60 Seconds! Reatomized (Xbox One) Review
Mixes two completely different genres into one and it better for it
Each attempt is different even though the player is just selecting one option from a text menu
Some outcomes might seem a little unfair or random
The tuba playing in the opening tutorial is highly annoying
Originally released on PC in 2015, 60 Seconds! Reatomized is basically a roguelike visual novel. This might sound like a confusing mix of genres but it works well even though outcomes are mostly random.
We covered the final PC release in 2019 so you can check out that article as everything there applies here with this console version.
To quickly summarize, the player takes control of the father of a household and has sixty seconds to grab as much stuff in the house and throw it in the bunker before nukes fall. Grabbing the essentials like water bottles and soup (food) should take priority but the player can choose to leave behind the daughter that awkwardly plays the tuba if desired. This mad rush takes place from an overhead perspective and everything is composed of low poly 3D models with floaty physics. The poorly drawn nature of the 3D models ties in directly with the morbid art style and totally fits the tone of the game.
After this 1 minute dash, the rest of the game takes place in the bunker and essentially becomes a choose-your-own-adventure book as the player’s only interaction is selecting an option from menus. Each choice is equal to one day and the goal is to survive as long as possible. The first few days are simply deciding whether to eat/drink or save the limited rations for later but once that first week or so goes by the player will be presented with more difficult choices. Do you send one family member in the nuked land to seek food but at the cost of getting hurt, exposed to radiation, or worse? And if so, who? You hear a knock on the sealed door. Do you answer it? Will it be friendlies that will trade for supplies or raiders looking to ransack you? There is no clear answer, and sometimes there is no right one, which makes each attempt different, random, but comical.
This $10 digital download is unique as it blends a brief 3D action segment with pages and pages of choose-your-own-adventure text. The outcome of selecting each day’s decision might be frustrating random, but that is exactly the origin point of its charm.
Also available on Switch, PS4, and PC.
Also Check Out: the Fallout games
Better Than: most visual novel titles
Don’t Confuse It With: Gone in 60 Seconds (the movie)
By: Zachary Gasiorowski, Editor in Chief myGamer.com
Twitter: @ZackGaz
