Before Bethesda took the helm of the series and Walton Goggins donned his ghoul makeup for the captivating TV adaptation, the Fallout series was an isometric action RPG, viewed from a bird's eye perspective. This classic style of exploring a post-apocalyptic wasteland is what the upcoming game, Survive the Fall, seems to be channeling, at least based on my initial hours with the game. This deadly tale of survival in a post-apocalyptic world builds directly on the original Fallout's framework, especially in its robust camp development system. With squad-based combat and scavenging, it crafts an experience that feels fresh, although the somewhat static story presentation holds back its full personality from shining through.
Unlike many other post-apocalyptic settings, the ruined world of Survive the Fall wasn't caused by nuclear negligence. Instead, a catastrophic comet collision wiped out a significant portion of the population, leaving behind a crater that emits a toxic mist known as Stasis. Those who survived must either steer clear of this deadly fog or embrace its otherworldly power, mutating into stronger beings at the cost of their humanity. In Survive the Fall, your squad of scavengers must form alliances with various factions scattered across three distinct biomes to survive and thrive, from the Stasis-huffing Shroomers to the enigmatic cult known as the Sighted.
I quickly grew fond of Survive the Fall's squad-based system as I took on tasks from the game's numerous quest-givers. Navigating a sprawling national park with a party of up to three survivors, you can manually search abandoned chests for chemical compounds or chop down trees for lumber, or simply delegate these tasks to your team members. This division of labor feels more natural and speeds up the process of scavenging each settlement. The only minor drawback is the occasional clutter of button prompts when interactive elements are too close together, but such instances were rare.
Combat in Survive the Fall is also team-oriented. Given the scarcity of rifle and shotgun ammunition early in the game, I prioritized stealth when engaging marauders and ghouls. Infiltrating enemy camps felt like navigating the strategic depths of recent Commandos: Origins—hiding in long grass, using distractions like thrown stones, and carefully avoiding enemy vision cones before silently taking them down. My squadmates would then dispose of the bodies. The game also offers environmental hazards to exploit, such as explosive barrels and dangling cargo pallets that can be dropped onto unsuspecting guards with a well-timed shot.
Survive the Fall - Preview Screens
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Clearing out clusters of cultists was satisfying, but when my cover was blown, combat became a bit fiddly with a controller. Aiming with the lasersight was less precise than I'd hoped, leading me to rely more on melee attacks and dodging in close quarters. Thankfully, I could pause the action and direct my squadmates to focus on specific targets, reminiscent of similar mechanics in Wasteland or Mutant Year Zero, using them to weaken tougher opponents while I dealt with the support crew.
After a day spent battling mutants and scavenging in the deadly badlands, Survive the Fall shifts focus to base-building and management back at your camp. Researching documents found in the world earns you knowledge points, which can be spent on a comprehensive technology tree to unlock crafting options for everything from bunk beds and kitchens to water filtration systems and armories. Resources like timber can be transformed into planks to build structures like plant boxes or gates to fend off nighttime raiders, while foraged herbs and meat from wolves and deer can be prepared into meals for your expeditions. The depth here promises many hours of transforming your settlement from ruins to a thriving community.
Beyond my base, Survive the Fall offers intriguing areas to explore, from a crashed passenger plane turned into an enemy fort to a farmstead overrun with Stasis-infected ghouls. Each direction I turned my compass revealed distinct locales. However, the impressive detail in some areas, like the luminescent mushroom clusters in Mycorrhiza's swamplands, sometimes led to a volatile framerate. The game also suffered from occasional game-breaking bugs, forcing me to quit and reload my save after getting stuck in menus. With a month left until release, developer Angry Bulls Studio has time to optimize performance.
The lack of voice acting slightly detracts from the experience, as interacting with your squad and NPCs via onscreen text can feel flat. While I enjoyed some humorous moments, such as a character named Blooper calling the Stasis smog "fart wind," most conversations merely set up the next task rather than deepening character interactions.
As Survive the Fall approaches its May release on PC, it shows significant post-apocalyptic potential. With some polishing of its controls and performance, it could become a compelling survival-based action RPG well worth your hard-earned bottlecaps.
