ATOM RPG: Post-apocalyptic indie game

PROs: - Cool setting - Highly customizable PC (although somewhat useless) CONs: - Unbalanced: only some types of PCs can actually make it through - Powerplay focused instead of roleplay focused - Unfair Ok so I played enough and, believe me, I tried to like this game, like hard. I should also warn you that I'm not comparing it to Fallout, like everyone else seems to do (and, if you ask, I think it's wrong; if you want Fallout go play that) The start was promising. Weird writing I thought at first, but it's ok I guess. The first experience was very immersive but I had to start over with a new character because, like it happens often with CRPGs, it was quite shitty. It's fair, so no problem. Problems start when you have to make your character like four or five times because none work and you end up preparing one which won't die at the first encounter or get stuck with any quest because he/she doesn't have enough points in that given attribute or ability. So I ended up preparing one which I actually didn't like but that could at least do some quests. This is what makes the game unbalanced and frustrating, apart from a lot of other things which I won't add because there's not enough space. Why unfair? Because I spend hours and resources looking for x20 gunpowder for some lady in the waists who ends up paying me some mere 300 rubles for the effort (and I get what? 50 xps?). And then the dialogue can continue but it seems I can't pass the skill check. I have good points in that ability but since from the start, good is never enough. You have to be excellent. Like another quest where you have to intimidate or talk your way through with an old guy that makes moonshine. Either you have at least 10 points in strenght (SERIOUSLY? against an old guy? When your level is probably below 5?) or you have I don't know how many points in Speechcraft. I don't know, it seems they wanted to make it realistical but ended up with a game that becomes a chore.

I love this game, I love the story, I love its wackiness, and I love how it makes me wanting more. There're so many things I've yet to see in the game which experiencing them in New Game+ would be the best thing rn. If the sequel becomes a big hit, I hope they get back to this game and give it the New Game+ it deserves.

The Good: It has plenty of references to old Fallout games for those interested, and at the time of this writing, the price point point of ~$15 feels right. The Meh: Game-play-wise, the best I can say is that it's a fully-functioning game; the combat lacks even the most basic visual flair, feeling like it's stuck in 1998 with nothing new added that one might see in the turn-based combat of newer games. The humor is light and is not served by the text-only delivery; voice acting could have helped this, but one can't expect too much for the game's price point. The Bad: The awkward controls and interface really slow down world exploration/interaction and cause combat to be a confusing experience, causing one to constantly press different buttons for the desired effect (first, by pressing what feels like *should* be the correct button, then by pressing the *actual* correct button); key mappings can always be changed of course, but this is an unnecessary hassle to players for what should have been polished before release. Summary: In the end, it's an interesting nostalgia trip for a niche audience craving an old-school experience (which is under-served by larger developers), but there's nothing new to be found here. For players unfamiliar with this genre of world setting and game-play, they may be turned off by the non-intuitive controls and interface, the basic and uninspired combat, the hit-or-miss humor, and the lack of interesting visuals.

I haven't played Fallout so I can't say how it compares, but after playing at least 10 hours (I think) this one is just a frustrating experience. It started getting stability issues, first randomly crashing on occasion then I got to one scene (just talking with a few people) where three consecutive tries chrashed. This is with a R9 390 on max settings; changing to minimum graphics setting worked for at least another hour or two and I'm guessing I could find better settings that work if I stuck with it. However, I then reached a spot where I need to throw a rope but my throwing skill is too low. My companion is much better, but there seems to be no way to have my companion try. I also discovered around that time that there is one branch of the skill tree that gives quite an advantage if you do it first, giving you extra skill points and experience. I have been save scumming quite a bit to get this far, improving some along the way so not entirely bad (a better tutorial would be helpful), although some issues seem hard to know in advance. The setting is interesting and I can see what they are trying to do, but IMO it just doesn't work. The story is not that good, although not really worse so far than most other games of this style that I've played; they all are not that good IMO. Partly it is just difficult to make an open world game with a decent story. Partly, it seems like everyone who writes for this type of game has an antisocial way of wording everything. It is the same in all the Beamdog games I've played as well. Here the mechaincs are also just not fun IMO. It seems like the developers are still working on it and hopefully they will improve it some eventually, but I doubt all that much will change at this point. I would add that they seem to be active on the forum here and anyone willing to work with them to improve the game may be able to get some issues fixed, but IMO there is too much that needs to change.

The game lifts it's mechanics straight from Fallout 1\2, which given modern gameplay design these days... Isn't fantastic. Replay fallout 1 or 2 and see if you can tolerate it before getting this game. One said mechanic is the magic sight all the NPCS have. Kill someone in a isolated area of the map, everyone and everything goes hostile and comes to hunt you down. Makes sense in a city street. But when after spending time breaking into a secured bunker and killing its occupants, the entire city above it should not know what I did and try to hunt me down. I also found as you progress in the game, the enemies become more bullet spongey, which in turn made fights even more tedious than they should be. Admittedly that may have been my gear more than anything.