you may have seen The Fall of the Atlas Opening night at Gamescom on August 23rd. The game is Deck13’s latest project (you might recognize it from The Surge series), and its mythical fantasy epic is everywhere, it casts you as a member of an enslaved race of humans, it gains the ability to wrath with divine gloves The power of God to tear from the throne.
Described by the developers as a “semi-open world full of ancient mysteries and threats,” the game looks promising. During a closed-door presentation with Jérémy Hartvick, Game Design Director at Deck13, we also learned that players who are expecting something similar to 2017’s The Surge or 2019’s The Surge 2 should adjust their expectations: the game doesn’t promise the same experience.
Instead, Hartvick said, Atlas Fallen will be “more inspired by God of War or Horizon” [Forbidden West]. But don’t fret if you’re after the kind of challenge the FromSoft-inspired game offers – the developers point out that Deck13’s next game will launch in three difficulty modes, the hardest of which is designed for “more accustomed to” The company has been created before”.
Hartvick explained that the first difficulty mode will be “Adventure Mode” – the best experience for players who want to feel the various weapons in the game while “occasionally dodging” threats. Next, there will be normal mode, which Hartvick thinks the vast majority of the game’s audience will play. Here, you must learn combos, level up to defeat threats, and understand the fundamentals of the game and its combat system.
Lastly is Hardmode. Here, you need to optimize your build, use all available skills, and use your head to figure out how to best deal with the different Guardians and enemies in the game. Hartvick points out that you can play from start to finish in multiplayer co-op with another person, though he didn’t elaborate on how that would affect the difficulty mode.
“Atlas Fallen’s combat is primarily defined by speed and fluidity,” Hartvick explained on the PlayStation Blog, “We’ve retained ideas like body part positioning systems and implant systems, using a different approach to best support the emphasised RPG Aspects. We took everything a step further towards advanced character management and mobility setup customization, so you’ll fight your way.”
Our demo was hands-off, so we can’t yet pass judgment on how Atlas Fallen’s gameplay feels — though Hartvick points out that realism has been set aside for the game in order to make you feel a lot stronger than ever surge.
So, if you’re looking to attack and dethrone gods in a lush-looking world, exploiting what feels like a battle between Darksiders and earlier God of War games, you might want to keep an eye on Atlas Fallen.
Atlas Fallen will launch on PlayStation 5, Windows PC and Xbox Series X in 2023.