Like last year's Evil West, Atlas Fallen feels like a game ripped out of the past and brought to modern times. With all of its zany high-fantasy concepts, big armour pieces and open-ended gameplay, there's a lot for nostalgic players to enjoy if they miss the bygone era of games like Prototype or older Darksiders. That said, Atlas Fallen commits to its dated premise and never really strays off the beaten path or takes any daring risks, resulting in a perfectly fine and fun experience that will probably be wiped clean from your memory once the credits roll.



Atlas Fallen's story is one we've heard a hundreds times before. Taking place in a ruined fantasy world of sand, as the story goes, the Sun God Thelos once nearly destroyed this realm, but now requires magical power called Essence that grows in the human world to return and wreak havoc. It's up to us, the main character, to stop Thelos and navigate his ruined world with oppressed societies and slaves and find some way to liberate the fallen kingdom.



Developer Deck13, best known for The Surge games, takes a decidedly different direction with Atlas Fallen. It's not a Soulslike but a semi open-world action game with a big emphasis on hack-and-slash combat and defeating large monsters called wraiths. After getting out of the rather basic character creator, players are allowed to freely explore four large open-ended zones filled with secrets, puzzles, landmarks and enemies. Some sections are gated off because it requires players to have certain mid or endgame items, meaning you're also encouraged to backtrack to zones and unlock new areas.

Gliding across the sands is a fun way to traverse the environment, though I wish it were a little faster as it can feel a bit sluggish at times.

It's all standard fare for the type of game that Atlas Fallen strives to be. To get some of the highlights out of way first, the game boasts pretty gorgeous open zones with some creative liberties taken for its warped landscapes. Gliding across the sands is a fun way to traverse the environment, though I wish it were a little faster as it can feel a bit sluggish at times. While out exploring, you can choose to make a dash for the main story or venture off and do side quests like solving puzzles to unlock new areas or gear, or platform up tough-to-reach places for treasure. It's cool at first but once you reach a certain point, it stops becoming fun and you just want to readjust yourself back on the main path. Side quests and activities are okay but rarely offer a great sense of reward beyond just exploring the land for the sake of it.



For as visually dazzling as some of Atlas Fallen's areas tend to be, they also run out of steam pretty quickly and become tedious. The same can't be said about the game's excellent and flexible combat, which seems simple at first but slowly opens up once you learn its intricacies. You can use a combination of two weapons that slightly change depending on a meter that gradually builds up during combat. You can spend your meter on unleashing special abilities or let it build up so that melee weapons actually grow and hit harder, at the cost of leaving you more vulnerable. It's a nice risk/reward system that keeps combat exciting and fresh, even when everything else becomes repetitive after a while.

Certain abilities are tied to a magical talking gauntlet - I feel like I've conjured up some Forspoken PTSD by even mentioning that. Thankfully, it's not as annoying as Forspoken and can offer pretty useful advice when it comes to puzzle-solving and platforming. As you progress, you can craft Essence to customise your character with different gear and items, each providing different stats and buffs. The game's transmog system is also fantastic and the armours are all well-designed in that high-fantasy fashion.



It all comes to a screeching halt when you have to contend with the snails pace of Atlas Fallen's main quest, though. Cutscenes are mainly dialogue exchanges with no action and in some cases, I'd be fine with that. The problem is that the game's narrative and characters aren't very interesting. A lot of characters, thanks to a weird lack of enthusiasm from the voice acting, feel like they just don't want to be there or seem bored delivering exposition dumps. They add little to the game's lore and some speak so deliberately slowly, that you can't help but skip over it. The main "cast" (if you could call it that) aren't that memorable either and come across as woefully generic archetypes with one-dimensional motivations.

The problem is that the game's narrative and characters aren't very interesting. A lot of characters, thanks to a weird lack of enthusiasm from the voice acting, feel like they just don't want to be there.

It's a shame because Atlas Fallen is at its best when it just lets you off the hook and allows you to freely go about exploring, fighting monsters and getting stronger. Thankfully a large portion of the game is just that but the story often feels like a door-stopper to all that momentum. If it had better writing and more interesting and layered characters, I'd be recommending this game a lot more. It's very enjoyable in those high-octane moments, though, and definitely worth it at a slightly lower asking price.



The visuals of Atlas Fallen are good as is its performance, at least on PS5. I occasionally encountered framerate dips when the action got a bit too heavy but for the most part, it's pretty smooth-sailing (or, uh, gliding). Character models aren't the greatest and some animation looks stiff but there's enough detail and creative design work packed into the world to hold your attention. The drop-in co-op is also surprisingly seamless, though I didn't get much time with it. It's unfortunate that it isn't cross-play either. Overall, it's a technically sound and solid game with some minor hiccups.

Atlas Fallen isn't going to win any awards but it might win you over if you take it as an enjoyable, harmless fantasy action game with great combat and stunning lands to explore. When put under a microscope, though, it's only held together by its fun factor and short length that thankfully doesn't overstay its welcome. It's not a deep experience and many might leave unsatisfied by its sluggish pacing, dialogue and story. Atlas Fallen is an easy recommend on sale but for now, 2023 has a lot more to offer.



*PS5 Review code provided by ZamZam Distribution on behalf of Focus Publishing