Radiation City Review

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Title: Radiation City
Developer: Atypical Games
Publisher: Atypical Games
Website: https://www.atypicalgames.com/games/radiation_city/
Genre: Action, Adventure, First-Person
Platform: Nintendo Switch
Audience: Teen – Blood, Intense Violence
Release Date: Out Now – 13/06/19
Price: £17.99 – Rapid Reviews UK were very kindly provided with a review code for this title.

Even the title screen suffers from texture pop-in…

When Radiation City appeared on the eShop list of titles ‘Coming Soon’, I was excited. The original mobile port release by Atypical Games, Radiation Island, was one that I spent considerable time with during my early days playing the Nintendo Switch. While it was not without its fault, it offered an open-world experience with simple-to-play game mechanics and a crafting system I quite enjoyed. Fast forward then to my first, and last, hour playing Radiation City, and my thoughts on a promising game experience with bags of potential had diminished from excitement to utter, utter disappointment.

That was a message I sent to a mate having loaded Radiation City for the second time. After my initial moments providing both disbelief and confusion, I promptly ended the game for the evening, citing tired eyes and a busy mind. It wasn’t possible that a game releasing for an unsightly £17.99 on a console already brimming with first-class Indie games could be as bad as this, could it?

Not one to be deterred, and wishing to be proved wrong, I loaded the game the following morning having set aside a few hours to enjoy the title. This is when I stumbled upon the texture pop-in on the title screen and knew that regardless of my thoughts the night before, a bug-ridden and poorly optimised game was awaiting me.

At this point, I feel it is essential to share precisely why I feel so passionately about this monstrosity of a game. I pride myself on diplomatic and courteous reviews, whereby I can acknowledge the work that has been undertaken by a development team. I am well aware of just how demanding and difficult it can be to be a success in the games industry and wish to support all in their quest for stardom. That being said, there are a few caveats to this which need to be fulfilled.

For one, it has to be clear that time and effort has gone into the development of the game. There is no question that this game as a mobile title will offer an enjoyable gaming experience, and Atypical Games will have put the hours in to make it happen. What I struggle to comprehend is how this title has made its way into the Switch, at almost four times the price of the iOS version, and with next to no testing of it? It is difficult to believe that stringent tests were done on the performance of Radiation City before release, as it would not have released otherwise, surely?

Assuming that an inevitable update or patch is coming soon, I delved into the title a little more to see what it has to offer. What I found was an expansive open-world, riddled with problems, sorry, zombies. No issues. Sorry, zombies and problems. The early quests have you foraging for resources, obtaining a vehicle and following a trail to find Lauren.

“This is not an easy task. It’s a huge open world area filled with dangers and anomalies. Hungry predators and sub-human creatures, they all want a piece of you. The elements, combined with radiation and unexplained phenomenon, make the lovely looking environment a place where you shouldn’t be. Yet, here you are.”

https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Nintendo-Switch-download-software/Radiation-City-1572830.html

The resources prove challenging to pick up at times, the driving is abysmal, and the open-world is unnecessarily vast with the odd animal and building scattered around. The crafting system has potential, and I liked the early introduction to transportation, but there is little else to like here. Having doubled the entry fee for Radiation City in comparison to Radiation Island, it is hard to come to any other conclusion other than this is an attempt by Atypical Games to capitalise on the good nature of gamers.

Although I would be open to reviewing this game again if and when changes are made to it, the fact remains that this title was not ready for deployment on the eShop and should never be available for sale in its current state.

Rapid Reviews UK Rating

You can purchase Radiation City on the Nintendo eShop at the following link: https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Nintendo-Switch-download-software/Radiation-City-1572830.html