Paradise Lost Image
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58

Mixed or average reviews - based on 12 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
6.6

Mixed or average reviews- based on 31 Ratings

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  • Summary: It's winter, 1980. Szymon, a boy raised in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, finds an abandoned Nazi bunker. Will he find what he’s looking for? Play Paradise Lost and explore an underground world, where Slavic mythology mixes with retrofuturistic technology. Discover the last story on Earth.

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Paradise Lost - Official Story Trailer
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 12
  2. Negative: 0 out of 12
  1. Mar 24, 2021
    80
    For those looking for a very good storyline set in the gorgeous underbelly of a retro-futuristic bunker, it'll be hard to find a modern title that beats Paradise Lost. The closest comparison for both story and setting would be the Bioshock series. Despite not having weapons or intense moments of action, Paradise Lost manages to deliver a mind-bending story that won't soon be forgotten.
  2. Mar 24, 2021
    70
    Paradise Lost relies heavily on exploration and immersion as players make their way through some fantastically designed environments. Sadly, some issues with voice acting and brightness setting can take easily take you out of that experience. Still, I was intrigued to explore this war-torn world, even though some moments of the narrative can come off as overly ambitious.
  3. Apr 22, 2021
    70
    Dripping with atmosphere, the sights and sounds of a lost end-of-the-world Nazi installation make up for a lack of interaction in Paradise Lost.
  4. Mar 27, 2021
    60
    Paradise Lost is difficult to evaluate within the classic canons of judgment. The absence of a real playful component and the presence of a truly problematic technical level compromise the innumerable possibilities.
  5. Apr 4, 2021
    60
    Paradise Lost surprises with the strength of its settings, but loses when it comes to telling a story.
  6. Apr 10, 2021
    52
    It is easy on the eyes, but in this mysterious subterranean world there is only boring storytelling and sluggish button pushing.
  7. Mar 24, 2021
    50
    Paradise Lost fails to take full advantage of its gripping premise and the haunting atmosphere of its setting, falling short of the standard set by other first-person narrative experiences released in recent years. It’s not as detail-rich as Gone Home, the radio-based relationship between its two leads never reaches the same level of intimacy as Firewatch, and its storytelling isn’t nearly as inventive or interactive as that of What Remains of Edith Finch. I admire the imagination that’s gone into realising the architecture of its underground facility, but I just wish the scarcity of story detail and character development within it hadn’t left me feeling colder than a concrete corridor.

See all 13 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 6
  2. Negative: 1 out of 6
  1. Mar 26, 2021
    10
    The game is short but it's enough to appreciate a great story and mood. It looks amazing not only for an indie studio. Plus it's 10$ -The game is short but it's enough to appreciate a great story and mood. It looks amazing not only for an indie studio. Plus it's 10$ - definitely worth the money. Must play for ppl who appreciate intriguing story over cheap effects, explosions, and shooting waves of enemies. Expand
  2. Mar 28, 2021
    9
    I don't remember playing game with such an intriguing story. From the beginning to the end(one of them), I was enjoying every moment.I don't remember playing game with such an intriguing story. From the beginning to the end(one of them), I was enjoying every moment. Atmosphere was perfect and getting better with every letter, document or tape I found. Voice acting was nothing extra, but Ewa was so lovely. Environment and locations surprised me. From the stone-cold bunker to interiors I found later, everything was perfect. Also background music and other sounds made the atmosphere so great. But it was the story you will enjoy the most. It's narrative, plotwist and slower pace. Can't wait to play it again with different choices and see their outcomes.
    The only things I would change are movement of Szymon and manual saves instead of checkpoints. On the other side, because of slower walking, I had more time to look around me and enjoy every detail of my way through this amazing game.
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  3. Mar 29, 2021
    9
    loved it all the way through,

    Sure you walk slow, but the story and the love they put into it on how it looks it amazing, it has more
    loved it all the way through,

