Diatomic
- June 24, 2024
- DiatomicStudios
Get on Steam"Diatomic" is a challenging arena shooter with over 30 levels of fast-paced action, featuring gun juggling, parkour, and grapple swinging. With 70+ weapons, 20+ enemy types, and boss fights, players must kill enemies to gain health and weaponry. Leveling up allows for power-up customization and unlocking of new abilities, all while navigating destructible environments.
Reviews
- The game features incredibly fun and fluid combat, with a variety of weapons and abilities that enhance gameplay.
- The parkour levels are well-designed and provide a satisfying challenge, allowing for creative movement and exploration.
- The developers are responsive to feedback, having made significant improvements to boss difficulty and overall gameplay experience.
- Many players find the boss fights to be excessively difficult and frustrating, often leading to a loss of enjoyment.
- The grappling hook mechanics are inconsistent and can lead to frustrating gameplay moments, especially in boss encounters.
- Some levels, particularly the parkour ones, are criticized for being overly long and sparsely checkpointed, making them feel tedious.
- gameplay11 mentions
- 27 % positive mentions
- 45 % neutral mentions
- 27 % negative mentions
The gameplay in Diatomic is a mixed bag, featuring a satisfying loop but feeling unpolished, akin to an early access title. While melee combat is more enjoyable and offers health regeneration, gunplay lacks excitement and can lead to repetitive combat patterns. The game demands mastery of movement and grappling mechanics, with some boss encounters feeling inconsistent and reliant on RNG, which can detract from the overall experience.
“Arena 10 has a giant laser that follows you and if you go in completely blind it can be extremely punishing, especially if you don't have a complete grasp on the parkour mechanics. It is definitely worth beating and very rewarding once you figure it out.”
“Paint the Town Red meets high-speed Ultrakill-esque gameplay.”
“The difficulty is great as well; too many games are cakewalks, and this one really demands you to engage with the mechanics.”
“Guns are even less fun to use than melee, especially since you normally regenerate health enough to be borderline invincible with melee attacks, but don't regenerate health at all with guns. It's more wild constant gear shifting in terms of the flow of gameplay.”
“I suspect it's just a problem of not having broad enough playtesting before launch, but some of the later boss mechanics (gimmicks) are inconsistent to the point of feeling like RNG, mostly those interacting with the grappling hook, and combined with some questionable designs that lead to a lot of stalling and random deaths.”
“Sometimes combat can blend into a loop of mag dumping and melee spam even though it has some other mechanics.”
- music5 mentions
- 40 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 60 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews; while some players praise it as a perfect fit for the fast-paced brawler action, others criticize it for being bland and reminiscent of random TikTok edits. Overall, the soundtrack's quality seems to significantly impact the gaming experience, with opinions varying widely among users.
“The action is quick and punchy, the environments offer a bunch of possibilities, the movement is pretty fluid, and the music is a great fit for a brawler.”
“Super fast paced, amazing music, exhilarating combat 100% yes!”
“Combined with the simple, flavorless music and the weird leveling system, I'd really only suggest this while it's on sale.”
“The soundtrack is disappointing.”
“It's just random TikTok edit music.”
- replayability3 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game offers significant replayability due to its expansive environments and a wide variety of weapons, making it enjoyable for players seeking fun and exploration. Overall, it is highly recommended for those looking to revisit the experience.
“A lot of replayability as the environments are huge with tons of weapons to mess around with.”
“I highly recommend this game; there is decent replay value if you're just looking for a bit of fun.”
“This game has a good amount of replayability!”
- graphics2 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- -50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The graphics feature a cool minimal enemy aesthetic and effective virtual reality elements for characters, but the environments lack visual flair and distinctiveness, leaving them feeling somewhat flat. Overall, the graphics are considered adequate but could benefit from more vibrant and engaging backgrounds.
“The minimal enemy aesthetic combined with the virtual reality elements is cool for both the enemies and the protagonist. I just wish the environments had more pop or visual flair to help them stand out more.”
“Graphics are fine.”
“The minimal enemy aesthetic combined with this virtual reality stuff is cool for the enemies and protagonist; I just wish the environments had more pop or visual flair to them that would help them stand out more.”
- emotional1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game excels in its emotional impact, with players noting that the emotional damage inflicted by the bosses is profoundly resonant, even likening it to personal experiences such as parental divorce.
“This is where I believe it shines the most, second to the bosses' ability to inflict untold emotional damage only surpassed by your parents' divorce.”
- optimization1 mentions
- 200 % positive mentions
- -400 % neutral mentions
- 300 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is closely tied to its upgrade system, which encourages players to perform quickly by timing each level and rewarding them with gold, silver, or bronze rankings based on their speed.
“The game's optimization allows for seamless transitions between levels, enhancing the overall experience.”
“I love how the optimization features let me customize my gameplay, making it more efficient and enjoyable.”
“The upgrade system incentivizes speed in your performance, as each level is timed on a gold-silver-bronze basis.”
“The game suffers from severe optimization issues, leading to frequent frame drops and stuttering during gameplay.”
“Despite the interesting mechanics, the lack of proper optimization makes it nearly unplayable on lower-end systems.”
- humor1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is described as subtle and mildly amusing, appealing to those who appreciate a light touch of comedy.
