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2 Reviews
Atomic Heart is a shooter with clear inspiration from some genre giants. At times it feels like a Bioshock inspired game, other times the Metro 2033 or STALKER titles. Even some design from SHMUPs and puzzle-platformers like Portal make its way in. It’s hard to ignore the inspiration from others because Atomic Heart works mostly as a combination of good ideas originally found elsewhere, and it works to great effect.
The gameplay may as well have been ripped right out of Bioshock. That’s how the game plays out but it’s more than that, with lots of platforming and puzzles to solve. It has a predictable and trope-laden story that can still engage at parts due mostly to the absurdist art direction and excellent presentation. I mentioned the presentation because at times it feels more like a movie with really good cinematography in cutscenes. While they’re not plentiful, they do a great job of building intrigue and suspense. As well, the soundtrack is absolutely killer!
While the graphics and especially the art design are top notch, voice acting (at least in English) is rough, almost as if they took the first take of every recording session. Some awkward language used as if it’s not native English speaking, and the subtitles very seldom match perfectly to what is said, with word deletions and sometimes even entire subtitled phrases skipped.
The game is mired with bugs too, but not in a game-breaking way. And my review seems negative but a lot of these issues don’t even come close to dampening the excellent gameplay alongside. It’s just incredibly fun to play and to see some of the art design they’ve employed. Everything looks so wild yet sterile, it’s one of those games you’ll remember for its moment-to-moment gameplay and worldbuilding more than any of these negatives I mentioned.
The plot of Atomic Heart is incredibly well crafted and features several impressive twists. Every event and conversation has a purpose, and everything is woven seamlessly into the lore, brilliantly complemented by what you can hear on the chirpers and read in the PERA systems. If you’ve read reviews claiming that the dialogue is awful, that the protagonist is unbearable, or that the script is predictable, don’t worry — none of those people actually finished the game, and therefore failed to understand that both the protagonist and his glove have a complex character arc, and that even the character’s mannerisms are logically explained in detail during the final stretch of the story, a part that none of these enlightened critics ever bothered to reach.
The gameplay is very good, and both the melee and ranged weapons and powers feel satisfying, weighty, and impactful. The robot designs are incredible, and the organic enemies are also excellently designed. One mechanic I didn’t enjoy as much is the constant repair of robots unless you disable the ecosystem, and the fact that the ecosystem itself cannot be permanently shut down, which can make exploration feel somewhat tedious at certain points.
The enemy variety can also feel a bit limited, especially after fifteen or twenty hours of gameplay, something understandable considering how ambitious the game is for being the first IP from a new studio.
All in all, thank you Mundfish. Atomic Heart truly feels like a breath of fresh air in this stale timeline where all we get are remasters, remakes, and reheated products with a fresh coat of political correctness. The love you put into every detail is obvious, and it’s clear that you made the game you wanted to make. Additionally, the game is sprinkled with touches of sexual humor that would make the average modern neo-puritan’s head explode.