Mundfish·Released Feb 21, 2023·Single player
Atomic Heart is an adventure first-person shooter, events of which unfolds in an alternate universe during the high noon of the Soviet Union. The principal character of the game is a special agent P-3, who after an unsuccessful landing on enterprise "3826" is trying to figure out what went wrong.
A half-interesting game is buried by a mess of its own making - and represents an industry conundrum that will only continue to grow.
A beautiful, flawed, and deeply weird Soviet Westworld.
Atomic Heart’s dazzling world design, extraordinary production values, and fast-paced fights make for a solid campaign, but the derivative plot and often painful writing constantly drag it down.
This mashup of shooter, stealth, and RPG wears its influences proudly but rarely matches them. Its alt-history setting is interesting and there are plenty of ways to approach the robot-killing, but these elements are at odds with messy storytelling and characterisation.
So, yeah, where do we even start with summing this one up? A recommendation depends on your own interest with the world of Atomic Heart, we must admit. The game's premise remains intriguing throughout, and its main missions provide some great combat scenarios to get stuck into, especially when it comes to using powers and the skill tree system to create character builds. Yet, the game's overworld is largely skippable which is a huge bummer, and its main storyline does little to enhance the incredibly interesting world Mundfish has created. Atomic Heart is well worth a play for the immersive FPS fanatics out there, but it's wise to temper your expectations when names like BioShock and DOOM are being thrown around in comparison. Atomic Heart is a solid alternate-history shooter, but it takes a bit more than building an intriguing world to become a true great in the genre.
Atomic Heart is a highly imaginative, atompunk-inspired attempt at picking up where the likes of BioShock left off that makes missteps but definitely has the ticker to punch well above its weight.
Atomic Heart is an alt-history Soviet shooter that veers between superb gunplay and tedious busywork, with surprisingly little to say about its setting.
Atomic Heart lacks follow-through on its most interesting narrative concepts and plays it safe with its first-person shooter gameplay.
With an incomprehensible storyline, weightless combat, and frustrating first-person platforming, Atomic Heart is left to stand in the shadow of the video games that so clearly inspired it
