Atrio: The Dark Wild

About

Atrio: The Dark Wild is a single player open world simulation game with a horror theme. It was developed by Isto Inc. and was released on January 10, 2023. It received positive reviews from players.

"Atrio: The Dark Wild" is a survival horror game set in a mysterious and ever-changing dark world. Players must navigate through treacherous environments, fight off nightmarish creatures, and uncover the secrets of this forsaken land. With a focus on resource management, exploration, and combat, Atrio offers a challenging and immersive experience for hardcore horror enthusiasts.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

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84%

Audience ScoreBased on 794 reviews

story148 positive mentions

grinding24 negative mentions

The game features an interesting story and engaging humor that adds depth to the gameplay.
The automation mechanics are fun and provide a unique twist on the factory genre, allowing for creative solutions.
The art style and atmosphere are visually appealing, enhancing the overall experience of exploration and factory building.

The game suffers from bugs and stability issues, including crashes when loading or saving.
The user interface has questionable design choices that can lead to frustration, such as inventory management and control schemes.
Progression can feel tedious due to repetitive tasks and limited automation options, which may not satisfy players looking for depth similar to games like Factorio.

story
352 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
42%
56%
2%
The game's story is generally praised for its engaging and humorous narrative, which adds depth to the factory-building mechanics, making it stand out in a genre often perceived as dry. Players appreciate the charming characters and the lighthearted yet occasionally dark themes, though some note that the story can feel repetitive and is currently limited in length. Overall, the narrative is seen as a significant strength, enhancing the gameplay experience and encouraging exploration.
- “The story was cute and injected some much needed humanity in a genre that's often dry - place factory, place belt, complete task.”
- “The game has an interesting story, fun automation with lots of different options and really interesting visuals.”
- “The story and writing is quite interesting, at times genuinely funny and even sentimental, but that's quite subjective.”
- “The story aspects of this game in campaign mode are clever and the aesthetics of Atrio made me really want to like it -- I found the game in a let's play series and wanted to give it a try -- but honestly, it's just frustrating.”
- “The story and concept of the game is hilarious and enticing, but the mechanics of the game unfortunately were far below par, and meant that the majority of the game was cumbersome and uninteresting, punctuated by moments of laughing out loud.”
- “I have zero interest in the plot of this game and I just want to build and explore, but progression is tied to completing story missions and it leads to the whole thing feeling super artificial.”
gameplay
168 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
30%
62%
8%
The gameplay is characterized by a mix of engaging mechanics and frustrating design choices, with players appreciating the unique darkness/light exploration mechanic and the humor in the story, but often feeling hindered by tedious tasks and unclear factory mechanics. While the game offers an addictive loop and charming aesthetics, many reviewers noted a lack of depth and quality-of-life features, leading to repetitive gameplay and a sense of unpolished mechanics. Overall, the game shows promise but leaves players wanting more refinement and variety in its gameplay experience.
- “The added mechanics of darkness and different elements to conquer were also a nice change.”
- “I find this extremely difficult to put down; it presents so simply and yet elegantly introduces every new mechanic.”
- “This game is amazing; it has the addictive gameplay of Factorio, the spooky setting of Don't Starve, and the story of Portal 2.”
- “The actual gameplay is utterly boring.”
- “The gameplay = make 99+ of an item, run to the next station (which gets tedious after the 4th trip), make 99+ of an item, die, repeat.”
- “It has about 2 hours of content, padded out with dozens of hours of dealing with frustrating roadblocks, limiting mechanics, mandatory wave survival challenges with underdeveloped (straight bad) combat, and just poorly designed gameplay.”
humor
88 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is widely praised, with many reviewers highlighting its clever writing, engaging dialogue, and a unique blend of dark and lighthearted themes. Players appreciate the comedic take on corporate culture and the entertaining interactions with various characters, often drawing comparisons to the humor found in games like Portal. While the humor adds significant charm and enjoyment, some players note that it doesn't fully compensate for mechanical shortcomings in gameplay.
- “The humor of the narrative in this game is what helps it stand out from other factory building games.”
- “Another one of my favorite things about this game is the absolutely hilarious dialogue!”
- “The jokes about corporate views on employees are well-timed and funny.”
graphics
82 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
39%
57%
4%
The game's graphics are widely praised for their unique and appealing art style, which enhances the overall atmosphere and gameplay experience. Many players appreciate the stylized visuals and the intriguing aesthetic, although some note minor issues such as graphical glitches and the need for more prominent production indicators in factories. Overall, the visuals contribute positively to the game's charm, despite some players finding them less engaging after extended playtime.
- “The game has an interesting story, fun automation with lots of different options, and really interesting visuals.”
- “Nice resource management/factory builder game with an enticing eerie/mysterious feel to it and a sweet art style to boost.”
- “I was immediately drawn into this game by the art style and atmosphere.”
- “The game could use larger, more noticeable graphics for what factories are producing as a minor nitpick.”
- “Sometimes things just seem to stop working and you have to delete and rebuild; sometimes you just can't place a conveyor in a particular location, there are graphical glitches.”
- “Animation happens, text/graphics on the center of the screen get spawn camped to death again.”
grinding
