Review - Atlas Fallen: Reign of Sand... Doing House Atreides Proud

 

Image courtesy of Deck13

"I don't like sand. It's coarse and rough and irritating... and it gets everywhere."

    Anakin Skywalker would probably have a tough time playing Atlas Fallen, but that certainly doesn't mean that the rest of us can't enjoy it! The Dune-inspired settings and backdrops of the game have dumped hundreds of metrics tons of sand into their proverbial sandbox, but just like little kids running around on the beach... Deck13 has actually made it pretty damn fun to play with.

    In Atlas Fallen, you play as an unnamed who comes across something life-changing. If that doesn't make sense yet, just bear with me. The unnamed are essentially slaves in this classed society where they've literally decided that if you were born in the lower class you don't even receive a title of any kind. Sounds pretty difficult to get people to clean up your noble messes when you can't even use their names, but whatever. A gauntlet of incredible power is discovered by your unnamed in the very beginning, and with it comes the spirit and guidance of an ancient deity that wants to push back against the ruling god of the world. This deity will need your help to reassemble and use that gauntlet in new and expansive ways if you are going to take the fight to the sand monsters (called wraiths) and their master in a fight to bring peace and justice to Atlas.

The Good

I just want everyone to keep in mind that I'm only judging this game off of what I have played. It's the middle of 2025 and I'm fully aware of all the generations and variations that Atlas Fallen has gone through to get here. In the beginning I guess there was a pretty big bungle, but it would be unfair to judge Reign of Sand's version off of the initial. It sounds like that first iteration of Atlas shrugged so hard it would have made Ayn Rand blush.

    This iteration, however, is truly great.

    Combat is one of the places where Atlas shines. It plays like a typical ARPG for the most part, but you are limited to three (technically four) weapons. That may sound a bit restrained, and perhaps it is, but the way that these weapons can interchange and interact with one another is a plus. Whether using the whiplike dagger, the dunecleaving axe/hammer combo, or sandy fists... the gauntlet bearer can do plenty of damage that is only amplified by the different essence stones and components put in the gauntlet itself.

    Gameplay doesn't just end with fights, however. Similar to Wayfinder or Eternal Strands, Atlas Fallen has our protagonist interacting with plenty of NPCs throughout the journey. From unnamed that need a helping hand to the leadership of massive revolutions, everyone has something to say to the Gauntlet Bearer. Very few of the quests given feel like fetch quests, which is good because the game clocks in under thirty hours even if you do absolutely everything.

    The narrative might not break the mold in gaming. It's no Horizon: Zero Dawn or The Last of Us, but it does a good job of pulling out a story that gives you a reason to fight. In my opinion, it's crucial for any game these days to do something along the lines of storytelling. We need a reason to care, and Deck13 gives us one alongside plenty of lore pieces that flesh out the world and its inhabitants better than many of the games I've come across this past year.

The Bad

Not everything is a hit, clearly.

    While the voice acting is something that I know for sure got an overhaul, it doesn't make up for the entire audio aspect of the game. There are songs that are meant to be epic throughout the game, but none of them really have a particular set of notes that set them apart from the generically "epic" scores of other games in the same vein. I don't want to dun the voicing at all, though. It really is pretty solid. In comparison to some of the clips that I heard from the original version of the game, it's more than a cut above. I don't know what they were thinking with Nyall's original voice actor... but that guy should not be voicing anything ever again. Talk about phoning it in. The replacements, however, have done a good job.

    Not much else in the game is "bad," per se. It really just boils down to how "good" the stuff in The Good really is. They warrant being in that section for me... but are they at a legendary or epic level? Hm.

The Glory

While I can't give the game a 9 or a 10, I can definitely tell you that it is absolutely worth playing. It's on PS Plus Extra right now for those who subscribe, and it's an easy world to fall into for a couple dozen hours. Will it change the way you view the world? No. But it will certainly stand on its own as a pretty damn glorious title that probably even deserves a sequel to expand on its lore.

    I can safely say that I explored every aspect of Reign of Sand because I earned a platinum trophy for doing so. From the combat and gameplay to the overall narrative of the game... Deck13 have pulled this one from the fire and created something worth your time and effort.

8/10

Glorious

If you want to read my own foray into fantasy and sword-swinging, check out this piece of my novel Fracture.