Highlights
- "Rayman Gothic," also known as "Atom Punk," is a style that draws inspiration from the rise of nuclear technology and sci-fi media in the 1950s and 1960s.
- Games like It Came from The Desert! and Zombies Ate My Neighbors! exemplify the atom punk style with their 1950s B-movie aesthetics and futuristic elements.
- Team Fortress 2 and Space Channel 5 incorporate atom punk elements into their art style, blending the aesthetics of the atomic age with futuristic technology and space themes.
First, there was cyberpunk, an aesthetic based on future technology taking over people’s lives. Then there was steampunk, which replaced computers and cyborgs with Victorian, steam-based machines, followed by the 1930s Hollywood serial-inspired dieselpunk. What else could come next? Enter “Rayman Gothic,” aka “Atom Punk.”
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It takes its name from the rise of nuclear technology and sci-fi media during the 1950s and 1960s. Anything that resembles a Silver Age comic book, a cheesy B-movie, an episode of The Jetsons, or pulp sci-fi/spy novels is atom punk. The style has even inspired video games, with these being the best examples of atom punk.
9 It Came from The Desert!
When it comes to this Amiga point-and-click classic, the developers weren’t aiming to twist the 1950s B-movie look into a style. Cinemaware's game was trying to BE a 1950s B-movie, but with interactive elements that put it ahead of any FMV game. Players control Dr. Greg Bradley during his study of a meteor crash outside Lizard Breath, CA. He learns it’s giving off radiation that’s making the local ant population grow into giants.
It’s up to him, and thus the player, to explore the town to find a way to stop the ants from multiplying and taking over the world. The game has all the hallmarks of those corny flicks, from the college jocks and obliging nurses to the big scare shots of the ants. Yet it’s also genuine with its storytelling, providing an entertaining experience than an anti-entertaining experience other B-movie spoofs would try, like its own stodgy TurboGrafx CD port.
8 Zombies Ate My Neighbors!
LucasArts has a number of games that could fit the atom punk bill. Maniac Mansion and The Day of the Tentacle both go for the 1950s/1960s horror movie look with a (then-)modern twist. Then there is their top-down run & gunner Zombies Ate My Neighbors, which mixes the eras up into one wild, weapon-firing adventure.
The vampires and mummies come straight from classic horror, and the chainsaw-wielding maniacs are more modern by comparison. However, the aliens, UFOs, giant bugs, blobs, suburban levels, and the mad scientist main villain Dr. Tongue are as “rayman gothic” as it gets. The pod people enemies, horror movie poster cover art, and Zeke’s anaglyph 3D glasses are just the cherry on top of a sweet atom punk cake.
7 Team Fortress 2
Valve’s classic team-based shooter Team Fortress 2 is an odd one. A lot of its style can be attributed to dieselpunk with its weapons and equipment. Yet the art style does resemble atom punk works like The Iron Giant or 3D versions of Hanna-Barbera cartoons from the era. Plus, there are a few rayman gothic-like devices, like literal rayguns powered by AA batteries.
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So, perhaps the best way to describe TF2’s look is that it was set right when diesel-era tech was giving way to the new age. When nuclear weapons and other tech may have been possible, the only “atomic” thing available to Teams Red and Blue were the Scout's Atomic Punch soft drinks. After the more modern-looking Team Fortress Classic, going near-atom punk really helped TF2 stand out from the pack in 2007.
6 Space Channel 5
Games don’t have to harken back to horror to be atom punk. The 50s and 60s also saw space-based tech become a thing as the US and USSR raced to reach the stars before settling for the moon. Television also rose to prominence during this time, with sitcoms, game shows, soap operas, and more becoming hits with their visuals over their voices.
So, Sega combined the cosmos with TV network drama, Sixties sass, and a little Y2K aesthetic for 1999 Dreamcast owners. That way, Space Channel 5’s tie-dyed 60s kitsch felt more up-to-date with the 2000s' teals and chromes. In it, the player helped news reporter Ulala save the Earth from aliens, and overcome rival reporters, by tapping the buttons to her beats. It’s since become a cult classic, gaining sequels on the PS2 and VR devices.
