Recent reviews by Atlas

The controls and UI just aren’t great. It feels like the game is trying way too hard to reinvent the wheel, even though other similar games do the same thing with fewer buttons. It’s been in development for about five years, but the UI still looks like a quick placeholder that was never properly finished.

I really enjoy this game. Unfortunately, it runs on UE5. When I brought up the optimization issues, the devs helpfully informed me that my PC is just "old". Quite incredible.

Edit: (The original review was written ironically, mainly to stir up some controversy and it definitely worked)

I’m officially done with Incursion Red River. I really wanted to see it succeed, I stuck around hoping it’d get better, but honestly, the more I waited, the more disappointing it got. I picked up Escape from Tarkov (PvE) recently, and I’ve had more fun in just two days than I ever did in IRR.

That’s not to say IRR is all bad. There are some genuinely cool things:

• The maps look pretty nice. Quarry and Bunker have great layouts: Quarry feels gritty and open, and Bunker’s tight and intense for close combat. They nailed the atmosphere in places.
• The new "defense" mission is actually a lot of fun. It’s a nice change from the usual stuff and makes for some intense fights when done right.
• Gunplay feels satisfying. The shooting mechanics are punchy, and recoil feels good. You can tell some real effort went into the weapon handling.
• Weapon animations look clean. Reloads, inspection, handling; they all look smooth and responsive.
• Audio and sound design have gotten way better in the latest update. Gunshots sound heavier, footsteps are clearer, and overall it’s a huge step up from how it used to be.

Now the downsides... and yeah, there's a lot more of them:

• The AI is just bad and boring. They all act the same, no matter the gear. In Tarkov, the NPCs actually are a part of certain factions and they actually fight each other. I think IRR has faction AI too, but I’ve never even seen them interact. It’s just not interesting.
• The AI is still terrible. Instead of making it smarter, the devs just made it more aggressive. Now you’ve got 3-4 PMCs pushing you at once from random angles. It’s not fun, it’s just frustrating and unrealistic. (Edit: Reading it back, I made it sound like the AI is smart and flanks you or something. They don’t. Most of the time they just walk straight at you with zero tactics.)
• Movement is super janky and basic. Everything feels stiff, and there’s not much depth to it. One thing that made me laugh though, crouch-jumping is in the game. Straight up feels like Half-Life 2.
• Some areas are way too detailed. Like, parts of the maps look like someone grabbed assets off a 3D scanning site and just slapped them in with no real polish.
• The game gets repetitive fast. Missions are boring, tasks are basically fetch quests, and there’s not a lot to keep you hooked long-term.
• The factions feel pointless. They don’t have any lore or real identity behind them, they’re just reputation bars. In Tarkov, the factions are basic too, but the story and worldbuilding give them weight. Here, there’s nothing to care about.
• The market is dull. It’s just tied to those same lifeless factions. Tarkov’s traders feel like real people with their own personalities and roles. IRR’s system is just bland.
• The hideout system is barely a thing. It’s literally just a stash size upgrade. Nothing to work toward, nothing to build.
Tons of loot is just filler. So much of what you find doesn’t have any real use, which makes looting feel pointless a lot of the time.
• Performance is awful. The game runs terribly unless you’ve got a high-end PC. It relies way too much on VRAM, and if you don’t have enough, everything just looks blurry and broken. Other UE5 games like The Finals don’t have this issue. Tarkov, even on Unity, looks way better and doesn’t suffer from all the ghosting, blurriness, and weird visual bugs. (EFT only looks better because I never got the chance to see the beauty of IRR myself)
• Worst part? Escape from Tarkov has way more content, while being smaller in size. IRR takes up more space, but offers way less in terms of gameplay, missions, weapons, gear variety etc. It just doesn’t make sense.

To the devs:
I can tell you guys have a vision and care about the game. There is potential here, it just needs way more polish. I think with time, proper feedback, and more focus on fixing core stuff, it could turn into something great. I get that Early Access is tough, and IRR isn’t the only game that launched too early, but I hope you guys keep pushing and improving things. I’d love to come back one day when it feels more finished and fun to play.

Keep at it. You’ve got the foundation, just needs more work.

ATLYSS is a chill RPG with fun classes, cool customization, and quite a lot to explore, even at such an early stage of development. Really fun to play with friends!! :>

I love Project Zomboid because i do not have to force my friends to play this beautiful game.

the hypocrisy of the developer

This game deserves to be on the same level as project zomboid, its that fun