Try to imagine a western studio making Stalker. Even if they were to attempt a 1:1 conversion and followed the basic design principles as closely as possible, the cultural beliefs of the development team would seep into the bones. ATOM is Fallout, and yet not Fallout. The eastern European flavour doesn't merely amount to an occasional cultural reference, but also manifests in survival elements (it's a Russian thing), and unsanitized writing that opens up roleplaying opportunities most modern western RPG developers would balk at.
ATOM cannot eclipse Fallout, but it's distinct enough to avoid being labelled a lesser copy that makes you wish you were playing Fallout instead.
I'm convinced that the authors of Atom RPG are Fallout 1 / Fallout 2 super fans or they reverse engineered the games; I'm saying it as a compliment, I'm a big fan of both Fallout games and have to say I'm super impressed with the Russian counterpart. Almost every single aspect feels like playing good old Fallout, to name the few: the keyboard shortcuts, inventory mechanism, turn based fighting, progressing through towns and maps, skills, random events, gaining companions, little screen in the bottom left corner of the game window which informs of what's happening in the game using one line description, and even some sound effects are near identical.
If you are a fan of Fallout 1 and Fallout 2 you will enjoy Atom RPG. Having said that, I would prefer if there were a bit more high tech stuff in the game and perhaps the game was based in a bit further future.
Great game otherwise, a real successor to real Fallout concept.
If you enjoyed Fallout - definitely grab this piece! If you like RPG games and want to go postapocalyptic.. Here you go. And don't forget the Trudograd DLC when you finish base game ;)
A full 3D CRPG in the style of fallout 1-2? sounds great. Unfortunately this game is so commited to be like fallout that does the same mistakes, the interface is as bad as in those old games, inventory management is a nightmare, no matter what you go for, you will always start underpowered, if you build your character at the start to be a gunslinger, tough luck, you are stuck with a brick as your first weapon, dialogues do not show you your chances to succeed in a conversation, is it a percentage, is it a hard skill check, you wish you knew.
If the game is this aggresively obtuse at the start I don't wanna imagine how bad it's gonna be later, so I stopped after half an hour.
It's ok to be inspired by another franchise, but you should look at them and ask yourselves "how can we make it better"
So really ,the game is trying to recreate the glory of older games like Fallout, as many people have mentioned. Problem is they didn't really accomplish their goal. It's kind of somewhere between a roguelike and an RPG. In the early game it's frustrating because you kinda suck, as you do at 2nd or 3rd level. Then you get jumped by 6 bandits. Time to reload. This time you gt jumped by 5 dudes burning books. Time to reload. This time you get to fight 2 rats. Ok, you can make it a little further into the wilderness. On the one hand, I like the inconsistency, on the other I do not.
Take the bunker where you need to go gor your mission. Full of rats and ants, so a low level dungeon. Sure, but the only way in as a lower level toon is to talk to these 3 yokels who will absolutely murder you when you come out. Unless you give them all your stuff and you're back at square 1 again. So then go back at a higher level for a less satisfying but ultimately survivable experience. At least one clue was changed from the Russian to the English version of the game from a logic puzzle to something no one will ever guess or understand unless they look it up online. The game is full of inconsistencies like this.
So far as the story is concerned, if you don't like old style RPGs where you should talk to absolutely everyone to get lots of fun ,or at least colorful quests you won't like the game. There are no quest indicators or trackers, which I don't mind, but lots of people will be disappointed. There is a lot to see and do in the game and there is a lot of cool story, you just gotta survive long enough to get some armor and decent weapons to get to it. Frustrating in the beginning, grindy in the middle... haven't gotten to the end yet. If you are persistent and don't mind dying a lot, it can be a fun game, if not... well, prepare to be disappointed
