For a setting so devoted to the theme of shattered foundations, it’s funny how consistent the post-apocalypse tends to end up being. Its popularity as a game setting certainly isn’t surprising, given the benefits that come from its use; a world just familiar enough to be grounded but changed enough to be re-explored. A narrative upheaval that naturally pushes the world-state towards dynamic storytelling. A free license to dress every character in absurdly weird and extremely cool outfits thanks to the annihilation of broader social norms dictating acceptable dress standards. Post-apocalyptic worlds feel like a goldmine of potential because when you take a richly complex world and throw a bomb, meteor or some other world-ending armageddon at it, the house of cards that is the former society can topple in so many different ways and lead to all kinds of fascinating outcomes.

But despite the countless ways in which a society could fall and return anew, I feel like the post-apocalypse always ends up being deeply consistent in ways that squander the vast potential of the chaotic downfall of civilisation.

Survive the Fall takes a more natural-disaster approach to the death of the old society, which is a pleasant outlier in the horde of ‘man is the real monster’ hubris-based apocalypses. Its gameplay systems are a melting pot of survival, tactical squad combat and base-building mechanics, and its pacing (in both narrative and gameplay) allows for a more contemplative, studied approach to the thematically reckless and chaotic gameplay often used in post-apocalypse settings.

Unfortunately, though, the ‘natural’ death of the world that could set it apart leads to the rise of the same old ‘raiders, cultists and capitalists, oh my!’ tribes that practically every game in its field uses to set their stage. Its extensive gameplay systems are competently designed and reasonably well executed, but offer little to set themselves apart, resulting in rote examples of well-trodden mechanical ground. And a contemplative approach to narrative holds little appeal when the stories of the world are seen through the eyes of deeply uninteresting protagonists.

Carving new order and civilisation from the desiccated husk of an apocalyptic world is an excellent gameplay hook. The choice to combine squad-based tactical survival with community-building settlement management mechanics is a smart and effective way to make use of this appeal – in a genre about societies clawing their way back from the brink, nurturing a community through town management gameplay makes perfect sense.

Survive the Fall presents you with the balancing act inherent to all good settlement management games – resources are scarce and knowledge is precious, but time is a commodity to be spent carefully. You need to make use of your survivors wisely at home, as time will pass and you won’t be able to achieve everything you might want over the course of the days. And as that time progresses, you’ll have to decide which of your survivors will risk themselves venturing out in order to gather the supplies you lack at home, as well as to act in the wider world and explore its narrative threads.

Conceptually, this is all very appealing and a great fit for the post-apocalypse narrative. The problem lies in the fact that it suffers from intense visual clutter, a lack of truly interesting specialisation or customisation, and in everything being either nitpicking micro-intensive or hands-off boring, depending on the level of automated assigning you employ. Building materials, food, research, medicine and all the other classics of resource management are here, but they feel present because the gameplay tropes demand it, not because their presence offers interesting dynamics or choices.

The lush environment of a national park is a pleasant change to the oft-burnt out husk landscapes in the post-apocalypse genre, and while it isn’t exactly a visually stunning time for your squad of survivors creeping through the undergrowth given the graphical quality on display, its once again a competent mechanical showing – neither particularly impressive or notably unpleasant to behold. It is, as with the settlement segments, filled with the visual clutter of interaction indicators, but otherwise, the locations have a mix of interesting features and plenty of angles to approach points of interest. Of course, we’re never far from the environmental norms of the genre, and entering the city and wasteland biomes feels like a return to expected form and a step away from unique design.

When the world is hostile and prone to consuming the vulnerable, focusing on squad-based gameplay makes sense – there’s strength in numbers, after all. Moment-to-moment squad management includes some actually excellent design choices, such as dispatching your squad members to scavenge resources and engage with interactables in an easy and quick manner without needing to pause or open menus.

The real-time with tactical pause gameplay in combat is also functional and well-executed, but is let down by the fact that the AI of both friends and foes struggle to achieve more than the most basic of tactical decisions. Stealth feels like a cornerstone of the gameplay loop in a way that I think works well, but it does mean that when alarms are sounded and the all-out brawl begins, it feels like the fun game of cat-and-mouse is over, and now the mindless thwacking commences.