Classic Fallout homage Atom RPG is getting a sequel in which you try to stop another apocalypse

Here is a question for the septuagenarians and older in the RPS readership, assuming any of you are that venerable: if some chortling time traveller had told you back in the 50s or 60s that the perpetually sizzling terror of nuclear apocalypse would one day become a nostalgic playground for videogames with two-headed cows and dogs named Dogmeat and swaggering cowboy zombies, what kind of period-appropriate blunt implement would you have clobbered that time traveller with?

While you grizzled boomers get your gums into that vexing proposition, here’s the trailer for AtomTeam’s Atom RPG 2, the floridly titled sequel to 2018’s Atom RPG. It’s another turn-based, top-down affair in the spirit of the original Interplay-published Fallouts, and appears rich in bunkers, action points and raging, possibly mutant bears. It’s also the work of a team based across Cyprus, Ukraine and Latvia, who probably have very different ideas about the nature and duration of the Cold War than the people behind Fallout.

“ATOM RPG 2 is a story-heavy tactical CRPG set in a world where the Cold War turned hot,” comments the Steam page. “Explore a living open world with vertical level design, tactical battles, and an interactive world map. Take part in numerous side activities: such as fishing, building, racing, and more, while expanding your influence and control over the land. Remember: your choices not only shape a resurrecting civilisation, but may also prevent a new apocalypse looming on the horizon… “

For context, maybe read Sin’s write-up of the original Atom RPG’s standalone city expansion Trudograd. She quite liked it, despite being unimpressed by the combat. She was more keen on the quest design and writing. An excerpt:

I’ve talked a writer into walking into a minefield. I gained a level after listening to some old women ramble on a bench. I’ve sucker-shot a top hatted millionaire with a crossbow, then taken a pastry of his corpse and eaten it. At one point during an interesting, text-based side mission that reminded me of the weird text adventure bits of Space Rangers 2, I failed to bluff a common guard, alerting a whole base to my presence, but subsequently bluffed his boss into surrendering the entire base without a fight.

Developers AtomTeam are also the people behind Swordhaven: Iron Conspiracy, which as you may guess, is more Baldur’s Gate than Fallout, and emphasises lizards over bears.

Ho, rickety veterans of the Duck and Cover era! Have you decided what you’re going to hit my hypothetical Tardis pilot with yet?