    Sure you walk slow, but the story and the love they put into it on how it looks it amazing, it has more detail than any big budget AAA game i have played for the last year!, it really is a must play if you think you will like it.
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  4. Apr 10, 2021
    6
    Paradise Lost has a good story. Derivative from Bioshock in a way. The problem is that it is a walking exploration that is extremely slow.Paradise Lost has a good story. Derivative from Bioshock in a way. The problem is that it is a walking exploration that is extremely slow. That pace kills the tension and the emotion of the story. there is too limited interaction that is done with 2-3 buttons. Which gets boring really fast. I like the reading and audio parts. The levels are linear and the music is really good. The graphics are ok. I give it 58%. Great story but a weak and very slow gaming aspect. Expand
  5. Apr 26, 2021
    6
    The action of the game takes us to the 1980s, when Europe still feels the effects of the war that lasted many years and the decision thatThe action of the game takes us to the 1980s, when Europe still feels the effects of the war that lasted many years and the decision that Germany made twenty years earlier, unable to come to terms with the inevitable defeat. Their plan to annihilate the enemy ended with the use of nuclear weapons that killed millions of people. Poland (where the action of the game takes place) felt it very painfully, turning into one huge rubble covered with a thick layer of radioactive dust. In such realities, the main character of the game, a teenage boy named Szymon, has to deal with. A lonely 12-year-old man, traveling through a devastated country, ends up in a huge underground complex that was supposed to shelter the Germans from radiation. Now it is just an abandoned testimony of years gone by, in which he searches for information about his family, while discovering the truth about the whole complex and the mass of cruelty and madness that people - people have prepared.

    Showing an alternative history of World War II is nothing new and it could be found in dozens of different positions. However, the subject matter is not overly shabby yet and it still has a lot of potential to provide the recipient with a lot of fun. The creators of the game were well aware of this and very creatively. By plotting alternative events, they combined the story (of the genre of the kind that really could have happened) with the right dose of fantasy (in the form of mysterious technologies), additionally adding a really nice atmosphere and a pinch of post-apo. This mixture has created a really good story that can interest the player and provide him with a moment of "game" entertainment.

    The emotional and at times terrifying journey of a teenager through the abandoned rooms of an underground complex is fueled by several forms of narrative. Here we have the opportunity to get to know what the world looks like from a whole lot of documents, letters, left recordings or still functioning computers. In addition, there are numerous flashbacks focusing on the main character, his past and the secrets of his family. By far the most important element of the narrative that drives a large part of the story, however, is the radio contact with the mysterious Ewa, who will accompany Szymon in an immaterial way during his journey. It is their conversations that give the game an emotional overtone in many scenes that can be quite suggestive for the player.

    Nice story, great atmosphere, well-run narrative. It might seem that we are dealing here with an almost perfect game. Unfortunately, not everything is so great and the title suffered from some serious ailments. We are dealing here with a game from the adventure segment, from which the sub-genre of "walking simulators" has emerged in recent years. Games that are supposed to be easy, short and fun, that is, adjusted to present themselves well on a stream or YT. For many, it will be an advantage, but if you are an old bastard like me and you remember the old times, you expect a "real" highly addictive adventure from such a game. It is hard to get it when the whole game lasts within three hours, and all this time there is 1 (say ONE) logic puzzle, the level of which, to put it mildly, was not too thrilling. The situation is also not saved by the fairly corridor fun pattern, which is so characteristic of this type of games. The freedom to explore is clearly limited and it is best to stick to the "path" prepared by the creators. If someone wants to go on a small sightseeing trip around the bunker on their own, they will quickly encounter numerous "difficulties".

    Full review on:

    https://popkulturowykociolek.pl/recenzja-gry-paradise-lost/
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  6. Apr 1, 2021
    4
    This game is the worst Bioshock title yet.

    It's environmental storytelling and gameplay are utterly derivative of titles you'd wish you'd
    This game is the worst Bioshock title yet.

    It's environmental storytelling and gameplay are utterly derivative of titles you'd wish you'd be playing instead as you are approaching the final chapter of the game. The game itself is nothing but a glorified linear walking simulator.

    The story however is something to behold.
    It feels as if the entire game was written by an elementary school student as a weekend assignment, a weekend assignment that the student got an A+ for and was really proud of his work. However the story itself is unimaginative, obvious and entirely linear, it does not take any advantage of the story's settings whatsoever and instead the writer opts out to create nonsensical plot twists that don't lead anywhere. The storytelling quite literally murdered any curiosity i had for the game's setting.

    It feels as if this game was made by exactly three people in total: a writer, a designer and a programmer. I can't shake the feeling that this was their very first venture into the video game industry. I do wish them well and i certainly do hope that there are more projects being worked on by the studio, however i also hope that this title will bring some much needed self-reflection to these developers.
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