Survive the Fall: The First Preview

Long before Bethesda took the helm of the series and Walton Goggins donned ghoul makeup for the captivating TV adaptation, Fallout was known for its isometric action RPG gameplay viewed from a bird’s eye perspective. It's this iconic style that the upcoming game, Survive the Fall, seems to be drawing inspiration from, especially evident in the first few hours I experienced. This post-apocalyptic survival tale builds upon the original Fallout's foundation, particularly through its robust camp development system. The game's squad-based combat and scavenging mechanics offer a fresh experience, though the somewhat static story presentation holds back its full personality from shining through.

As I progressed through the multitude of quests in Survive the Fall, I quickly appreciated its squad-based system. Navigating your party of up to three survivors through the expansive national park setting at the story's outset, you can manually search for resources or delegate tasks to your team, enhancing the efficiency of exploring each settlement. While this approach feels more natural and speeds up the scavenging process, it can sometimes clutter the screen with button prompts when interactive elements are densely packed. Fortunately, such instances were infrequent.

Combat in Survive the Fall is also team-oriented. With limited rifle and shotgun ammunition in the early game, I prioritized stealth, approaching encounters with marauders and ghouls like a tactical infiltration. Similar to Commandos: Origins, I used stealth tactics such as hiding in grass, creating distractions with stones, and avoiding enemy vision cones before silently taking them down. The game also includes environmental hazards like explosive barrels and cargo pallets that can be strategically used to your advantage.

Survive the Fall - Preview Screens

14 ImagesClearing out groups of cultists felt satisfying, though combat could become challenging when stealth failed and guns were drawn. While a mouse and keyboard might offer more precision, using a controller made aiming difficult, often leading me to rely on melee attacks and dodging. Thankfully, the ability to pause and direct my squadmates to focus on specific targets, similar to Wasteland or Mutant Year Zero, helped manage tougher enemies while I dealt with the rest.

After a day of navigating the dangerous badlands, Survive the Fall shifts focus to base-building and management at your camp. Documents found in the world can be researched to gain knowledge points, which can then be used to unlock new crafting options in a comprehensive technology tree. From bunk beds and kitchens to water filtration systems and armories, the possibilities for development are extensive. Resources like timber can be transformed into planks for building structures such as plant boxes or gates, while foraged items and salvaged meat can be prepared into meals for your expedition team. The depth of the base-building system promises hours of engaging gameplay.

Beyond the base, the game offers diverse areas to explore, from a converted passenger plane fortress to a farmstead overrun by Stasis-infected ghouls. While the detailed environments, such as the luminescent mushroom clusters in the Mycorrhiza swamplands, are impressive, they can also lead to performance issues, including volatile framerates and occasional game-breaking bugs. These technical hiccups, like getting stuck in menus, highlight areas for improvement before the game's release.

The text-based interactions with your squad and NPCs can feel a bit flat, though humorous characters like Blooper, who calls the Stasis "fart wind," add some charm. While conversations often serve as triggers for fetch quests, there's hope that deeper relationships will develop over the course of the full game.

Survive the Fall is set to launch on PC in May, brimming with potential for a compelling post-apocalyptic action RPG. If the developers at Angry Bulls Studio can smooth out the rough edges in controls and performance, this game could well be worth your investment in time and resources.