I keep wanting to love Atlas Fallen. I mean, it’s a delightful Prince of Persia-inspired open-world action RPG with big ideas, big monsters, and even bigger weapons to fight them with, so it’s got that going for it.
The middling story, which centers around a generic clash between a human rebellion and a tyrannical regime, starts out rough. No, there are relatively few bugs and the opening is pretty short – I mean, like, physically rough for my custom avatar, a rugged yet scholarly desert dweller. After a few introductory conversations with other desert dwellers in the first area, it was promptly implied that he’d been blasted in the face with a whole bunch of sand and left for dead before the opening cutscene, which kinda sucks considering his indentured servitude as one of the Unnamed.
It’s clear that the main quest is paced around unlocking new mechanics rather than telling a good story. Atlas Fallen spreads its story across four open-world maps, such as the underground fortress of Bastengar and the crater-filled Wildlands, each of which carries a distinct vibe and is packed with enough hidden treasure and decently rewarding side-quests to feel like there’s always something new to find.
Luckily, if you can ignore all that, it’s relatively easy to see Atlas Fallen’s joy as an online co-op adventure where you and a friend run around a sprawling open world battling monsters. It’s a well-crafted map, with plenty of opportunity to unearth rare treasures, build up powerful characters, fight big monsters, do a little platforming – or just chill out and collect cosmetics for the excellent transmogrification system to your heart’s content. It balances simplicity and depth so expertly that it’s easily one of the best games to share between two online friends since It Takes Two.
Speaking of combat, Atlas Fallen’s action-packed battles are simple but highly dynamic, thanks to a small number of moves that grow in power as you land hits. Fights center around two basic attacks that work differently based on the weapon you assign them to, but the twist is that your character’s movement style changes depending on which weapon you strike with.
