Survive the Fall: Exclusive First Look

Long before Bethesda took the helm of the series and Walton Goggins donned ghoul makeup for the captivating 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 Survive the Fall seems to emulate, at least based on the initial hours I've experienced. This deadly post-apocalyptic survival tale builds upon the original Fallout's framework—quite literally with its robust camp development system—and its squad-based combat and scavenging create a fresh experience, though the somewhat static story presentation slightly dims its personality.

Unlike many other post-apocalyptic settings, the ruined world of Survive the Fall wasn't caused by nuclear negligence. Instead, a catastrophic comet collision with Earth led to the demise of a significant portion of the population, leaving behind a smoldering crater that emits a toxic mist known as Stasis. Survivors either avoid this mist or harness its otherworldly power, mutating into stronger forms at the cost of their humanity. Throughout the game, your growing squad of scavengers must forge alliances with various factions scattered across three biomes to survive and thrive, from the Stasis-embracing Shroomers to the enigmatic cult called the Sighted.

I quickly grew fond of Survive the Fall's squad-based setup as I tackled tasks from numerous quest-givers. Navigating your party of up to three survivors through the expansive national park setting, you can manually search for resources or delegate tasks to your team, streamlining the process of scavenging settlements. This approach feels more natural and efficient, though occasionally, the screen can become cluttered with button prompts when interactive elements are too close together.

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 encounters with marauders and ghouls like a careful stalk through Commandos: Origins. Utilizing stealth tactics, environmental hazards, and squad coordination, I cleared enemy camps effectively. However, when stealth failed and combat ensued, the controller's precision felt lacking compared to what a mouse and keyboard might offer, leading to more reliance on melee and dodging.

Survive the Fall - Preview Screens

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After a day of battling mutants and gathering loot in the treacherous badlands, Survive the Fall transitions into a base-building management sim. Researching documents found in the world unlocks knowledge points, which you can invest in a comprehensive technology tree to craft essential items like bunk beds, kitchens, water filtration systems, and an armory. Resources such as timber can be transformed into planks for constructing structures like plant boxes or gates to fend off nighttime raiders, while foraged herbs and salvaged meat can be turned into meals for your expedition team. The depth of this system promises hours of engaging settlement development.

Beyond my base, Survive the Fall offers a variety of intriguing areas to explore, from a crashed passenger plane turned enemy fort to a farmstead overrun by Stasis-infected ghouls. While the detailed environments are impressive, they occasionally impact performance, such as in the luminescent swamplands of Mycorrhiza, where framerate issues were noticeable. Additionally, I encountered game-breaking bugs that required me to reload my save, though there's still time before the game's release for developer Angry Bulls Studio to refine these aspects.

The lack of voice acting in Survive the Fall results in somewhat flat interactions with your squad and NPCs, primarily conveyed through onscreen text. While some characters, like the amusing Blooper who calls the Stasis smog "fart wind," provided moments of humor, most conversations felt more like quest prompts than opportunities to deepen character connections.

As Survive the Fall is set to launch 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.