Atomfall' s folk horror vibes to bring an otherworldly and unnerving air to the quarantine zone, but they also draw from the Greek and Roman writings on the historical druids in the modern-day British Isles. Fisher didn’t give many details, but he also added that Cold War-era British science fiction like the Quatermass Experiment and Doctor Who factored into the game’s approach and, in particular, enemy and creature design (druids and beyond).

wickerman-landscape-atomfall-game-rant-advance-1

In The Best War Games's hands-on preview of Atomfall, we faced plenty of druids. They apparently listen to a "Voice" and were immediately hostile, although there are ways to play and beat Atomfal l without killing anyone, including these druids.

There is also some cult at work in Atomfall, though details about them are sparse, and other ne'er-do-wells like bandits.

Life in Atomfall's World

Factions like these are critical to how players experience the world. As extensions of the characters themselves, the perspectives of these factions filter down into the experiences of the individual NPCs. B.A.R.D. Members have their own agendas, as do druids, as do Protocol. Sorting out truth from agenda is one of the central challenges the game’s narrative poses to players, and while these factions (and others) may be a dominant force in the world, there are plenty of average joes who are just trapped in the quarantine zone. Players will encounter them as well, with Fisher adding,

"You may come across characters who are more influential in the world of Atomfall, as well as those who may be more responsible for what happened. Who the most important are will depend on your choices … you will need to determine if you can trust the information you’re being given during a conversation. Two characters may have wildly different versions of events and try to persuade you that their version is the truth."

Atomfall’ s various endings are shaped by decisions like these: whose story to believe, and who, if anyone, can be trusted in the isolating, lonesome, dangerous aftermath of the Windscale Incident.

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