![]() When I reached the surface, I was also thrilled to discover Atomic Heart does not take the mindless open-world checklist approach, but sticks to a series of wide corridors between key locations, with interesting mini-locations to explore and scavenge on the way. I was starting to have fun in scrappy combat against larger groups, while navigating the diverse puzzle-like environments provided a nice break between combat. Tapping X (or square) to reload might do that, or it might just flash the weapon wheel for a split second, or it might quick-use a consumable item.īut then – as I was exploring the last two laboratories for the final pair of McGuffins I needed to escape – I realised the story, protagonist, and gameplay loop were starting to grow on me. The overall sensation is not helped by a gamepad control scheme with combined and inconsistent inputs. The problem is the shooting feels janky and boring at first the platforming, which relies on jump-dashing and climbing, is an infuriating mix of imprecise movement and inconsistent inputs and despite the absurd amount of neuropolymer and crafting materials you hoover up, crafting a new gun, upgrading an existing one, or investing in one of several skill trees doesn’t feel as impactful as it should. ![]() The Bioshock-esque combat is satisfying once you’ve got a few new weapons and powers to play with. Despite the shooter-centric gameplay and a protagonist doing their best to act as dumb muscle – think MachineGames’ BJ Blazkowicz without post-war ambitions – the story is laid on heavy with plenty of exposition dumps and some cringe-worthy back-and-forth between P-03 and CHARLES. The setting is interesting, the set pieces frequent, and the humour was quirky enough to feel novel. In the first half-dozen hours you spend exclusively in the “Vavilov Complex”, you take a convoluted route through a maze of expansive laboratories, dealing with a limited enemy roster, using a handful of weapons and few powers. Viewed in isolation, every mechanic feels simply functional and, more often than not, janky. However, it works best as the sum of its parts. When it comes to the gameplay, Atomic Heart is many things: a first-person shooter with elemental powers, a puzzle-platformer, and an RPG-lite survival game (there are even save rooms). There’s a surprising number of puzzle- and platforming-focussed sequences to break up the combat. It takes a while to get going, but before long you’ll realise this research-focussed utopia is still beholden to an aggressive, militaristic government and there are power struggles within the scientific ministries. Shot down on arrival by what should be non-lethal labour robots, P-03 and his neural polymer glove AI “CHARLES” discover they’ve turned on the human staff and he’s sent after a former scientist supposedly responsible for this traitorous act. The facility, which produces cutting-edge Soviet robots and experiments with polymer applications, has gone dark. Two days before the start of a major social experiment, the “Kollectiv 2.0” shared consciousness, amnesiac war-veteran-turned-agent Major P-03 is summoned by the country’s chief scientist to deal with a situation at Facility 3628. Set in an alternative 1955, the USSR has apparently emerged from the Second World War as a technological superpower thanks to an esteemed group of scientists and the discovery of a “neural polymer” – a versatile substance with the ability to encode and transfer knowledge directly to the user. The opening sequence looks impressive but it takes ages to get into the action. The problem is that took the better part of 6 hours – an hour of which felt like a barely-interactive walking simulator – to get the story rolling, give the protagonist some depth, and settle into an engaging gameplay loop. ![]() Just remember that nothing is made or played in a political, cultural, or religious vacuum.Ītomic Heart slowly grew on me to the point I’m now hooked on seeing it to completion and tackling all the side content I stumble upon. ![]() As the development of Atomic Heart started 4 years before the invasion and Mundfish is a global team, we’re still covering it. Given Mundfish has stuck to the claim they “do not comment on politics or religion”, it’s safe to assume some percentage of Atomic Heart sales is going to end up in the hands of the Russian government – a government responsible for the ongoing invasion of Ukraine and the unjustifiable suffering that has brought. ![]()
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