"Survive the Fall: Exclusive First Look"

Long before Bethesda took the reins of the series and Walton Goggins donned the ghoul make-up for his captivating role in its TV adaptation, Fallout was an isometric action RPG viewed from a bird's-eye perspective. It's this classic style of wasteland exploration that the upcoming game, Survive the Fall, seems to be drawing inspiration from, at least based on my initial hours of gameplay. This deadly post-apocalyptic survival tale builds upon the original Fallout's framework—quite literally with its robust camp development system. Its squad-based combat and scavenging mechanics create a fresh experience, though the somewhat static story presentation can hinder its full personality from emerging.

Unlike many other post-apocalyptic settings, Survive the Fall's ravaged world wasn't caused by nuclear negligence. Instead, humanity faced a disaster akin to the one that wiped out the dinosaurs—a comet collided with Earth, decimating a significant portion of the population and leaving behind a smoldering crater that emits a toxic mist called Stasis. Survivors either avoid this mist or embrace its otherworldly power, mutating into stronger forms at the cost of their humanity. In Survive the Fall, you lead a growing squad of scavengers who must forge alliances with various factions scattered across three biomes—from the Stasis-huffing Shroomers to the enigmatic cult, the Sighted—to survive and thrive.

As I delved into the numerous quests offered by Survive the Fall, I quickly grew fond of its squad-based system. Navigating your party of up to three survivors through the expansive national park setting at the story's start, you can manually search for resources or delegate tasks to your team, allowing for more efficient exploration and settlement ransacking. This division of labor feels natural and accelerates the process, although the interface can occasionally become cluttered with too many interactive elements in close proximity.

Combat in Survive the Fall is also team-oriented. Given the scarcity of rifle and shotgun ammunition in the early stages, I prioritized stealth, approaching each encounter with marauders and ghouls carefully. Tactics included hiding in long grass, creating distractions with stones, and silently eliminating enemies before having my squad hide the bodies. Environmental hazards like explosive barrels and dangling cargo pallets add satisfying strategic elements to engagements.

Survive the Fall - Preview Screens

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Clearing out clusters of cultists felt rewarding, though encounters became somewhat cumbersome when stealth failed and firearms were necessary. While a mouse and keyboard might offer more precision, using a controller made aiming challenging, leading me to rely more on melee attacks and dodging. Thankfully, the ability to pause and direct squadmates to target specific enemies, similar to systems in Wasteland or Mutant Year Zero, proved useful, allowing my team to tackle tougher foes while I managed support units.

After a day of battling mutants and gathering resources in the deadly badlands, Survive the Fall transitions into a base-building management sim. Documents found in the world can be researched to earn knowledge points, which are invested in a comprehensive 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 building structures such as plant boxes or gates, while foraged herbs and salvaged meat from wildlife can be prepared into meals for your next expedition. The depth of this system promises hours of engaging settlement development.

Beyond my base, Survive the Fall offers a variety of intriguing locations to explore, from a converted enemy fort in a crashed passenger plane to a farmstead infested with Stasis-infected ghouls. These distinct locales enrich the game's world, though some areas like the luminescent mushroom clusters of Mycorrhiza can suffer from performance issues and occasional game-breaking bugs. With the game's release approaching, there's hope that developer Angry Bulls Studio will address these concerns.

Interacting with your squad and NPCs via on-screen text can feel somewhat flat, though humorous moments, such as a character named Blooper calling the Stasis smog "fart wind," add some charm. However, these interactions often serve more to initiate fetch quests than to deepen character relationships. Hopefully, these bonds will grow stronger over the course of the full game.

Survive the Fall is set to launch on PC this May and holds significant post-apocalyptic potential. With improvements to its controls and performance, it could become a compelling survival-based action RPG that's well worth your hard-earned bottlecaps.