"Survive the Fall: Exclusive First Look"

Long before Bethesda took the helm of the series and Walton Goggins donned ghoul makeup for his captivating role in the TV adaptation, Fallout was an isometric action RPG viewed from a bird's eye perspective. The upcoming Survive the Fall draws inspiration from this classic style of wasteland exploration, as evident from the initial hours I've experienced. This post-apocalyptic survival tale builds upon the original Fallout's framework, particularly through its comprehensive camp development system. Its squad-based combat and scavenging mechanics create a fresh experience, though the somewhat static storytelling holds back its full charm.

Engaging with Survive the Fall's numerous quest-givers, I quickly appreciated its squad-based mechanics. Set within a sprawling national park, you can manually search for resources or delegate tasks to your team, allowing for a more efficient exploration and settlement looting process. While this system enhances immersion and speeds up gameplay, occasionally, the interface can become cluttered when interactive elements are closely packed. Fortunately, these instances are infrequent.

Combat in Survive the Fall is also team-oriented, with a focus on stealth due to the scarcity of ammunition early on. Approaching enemy camps stealthily, using tactics reminiscent of Commandos: Origins, involves hiding, creating distractions, and executing silent takedowns, with squad members assisting in body disposal. The game also features environmental hazards like explosive barrels and dangling cargo pallets, adding strategic depth to encounters. However, when stealth fails and combat turns to firearms, the controller-based aiming can feel imprecise. Switching to melee and using the pause feature to direct squadmates helps manage tougher fights.

After exploring the dangerous badlands, Survive the Fall transitions into a base-building management sim at your camp. Researching documents found in the world unlocks knowledge points, which you can spend on a vast tech tree to craft various facilities, from bunk beds to water filtration systems. Resources are transformed into building materials for structures like plant boxes or defensive gates, while foraged goods become meals to sustain your expedition teams. This depth in base management promises many hours of engaging development and optimization.

Beyond your base, Survive the Fall offers a variety of intriguing areas to explore, from a repurposed crashed plane to Stasis-infected farmsteads. While the detailed environments are visually stunning, some areas, like the Mycorrhiza swamplands, suffer from performance issues and occasional game-breaking bugs. With the game's release scheduled for May, there is hope that Angry Bulls Studio will address these concerns before launch.

The narrative in Survive the Fall is conveyed through onscreen text, which can feel somewhat flat. While characters like Blooper inject some humor, conversations often serve mainly to advance quests rather than deepen character relationships. Hopefully, these bonds will strengthen as the game progresses.

Survive the Fall is poised for release on PC this May and brims with post-apocalyptic potential. If the developers can smooth out the rough edges in controls and performance, it could well become a standout survival-based action RPG that earns its place among the best in the genre.

Survive the Fall - Preview Screens

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