Atlas is a very strange mix of genres packed into one video game. It’s a survival, massive multiplayer, pirate game. It’s developed by Wildcard studios who are the creators of another survival game called Ark: Survival Evolved. After seeming to have ended the development with Ark: Survival Evolved, Wildcard put out Atlas. It launched to a lot of criticism, as the game felt and looked a lot like their previous game. These were all very valid concerns and there was hurt among the gamer population right off the bat. The game’s player counts were not that high over the year it was released, but luckily Wildcard brought the game to the Xbox One console. Along with this, they launched the game with cross play between Xbox and Computer players. Allowing both populations to merge and keep the game alive.
Atlas itself has no real story when you are first put into it. You get a tutorial through a skeleton that says it’s your great grandpa. The tutorial sets you up with the basics, but later into the game you will probably have to search things up on your own. Things like taming, how to manage a crew, claiming land, etc… But it’s not that big of a deal since you need internet access to play the game to begin with. Atlas is under the genre of MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) game, but it isn’t a traditional MMO. Most MMO’s are games such as RPG’s (Role Playing Games). These games are focused around players collecting items and building a character in a static world. Atlas claims to be able to host 40,000 players on one server, but the servers are cut into 150 player regions. The game’s map is one big grid with each section being its own condensed server with a few islands and a 150 player capacity. You sail between each section of boats doing whatever you feel like. But stopping and collecting resources and experience to level up your character will be the main focus of your gameplay. That’s the very basic gist of the game, form a pirate crew and sail around while trying not to get destroyed by other pirates.
Personal Thoughts
This game is good fun and blends the genres it has in it well enough. But you should not go into this game as a solo player, having friends join you to form a crew is vital. Ships need multiple people to efficiently sail between zones, and even more if you get into the combat side of ships. If you have up to 3-4 friends willing to jump in with you then this game might be worth it for you. The price tag is $29.99 which is a little steep, but with the amount of content, I personally have seen the price seems justified.