Atomfall is quite easily one of my favourite games of the year so far.
What I thought was going to be a Fallout-style RPG set in the Lake District quickly established itself as a gripping, tightly plotted sci-fi mystery. Set in the Lake District.
It’s little wonder Atomfall struck such a chord with me. With its quaint UK countryside setting and local villagers dying horribly to a strange otherworldly phenomenon, it’s basically an episode of Doctor Who.
Specifically, Atomfall has managed - whether intentionally or not - to capture the essence of early ‘70’s Who. During this period, our hero was trapped on Earth (for the most part) and looked an awful lot like the actor Jon Pertwee.
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While stuck on Earth, The Doctor spent most of his time as scientific advisor to a military organisation. He’d deal with experiments gone wrong, terrifying alien creatures laying siege to peaceful villages, and - most frighteningly of all - bureaucratic incompetence. All elements that made their way into Atomfall.
While I wait for Atomfall developer Rebellion to return my calls and make the Doctor Who game they were so clearly destined to develop, I figured I’d indulge my uncontrollable urge to write about Who and lay out a few episodes of the classic series you’ll probably love if you dug Atomfall’s general vibe.
Doctor Who And The Silurians (Season 7, 1970)
Do humans have a right to the Earth? What happens when something that was here before, something much older, wakes up and decides it wants to stretch its legs?
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Doctor Who And The Silurians is a fantastic example of the show giving us a “monster” that isn’t necessarily evil or hell-bent on destruction. Atomfall has its own shades of grey, and though nowhere near as affecting as this classic story, there are certainly tough choices to be made.
Oh and in this one The Doctor calls out xenophobes and racists. You know, just in case you thought the show only got political when it cast a woman.
Inferno (Season 7, 1970)
One of the best episodes of Doctor Who, classic or modern, Inferno sees The Doctor travel to a parallel Earth where a drilling project has gone horribly wrong.
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Much like in Atomfall, the scientists drilling in Inferno have unleashed powers far beyond their understanding, bringing about the end of the world as we know it. All while The Doctor has to deal with pretty much everyone around him turning into mindless monsters. A proper banger of an episode, this one.
The Dæmons (Season 8, 1971)
Doctor Who rarely deals with the supernatural. There’s usually a scientific explanation for most things, beyond Peter Capaldi’s eyebrows.
In The Dæmons things take a turn for the spooky when The Doctor finds himself dealing with a mysterious death, the occult, and - you guessed it - an excavation that dredges up horrors that ought to have been left buried.
Terror Of The Zygons (Season 13, 1975)
This classic Tom Baker story introduced us to the shape-shifting Zygons for the first time in a creeping horror where it’s hard to know who exactly to trust.
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Atomfall presents us with plenty of allies, all with their own motives and secrets, and working out who exactly we can count on is all part of the fun. Terror Of The Zygons offers a similar treat as the titular aliens manipulate The Doctor from the shadows.
This one has been pulled from BBC iPlayer due to licensing issues though, so I guess you’ll need to track down a DVD.
Topics: TV And Film, Features