This is not an American made game. Usually, that doesn't matter, but in this game it does. Translation is okay at best but don't expect to be reading any signs unless you know Russian. Balance is busted. Melee is useless. Crafting is crap. Difficulty spikes constantly and random encounters, even on easy, is a mix between boring merchants to over the top death encounters. Scum-saving is not only helpful but absolutely necessary in many parts of the game. I highly suggest new, potential customers move along.
Okay. Where to begin?
University Grad with English Writing, Social Work, Sociology & Disability Studies
I bought this game because I'm only into cRPG's that give you the option to win without combat or with combat, as I'm more of a diplomatic type of player.
From what I played (almost a dozen hours), I can say I gave the game a fair shake but my main mistake was expecting something more than juvenile misogyny for every male character in the game, or women being used as motivational dialogue points: IF you play as a female character.
The kind of writing I prefer, is the kind people claimed this game had when they compared it to New Vegas: tact, class, style, evoking a sense of intrigue and wonder. This game does none of that.
Every character you meet is a sexist chauvinistic pig, every male character will flirt with you if you are a female, lots of men won't talk to you, one specifically won't because you are female and directs you to gossip with the other women.
I get this is a reinvented USSR circa '05, but when you take all the poor writing and juxtapose it alongside the writing from New Vegas, you realize the writing is neither deep, of quality, or evocative.
I make this point because many people compared the writing to New Vegas.
Deep cultural interconnections, sophisticated and realized characters and personality traits ranging from racist, derogatory, sexist, to power hungry bandits, NV has it all in style, ATOM does not. Expect to see 'Fuck...' or something similar as many of your answers in dialogue.
Since I couldn't get into it because of the dialogue and the grammatical errors and overuse of exclamation marks, what about the combat?
It's so so. I didn't enjoy the combat, your A.I. is brain dead like in Fallout 1/2, and the game takes too much from Fallout to it's own fault.
The poor dialogue extends to the Journal in every way, people say this isn't the case, it is.
I didn't enjoy ATOM RPG, you might, just severely lower your expectations.
A videogame is a conjunction of many artforms put together in the creation of a single piece that can, arguably, be experienced deeper and more individually than any other medium allows.
It doesn't stop there. A videogame is a feat of engineering too, which is why they are so difficult to make and so laudable the efforts of those who do.
Therefore, a game should be reviewed not only as an entertainment piece of media or an artistic accomplishment, but as a technological product too. This text is a review of that last aspect.
ATOM can't be judged via vicarious experience from screenshots, videos or proxy anecdotes. A number of stars can't be allotted to the merit of the intentions of the developers. Nor by how difficult it was to devise. For ATOM to be the fun multi-disciplinary experience it aims to be, and appraised on those terms, first it has to work.
I purchased it on release day and I installed it just as quick. After 4 months of waiting for a version of the game that would finally work on my computer and of following every advice I could find and think of, ATOM is still no more than a few sequences of gameplay and every possible kind of technical defect available. Distorted visuals, crashes, freezes, scripts that won't launch, etc, I've had them all. The longest I have ever played the game has been 12 minutes and with the newest update (1.085) much less than that. My computer, of course, meets effortlessly all the minimum requirements posted.
Not being able to experience the game at all is no less an experience of the game, quite the opposite, it is a very eloquent one in regards of the focus of this review.
The main value of this text is what it is not: A full experience of a functional playthrough.
ATOM has never ever worked for me. There's a chance, albeit small, it may not work for you either. I think I waited long enough for things to evolve, patches to be implemented and solutions to be found to make this warning a fair one.
Not even close to experience you get playing F 1 and 2. Looks like guys tried to convert post-nuclear to Soviet realms, but they did not reach 1/100 of original. Very plain story, absolutely no Why in this game: you just go on and on trying to get new gun - that's all, because you only have 2 ways: shooting and talking. There's absolutely linear story - no turns and twists (passed game 3 times), so do not wait anything from this product exept some flashbacks to Fallout like turn base gameplay.
