Atlas Fallen sees you overthrow a god on Xbox Sequence X|S
From the second you begin Atlas Fallen, the injustices plaguing its inhabitants are hurled at you, setting the tone of the journey to return. We’re put into the sneakers of an Unnamed — the bottom class of individuals in Atlas which might be solely referred to by their job roles or private traits, similar to Tracker or Fast Ft. These poor saps are virtually handled as slaves, even known as such at occasions, mining and transporting a magical materials often called Essence for the Thousand-Yr Queen, a puppet for the tyrannical god often called Thelos. These born into this class are nugatory within the eyes of Atlas’ the Aristocracy and fanatical monks, expendable in each method. It is a theme that carries by way of Atlas Fallen till the very finish, and although our journey begins to provide them a cause to battle for freedom, it is at all times clear simply how damaged these persons are within the face of oppression from an ever-present God.
If the disdain from nobles, slave work for a non secular sect, and dwelling in squalor wasn’t sufficient, the inhabitants of Atlas additionally need to put up with Wraiths: creatures formed from the sand itself, which plague the land because it withers and dies from the intense mining of Essence. Our journey as an Unnamed begins following a Wraith assault on an Essence caravan, which coincidentally results in us discovering a magical gauntlet that offers us the flexibility to wield God-like energy, in addition to talk with a spirit that may match the power of Thelos. With the magical gauntlet in hand, and a moderately disagreeable altercation with the caravan’s chief, Morrath, we embark on a mission that sees us uncover misplaced data of the previous, ally with an order of knights, and take the battle to Thelos itself.
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Atlas Fallen’s foremost story is an pleasing journey that does not stray too removed from a typical zero-to-hero plotline. Whereas it is stuffed with lore for the world we’re exploring and introduces us to a forged of moderately attention-grabbing characters, its greatest boon for me is that you just’re not the primary particular person to have wielded the gauntlet. In Atlas’ current historical past, the gauntlet was utilized by an order of knights to try to overthrow the Queen and convey an finish to Thelos’ rule, however the energy of the gauntlet backfired on them, bringing their rebel to a swift finish. With that engrained within the reminiscences of the individuals you are making an attempt to assist, they’re cautious of you rather than treating you as some iconic savior with unbelievable skills. You definitely grow to be a beacon of hope to your fellow Unnamed, however your journey throughout Atlas is a battle to show your self to potential allies.
Whereas working by way of the primary story to grow to be sturdy sufficient to match the facility of a God, you are free to discover the 4 open-world zones at your leisure (offered you’ve got unlocked them by reaching story plot factors). There are a hefty variety of actions you may get caught into when exploring, and as you uncover extra items of your gauntlet, you start to unlock extra issues to do. That is the place Atlas Fallen can really feel just a little on the dry facet. There isn’t any doubt that the world is attractive to have a look at — Deck13 has crafted a world stuffed with rolling dunes of sand, towering magical buildings, and extra verticality than an Murderer’s Creed sport — however it falls into an identical map-clearing lure that many RPGs discover themselves tangled in. It is definitely doable to simply concentrate on the primary story to expertise the facility curve and fame till you attain the God-battling crescendo, however you will solely be getting round 20 hours’ value of content material, and you would be lacking out on a ton of lore, and extra importantly, character upgrades.
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To get the complete Atlas Fallen expertise, it’s worthwhile to discover the world, however for almost all of the time, that is all you will be doing. Facet quests are brief and few, with the vast majority of them being fetch quests devoid of any significant tales. A lot of them will routinely be accomplished once you communicate to the hunt giver if you happen to’ve already defeated the creature they need you to cope with or discovered a selected merchandise, additional limiting the story-based content material you possibly can absorb between platformer-style Forgotten Paths, time-based Sealing Stones, boss-battling Watchtowers, and different brief actions discovered on the map. There’s a saving grace right here, nonetheless, as I cleaned up all 4 maps and unlocked all however one achievement inside 40 hours, so it is definitely not a slog by any stretch. I personally love a superb map clear, however the normal pacing of the primary story feels fairly balanced by itself, so stepping away from it for hours with none relatable facet quest tales to get pleasure from feels such as you’re doing it a disservice by upsetting the circulation.
As I’ve mentioned earlier than, Atlas Fallen is gorgeous — the lighting, draw distance, and a spotlight to element are great, and Deck13 will get an additional level for including a fantastic photograph mode. I am a sucker for a photograph mode (albeit sucky at truly getting round to posting my fairly footage on my social accounts) and consider each sport ought to have one… hell, I would use one in Area Invaders if it was doable! A lot of my time has been spent browsing throughout the sand — which is an superior characteristic itself — searching for my subsequent magnificence spot to snap, and because of a well-balanced spawn system, you are given the possibility to benefit from the surrounding panorama as a result of it isn’t a world chock-full of enemies. Wraith spawns in Atlas Fallen are evenly unfold out round every map, and whereas the extra frequent enemies (Lesser Wraiths) spawn randomly each from time to time to pester you, most of your battles might be fought in allotted areas — usually in opposition to the stronger Higher or Colossal Wraith variants.