24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players generally find the grinding aspect of the game to be somewhat tedious, particularly in the later stages where repetitive tasks and limited automation options lead to frustration. While some appreciate the achievable achievements and the challenge of resource management, many feel that the gameplay can become monotonous, especially when it involves making multiple trips to gather resources or when the final recipes require more of the same processes without introducing new techniques. Overall, the grinding is seen as a mixed experience, with some players enjoying the challenge while others find it detracts from the fun.
- “The gameplay consists of making 99+ of an item, running to the next station (which gets tedious after the 4th trip), making 99+ of an item, dying, and repeating.”
- “However, the last few recipes felt grindy as no new techniques were needed to fulfill these last few products: just more output from assembly lines of similar structure.”
- “Make another machine to create the item, grinding out resources to build up the supply chain necessary to make the new immunity item for several hours, and finally getting it set up so you can what?”
music
24 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
20%
13%
The music in the game has received high praise for its immersive quality and engaging soundtrack, with many reviewers noting its strong cyberpunk aesthetic and emotional depth. While some mention a limited number of tracks, the overall composition is likened to that of a high-quality AAA studio, enhancing the game's unique atmosphere. The sound effects also complement the gameplay well, contributing to a captivating experience.
- “Nominated it for best soundtrack of 2023 at the Steam Awards and it really should be on your list of games to buy.”
- “The music is very immersive and the overall experience is engaging.”
- “The music is so good it's like they have a top-tier studio behind it; the story is great, and the comedy and dialogue are even better.”
- “I'm not quite sure about the general lack of music but the sound effects complement the game very well.”
- “If you've never seen the music video for 'röyksopp - remind me', that's the vibe I feel this game is bringing, especially in the aesthetic and general art style.”
- “I think that's all, after typing all this it's funny to say that I truly love the creativity and the tech aesthetic, a game like this is pretty unique and that music tease alone is what drew me in to buy the game.”
atmosphere
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
64%
22%
14%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its moody and dark aesthetic, complemented by a unique art style that enhances immersion. Players find it both relaxing and engaging, with a blend of humor and spookiness that draws them into the world. The combination of atmospheric elements and innovative gameplay mechanics creates a captivating experience, particularly for fans of survival and automation genres.
- “The atmosphere of this game is amazingly moody and dark, with addicting automation features and unique mechanics, such as capturing different creatures to add them to your assembly lines.”
- “The atmosphere is top notch, and I just want to explore every inch of the world.”
- “So far the story is hilarious and the atmosphere is perfectly spooky.”
- “This could also be fixed with changed keybinds, but an option to invert the directions of Q and E while rotating would be amazing. Being immersed (for a lack of a better word) in the atmosphere is difficult when I rotate the gravity belt the wrong direction for the tenth time.”
- “I was immediately drawn into this game by the art style and atmosphere.”
- “It's also somewhat relaxing even with the atmosphere and timed death mechanic.”
stability
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game is widely reported to be plagued by bugs, particularly after reloading, leading to issues like factory resets and non-functional elements. While many players acknowledge these flaws and find the game clunky and non-intuitive, they also appreciate the developers' efforts to address bugs and still find the gameplay enjoyable and addictive. Overall, the stability issues significantly detract from the experience, making it frustrating at times.
- “First and foremost, it's super buggy, especially upon reload - a lot of things in the factory sort of reset, or don't work at all until you go and look at them.”
- “Too bug-ridden to be enjoyable.”
- “Sometimes things just seem to stop working and you have to delete and rebuild; sometimes you just can't place a conveyor in a particular location, and there are graphical glitches.”
optimization
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
25%
25%
The optimization in Atrio is currently lacking, with players experiencing significant performance loss when production lines are built too compactly, particularly near station 2. While the game runs well overall, it does not provide numerical feedback for optimization, and users suggest that it may take time for the game to achieve a more refined and bug-free experience.
- “One piece of advice: spread out your production lines. I built them compact, and near the end, the performance loss near station 2 was very heavy (although I had almost every production line there).”
- “If you're looking for a bug-free factory game that encourages perfect optimization, Atrio's not there yet - give it a while.”
- “But overall, the game performance was good.”
- “One advice from me: spread out your production lines. I built compact, and near the end, the performance loss near station 2 was very heavy (although I had almost every production line there).”
- “There are no numbers or optimization.”
emotional
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players find the emotional aspect of the game compelling, highlighting the well-crafted character interactions that blend humor with emotional conflict, creating a rich narrative experience. Moments of introspection allow for deeper connections with the characters, making their stories engaging and memorable. Overall, the emotional depth adds a significant layer to the gameplay, despite some frustrations with mechanics.
- “The interactions between the characters are also well done, with plenty of humor and emotional conflict to keep the story interesting; albeit, depressing.”
- “There are also moments of quiet contemplation and introspection that allow the player to get to know the station characters and get emotionally attached to them.”
- “I won't say names but each station has a new character you get to meet and each of them I found myself interested in, from heartfelt moments to funny jokes I found myself intrigued by all of them.”
monetization
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization strategy of the game has been criticized as a cash grab, with users highlighting deceptive marketing practices that mislead players about the game's content and value.
- “As it stands, this is a cash grab.”
- “There's a ton of bait-and-switch marketing going on in the advertisements.”