Atlas Fallen Review

Atlas Fallen is an action-adventure title in which you explore Atlas, the fallen world that has been corrupted and overtaken by the evil Sun god, Thelos. Glide through the sand, use your weapons at your disposal, and fight against the Wraiths to take back the world for the Unnamed.

To start bluntly, I'd like to say that the narrative in Atlas Fallen is easily the game's weakest point. The story starts off relatively confusingly, and despite having spent over a dozen hours in the world of Atlas, there are some elements I not only haven't understood but others I just haven't clicked with. It starts with a strange character fighting through the world as you play through a pseudo-tutorial that explains the relatively simple mechanics, and this seemingly critical moment was lost on me already, as I didn't really understand what I was experiencing.

After going through the character creation (which was relatively shoddy, realistically, with outdated character graphics and limited options that, for the first time in a long time, made me consider playing a male over my usual female lead), you finally take control of the protagonist and... get stuck in more uninformative storytelling. The premise of the narrative seems interesting, with a tyrannical god draining the land and leaving only sand, but the political dynamics and culture were something I didn't really understand, not even over a dozen hours in. This doesn't get much better after you leave the tutorial (and feel like you effectively wasted around an hour of your time, considering nothing of what you did seems to impact or matter), as you then start to meet a cast of faceless characters that are made to be quirky on purpose and are pretty charmless. From "catchphrases” that felt out of place to connections and relations that didn't matter or affect anything, the characters were flat and dull, making the sidequests less appealing than they should have been.

As a gameplay-heavy title, the story may not be the central focus of Atlas Fallen, but considering the unique lore and world I was exploring, I yearned for wanting to care more... but I couldn't. Of course, the narrative doesn't play as pivotal a role in playing and enjoying the title if you're more focused on what the game has to offer in terms of action-based combat, but those that are looking for a little more in terms of storytelling are going to be left wanting in this area. Not all is glum for Atlas Fallen, however, as its most appealing trait and its primary selling point isn't nearly as unamusing as its story, but I don't know if I'd exactly say it's groundbreaking or exhilarating, either…

The combat in Atlas Fallen might seem as outdated as some of its graphics, with button-mashing gameplay akin to the titles of yore, reminding me of the likes of Darksiders and God of War; however, the playstyle of a bygone era isn't entirely unwelcome in modern-day gaming. The premise is simple, you choose from three weapons (shown in the Atlas Fallen - Combat Trailer) and gather Momentum with each attack, increasing how hard you hit but also incrementing the damage the Wraiths deal to you. Atlas Fallen adds an exciting gimmick where you are rewarded for riskier behaviour and playstyles, as you can slot various perks and abilities that are unlocked the higher your Momentum bar is, and with the caveat of taking more damage per hit, it offers an easy to pick up but hard to master gameplay.

The combat is exciting and fun, with the Momentum bar increasing and offering you cooler abilities both in terms of your basic attacks and the skills you unlock, whether it's swinging a massive hammer around or beating the crap out of the Wraiths with various arms à la Asura from Asura's Wrath, seeing the extravagant attacks was always welcome. In your defensive arsenal, you'll get the ability to dodge attacks and use a block meant only for last-minute parries of enemy blows indicated by a red flash, which takes away the need to learn when to use it but also ensures that it continues to be accessible for all players. The Momentum bar, paired with various defensive abilities and greater offence the more you fill, encourages fast-paced combat that is purely action-based, and it's great fun to bash enemies in with either aerial or ground combat... when it works properly.

The variety of enemies gives you the capability to adapt your fighting style accordingly, with shifts of attacks that allow you to change from ground to air in the click of a button with a flashy attack that'll pummel your foes, and fighting smaller Wraiths is delightful. Instead, the problems begin when larger Wraiths are introduced — behemoths that can dwarf your character and super-armour through your attacks to discourage mindless button-mashing; these are rewarding to fight and offer plenty of loot once defeated. The problem, however, is that their attacks are sometimes so large that it makes them wonky, making a usually reliable block indicator undependable and instead a frustrating mechanic to deal with. When the game forces you to trust its red flash to get the parry and encourages you to play aggressively in a high-risk, high-reward playstyle, being brought down by an enemy whose attacks contradict everything you'd been taught thus far can be a bit disappointing.

In general, the block requires quick reflexes with some of the smaller enemies, and although I found the window of parry to be a bit unreliable and unpredictable, enemy patterns are clear, with most enemies only having one attack that they use. This means that you can learn their single attack relatively easily, for better or worse, as you will soon recognise what enemies are doing and be able to react and block without the need for the oft-unreliable indicator.

That all said, though, when the combat works, it's fantastic, and there were no fights I ever skipped, even with my complaints on the table. The fast-paced battles are reminiscent of the games of old that preferred combat over narrative, and it's definitely a path and inspiration very evident in Atlas Fallen, preferring flashy attacks and cool gameplay over unique storytelling, and that doesn't have to be a bad thing if aimed at the right audience.

One aspect I genuinely enjoyed of Atlas Fallen is the way you can actually complete the whole area without worries. Traversing through the sand with the glide is fun (whenever it isn't interrupted by a sand-less area that forces you to walk like a plebeian), and I never used the fast-travel mechanic to travel through Atlas, instead opting to fight everything in my way to the various things you can do. And there is a lot to do.

Completionists and fans of the game will spend a lot of time doing the many things that each map of Atlas Fallen offers, as you can set out to kill all of the Elite Bosses (such as the tear-inducingly named Desert Plunger, which had my wife and I crying of laughter throughout the entire fight), or complete all of the time trials scattered throughout, or find all of the chests, or complete the quests... you can even stalk animals to ensure they give you treasure, and this encourages you to interact with the world in a way that older titles couldn't, taking advantage of the sizeable open-area setting you have to explore.

The best part is that exploration is encouraged in the way of unlockable abilities that you can put in your Momentum bar to get more powerful, or you'll also set out to get flowers to upgrade your items or even get Soul Essence (which works as a currency) to upgrade stuff. The most fun part of Atlas Fallen is that you are always working towards something, making the experience feel delightfully full of things to do and accomplish. While I'm usually a hoarder of all things currency, I splurged and spent like a mad woman in Atlas Fallen because upgrading your armour — even the ones you won't be using for long or at all — gives you important things like perks, meaning you don't have to feel bad for using your materials because you are getting something permanent out of the deal.

Getting to explore the world with my wife was a massive plus, as the cooperative gameplay ensured we were working together to defeat the Wraiths, and we even managed to get complementary builds to ensure we were covering every area. Defeating the enemies and gliding through the sand was all the more gratifying because I had someone else to do it with, an experience I fear might have been much lonelier and a tiny bit emptier without her. The co-op was mostly seamless, as she and I shared all of the materials and got all of the same items, but there were plenty of bugs present that made the experience a bit clunky, from her dialogue box never disappearing to her not being able to hear NPC lines at times. The bugs were mostly co-op focused, with a slew of performance issues to boot, but nothing that was game-breaking on either of our ends. My wife’s RTX 2080 handled the game perfectly in ultrawide low setting, so it isn’t so demanding that you’ll need an upgrade to experience the game, either.

Atlas Fallen is a good title to pick up and enjoy. From defeating the Wraiths with various epic weaponry to gathering tons of things throughout the world, there isn't a lack of things to do, but the polish of these areas could definitely have used a bit more work. It is an experience I've enjoyed having and a game I had fun playing, but whether I'll remember it and hold it as a memorable one is a different story altogether.