Atomfall: Wicked Isle

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If you’re a big fan of the main game, then Atomfall: Wicked Isle will give you something to do for a few hours.

Wicked Isle feels like a band releasing greatest hits albums to meet a contractual obligation. It's a remix of what came before, so if you just want more Atomfall for a future playthrough or haven't played the main game yet, this slots right in. If you were hoping for a narrative hook that keeps you invested on its own merits, you'll be disappointed. This is just more of the same, but without a compelling mystery to pull you in.

Atomfall Wicked Isle starts off promising with a trip to an eerie island inhabited by cults and creepy fish people. But the call of the mainland proves too much as it segues back to the base game in many ways. It's a fine diversion, but doesn't do much to differentiate itself from what's already in the game.

Atomfall Wicked Isle is more of the core game set on the mysterious Midsummer Isle, but often feels like a Wicker Man-themed fetch quest.

Wicked Isle might not shake up the Atomfall formula, but it doesn't need to. It extends the core experience with more of what fans enjoyed: spooky British landscapes, oddball quests, and just enough mystery to make exploration rewarding. It is guilty of not introducing any exciting new gameplay mechanics and it can feel familiar in places, but hey… why fix what isn’t broken? If you're looking for a reason to revisit Atomfall, Wicked Isle is a good one. Just don’t expect it to convert anyone who wasn’t already on board in the first place.

Atomfall The Wicked Isle is a decent, if unimaginative and short, expansion to a decent, if slightly more imaginative, title.

If you think DLC should offer a literal game-changing experience or massive amount of new content, Wicked Isle will disappoint you. In all ways, it is of a piece with the main game. It expands the world with a relatively large new zone. It deepens or adds a new wrinkle to the base game’s lore. There are some new weapons, a handful of new enemy types and a small cast of new NPCs. If you love Atomfall’s world, fiction and mechanics, Wicked Isle is more of that, and included with the Deluxe Edition. If you were on the fence about Atomfall, Wicked Isle isn’t going to turn you into a fervent believer. Wicked Isle doesn’t do anything to hurt the main Atomfall experience, but it doesn’t do much to change or improve it, either.

Wicked Isle takes players to a disconnected island haunted by vestiges of the past. The story is well told and worth exploring, but the copious backtracking and lack of new and interesting enemies leaves one wanting for more. It's a decent story DLC, but there's flaws here that didn't plague the base game which is a shame.

Atomfall’s DLC is a notable accomplishment for one big reason: it successfully adds a story expansion that almost seamlessly integrates itself into an incredibly delicate, immersive sim-like storyline. While it may not fix any of the issues with the base game, the added lore and questlines put another profound spin on the Atomfall world. More than anything else, the ambiance and beautifully distinct aesthetic of the new expansion should be a massive reason for fans to give this DLC a whirl.