5 Atomic Heart
Speaking of the USSR, Atomic Heart told things from the Soviet POV in an alternate history that sees the nation’s workforce replaced largely by robots to make up for the losses caused by a deadly Nazi plague. But when some go rogue, it’s up to Major “P-3” Nechayev to put them down and discover the conspiracy behind the biomechanical experiments at Facility 3826.
As a game, Atomic Heart is a mixed bag, with the controls and missions being serviceable, and the story too similar to Bioshock. The developers’ Russian connections have also been accused of being more than just aesthetic. But taken on its setting, design, and looks, it succeeds at being a Soviet-based take on atom punk.
4 No One Lives Forever
If people aren’t keen on dealing with Atomic Heart, there are plenty of alternatives, like the cheerier No One Lives Forever. Created by Monolith Productions, it focused more on the era's interest in spy media, spurred by the success of the James Bond novels and movies. But instead of being grim and gritty, it went for the 1960s day-glo kitsch like Space Channel 5 did.
As secret agent Cate Archer helps stop the HARM organization from terrorizing the world, fans might notice more inspirations than just 007. Archer herself owes more to Modesty Blaise and The Avengers (not the Marvel ones) than Bond. The game’s humor echoes the likes of Get Smart, The Man from UNCLE, and Our Man Flint. It was a hit on PC back in 2000, but sadly its tricky legal situation has kept it and its sequel from getting official re-releases.
3 The Outer Worlds
After years of most sci-fi games taking on various, cool, metallic looks, either being sleek like Mass Effect or grimy like Doom Eternal, The Outer Worlds stood out for its rich color palette. The game was directed by Fallout creators Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky, so it has been compared to its sister series. But instead of the player roaming a post-apocalyptic wasteland, they explore planets overtaken by megacorporations in 2285.
So far, that sounds more cyberpunk than atom punk. But many of its settlements resemble old 1950s American towns, and the player’s futuristic weapons are joined by more retrofuturistic ones like rayguns and showerhead-shaped bludgeons. That’s putting aside its lush alien worlds, and DLC that sound like pulp sci-fi novel stories (“Peril on Gorgon!” “Murder on Eridanos!”). As far as space-based atom punk goes, The Outer Worlds is one of the best.
2 Fallout: New Vegas
Still, if the other games didn't have enough atomic technology, the Fallout series has more than enough for everyone. Whether it’s the original RTS games or the later action RPGs, each sees Fallout’s world run on nuclear power and directed-energy devices. It also sees humanity living in a post-apocalyptic wasteland from fallout shelters known as Vaults. Even their chipper mascot Vault Boy looks like something promoting the lobby at a drive-thru cinema.
Everyone has their own favorite game in the series, though out of the modern action-based ones, Fallout: New Vegas tends to be the most popular. As Courier 6 explores the former Las Vegas in search of their stolen package, they’ll find themselves sandwiched between the neo-Roman Caesar’s Legion, the New California Republic, and Mr. House, the robot-running ruler of the Strip. Players can support either one or none of them to liberate the city and get their stash back.
1 Destroy All Humans!
There have been plenty of games that twist the 1950s/1960s aesthetic, be it Fallout’s nuke-powered cars, No One Lives Forever’s spy gadgets or Space Channel 5’s bubblegum pop boogie. But Destroy All Humans! is one of the few games that puts the “punk” in “atom punk”. For one, instead of saving humans from aliens, players have to save the aliens by harvesting humans for their brain stems.
DAH is set right in the middle of the era in 1959 and has different sandbox levels from the sticks to Area 42 (a la Area 51). Crypto, the playable alien, has to deal with the US military and KGB in his quest, dispatching them with his guns, probes, and other space tech. He can even fly a UFO to toast targets and abduct people. The game received a remake that got a mixed reception, but the original and its sequel can be picked up on the PS4 via their remasters.