right here’s an extended, proud custom of sand-based video games. The Prince of Persia, after all, did it first (or at the least greatest), whereas Murderer’s Creed: Origins rebooted their whole franchise by inserting it in Egypt. And now Atlas Fallen is selecting up the mantle, with a fable about warring gods, a spooky nice head within the sky, and a killer gauntlet that may punch any monster into oblivion (offering you time your dodges proper).
The story picks up along with your character (by no means named) trapped in a storm. They’re a part of the ‘Unnamed’ — a reasonably vaguely defined slave caste, answerable for mining Essence, a holy substance that will get fed to the good god Thelos.
After all, the mining itself is hideously harmful, however insubordination shouldn’t be allowed (there may be additionally an evil queen to maintain the inhabitants in line, you see). And after a suicide mission goes awry, you discover a superpowered gauntlet within the wilderness that guarantees unbelievable powers.
Together with the gauntlet — which seems to be holding the spirit of an Avatar-esque creature known as Nyall — the participant will head off with the duty of fomenting revolution among the many Unnamed and discovering the legendary Knights of Bastengar, a combating order that was nearly worn out once they rebelled in opposition to the queen 10 years in the past.
To date, so promising — and sure, it bears a startling resemblance to the reasonably unloved January launch, Forspoken (like Cuff, Nyall can be reasonably annoying). Equally to Forspoken, the world that Deck13 Interactive has constructed is enjoyable: it’s a sand-ravaged panorama that has been damaged by Thelos’s insatiable demand for Essence and populated by broken-down, ruined buildings. And, after all, there may be Thelos’s Watcher: an enormous head within the sky that typically bursts into enormous, damaging rages you don’t wish to be caught in the course of.
It’s all reasonably beautiful and, even higher, journey throughout this dusty terrain is enjoyable, too, due to a nifty ‘sand-surfing’ means and the facility to ‘Air Sprint’ by means of the sky, mainly extending your leaping size and permitting you to jet round like a superhero.
Because the premise suggests, there may be loads of combating concerned — in addition to some gentle quest-solving and errand-running. Preventing might be Atlas Fallen’s USP: I’m unsure I’ve performed many video games prefer it. The monsters you’ll be combating are Wraiths, sand-based creatures that hang-out the wastes of this shattered land — every little thing from Horizon: Forbidden West-style gigantic vipers, to flying creatures that sap your power mid-fight — and there’s a satisfying number of them.
The gauntlet itself offers you two assault kinds — involving heavy or quick weapon sorts which may be customised and swapped round — however a lot of your success will hinge on having the ability to time your parrying abilities good, thereby freezing enemies and permitting you to whale on them to your coronary heart’s content material.
Probably the most uncommon factor concerning the fight, although, is the Momentum gauge. This nifty little bit of design mainly permits the participant to construct up energy each time they hit their enemy; extra Momentum unlocks particular assaults and offers extra injury. It additionally makes the participant extra prone to break, thereby making it a double-edged sword whereby one hit may spell immediate loss of life, or immediate victory.
It’s hideously tough — to the derision of my companion, I performed your complete recreation on simple, and a few monsters had been nonetheless a little bit of a problem — however the recreation happily retains issues attention-grabbing by introducing Essence stones: mainly, upgrades that may be crafted utilizing monster elements and vegetation scavenged out of your travels.
These unlock new assaults (equivalent to an enormous, attack-disrupting set of hammers that slam a monster into the bottom); extra well being, or extra cost in your Idol (the factor that restores well being throughout a struggle).
The factor is, as enjoyable as this recreation feels, it additionally feels simply the slightest bit… dated. The graphics, whereas first rate sufficient, really feel like they may have been launched three or 4 years in the past; the world itself, whereas partaking, doesn’t have an excessive amount of to find past lore scrolls or countless monsters to struggle. Your character has a really restricted quantity of company, true — however it’s exhausting to see how selecting between two completely different dialogue choices has a lot of an influence on the story.
However that’s anticipating an excessive amount of from this recreation. Atlas Fallen is a superbly enjoyable, completely serviceable RPG that boasts top-notch fight in addition to some reasonably beautiful desert vistas. Pack the suncream; you’re going to want it.
Atlas Fallen is offered now on PS5, Xbox Sequence X/S, and PC
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