Atomic Picnic, the third-person roguelite shooter from BitCake Studio, is out today in Early Access, I can confirm. I can also confirm that it’s a tough and relentless horde shooter that will test your skills should you choose to accept its challenge.
I had intended to sit down with the developers at BitCake for a multiplayer session earlier this week, but alas I had to cancel. As such, I can’t really comment on the co-op side of things. Atomic Picnic supports up to four players in online multiplayer, and I can tell that it has been built with co-op in mind, even if that’s not my experience.
I have, however, been playing today, with the game about to launch on Steam in a matter of hours. Here are my launch day impressions…
Picnicking at the end of the world
The setting for all the mayhem in Atomic Picnic is the end of the world. Everything is all messed up, with reality rearranging itself in the playable arenas that you’ll get to explore.
In my preview of Atomic Picnic earlier this year, I noted a vague similarity to Fortnite, and that’s a theme that resonates still. It’s no clone, but you can feel the influence of Epic’s distinctive level design in these procedurally generated arenas.
Aesthetically, there’s anime running through its veins, which makes for a fun and familiar atmosphere. I didn’t play co-op, but even so, it feels like these are play spaces intended for multiple players. And they are, of course.
Playing as a so-called Loner, Atomic Picnic has you exploring the wastelands of the future in search of precious resources. Your raids, known here as Picnics, send you out alone or in a group, with objectives in mind but your ultimate aim being to shoot robots in the face with your gun.
What to expect: Atomic Picnic’s Early Access launch
Each new run has you playing as one of several characters. I mostly played as Ash, who you can see on the game’s cover art. Each character has their own ability to upgrade, and there are in-game Curios that you can equip to further differentiate your build.
I like the combat, which feels responsive even for a noob like me, and the traversal is great. You’re abilities are on cooldown timers and you’ve got to really play to your characters to strengths if you want to stay alive, utilising their abilities as often as possible.
Combat has you zipping around strangely arranged arenas filled with crystals to shoot and gems to collect. There are robotic monsters EVERYWHERE and it’s a constant struggle. You’ll kite about the place quite a lot, much like you do in Risk of Rain 2, but if you can stay alive, complete your objective and get back to base, you’ll be able to invest in the game’s various meta-systems and come back stronger again.
The Early Access launch includes three different arenas; Twilight Dam, City of Sand, and Train Plateau. There are four playable characters, and what looks to be a solid number of in-game Curious and various meta-progression unlocks to work for. A solid starting point, I’d say, but with room for it to grow.
To that end, BitCake has also announced the roadmap for the game as it goes through the Early Access process. The press release I got yesterday mentions “Twitch integration, new maps, new Combat Director AI, and much more are also in the works”, and I found the below infographic in the press kit. Check it out, and then head over to Steam to wishlist the game or whatever…
