Atlas Fallen is precisely the type of recreation I would like proper now. I don’t fairly know the best way to clarify why that’s apart from to get barely reductive, so indulge me: it’s received large, wonderful A-tier vitality. Not triple-A. Just A. And generally, that’s all you want.
Now, earlier than I get into my transient time with a preview construct of Atlas Fallen in earnest, a caveat. Previewing video games is at all times troublesome. It’s not straightforward to type an opinion on an unfinished product in a really brief period of time – however let me let you know, it’s much more troublesome whenever you run into technical points. This has been my expertise with Atlas Fallen.
This occurs with early builds on a regular basis, so it’s not likely a matter of alarm bells. Oftentimes, particularly the place I performed on PC, it’s about bizarre driver and {hardware} mismatches, the types of issues that get mopped up as a recreation nears launch. So after I performed Atlas Fallen, I skilled a not-insignificant variety of crashes to desktop. But I saved going – saved enjoying, saved reloading, saved letting the autosave gods rescue me. You know why? ‘Cos Atlas Fallen actually sorta slaps.
I’m reaching round for a comparability level of what Atlas Fallen is like and struggling, however let me provide you with one thing extra broad: it’s received large Darksiders vitality. I don’t imply it’s a Zelda-alike, although there’s positively Zelda-ish components. What I actually imply is the final temper and really feel – the vibe that recreation had on the time. It wasn’t as lavish or as costly as some, nevertheless it had an entire lot of coronary heart and was decided to carry collectively concepts and influences from a wide range of locations and execute on them in an attention-grabbing approach. That can be Atlas Fallen.
Developer Deck13 is most well-known for The Surge and Lords of the Fallen, each ‘Soulsy’ type of video games. This correctly isn’t a kind of – however what you get as a substitute is a scrappier, looser third-person action-adventure with just a bit contact of that crunchy, heavy souls-style fight injected into it.
The star of the present from virtually the primary struggle I performed is a counter. Executed with the left bumper, when timed proper it ‘crystallizes’ enemies – not simply parrying their assault however flat-out leaving them frozen in glistening rock for a couple of valuable moments the place you may wail on them. In many video games counters really feel exact and tight, however that is intentionally looser, taking the type of a type of burst of vitality out of your character.
A beautiful sound impact accompanies a profitable counter, and really shortly you’ll dial within the timing on every enemy. It turns encounters with a number of enemies right into a tasty little dance: ready for his or her assault, crystallizing them, nailing assaults earlier than flipping focus simply in time to parry and crystallize their mate. It feels nice. I prefer it rather a lot.
The different attention-grabbing wrinkle is Momentum, which itself seems like an inversion of the stamina idea that dominates souls-style video games. Momentum is gained by attacking – although some weapons are higher at constructing Momentum than others. Special expertise and buffs that you just equip in Atlas Fallen’s RPG menus grow to be accessible in fight at sure Momentum thresholds, represented by a blue bar that sits beneath your well being bar. The strongest strikes would require you to have a excessive Momentum stage earlier than you should use them, thus rewarding sturdy literacy within the fundamental ideas of fight.
I actually like this. You know the way within the Arkham video games it feels actually good whenever you construct up an incredible large combo, dismissing one enemy after one other with out taking a single hit? There’s a component of that right here, however the distinction the Momentum system gives is that getting that type of factor going now has a reward within the type of quickly unlocking much more fight talents. Weapons even rework as you achieve extra momentum, changing into extra lethal – so it’s in your curiosity to grasp combos and counters to be consistently working at most effectivity.
The relaxation appears attention-grabbing sufficient. There’s massive zones with chests to seek out, sand dunes to zip throughout, traversal talents, NPCs to fulfill, and seemingly large quantities of crafting gear and collectibles to nab. All handsome stuff. What I’ve seen of this world already makes it a few thousand instances extra attention-grabbing than that of Forspoken, a recreation that most likely value many multiples greater than this. A little bit of dodgy voice work isn’t sufficient to place me off, both. But in a reasonably unstable construct, it was the fight that grabbed me most – and with good purpose. It’s nice.
Plus, truthfully, I actually reasonably take pleasure in a good-old A-tier, no want for the double or the triple. There’s coronary heart, there’s soul, and there’s concepts right here which may not survive being battered by 1,000,000 focus teams and mega gross sales expectations. Like I say, it actually does whiff slightly of one thing like Darksiders – which was surely among the finest surprises of its era. Atlas Fallen is now totally on my radar – and I can’t wait to play extra – and in a barely extra polished construct.