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If exploring the world feels just a little dry, the fight can solely be described as a mirage of lush vegetation and funky spring water within the searing desert warmth. It is thrilling, and whereas it seems chaotic from the surface, it is a equally choreographed dance of dying as seen in different action-RPGs: assault, parry, dodge, assault, find your subsequent goal, and repeat. Whereas the Lesser Wraiths solely have to be hit in a single spot for them to die, the Higher, Colossal, and Boss Wraiths all have quite a few weak spots it’s worthwhile to destroy to fell the beast. It is value mentioning you could unlock all of Atlas Fallen’s achievements on its best problem, so gamers of all talent ranges ought to have the ability to become involved with out feeling overwhelmed. Though, the upper difficulties could possibly be favorable for these of you seeking to get probably the most out of the improve system.
Atlas Fallen has two foremost foreign money methods: Tributes and Essence Mud. Tributes are discovered by looking out the quite a few chests all over the world and by promoting Artefacts. You’ll be able to then spend them at distributors and the charismatic touring vendor for armor dyes, treasure map items, and the supplies required to improve your skills — though I did not really feel the necessity to buy any additional supplies as I discovered sufficient on my adventures. As for Essence Mud, it is an important foreign money within the sport and is earned by slaying Wraiths, finishing quests, and a mess of different actions. You employ Essence Mud to unlock the complete potential of your gauntlet, unlocking and upgrading the hoard of Essence Stones you discover in your travels for fight skills.
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Essence Stones are Atlas Fallen’s talent system and require you to construct a useful resource known as Momentum when in fight to extend your energy. They arrive in many types, providing direct injury assaults, heals, Momentum buffs, defensive bonuses, and even skills to bolster your co-op accomplice. Personally, that is the place I believe Atlas Fallen shines the brightest, as there are such a lot of totally different combos you should use to essentially make your character distinctive. The Stones are damaged into three tiers in your motion bar, permitting you to equip three cooldown-based direct abilities and eight buffs, with the upper tiers providing far superior advantages once you unlock them. When in fight, you will generate Momentum, which slowly fills your motion bar to unlock every Stone’s results. Naturally, permitting the Momentum to fill your motion bar will give you extra fight bonuses, however you even have the choice to spend the collected Momentum on a robust assault known as Shatter, which offers large injury to your foe, but in addition resets your motion bar. It is a fantastic system that works properly through the warmth of the second, permitting you to resolve if the trade-off is value it — at occasions I have been splattered for being just a little too hasty with my Shatter, or on uncommon events, seen the sport crash because of being just a little too heavy with my potential utilization. My hope is that this might be fastened earlier than Atlas Fallen launches. It is an rare factor, however disappointing to see as a result of Atlas Fallen usually seems like a well-polished sport.
Apart from Essence Stones, there is not a lot else you are able to do to improve your character, though I do not assume you actually need far more than the Stones! As you progress, you will unlock new armor units with predetermined buffs, with the one customization choices coming within the type of dyes and beauty gadgets, Idols are your foremost therapeutic supply, and you’ll equip two of the three accessible weapon sorts: Sandwhip, Dunecleaver, and Knuckledust. Fight is nice enjoyable and feels nice as it’s, however I used to be left wanting for just a little extra weapon selection.
As for the Atlas Fallen achievements they’ll all be unlocked inside 40 hours if you happen to’re taking it gradual. They’re largely linked to the primary story beats and for finishing the map-clearing actions and are pretty easy. My time with the sport surpassed 40 hours because of a lacking beauty merchandise, which after spending a complete night combing all 4 zones, I discovered was a reward for a facet quest I simply by no means got here throughout earlier than. Nonetheless, I now have the completion and might fortunately say that the system is bug-free.
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Abstract
Atlas Fallen continues Focus Leisure’s run of publishing pleasing new IPs and options the kind of fast-paced action-RPG expertise you’d anticipate to see from Deck13 Interactive. Whereas it appears to lack a lot in the best way of thrilling story-based facet content material, which finally upsets the pacing of the primary story, there isn’t a doubt that Atlas Fallen is a feast for the eyes and a sand-surfing trip stuffed with loads of high-octane fight encounters.
* Tom performed round 40 hours of Atlas Fallen on Xbox Sequence X, unlocking all 36 achievements within the course of. A key for the sport was offered by Focus Leisure for this evaluate.