ATOM RPG: Post-apocalyptic indie game

Introduction

ATOM RPG: Post-apocalyptic indie game opens on a grim premise stated plainly: in 1986, the Soviet Union and the Western Bloc destroyed each other in mutual nuclear bombings. You play a survivor recruited by ATOM, a secret organisation investigating a conspiracy aimed at finishing off what's left of life on Earth. Released on 19 December 2018 by developer AtomTeam and priced at NZ$21.99, the game describes its own lineage without hedging: "inspired by classic CRPGs: Fallout, Wasteland, System Shock, Deus Ex, Baldur's Gate and many others." Nearly seven years and 3,442 English-language Steam reviews later, it sits at 83% positive — Very Positive — with a community that largely agrees the inspiration paid off.

The Fallout comparison, taken seriously

Almost every review, positive or negative, opens by measuring ATOM RPG against Fallout 1 and 2 specifically, and the comparisons are detailed rather than glancing. One 522-vote review, headlined "The true successor to Fallout Classics," credits a genuine GURPS-derived character system, dozens of skills from lockpicking to gambling, and quests that branch on real dialogue and skill-check outcomes rather than cosmetic flavour text. Turn-based combat is explicitly modelled on Fallout 1 and 2's system, and multiple reviewers with completed playthroughs describe finishing the game via distinctly different approaches — full combat, dialogue-and-skill-heavy social builds, even stealth-leaning runs. Steam's own achievement data backs that structural claim up: a dedicated "Pacifist" achievement, presumably for completing significant stretches without lethal combat, sits at just 1.0% completion — rare enough to confirm it's a real, difficult-to-execute alternate path rather than a throwaway checkbox.

The writing draws its own consistent praise, independent of the systems underneath it. Reviewers repeatedly credit dry, irreverent humour sitting on top of a genuinely bleak setting, and several specifically call out hidden cultural references that reward players familiar with the source material the game is drawing from. "Sarcastic humour is there, so are the quirky characters," one reviewer wrote, in a review that otherwise ultimately recommended against the game — a good signal that the writing quality isn't seriously contested even among its critics.

Where it gets hard, and hard to defend

The negative-review cluster — and a meaningful share of the positive reviews too — converges tightly on one specific complaint: ATOM RPG's difficulty is front-loaded and prone to spikes that read as unfair rather than as earned challenge. Random encounters are the most commonly cited culprit; one reviewer describes being "thrust into combat with every group under the sun with 5+ people," armed and organised, while their own character was still fighting rats with a machete. Another, a self-described "big old school Fallout fan," calls the opening stretch specifically punishing enough that they bounced off the game three separate times before giving it a fair shot.

Combat AI is singled out repeatedly as the weakest individual system in an otherwise strong package — not the concept of turn-based combat itself, which draws little complaint, but the behaviour of both enemies and allied companions within it. One long-session reviewer (78 hours) called it "the worst AI of any game I've ever played," specifically wishing for direct control over companions rather than relying on their independent decision-making in fights.

A related, quieter thread runs through several critical reviews from committed CRPG fans: the concern that ATOM RPG reproduces Fallout 1 and 2's dated friction — bloated enemy health pools, opaque skill-check mechanics, save-scumming as a near-required strategy — without matching the highs that made the originals worth that friction. "They really wanted to be Fallout 1/2, but somehow they managed to copy all the bad, outdated stuff while only bringing over some of the good parts," one wrote. That's a minority view relative to the 83% positive aggregate, but it's a specific, considered one rather than a drive-by dismissal, and worth weighing if the appeal of Fallout 1/2 for you was in spite of their rough edges rather than because of them.

How far the achievement curve goes

Steam's global achievement data gives an objective read on where players actually stop. The earliest achievement sits at 98.7% — essentially every owner reaches it — but completion falls away fast after that: mid-game milestones cluster in the 35-50% range, and the game's most demanding challenge and specialist-build achievements (a from-nothing "No Name" run, the "Pacifist" completion, a mysterious "Club 27" achievement) all sit at 1.0-2.5%. That's a normal curve for a long, hard CRPG with real alternate-build content, but it also lines up with the reviews' central complaint: a real portion of the people who buy this game don't make it far past the difficulty wall the negative reviews describe.

Verdict

ATOM RPG earns its Fallout comparisons more directly than most games that invite them, and the 83%-positive aggregate across 3,442 reviews reflects a community that largely thinks the systems, writing and setting justify the homage. The consistent, specific complaint about front-loaded difficulty spikes and rough combat AI is real and worth taking seriously before buying, especially if your patience for save-scumming through unscouted encounters is limited. For CRPG fans specifically hungry for more of what Fallout 1 and 2 offered, though, this is one of the more faithful and substantial attempts this library has covered.