As a long time Embark Studios fan (1000+ hours in THE FINALS), I'm proud about what came about of this game. What is there to say that hasn't been said about Arc Raiders? It's a shooter like no other and happens to be the most unpredictable game I have ever played. It released in an almost perfect state which is very rare for modern gaming. Tons to do, tons to see, optimized incredibly, and full of passion.

Regardless of what I'm going to say next, you should 100% get it.

It's an 11/10 game imo. I can't wait to see what the future holds for it.


NEGATIVES (as of 12/12/2025):

- Limited Customization: Hardly any outfits, and you can't mix them like in their other game, THE FINALS. At least let us mix and match helmets.

- Spawning: Stella Montis is notorious for its spawns. It can be pretty bad in other maps too, spawning you right next to players and forcing an immediate battle. I'm sure it'll be fixed in time, but it is worth mentioning.

- Store: Definitely not great seeing an in-game store in a $40 paid game, but honestly, so many games hide their store in the form of "DLC" these days that they might as well be up-front in telling us they want our money. Not ideal, but in the age of live-service, its necessary I guess.

And that's it. Literally. Perfect otherwise. I guess Venator is a little strong but it's not the most broken weapon ever or anything.


CONCLUSION:

If you have not jumped onto the Arc Raiders train, now is the best time to join in. It's a shooter like no other that, despite how intense it could be, I think has something for everybody. Depending on how you approach things, you can make things as intense or calm as you want it to be.

Although, in Stella Montis, you are entering fight island. No seriously.


11/10

After I've had about a month to reflect back on this game, I can still confirm that it is totally worth purchasing. It's a game that remembers what games are all about; Fun. Extraordinarily fun, in this particular case. It's one of those games you should go into blind, because the less you know, the better.



GAMEPLAY [11/10]

This is 100% Abiotic Factor's biggest strength, as mentioned before. Not only is it an incredibly fun and satisfying survival game, but it is the most unique on of its kind.

The game follows the best type of survival game; Adventure games with heavy survival elements (ex. Terraria, V Rising, Enshrouded, Valheim, etc.), except this game takes to adventure aspect to a whole other level, incorporating a lot of Immersive Sim elements and a map that takes place entirely within an interior (unless you count Portal Worlds as the "surface"), and limited resources (again, unless you count Portal Worlds) into it.

While combat is simplistic and their isn't much to it, it doesn't take away from the exploration and progression, which are the primary aspect to this game if you ask me.

The setting of the game, GATE, in my opinion, is the GREATEST map ever designed, along with a top-tier atmosphere. I didn't think that Dark Souls 1 would ever be topped since I first played it in 2013, but here we are. It is a fully-realized location filled with jaw-dropping areas and many secrets, with a multitude of tools and methods to explore it. I have never had my mind blown so many times with the setpieces the presented to me. This along with the survival aspects make exploration all the more worthwhile, as you break down furniture for materials and scavenge the vending machines for food, adding to the immersion. If you love to explore like I do, this will be a huge treat for you.

And the progression; You will start out as a frail, weak little scientist, but by the end of the game, you will become a freak of nature, with terrifying weapons of destruction at your disposal. The game starts slow, believe me, but there is nonstop progress at every moment, making the time you spend in the game feel worthwhile.

While I mentioned the combat is simple, that doesn't mean it is bad. There is still a lot of strategy, mostly in the late game, during certain encounters. So plan your trips and equipment carefully as you delve deeper into the facility!

And it has co-op. That is always a massive plus and is usually the defining factor of whether or not I get a certain game, especially of this kind of genre. But I can see it still being very fun in solo play.



WRITING [8/10]

Abiotic Factor is a mish-mash of a lot of media, usually in the more sci-fi or horror realm; Half-Life, SCP, and the Backrooms being the most obvious inspirations. While that may sound like a mess, Deep Field Games manages to weave all of those ideas together and form a legitimately original world that, in my opinion, tops the inspirations listed earlier.

I'll admit; The game starts off very generic, obviously following the same intro from Half-Life 1, but be patient with it. Reach the third area of the game, because that's when the story gets interesting and much more inspired and cohesive.

While not every question is answered by the end of the (base 1.0) game, it still left me mostly satisfied.



VISUALS [10/10]

As mentioned before in the "Gameplay" section, Abiotic Factor's map is absolutely mindblowing.

It's got that early 1990-2000's FPS look but with massive upgrades. The view distance, the set designs, the lighting, and the level of detail; All of it culminate into this gorgeous game that I will never forget the look of.

Despite taking place entirely in an underground lab, its got more color than most fantasy worlds I have explored, which is a feat that I didn't think could ever happen.



AUDIO [10/10]

This is a surprisingly strong aspect to the game. The music is oppressive yet whimsical and otherworldly, the enemies are genuinely intimidating (or intentionally annoying in the pests case), the feedback from weapons and armor are top-notch, and the voice acting is bad but in a fitting way when you consider what it's taking inspiration from. Very solid, very memorable, I have no complaints, giving it a perfect score.



