I was surprised to find Deck13 sending me an email with the link to download a preview test build of Atlas Fallen. It is the upcoming game created by the developer of The Surge 1 and 2 and co-developers of Lords of the Fallen.

While I expected this game to be somewhat like an open-world souls-like game similar to Elden Ring – in a big open-world desert region. 

I was so wrong.

Instead, as I played roughly five hours of the opening region of this game, I felt it was more akin to a Darksiders game. And I was impressed by what I played so far.

Keep on reading to learn more about the Atlas Fallen Game!

7 Reasons Why I’m Excited For Playing Atlas Fallen

After playing the Atlas Fallen preview which I got access to for a few hours – I was totally sold. This game has ticked most of the checkboxes that depict a “Great Game,” in my opinion.

There are various reasons why this game will turn out to be a great game (like Starfield PS5) and why you might enjoy it as well. Some of the best things I liked about Atlas Fallen  based on the preview build that I played are:

Liberating Mankind From The Oppression Of A Corrupted God

This game follows the story of you – an unnamed silent protagonist (like Link from the Legend of Zelda) embarking on a quest to rid the world of a cataclysmic plague of a corrupt Sun God called Thelos. 

Thelos has released this plague on this planet because it’s a source of the essence – a mineral he has forced its poor inhabitants to mine. Sounds brilliant, right?

You must now rise up to stop Thelos and bring back peace to the world. However, throughout the journey, you will meet various NPCs that will help you on this path. However, while you are having a word with them, you can actually make some decisions of your own. Decisions that will impact the overarching story of the game.

I was happy to see this feature in this game. However, developers Deck13 have said that the choice-based dialog will not alter the main story all that much. It will be an ancillary addition that will have less meaningful consequences. 

What a shame. This was a good opportunity, but it seems they will not be utilizing it all that much. But I’m happy it’s there in some form to spice things up a bit from the monotony of a Ubisoft open-world game!

…..But Who Are You?

As mentioned previously, you are an unnamed protagonist in this desert land. When you start playing this game, you will be able to customize your character to varying degrees.

Your appearance in this game primarily depends on the armor set that you have equipped. Plus, each of these armor sets can be customized to your liking. Don’t like the color? Worry not, since you can get your desired color pretty easily! Plus, you can dye your armor in up to 4 colors, helping you look the way you want.

However, I could not test this feature out to its extent since I only found one armor piece on this preview playthrough. Plus, I didn’t see anyone playing the demo on Twitch TV activate since we have been barred from doing so by Deck 13.

Violence, Speed

Here comes the best part of the Atlas Fallen gameplay: combat. Borrowing the words of Dr. Disrespect, it can simply be described in three words – “Violence, Speed, Momentum.” If you are confused about what genre for a video game to choose, then playing action-adventure games like this might just be what you need.

I absolutely loved the gameplay of Atlas Fallen PS5. It’s fast, frenetic, and violent. Like Devil May Cry games, the focus here is on chaining attacks together and building up the combo meter. Plus, you can jump, dodge, and parry enemy attacks as well, which makes the combat pretty satisfying.

However, I loved the fact that you have the power of the gauntlet. Unlike other action RPG games like the Dark Souls series, you don’t collect new weapons as you play through this game. You get only one weapon in this game – your Sand Gauntlet – which is a blast to use.

There are three weapon types here – a sword, an ax, and a whip. You can press the keys to transform your Gauntlet into any of these weapons with the click of a button. The best part – you can do so in the middle of combos as well!

Plus, you also get the sand skin effect instead of blocking. Taken straight out of Mortal Shell, you turn yourself into a sand statue to negate all incoming damage. It looks cool and can be used to great effect.

….And Momentum!

However, the main aspect of the Atlas Fallen combat system is your momentum bar, revealed at Summer Game Fest 2023.

When you attack, dodge, and parry, you fill up your momentum bar, which is located just below your health bar. This bar has three tiers. As you start in tier one – you can gain access to a passive buff and three special abilities. 

As you progress through the tiers. you gain access to a new set of passive and active abilities. The third tier will obviously have the best ones. 

However, along with the tiers, your weapon moves also change, altering your play style. For example, as I used the sand sword, it acted like a normal one on Tier 1. On Tier 2, my sword got a bit bigger and did more damage as well. On Tier 3, it became a huge greatsword, with sand shards flying from it, affecting nearby enemies in an AoE (Area of Effect) fashion on each attack. 

But, there is a caveat to this – the more momentum you have built, the more damage you take from enemies. This presents a risk and reward system, which I found to be perfect for this type of gameplay.

If you don’t want to get more damage and instead wish to revert back to Momentum Tier 1 from Tier 3, you have the option to do that as well. You have your ultimate attack – Shatter – which spawns forth a giant magical hammer to decimate all enemies in front of you. Its damage is based on the amount of momentum you have before being reset to zero.

The Essence Of Essence Stones

Essence Stones define which passive or active ability you have equipped to your Momentum Tiers. Therefore, each Tier allows you to equip one passive and three active Essence Stones, having a total of 12 Essence Stones active.

You can find these stones scattered in secret chests in the open world. Some of the more powerful essence stones are dropped by bosses as well. There seem to be more than 30+ essence stones in this game, allowing you to customize your playstyle in the way you want.

Open, But Not Open World

If you look at Atlas Fallen Xbox gameplay trailers, you will find at first that it’s an open-world game. While it still is, it’s more akin to an open-area game like the Borderlands games, unlike the seamless open world of The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim.

You have five large regions to explore. While all of them are sandy desert areas, they all have distinct traits that make them differ from each other. I only traverse through the starting region so far.

I loved traversing through the sands of the Atlas Fallen game. You can glide across the sands (I call it sand-surfing) to even air dash between cliffs. On the upside – as you level up, your traversal choices will increase as well, allowing faster traversal across areas. However, I don’t know whether fast travel will be there or not.

Gliding Through The Sands Together

Similar to Borderlands and the Dark Souls games, you can play this game in co-op mode with two other buddies. However, I could not test it out on the preview build that I got. Therefore, I cannot say whether this co-op mode will support cross-play between platforms or not.

Atlas Fallen Release Date

Atlas Fallen will be released for most major platforms on 10th August 2023. It will be released for all major platforms like the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X & S, and PC. 

Atlas Fallen System Requirements

If you wish to play Atlas Fallen PC, ensure that you must have a decent gaming computer or laptop. However, I highly doubt something like Atlas Fallen Game Pass will be a reality.

Minimum Specs

The minimum specs to run Atlas Fallen (1080p @30fps, Low Settings) are:

Recommended Specs

The minimum specs to run Atlas Fallen (1080p @60fps, Max Settings) are:

Conclusion: Violence, Speed, and Momentum

Atlas Fallen has so much going right for the game. It has an interesting open world, fast and kinetic combat, and good graphics to boot. While the story so far was nothing like The Witcher 3, it just paved the way for combat to flourish – which is ultimately the game’s best aspect. I have high hopes for this game when it comes out on 10th August 2023.

More Resources:

• UNO Flip Card Game Rules 2023: Everything You Need To Know
• The UNO Wild Card: Everything You Need To Know
• The Art of Skipping: Using the Uno Skip Card To Your Advantage