While not perfect, ATROM RPG does justice (and more) to the genre. All the conversations are unique overall (no generic phrases that repeat for dozens of NPCs here) and the way they are written every interaction is interesting and none feel like a repetition of existing games at all! For a completionists it will be a quite long game filled with detailed environments, quests and conversations. 120 hours in and I am ready to move to the 2nd (out of three smaller) map having already completed dozens over dozens of quests in details on the first one! Some locations of the map might seem empty at first but most locations end up being used in later quests so speaking to notable NPCs multiple times is recommended! It took me a good few hours of gameplay before getting the interface and some behaviors of the game (some took many hours to figure out). The companions control system (dialog based) is quite complete - when you find how to use the right click on the companions in particular (took me 60 hours to figure out) so make sure to check the right click button on your companions for additional control options. > Make sure to check the options of the game as the zoom level, view angle and battle speed (good to accelerate after playing for a while) contain relevant game changing options. The game is immensely stable game as of 1.112 (2020) – not a SINGLE crash as of writing at 140 hours of gameplay - I would certainly love to get to play older games of that genre in a rebuilt version using their UI ! Just make sure to read a bit about the game as some Skills are underutilized (as original Fallout) and some player Characteristic are over emphasized and not all of them can be increased after player creation. The game's price is more than fair and the level of originality and value surpasses any negative aspect for me - be sure to get the supporter pack which also adds a few early items to support the developers – they deserve it for their continuous support! - 4.5/5!
Interesting concept but boring result due to length - I recall having a hard time forcing myself to complete it.
Game not working properly on Windows 10 for me - after doing a few ALT-TAB and playing with keyboard it turns out I needed to push CAPS LOCK after almost every mouse click made in game for the game to proceed - totally unusable and I never seen that before in the hundreds of games I played in my life. Not going to lose further time on making this work considering the price paid and what I was able to see so far from the game. Sorry...
The main game run great at 1600x1200 but the DLC are full of savegame issues.
I will start by saying that I am not too far in the game yet and, while there are certainly a lot of positive things to be said about it, ultimately a lot of the gameplay and its design left a lot to be desired so far and it started right away during the first hours of the game. After the open introduction the next sequence is quite scripted forcing the player to move along the narrative (which in itself is ok) but still felt frustrating (you even get “an arrow out of nowhere” moment à la Far Cry if you go too far) - Also noticed invisible walls which enforced the feeling of being forced into a path. Also disliked that some items that attract your attention cannot be picked up such as axes, lettuce, etc. as well as objects that looked like containers but weren’t. Another frustrating element: the live tutorial messages popping up when you are required to perform an action – at times they show up while being attacked. Other than that the reputation system seems harsh to the player (was not even sure if it was consequence of actions or bugs) so it felt oppressing. The saving mechanism is similar to Resident Evil; would have preferred a “save when you want” approach but understand the choice they made. Otherwise graphics are nice but poorly optimized. Runs fine on RX 5700 XT @1080p on “basic” High but relatively poor visuals due to aliasing. A tweaked 1440p was a good middle ground along with the HD Pack! Game can be buggy and AI acting strangely but at least it supports MOD's which is a plus to address some of the quirks that the game has. Nonetheless I support the developers and hope they will release something even better next time and will continue supporting the game. Additional Tip: The game .exe file won’t start if blocked by firewall – allowing LAN only access seems to work – I did not notice people complaining about this but maybe most people don’t user proper firewalls - nobody should have to deal with this kind of technical design from a DRM-free game.
Great game and tense atmosphere! - This first game is a bad console game port control / design wise but ultimately a good game that is somewhat inspired by System Shock and Event Horizon with an Alien insecurity vibe - enough said! Unskippable intros are a gaming sin… this minor detail along with the clunky PC port / design aspect easily gives it a [-1 star] penalty - otherwise great game! By the way, in the worst case, try to get it on PS3 to enjoy a 5/5 game! P.S.: The beginning of the game until you get the controls / design flaws figured is quite frustrating but doesn't warrant a 1 star review like some people left!
[Technical Note]: Seems to crash above 1080p and some visuals are corrupted on modern OS (not the native condition under which the game was released) but the same goes with Steam version. [Review]: Everything in this game felt interesting be it for its special mechanics or the atmosphere and story. Generally speaking all the sections of the game had something to bring to the table and the semi open world feeling was great as each section gave a sense of accomplishment as you discovered and unlocked more sections of the game. So while linear for the most part levels wise, a good portion of the content could be dealt differently with alternative results and hidden elements (including undocumented spells) that were fun to enjoy on a second and third walkthrough of the game and allowed players to enjoy multiple gameplay styles be it a pure mage, warrior or thief as the three main character types were all technically accomplishable to the end and satisfying! [Semi-spoiler - I once finished the game realizing I did not went to the Crypt at all which felt amazing] Overall by looking at this game years after completing it the first time I can notice some lack of polish in the gameplay mechanics and some rough edges on the visual level compared to other games of the time but was still a solid game nonetheless. [Spoiler: One element that kept bugging thought the years I re-played this gamer were the requirements of some of the best weapons in the game that penalized “jack of all trade” type of character as a player with medium strength and medium dexterity could not use at least one of the best swords and one best daggers that the game offered which was kind of a bummer in retrospective. Also the difficulty of the final boss with a rogue character was a bit annoying as you had to be prepared to fiddle around to be able to beat the game in that context]. This is a must have game for Ultima Underworld fans! P.S.: Would be a dream in VR with how magic was implemented!
