Ever since the first atomic bomb dropped in 1945, the potential dangers of nuclear energy have been a subject of heated discussion. The Cold War and the looming threat of mutually assured destruction fueled stories of how a nuclear disaster might change the world. The infamous Chernobyl Disaster of 1986 also exacerbated these fears. But even after the Cold War, nuclear armegeddon continues to fuel the minds of artists, and the theme has unsurprisingly made its way into a number of video games.
One of the most recent examples is Chernobylite, an intense survival game centered around a former Soviet professor returning to the Chernobyl exclusion zone in search of his wife. This game was not the first of its kind, but it managed to bring to life a bleak post-apocalyptic atmosphere. Players who enjoyed Chernobylite might be interested in looking at other games with similar themes, of which there are many.
5 Half-Life/Black Mesa
The game doesn't strictly feature a nuclear disaster — more like a dimensional collapse that breaks reality and causes an alien invasion that in turn causes a second alien invasion. Still, the subject of nuclear physics is a prominent theme and motif throughout Valve's 1998 science fiction adventure. The sounds of Gordon's geiger counter and the images of glowing green liquid waste certainly brings out feelings of being in a radioactive space. The marines who arrive are trained for fighting in hazardous environments. Even the title "Half-Life" itself and the recurring lambda symbol come from terms used in nuclear science.
Though it may show its age today, Half-Life was a game-changer for first-person shooters when it released in 1998. It influenced a lot of later games, including some on this list. For players who are less immersed in the outdated 90's graphics, there is also the option of playing the fan remake Black Mesa,which retains a lot of the same concepts while improving on some parts.
4 S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
Another survival game set in Chernobyl, this one throws the player headfirst into the wasteland. Gamers explore a strange alternate history involving a second disaster that has resulted in strange anomalies, mutant creatures, and most importantly, extremely valuable "artifacts" with unique properties. Survival becomes key as the player tries to navigate the harsh environment and becomes caught in the crossfire between various competing factions. They must avoid the Ukrainian armed forces while tracking down someone named "Strelok" who they were told to kill for reasons unclear.
The influence of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl and its follow-up games is certainly visible in Chernobylite, right down to sharing its setting and incorporation of a similar first-person shooter interface. There is also a similar non-linear structure, where the player gets ahead by accomplishing tasks that gain favor with potential allies. Resource management is also key, though Chernobylite expands this to include other characters besides the player.
Admittedly, parts of the game have not aged well. The graphics from 2007 may look crude today, and the game's aversion to depicting female S.T.A.L.K.E.R.s definitely marks it as a product of its time. But even with those imperfections, it does a good job building up an immersive atmospheric world for the player to explore.
3 Metro Exodus
This title isn't focused on Chernobyl, but instead the aftermath of a global nuclear war that has decimated Russia and the surrounding environment. The Metro series was created by former developers for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. so it is not too surprising to find similarities between those games. Yet, it also shows some similarities to Chernobylite in terms of its first-person interface, as well as the incorporation of stealth mechanics and an abilitity to influence how things play out. That includes impacting the fates of some companions, even if Chernobylite takes that aspect to a new level.
While it is technically part of a series, players can more or less skip the first two installments and move straight on to Exodus, which is a huge improvement on its predecessors. This one more clearly explains how its mechanics work, and discards the confusing shop systems from the first two games in favor of a much more straightforward crafting mechanic (not entirely unlike Chernobylite's). It offers actual attempts at diversifying the cast, and features a much greater variety of locations and environments. Exodus is also more or less self-contained, players do not really need to know anything about the previous games to understand what is happening.
2 Fallout 4
It was probably inevitable that at least one Fallout game would make it on this list. The series has become one of the most iconic depictions of a post-nuclear wasteland, enough to be cited as a big influence on the Metro games. The Fallout games are admittedly very different from some of the others on the list. The third-person perspective, character customization, more outlandish encounters, and a retro aesthetic inspired by 1950's science fiction might be jarring to players accustomed to the more serious tone of other games about nuclear armegedon. However, it still follows some similar mechanics. Players have to collect and manage resources, learn to survive in the wasteland, and keep their radiation levels under control.
Chernobylite actually borrows one notable mechanic from the series. The ability to construct useful items for the player's hideout is taken straight from Fallout 4's settlement system, including the ability to create specific workbenches for specific types of constructs.
1 Special Mention: Call of Duty Modern Warfare
Although the game's entire campaign would be quite different from Chernobylite outside of being a first-person shooter, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare deserves special mention for two specific levels: "All Ghillied Up" and "One Shot, One Kill."
Instead of following a unit, this section follows a pair of SAS operators as they infiltrate the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone to assassinate an arms dealer that has been selling nuclear material to unscrupulous customers. Gameplay suddenly becomes much closer to Chernobylite, as the player must to rely more on evading potential enemies and keeping an eye on their geiger counter to avoid stepping into harmful radiation.Call of Duty players may also notice a very familiar ferris wheel in Chernobylite's opening cutscene. which they might recognize from the final stage of "One Shot, One Kill."