OVERALL [11/10]

If you DO NOT enjoy fun games or lack an attention span, don't get Abiotic Factor. Otherwise, buy it, play it with a friend or family member, and prepare for an insane journey that could last 70+ hours with twists and turns at every corner.

This game is not "survival Half-Life." It is straight-up better than Half-Life by a lot (overrated series btw I'd rate nearly all of the games aside from Half-Life: Alyx a [5/10] imo).

I would say GOTY, but Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 exists and a few other games I'm hyped for are coming out so it's a very competitive year, but it makes for good gaming (Silksong is mid btw pretty depressing knowing it'll win GOTY).

I played OFF way back in 2013-2014 and instantly loved it and its world, thinking it was a masterpiece at the time. Hearing about the remake, I obviously had no hesitation purchasing it to support the creator, and plus I wanted to see how it holds up. This game is ridiculously old now. Since I first played it, I was a mere middle schooler, and now I am a medical worker studying to be a Sonographer, so I wanted to see if it was as good as I remember.

After replaying, it definitely has flaws in retrospect, but still totally worth playing.


GAMEPLAY 6/10
It's okay, but the combat is still better than most JRPG's (although I hate JRPG combat so it's not a high bar to reach imo). I want to be a little forgiving though because it is trying to stay true to its original, free form from way back in the day, and that's commendable to not change it too much.

Now, the combat was revamped, but truthfully, it mostly just sped it up, albeit it was given a very awesome glow-up. Not to say it wasn't enjoyable or fun,

The puzzles; Well, I don't really like the puzzles all that much. They aren't super hard, but they are a little tedious because of the randomized combat encounters. Although The Room is quite annoying.

And exploration... It's okay too. It's highly encouraged but I definitely didn't get the same level of satisfaction discovering things like in other games. Seriously returning to old Zones is really annoying at times.

There is new content for oldheads like me, but it's just a couple of new bosses. Nothing too crazy, but still very much appreciated.


VISUALS 8/10
Outside of the soundtrack (which I will get to) the visuals are the OTHER most recognizable thing about OFF.

It's incredibly unique, pencil-drawn yet elegant style look has aged pretty well imo. I've seen a lot of people try to replicate or copy it but you can't shake the feeling that it's an OFF ripoff. It's one I've never forgotten and for good reason.

It has the greatest battle backdrop ever I believe to. Just seeing "BATTLE TIME" with that solid color and rug-ish pattern in the back during a fight is so cool.

The only reason it gets dinged a point or two is because of the overworld sprites and overall basic map design. I get it, they're simple on purpose, but sometimes it's hard to tell when you need to inspect something or not. And with the sprites, well, while they're iconic, have always been unfitting to the game I feel like, outside of Dedan and Enoch maybe.


AUDIO 7/10
If this were the original OFF, this would be rated at an 8 or 9. Sadly though, due to legal reasons, they were unable to attain the original soundtrack from Alias Conrad, so this rating was kind of out of their control no matter what.

Not having the original soundtrack made me realize how the music within the game was what I remembered best.

This soundtrack is in an odd place; It has some amazing tracks that are outright better than some of the old tracks, but others that are straight-up bad or unfitting (original boss themes come to mind, Zodiac bosses are awesome though).

Some sound effects were changed as well. I don't know if this also had to do with Alias Conrad, but things like the original Dedan talk sound are greatly missed. And I know some of the original SFX were just RPG Maker default assets, but I gotta say, those SFX from RPG Maker were goated lmao.

It's in a good spot, but definitely noticeably changes the vibe of some things. But to be fair, it's hard to replace a soundtrack like OFF's.


WRITING 7/10
Truth be told; The writing isn't really all that looking back lmao.

It has its moments. I like when the characters talk very eloquently with strange word choices, but that's about it. It's 4th wall breaking meta-humor in retrospect is a little annoying too, but when you consider when it released, that must've blown peoples minds at the time. I blame Marvel for shoving that trope down our throat.

OFF has a cool ending too. That's about all I have to say about it though.

I know I'm skipping the overall theme and symbolism throughout the game, but tbh my opinion really just boils down to, "It's cool, it's weird, sorta thought-provoking, but nothing special." If you're looking for deep writing, this'll maybe be deep for someone who hasn't consumed an unholy amount of media like me.

There are a lot of games out there with way better writing. With this game, I think you're mostly in for the weirdness of it, and even then, I think there are weirder games to enjoy sometimes.


OVERALL 7/10
OFF was influential, the effects of its release still felt to this day in many indie RPG's. It's weird, it's unpredictable, it's memorable.

I will say, despite my harsh rating of a game I once loved, it did stick with me my entire life up until this point, and that means something. That doesn't mean it's the best though; I mean, look at Fable. Everyone who's played it remembers it, nobody forgets it, it still gets talked about, but the Fable games are kind of bad when you really think about it (but OFF is better than Fable!).

I recommend it, but mostly if you're an old fan who wants to support it. Otherwise, just play the original for free. It has a better sound design and soundtrack anyway (also Dedan calls you a very particular slur that I always think back on in the old version).