"I'm sick to death of shoving balls into tubes."
Upon first boot, this game reminded me a lot of my time with We Happy Few back in the day. That was a BioShock-inspired title that I enjoyed the world of a lot, but I fell out of it way too quickly. So with that in mind, I forced myself to play through Atomic Heart so that I wouldn't have to shelf another game like this again.
Thankfully, I did just that. Because I think one thing that some of these critics aren't saying about this game, likely because they chose not to see it through, is that all of the cool shit happens later on in the game. (Most of the wild setpieces and encounters you see in the trailers? Took me about 5-8 hours before I started seeing some of them in-game, although we'll discuss a few others in a bit.)
Atomic Heart isn't bad. At least, as someone who loves alternate history and weird sci-fi elements, I personally don't think it is. However, its flaws heavily outweigh its pros, and that's definitely enough to turn away the average gamer. Ultimately though, I think Atomic Heart is a product butchered by its marketing.
The best thing about Atomic Heart is its world, story, and overall presentation... which says a lot, considering the absolutely unexpected tone from the writing in this game. It's a remarkable alternate history 1950s that sees the Russian Soviet Union developing a programmable fluid called Polymer, as they utilize it to form what is basically a "Kollektiv" hivemind of humans and machines. The story tackles themes of free will and human evolution, all encompassed in a retro-futuristic design that is both stylish and eerie. Robots with spinning heads and open mouths, beings made of red polymer that looks like blood vessels, unexplainable creatures with white fuzz, it's all pretty cool to look at. It kinda reminds me of certain monsters you'd find in Alex Garland's film Annihilation. (Oddly enough, there's a specific section in this game that uses a music track from that exact movie. Not even kidding.) Animation is incredible as well, with boss encounters especially flowing in fast-paced, complex ways that are just awesome to look at. And on top of all of this, a surprisingly rockin' soundtrack co-composed by Mick Gordon, among others. There's a really fun combat sequence that involves an unexpected remix of the classical opera piece "Carmen".
Now, with a presentation this badass and intriguing, you'd think the writing would be matched, right? Welp... it's really not.
For starters, our protagonist P-3 is an idiot. Like, he's laughably bad in both his writing and English voice performance. From the opening scenes, it felt like the game shifted from this BioShock-style vibe presented in the marketing, to something akin to over-the-top shooters like Duke Nukem. He makes stupid decisions, gets angry all the damn time, and is too blind to see through the predictable antagonist, even to the point where one of the side characters calls him out on it.
I think P-3 is the only element in this game that screws with the overall tone, as I didn't think the others were as remotely bad. People give a lot of smack to protagonists talking to a companion during gameplay, but I enjoyed the dialogue between P-3 and Charles to give more context to the strange world around you. Even the horny fridge that you visit occasionally for upgrades fits with the world better than P-3 does, and it all becomes even more evident towards the final act of the story. Lots of bonkers ass moments, a ton of plot revelations and twists, all thrown at you during these final moments that had me flabbergasted through the end credits. But, much like the game's odd marketing, certain scenes from trailers are completely absent from the story, which makes me truly wonder how things must've been altered mid-development.
Gameplay in Atomic Heart is where the game falters. Several design choices clash together in dissonant chemistry, although none of it really has to do with the combat itself.
I personally like the idea of having a large open overworld map with having what are basically underground "dungeons", but the game's opening pacing makes it take too long to reach that point, so it'll turn away many players without letting them truly see the full extent of the game. (You don't even get to use the map screen until you reach the surface.) I think traversing through overworld and underground is quite fun, when you get used to scanning areas and strategizing your stealth, although the main story missions in these underground areas almost always involve fetch quests, which can get a bit repetitive towards the end. Combat itself feels fine when you eventually get more weapons and resources to play around with, but the amount of abilities you get to unlock is shockingly small; only about 3 or 4. The greatest aspect of this game, oddly enough, is in its puzzles. I loved interacting with the obscure door locks and magnet rooms, as they fit well with the game's narrative.
Other strange choices include dialogue options that rarely impact the flow of the story and gameplay, most of which comes from dead-bodied NPCs that you talk to, and even some like the talking fridge that give you different wording for the same choices each time. There's also the obnoxiously slow climbing speeds, as well as the Polymer Glove that encourages throwing items that you can barely even find because most of the objects aren't interactable. I wouldn't necessarily call this the usual "Eurojank", but rather design decisions that make the game feel more annoying than dense. And, once again, certain things that appeared in recent trailers didn't seem to make it into the final game, especially the Lootyagin chests that remain stationary in dungeons rather than moving around in the overworld.
I wasn't really dreading my time with Atomic Heart, but I don't think its price point and playtime make for a memorable experience. The clashing of design genre and overall tone of the world and dialogue is very apparent, and it makes me wish for a better combination of things. Elements at play here would've worked better as a narrative puzzle game like Portal, or a fast-paced non-melee shooter like Doom, but it unfortunately doesn't blend well.
If you're looking for something bizarre to sink some time into, this is one to check out. I think the world and its lore alone is worth discovering on its own, and you can mainline it in about 10-13 hours on the easiest difficulty. Just don't go out spending full price on it.
I hope we get more polished stuff in this world in the future from Mundfish (or something aesthetically similar) because... crispy fucking critters.
