Atlas Fallen reviews went live overnight, and the critical response appears to be an overwhelming “Hm, okay.”
Reviews across the PS5, Xbox, and PC versions are decidedly mixed, with most appearing to land in the dreaded 7/10 Zone; neither bad nor great — simply good. Fine. Unremarkable.
Unremarkable is a term getting thrown around a lot in connection to Atlas Fallen. Most critics seem to feel that while its design fundamentals are sound enough, its approach to open-world exploration and combat leaves a bit to be desired.
Perhaps this is showing my age, but I feel like I would have considered this a “weekend rental” in my youth. By that I mean, the game is interesting in its way and worth checking out, but you wouldn’t want to buy it. I’d be prepared to drop $7 on a video shop rental and play it for the weekend, though.
Let’s get into what the critics thought, starting with the Aussies.
The Aussies
The first cab off the rank was Player 2, which gave Atlas Fallen one of its more positive reviews with a B+ rating. “When you break it down, there is nothing in Atlas Fallen we haven’t seen before,” writes editor Matt Hewson. “Everything it does, someone else has done in another game. That being said, what Deck 13 have done is bring these elements together into a rollicking adventure that hits all the right notes for action fans, tells an engaging (if cliched) story and never outstays its welcome.”
WellPlayed gave it a 7.5, saying “While this sandy action RPG is somewhat lacking in technical and visual polish, Atlas Fallen is still a strong outing from Deck13, with the outfit continuing to prove it’s got the chops when it comes to crafting interesting mechanics and fun combat.”
Stevivor landed on a 7, saying “Atlas Fallen‘s core is solid — though combat still needs some work — but it seems a bit sparse. Much like the original Assassin’s Creed far before it, I hope Deck13 builds upon what they’ve started to create a far more enjoyable experience in a sequel. While we wait, though, there’s more than enough here to warrant a try.”
Press Start landed further down at a 6, saying “Atlas Fallen layers interesting and engaging combat systems onto a lacklustre world and frustrating camera controls making for an uneven and forgettable fantasy action outing. Deck13 continues its work of innovating the genre in interesting ways but there’s just a little too much going on for Atlas Fallen to ever find solid ground.”
Checkpoint Gaming agreed, also awarding it a 6: “There are some fundamentally great things about Atlas Fallen, like its gorgeous desert landscapes and its super-satisfying sand sliding, plus combat that has a tonne of options and flows well. But its open world of interesting enemies suffers from a rinse-and-repeat approach, where what was exciting in hour two becomes boring and repetitive by hour eight. It’s not that it’s poorly made, but its mission structure and by-the-numbers narrative delivered in a boring way make for an adventure that is more generic than unique. Atlas Fallen is much like a mirage in its sandy desert setting; enticing at first, but a bit disappointing once you look closer and realise it’s not what you’d hoped.”
GamesHub’s Edmond Tran was rather unimpressed, giving it just two stars out of five. “The first time you’re given the chance to surf down a sand-covered mountain in Atlas Fallen, it’s invigorating. You immediately want to do it again, and you can. Anywhere there is sand, you can surf, and slide, and leap great distances while admiring the stunning horizon. A moment like that doesn’t exist for the game’s combat. And when lacklustre combat makes up the bulk of Atlas Fallen’s loop, it makes it that much harder to work up the motivation to continue exploring everything else the world has to offer.”
From these reviews, a clear pattern begins to form. There’s a lot of now-ubiquitous open-world cruft floating around in Atlas Fallen and your enjoyment of it will depend on your willingness to put up with that.
Let’s see if the overseas outlets felt any differently.
The rest of the world
Kotaku US was certainly unimpressed, saying “Like the sandy ruins filling its world, the best parts of Atlas Fallen feel buried beneath the same open-world junk you’ve already done in a bunch of other games.” You can read Ethan’s review here.
Rock Paper Shotgun’s unscored review confirmed my weekend rental theory, saying “Atlas Fallen fulfils the joy of picking up a pre-owned six-out-of-ten at GameStation and going with whatever happens on screen. You’ll teeter on a knife edge mentally, as you accept its tedious fetch quests and just fine platforming fare, perhaps occasionally letting out your frustration with a quit to menu as boss fights take the piss, or a quest once again asks you to fetch yet more crystals. Still, the combat is surprisingly robust and its momentum schtick is a proper thrill once you’ve got the flow down. If anything, it’s the combat that’ll make you stick around. That is, until you realise there’s a lot of other good open world games you could be playing instead of Atlas Fallen.”
Destructoid gave it a 7 (and was very ready to move on by the time the review was filed), saying “Perhaps the best words to summarize Atlas Fallen is this: I can’t wait to see what Deck13 does next.”
IGN awarded it another 7, saying “Atlas Fallen is a solid open-world action RPG with plenty of platforming and large monsters to fight. Putting aside its weak story and the console versions’ gritty graphics there’s a hidden gem of excellent combat, robust exploration, and surprisingly deep customization to uncover in the sinking sands of its arid wilderness. It’s slightly disappointing that co-op is online-only with no cross-play, but thanks to solid technical performance, it sticks in my mind as one of the better worlds I’ve explored with a friend lately.”
Eurogamer was blunt in its appraisal, giving it a 6, saying “Atlas Fallen echoes other mid-00s slashers with fun melee combat and cool ideas, trapped in a run-of-the-mill open world.”
GamesRadar couldn’t go higher than a 5, saying “If you were asked to imagine a truly average open-world action-adventure in 2023, you’d likely come up with something like Atlas Fallen. If very little here is actually dreadful, not much more is original, or imaginative, or genuinely entertaining either, nor is it even especially polished. You’ve likely seen it all before, in other words. And if you haven’t, there are better places to start.”
Digital Trends matched GamesHub’s 4, saying: “Atlas Fallen has some ambitious ideas for a game of its scale, but its poor presentation holds back a promising combat system.”
So, where does that leave us? Pretty clearly, this is a game that should perhaps be purchased when it hits the bargain bin. I wouldn’t be forking out full price for it (though we did have a look around to see how cheap it was going at different retailers across Australia).
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