Atomfall: The Red Strain [REVIEW] – A Bold and Rewarding Expansion

Following the release of the Wicked Isle DLC for Atomfall earlier this year, gamers now have another reason to visit the bizarre yet deadly British countryside with The Red Strain – the game’s second DLC content that ups the ante in sci-fi strangeness. It also builds upon the experience in ways that Wicked Isle didn’t, giving players a genuine new threat to deal with and, more importantly, satisfying new weapons with which to do so.

Check out some screenshots down below:

The Red Strain takes players to Scafell Crag, a quarantined research facility at the heart of the new narrative thread, with Test Site Moriah lying at its centre – a ring of laboratories and bunkers surrounding  a giant rocket ship. Yeah, The Red Strain really ups the ante of the sci-fi side of things and it’s especially noticeable in your striking surroundings. It all plays to Atomfall’s strengths through, and there’s still that distinctly British character to be found, albeit with a heavier sci-fi twist that makes this zone feel more distinct and unique to explore.

The main objective of The Red Strain also happens to be utterly bizarre: collecting a series of jarred brains hidden within Moriah’s facilities. Each one has its own quirks, and slotting them into the command hub slowly peels back the mystery of the Red Strain virus and its ties to the Oberon artifact. It’s weird, a little creepy, and puts you in plenty of strange situations, but it’s also completely fitting for Atomfall’s wild and offbeat tone.

“With a more inventive setting, stranger narrative beats, and sharper combat scenarios, The Red Strain feels like a meaningful expansion rather than just more of the same.“

In fairness, the narrative offers a stronger hook than Wicked Isle, whilst the outright odd situation you find yourself in proves fascinating throughout. It brings with it plenty of moral ambiguity too, and not quite fully understanding the results of your actions will leave you guessing until the very end. The only caveat is that you have to play through the main game’s finale again to see the outcome, which is a little bit lame – whilst I really enjoyed the game, it’d have been nice if it was more streamlined for players who’ve already gone through it all already.

Gameplay-wise, The Red Strain introduces some nasty new foes for players to deal with, with favourites being the Red Strain ferals and robots controlled by brains (yeah, seriously). Thankfully, you’re given the tools to deal with them, with silenced weaponry allowing you to take a quieter approach, and less subtle options (including a flamethrower) allowing you to go all-guns blazing. There’s also the Signal Redirector MK II, which lets you hack turrets and robots to fight for you, which gives combat scenarios a fresh twist to spice things up. It’s good fun and brings more of an evolution to the formula than Wicked Isle did, showing that there’s still plenty of ways for Atomfall to surprise players.

Check out some screenshots down below:

Across the roughly five-to-six hours of gameplay, there’s plenty on offer to ensure that The Red Strain stands out as a really enjoyable piece of DLC. Sure, some of the flaws of Atomfall still exist, but The Red Strain does build upon the foundation it sets, with it bringing more to combat with your weaponry, offering more formidable foes to face off against that feel unique to the area, and even playing into the utterly bizarre nature of the game’s world with its whole ‘brain collecting’ setup. I’m not sure if Rebellion are planning on bringing more DLC to the game, but if not, they’ve signed off with something genuinely enjoyable here that fleshes out the experience in an exciting manner.

Developer: Rebellion
Publisher: Rebellion
Platform(s): PlayStation 5 (Reviewed), Xbox Series X|S, PC
Website: https://atomfall.com/