Upon first boot, this game reminded me a lot of my time with We Happy Few back in the day. That was a BioShock-inspired title that I enjoyed the world of a lot, but I fell out of it way too quickly. So with that in mind, I forced myself to play through Atomic Heart so that I wouldn't have to shelf another game like this again.
Thankfully, I did just that. Because I think one thing that some of these critics aren't saying about this game, likely because they chose not to see it through, is that all of the cool shit happens later on in the game. (Most of the wild setpieces and encounters you see in the trailers? Took me about 5-8 hours before I started seeing some of them in-game, although we'll discuss a few others in a bit.)
Atomic Heart isn't bad. At least, as someone who loves alternate history and weird sci-fi elements, I personally don't think it is. However, its flaws heavily outweigh its pros, and that's definitely enough to turn away the average gamer. Ultimately though, I think Atomic Heart is a product butchered by its marketing.
The best thing about Atomic Heart is its world, story, and overall presentation... which says a lot, considering the absolutely unexpected tone from the writing in this game. It's a remarkable alternate history 1950s that sees the Russian Soviet Union developing a programmable fluid called Polymer, as they utilize it to form what is basically a "Kollektiv" hivemind of humans and machines. The story tackles themes of free will and human evolution, all encompassed in a retro-futuristic design that is both stylish and eerie. Robots with spinning heads and open mouths, beings made of red polymer that looks like blood vessels, unexplainable creatures with white fuzz, it's all pretty cool to look at. It kinda reminds me of certain monsters you'd find in Alex Garland's film Annihilation. (Oddly enough, there's a specific section in this game that uses a music track from that exact movie. Not even kidding.) Animation is incredible as well, with boss encounters especially flowing in fast-paced, complex ways that are just awesome to look at. And on top of all of this, a surprisingly rockin' soundtrack co-composed by Mick Gordon, among others. There's a really fun combat sequence that involves an unexpected remix of the classical opera piece "Carmen".
Now, with a presentation this badass and intriguing, you'd think the writing would be matched, right? Welp... it's really not.
For starters, our protagonist P-3 is an idiot. Like, he's laughably bad in both his writing and English voice performance. From the opening scenes, it felt like the game shifted from this BioShock-style vibe presented in the marketing, to something akin to over-the-top shooters like Duke Nukem. He makes stupid decisions, gets angry all the damn time, and is too blind to see through the predictable antagonist, even to the point where one of the side characters calls him out on it.
I think P-3 is the only element in this game that screws with the overall tone, as I didn't think the others were as remotely bad. People give a lot of smack to protagonists talking to a companion during gameplay, but I enjoyed the dialogue between P-3 and Charles to give more context to the strange world around you. Even the horny fridge that you visit occasionally for upgrades fits with the world better than P-3 does, and it all becomes even more evident towards the final act of the story. Lots of bonkers ass moments, a ton of plot revelations and twists, all thrown at you during these final moments that had me flabbergasted through the end credits. But, much like the game's odd marketing, certain scenes from trailers are completely absent from the story, which makes me truly wonder how things must've been altered mid-development.
Gameplay in Atomic Heart is where the game falters. Several design choices clash together in dissonant chemistry, although none of it really has to do with the combat itself.
I personally like the idea of having a large open overworld map with having what are basically underground "dungeons", but the game's opening pacing makes it take too long to reach that point, so it'll turn away many players without letting them truly see the full extent of the game. (You don't even get to use the map screen until you reach the surface.) I think traversing through overworld and underground is quite fun, when you get used to scanning areas and strategizing your stealth, although the main story missions in these underground areas almost always involve fetch quests, which can get a bit repetitive towards the end. Combat itself feels fine when you eventually get more weapons and resources to play around with, but the amount of abilities you get to unlock is shockingly small; only about 3 or 4. The greatest aspect of this game, oddly enough, is in its puzzles. I loved interacting with the obscure door locks and magnet rooms, as they fit well with the game's narrative.
Other strange choices include dialogue options that rarely impact the flow of the story and gameplay, most of which comes from dead-bodied NPCs that you talk to, and even some like the talking fridge that give you different wording for the same choices each time. There's also the obnoxiously slow climbing speeds, as well as the Polymer Glove that encourages throwing items that you can barely even find because most of the objects aren't interactable. I wouldn't necessarily call this the usual "Eurojank", but rather design decisions that make the game feel more annoying than dense. And, once again, certain things that appeared in recent trailers didn't seem to make it into the final game, especially the Lootyagin chests that remain stationary in dungeons rather than moving around in the overworld.
I wasn't really dreading my time with Atomic Heart, but I don't think its price point and playtime make for a memorable experience. The clashing of design genre and overall tone of the world and dialogue is very apparent, and it makes me wish for a better combination of things. Elements at play here would've worked better as a narrative puzzle game like Portal, or a fast-paced non-melee shooter like Doom, but it unfortunately doesn't blend well.
If you're looking for something bizarre to sink some time into, this is one to check out. I think the world and its lore alone is worth discovering on its own, and you can mainline it in about 10-13 hours on the easiest difficulty. Just don't go out spending full price on it.
I hope we get more polished stuff in this world in the future from Mundfish (or something aesthetically similar) because... crispy fucking critters.