Atomicrops

Atomicrops Preview Impressions (PC)

PC Early access code provided by Raw Fury.

I’ve been given an early access PC copy of the upcoming Atomicrops game which will release on Switch and other platforms on the 28th of May. Here’s what I’ve made of it so far but you can expect a full review in future.

Nothing Bad Ever Happens Around Here

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Opening up Atomicrops you’re given a short tutorial on how to farm until the atom bomb drops. Thankfully you and the farm survived but the mutated crops you’ll plant need protecting. Atomicrops is both a farming simulation game and a roguelite twin stick shooter. If you die you have to start all over again. The combination of farming and shooting works as a feedback loop. You need to go explore the outer areas and destroy enemy camps. Doing so will give you seeds and other resources for the farm. Additionally at night waves of enemies will attack your crops. A total day and night cycle is roughly six minutes before you’re brought back to town for some reprieve.

In town crops are sold for money to buy items like seeds and temporary weapons. Whereas growing roses allows you to trade the townsfolk for other useful items.

Regenerated Modified Gameplay

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Since time is rather limited you’ll often need to farm while defending the land. Thankfully watering is automated (by proximity) so you can shoot while tending to your crops. It might be tempting to stick to the mostly safe farm but you won’t make any progress doing that. Each season lasts three days and during the last night you’ll be attacked by a boss. Though the first one kept running off on me so I actually finished Spring without beating him (not the best idea). If you perform well enough in a season you can earn items that’ll save throughout playthroughs and can be spent on permanent upgrades that’ll give you starting bonuses or other buffs.

 

The pixel art  works really well with this game. It’s a cartoon-y post apocalypse with expressive enemies and mutant crops. I love the giant hermit crabs with oil barrels for shells. The sound design seems good enough though I’m much more preoccupied with the projectiles surrounding me. The game works well with a controller so I can’t see the Switch version having any issues.

My Experience

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While twin stick shooters aren’t a genre I’ve much familiarity with I’ve found the combat to be pretty fun. It’s almost making my other farming sims look boring, as I avoid combat in those other ones unless I really need the materials since it’s not this enjoyable.

I mostly appreciate the randomness as I can find new power-ups I haven’t on previous runs like a shield bubble. One issue I have with the quick nature is when you’re choosing between rewards it’s hard to read fast enough while dodging enemy attacks. Once you’ve read/picked them you can learn what the item does next time so choosing is easier but having a way to pause and check what the items are would be much more preferable.

Atomicrops LadiesGamers.com

As much as the early part of the game with having to restart entirely is frustrating I know there are permanent upgrades I can work towards. For now I’m doing practice runs and getting better at avoiding enemy fire. I’m not a high score kind of person but you can submit local scores so I’ve been competing against my boyfriend to get better runs. Even though I’ve this copy of the game I might get myself a Switch one so I can use a more comfortable controller (and perhaps not die trying to take screenshots).

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