Fallout-Inspired Post-Apocalyptic 'ATOM RPG' Reinvented For Sequel

During the Tokyo Game Show, I was wandering through the indie hall when I noticed a familiar title: ‘ATOM RPG’. What was new to me was the ‘2’ added to the end of the game’s title. In 2018, AtomTeam released ATOM RPG, a Fallout- and Wasteland-inspired top-down RPG rooted in an apocalyptic wasteland. Now, the team is back with a sequel.

But it’s not a like-for-like replication of the first game – not even close. In ATOM RPG 2, you assume control of a playable character from the third-person perspective, and you’re plunged headfirst into an enormous, open-world map teeming with threats and classic survival elements.

I played ATOM RPG 2‘s early build and spoke to the studio’s co-founder, Dmytro Martynenko, about the immense changes.

ATOM RPG 2 Splits From The First Game

I played ATOM RPG a few years ago on PC, but I didn’t get too far into it because I didn’t really gel with the top-down perspective. However, after playing ATOM RPG 2 for a few minutes at the Tokyo Game Show, I already felt much more attracted to the game’s third-person operating model centered around a survival loop.

It’s a typical post-apocalyptic survival experience, offering players a plethora of core features you’d traditionally associate with this kind of game:

• Crafting
• Building
• Inventory management
• Health systems: temperature, energy, hydration, and injuries
• Hunting
• Fishing

The first game, released almost a decade ago, is a much more restricted title that focuses more on a GURPS-inspired ecosystem. It’s a non-linear game, but it’s not anywhere near as open as ATOM RPG 2 promises to be.

And that’s because ATOM RPG 2 occupies a gargantuan world that stretches over 1,225 km² of a Caspian-style wasteland, split into multiple biomes that players can explore at will, either alone or with up to three friends.

When I spoke to Dmytro Martynenko at the Tokyo Game Show, he addressed the potential for there to one day be some dramatic modification that would allow for up to 100 players to occupy the same map concurrently.

It’s still recognizable as being built within the ATOM RPG universe, but the altered perspective makes it feel like an entirely different game.

It’s much more emergent, for starters. Players have more options in this world, including finding many ways to traverse the enormous map. They can ski, find, power, and customize cars, and even roam around in a tank, but that’s more of an endgame thing.

ATOM RPG never managed to secure much in the way of a sizeable player base, but it had some great bones. I was impressed by the very early build I played, and I’m very hopeful and eager to see where it goes as AtomTeam pieces it all together.

Martynenko explained that the team opted for a third-person perspective because they wanted ATOM RPG 2 to be more unique and to attract a new audience. He noted that, at Gamescom, a surprising number of younger players were attracted to the game.

That might not have been the case if it were still a top-down survival title.

Do you think you’ll play ATOM RPG 2? You can wishlist it now on Steam, and be sure to keep us in the loop on the Insider Gaming Discord server.

---

For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out the news that Hideo Kojima’s OD is back in development. Also, don’t forget to sign up for our weekly newsletter