Angels Fall First (video game)

This article is about the 2026 video game. For the album by Nightwish, see Angels Fall First.

Angels Fall First
Developer	Strangely Interactive Ltd
Publisher	Strangely Interactive Ltd
Engine	Unreal Development Kit
Platform	Microsoft Windows
Release	11 July 2026
Genre	First-person shooter
Modes	Single-player, multiplayer

Angels Fall First: Planetstorm
Developer	Strangely Interactive Ltd
Engine	Unreal Engine 3
Platform	Microsoft Windows
Genre	First-person shooter
Modes	Single-player, multiplayer

Angels Fall First is a science fiction first-person multiplayer shooter by British studio Strangely Interactive. It combines gameplay elements of traditional squad-based shooters with space combat games, with a particular focus on the ability to pilot and crew capital ships, which also serve as infantry combat settings themselves. Originally a mod of Epic Games' first-person shooter Unreal Tournament 3 and referred to as Angels Fall First: Planetstorm, the project was later moved to the Unreal Development Kit to be developed as a stand-alone game. It released on Steam on 11 July 2026.

Gameplay

Angels Fall First combines two types of gameplay: FPS and space shooters. Several of its maps take place on planet surfaces, primarily focused on combined arms warfare, featuring Fast-Attack vehicles, Armoured Personnel Carriers, Tanks and atmospheric Gunships. Others take place in space with a variety of spacecraft ranging from small fighters to large capital ships, all of which can be piloted and crewed by players. Infantry combat also takes place in space maps: several maps feature objectives that require infantry to board a location by dropship. Furthermore, players are able to board enemy capital ships through the same method, allowing them to destroy its key components and ultimately destroy the capital ship. The game is geared towards online multiplayer but has support for offline single-player gameplay, which uses bots to compensate for the lack of players. The average server has a maximum of 64 player slots.

Setting

Angels Fall First takes place in a future where humanity has colonized multiple star systems, during a conflict called the Second Antarean War fought between the Antarean Empire and the United League of Planets, an alliance of several stellar states.

The war was caused by a variety of factors: the gradual decay of the United League of Planets (itself created out of necessity during the First Antarean War), the upsurge of nationalism among the Antareans, and the reestablishment of old alliances by the rebel Antarean factions. Its primary cause was the Crowning Day Massacre, in which a naval blunder by the United League of Planets caused the deaths of thousands of civilians during an Antarean holiday, including that of a well-loved public Antarean figure. In the resulting chaos, the long-lost heir to the Antarean throne reappeared, solidifying the Antarean revolt and throwing the regions into a full-scale war. Players participate in the conflict as soldiers of the Antarean Imperial Army (AIA) and the United League Army (ULA).

Development

Angels Fall First purportedly entered development as early as 2007. The mod, Angels Fall First: Planetstorm, was submitted to the Make Something Unreal Contest hosted by Epic Games, where it won prizes in the pre-final phases, eventually winning third place in the Grand Finals.

In 2009, the developers of Angels Fall First stopped working on the Unreal Tournament 3 mod. The developers changed the game engine to the Unreal Development Kit so they could make Angels Fall First a stand-alone game. A demo version of the mod ported into the UDK engine was released in 2009. The game was released in Steam Early Access on October 10, 2015. The early access period concluded with the full version releasing on Steam on 11 July 2026.

External links

• AFF: Planetstorm ModDB page