As an incredibly nerdy child growing up in the late 1970s (yes, I am ancient), I was obsessed with the Tom Baker-era Doctor Who. His incredible hair, his long scarf, his strange childish demeanor – these were all compelling elements. But it was his darker adventures that really gripped me, stories such as The Hand of Fear, The Talons of Weng-Chiang, and The Seeds Of Doom, which combined horror and sci-fi in fascinating ways, and crucially often took place in environments I recognized – British cities and villages, rugged coastlines, spooky woodlands.
At the same time, computer games were just beginning to take off and I was desperate for a decent Doctor Who adventure. In some ways, I'm still waiting. Though there have been some great point-and-click and puzzle titles (The Lonely Assassins, The Adventure Games) and one or two okay platformers, only 1997's Destiny of the Doctors got close to making the sort of immersive action game I'd always dreamed of - and it was, well, not great.
Then came Atomfall.A trip back in time(Image credit: A giant yellow robot stomping out of the darkness toward the player in Atomfall)Glorious countryside(Image credit: Rebellion)Atomfall review: "This isn't British Fallout – it's something much better than that"Rebellion's sandbox sci-fi shooter is set in an alternate 1960s in which secret scientific experiments at the Windscale nuclear plant have led to a catastrophic meltdown. Five years later, that entire area of Cumbria is still quarantined.
