ATOM RPG: How to Win the Game

by Hazel Lee

Atom RPG caused more than a ripple of excitement when its Kickstarter began prior to the game's eventual release in 2018. Since Bethesda began moving the Fallout franchise further away from its CRPG roots fans of the genre were clamouring for more games to fill that void. Because Wasteland 2 evidently wasn't enough on its own, the people needed more. Now, the game has made its way over to mobile, boasting a 60 plus hour experience that you can carry around in your pocket for only $5. On paper, it certainly seems like a no-brainer then, particularly if you're an ardent follower of the CRPG genre. And those people are pretty much entirely who this game is for. It's certainly not going to change your mind if you've not enjoyed the genre before. The game starts with a pleasingly extensive character customisation screen. Well, for your stats anyway, your character's looks are entirely chosen by the portrait that you select so there's little personalisation to be found there. But there's a lot of build potential within the character creator with a plethora of skills to choose from such as lock picking, various gun types, speechcraft to talk your way out of trouble and so forth. There are also your characteristics, which you'd know in Fallout as S.P.E.C.I.A.L, which of course is slightly different here so as not to completely take everything verbatim from Atom RPG's biggest influence. These feel a little more restrictive than the skills with high Dexterity and Intellect almost feeling like a requirement. The former governs your combat speed and chance to dodge blows, two things of the utmost importance given how tough combat can prove to be. Intelligence meanwhile dictates the number of skill points you get when levelling up so it feels necessary for reaching your desired build as quickly as possible. Naturally, you can get by without them but it does seem like you'd simply be making the game more difficult for yourself. Once your character has been created you'll be popped into an entirely optional tutorial where you'll be able to learn the mechanics of the game by exploring a military base. Once you've let, however, the game will quite happily leave you to fend for yourself. Atom RPG is not one for hand-holding. Here's post-apocalyptic Russia, please go and explore by yourself. Every main and side quest is only given a brief description when you consult your log and that's it. You can't select one mission as active and then following the helpful indicators you'll often find in most RPGs, you'll need to actively seek out what you're looking for to complete the mission. Sure NPCs may mark the location on your map but you'll still need to open it up and look around for the place yourself. It's a feature that will divide opinion but it made me feel more involved in the quests rather than completing them on autopilot, merely seeking the experience they provide. This lack of mollycoddling extends to the turn-based combat as well, which is a serviceable but is by no means highlight of the game. It's grid-based and you'll be able to target different parts of your enemies by tapping and holding down on them, though this sub-menu doesn't reliably appear. You can gather companions along the way but fairly limited control over them in combat makes them better suited to stashing extra loot you can no longer carry.

65 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 12, 2020