Paradise Lost is a game that takes place in an alternative post-WW2 nuclear apocalypse, a great premise for a history buff like me; one that could be even as good as John Milton’s Paradise Lost. However, given the advertisement, gameplay, and story, I’d rather read the poem instead. Paradise Lost is a “game” that follows a young boy and a quest to solve a mystery hidden deep below the frozen post-apocalyptic earth where a Nazi bunker lies bare. I should’ve done more research before purchasing this game but despite the studio ‘All in! Games” seeming to look like advanced mobile games studios, that is not the issue with Paradise Lost; in fact, there are many issues. 

Advertising 

Given the advertising for this game, I am mildly disappointed. Paradise Lost looked promising in its advertisements displaying more of the lore around the game with Nazis seemingly dominating the world after World War 2; in this game, a war where America stayed isolated and the Nazis being the first to develop nuclear weapons to literally eliminate all their enemies. That was the description of the game (until recently) and to make matters even worse, its cinematic trailer which looked like it would promise the tensions of the Nazi soldiers in the bunker while the world begins to fall to nuclear waste looked so good; they should have made that the game. The fact that all that was just explained on papers that the character finds throughout the game is ridiculous. The trailer now reminds me of a mobile game ad which is always way cooler than the actual game. A very interesting world-building story was shown through papers in a story I could care less about. 

The Story

The story of the game follows Szymon, a boy on the quest to look for someone (no spoilers) but it was very predictable within the first mission of the game. The game is divided into different sections or chapters, representing which level in the bunker Szymon is in; “Denial,” “Anger,” “Bargaining,” Depression,” and “Acceptance.” Each title somewhat relates to what the character is going through at each level but it’s sad to say it isn’t very thorough but rather referred to and “Acceptance” is honestly just a choice at the end of the game; literally a choice to choose a good or bad ending but the story is just bad. Also, the plot twist was so easy to figure out once the main character pulls out a photo of his parents. All the lore which would make this interesting is stuck within the advertisements. This game is as lifeless as the world it’s set in. 

Gameplay 

When it came to gameplay, the advertising sold me and the actual gameplay is essentially just some walking simulator as you look through papers. That’s essentially it, of course, there are dialogue options that may affect the overall story, but not really unless you’re a trophy hunter and want to get 100% on the game. 

Overview 

Overall the game is just eh, I thought it had some potential when I saw the actual game screenshots and gameplay; I thought it was going to be great when I saw the trailers that depicted a unique post-WW2 alternate history. One thing the game actually can strive on is its simplicity which caps the player at 4 hours of gameplay and the soothing music which at least kept me playing. Paradise Lost is rated M for its language and takes up 30GB of space on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.