The Rise of Atlas Fallen: Unleashing the Potential Beyond The Surge's Footsteps

Developer Deck13 Interactive has tremendous potential for the future with their upcoming game Atlas Fallen. However, it is crucial to address the criticisms raised about their previous games, particularly The Surge franchise. While these games offered fresh twists in the Soulslike genre, they fell short in one crucial aspect.

The main critique aimed at The Surge revolves around the limited variety of enemies in the first game, a flaw that persisted in its superior sequel. Nevertheless, the new design philosophy adopted for Atlas Fallen presents an opportunity to rectify this issue and provide a wider range of formidable adversaries.

The Surge's Lack in Enemy Variety

The Surge stands out amongst the Souls-like genre as it was one of the earliest games to adopt the Dark Souls formula, albeit with a smaller budget and team. This resulted in a more streamlined experience, drawing more inspiration from Bloodborne than other Soulsborne titles. As a consequence, this impacted the diversity of weapons, character builds, and the range of enemies encountered throughout the game.

In the original version of The Surge, the majority of enemies consisted of humanoid foes who fought in a similar fashion to the player character. In fact, many of them would even drop their weapons when dismembered. Although there were a few unique enemies, such as the three-legged robot dogs, the lack of variety made the game feel repetitive as the combat failed to evolve alongside the story. Notably, this lack of diversity was especially pronounced in the bosses of The Surge, with only five featured in the base game, one of which was another humanoid foe with slightly stronger attacks.

Atlas Fallen's Larger Enemies

The short gameplay clips of Atlas Fallen revealed a focus on enemy variety in combat. In addition to the smaller monsters found in the sandy landscape, there are giant enemies that serve as the main highlight during battles across the desert. These enormous foes have individual targetable body parts and come in different animal shapes, providing a wider range of encounters for players to discover while exploring.

This focus on varied enemy designs not only adds uniqueness to each area in Atlas Fallen but also greatly enhances the experience in boss and mini-boss encounters. Unlike The Surge 2, where bosses mostly resemble player-type characters and drop weapons upon defeat, the inclusion of more animalistic enemies in Deck13's game will be a refreshing change from the previous abundance of sword-wielding men.

In Atlas Fallen, the developers have created a larger and more expansive game world for players to explore. One of the standout features is the ability to quickly traverse across sandy areas, which adds to the game's appeal. The transition from science fiction to fantasy has also brought about a new design philosophy that enhances the openness of the game world. Additionally, Deck13 has taken into account past criticisms and aims to provide a new and improved experience in this unique corner of the Souls-like genre, incorporating elements such as sand traversal and formidable enemies. Fans can look forward to the release of Atlas Fallen on August 10, available for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.