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As Rebellion Developments gears up for the long-awaited Atomfall release later this month, lead designer Ben Fisher says the studio doesn't mind fans' Fallout comparisons – in fact, the game has a lot in common with other beloved titles, too.
It's no secret that Fallout: New Vegas is a big inspiration for Atomfall, but how do developers feel about the upcoming survival-action blend being compared to Bethesda Game Studios' RPG series so often? According to Fisher, it makes sense.
"Fallout is an obvious point of reference for some people," he admits, "because it's got that post-apocalyptic quarantine zone atmosphere."
"It's almost like a micro genre in itself," continues Fisher, "because you've got Fallout, Metro, Stalker – they cover similar ground, but from different cultural perspectives. There's touches of lots of different games in [Atomfall]."
Some of these include other gems published by Bethesda, like Prey, while others diverge into entirely separate genres – even Soulslikes, thanks to their "open structure where the player's trusted to piece things together themselves."
Fisher goes on to cite Dark Souls as an example of a game in which players "might wander into trouble and die" even after seeing warning signs – much like in Atomfall. Ultimately, as the dev describes, a game like Atomfall ends up a product of many other predecessors and not just one, despite the similarities. "When you're trying to piece together something new, you pull from as many different reference points as you possibly can."
Do fans taking note of such similarities and drawing comparisons cause resentment? No, says Fisher – the devs are cool with that.
"As long as people are interested enough to come along and take a look at the game and then make their own judgment call based on what's actually in the game, definitely."
There's thankfully not long left now until players finally do get to experience Atomfall, either, with March 27 right around the corner.
Here are some of our most exciting new games this year and beyond to keep an eye on.
