At the time of writing, Atlas Fallen’s world premier trailer on Youtube has 2.4M views. The game caught attention of a lot of people and the announcement trailer got the hype train going. Everyone wanted to know more about the game but information was scarce until recently when Focus Entertainment decided to do a preview roundup and shared more information about the game.
At SegmentNext, we also had a chance to talk about different things related to Atlas Fallen with Co-founder and Creative Director, Jan Klose. According to Jan, Atlas Fallen is a “Wild Mix” of different elements from different games which makes it “unique”. The game is inspired from Action RPGs like God of War and Horizon Zero Dawn so they have set a high bar for it.
Game’s Combat however, feels like a mix of Devil May Cry and Darksiders. Unlike their previous games, they wanted to do a fast paced combat just like DmC and Darksiders. Since the combat will be more flashy and quick, it won’t be exactly souls-like and will be a little forgiving. However, for those who would like the game to be more challenging, Deck13 has added different difficulty modes to compensate for that itch of tough encounters.
Atlas Fallen won’t feature traditional weapons, instead, players will have a Gauntlet at their disposal which they can use for different attack combinations and utility purposes as well.
Most of the gameplay footage shown so far only had Sand region which made us wonder if there will be any other biomes in Atlas Fallen. “We don’t want to spoil the number and exact content of each region just yet but a lot is going to be revealed in the coming screenshots and gameplay trailers for sure. Expect to explore vast deserts, caves, oases, mountain ranges and forests”, shared Jan. So while a lot of Atlas Fallen will be Sand, we can experience different themes in different, relatively smaller areas.
Co-op is an important element of Atlas Fallen. According to the developer, players will be to enjoy the online co-op throughout the game and it will give freedom to both the players in session. We also asked about a possibility of local/split screen co-op but Jan shared different challenges that developers come across when it comes to implementing local co-op in modern games. The loot in the game will be shared for both the players and any players will be able to select dialogue choices or start quests.
Some of those who got a chance to try out the preview build shared that they experienced performance issues and FPS dips during the gameplay. When we asked about the performance issues, Jan told us that the team is currently in the process of optimizing the game and it will definitely be in a much better shape on release.
Atlas Fallen will offer different ways to customize Armor. Apart from Visual Customizations, players will be able to upgrade their armor for better effects and traits. “They (Armor) are the anchor point for the stats progression, and each new armor has specific traits which can be unlocked by upgrading the armor. Each upgrade also grants a perk point, allowing the player to further personalize their build by spending it in the perk tree. Furthermore, the armors can be used in combination with certain essence stones in order to trigger specific bonuses. Apart from that, yes there are several ways to adjust your armor – including with color dyes and cosmetics that you can find in the world”, shared Jan.
The game will also feature an extensive Skill system, some of which is inspired from The Surge 2. According to the creative director: “The skill system is derived a little bit from the one we created in The Surge: you can find so-called Essence Stones in the world that give you unique abilities. These are technically skills and can be exchanged by the player in order to adapt to certain situations or enemies. The “momentum bar” lets you slot certain active and passive Essence stones that help you with your stats and give you unique attacks and other traits. Essence stones can be acquired from enemies, they can be found in the world, and they can be crafted and upgraded. We also have a set of armor perks players will be able to unlock”.
Being an Action RPG, Atlas Fallen will also offer some side activities as well. We asked if there will be anything more than just side quests in the game. Jan replied, “Apart from a lot of side quests, there’s many puzzles hidden in the world. For example, you can acquire treasure maps that will lead you to hidden riches… but sometimes the map has been torn to pieces, requiring another round of treasure hunt beforehand! Also, there’s relics of old that can be activated, and some might lead you on a path that you must follow in order to find more secrets. Another example are the watch towers that observe the land and cast an evil spell upon it; if you defeat their magic by beating a challenging combat encounter, a part of the level will transform!”.
Jan also revealed that if players are looking to complete every task in the game, it will easily take them 25-30 hours so we can have an estimate of Atlas Fallen game length from that.
Atlas Fallen was originally scheduled to release in May however, it has been delayed now to August 11. It seems like Deck13 need more time to fine tune the game which ofcourse is a good thing. There are high hopes associated with this game and we are hoping that it will be able to meet those expectations. Deck 13 and Focus Entertainment in the meanwhile will be sharing more information and media of Atlas Fallen until its release on August 11, 2023 so keep an eye out for further updates as well.
