Atomic Heart

In spite of some minor technical glitch, Atomic Heart is a fun, spectacular and intense shooter, that will amaze the fans of the genre with a passion for narrative. Bol'shoi!

Atomic Heart is undoubtedly one of the best first-person shooter campaigns I’ve played in years. In addition to rock-solid gameplay, the game offers an intriguing mystery and a robust upgrade system. It’s even more impressive when you remember that this is the first game from Developer Mundfish. Outside of controversial themes and a lack of enemy variety, it’s hard to point out any glaring issues with Atomic Heart.

Atomic Heart is a terrific game with minor shortcomings thanks to its strong narrative components, quick gunplay, and special abilities. It is not a Bioshock clone; it has its own pace, characters, and stunning artistic design, and it deserves all of the attention it can receive.

Atomic Heart has several fun elements that keep the player hooked from start until the end. Although it has some technical problems, they are passable in the face of the final work, which delivers much more than players expect. Diverse combat, lots of exploration and clever puzzles are just some of the points that make this game a must-have for PS5 owners.

Atomic Heart is a love letter to retro-futuristic soviet aesthetic incorporated in an intriguing story and decent combat that will put you in a genuinely immersive and exciting world that does not overstay its welcome. It comes with its flaws, but it is such an audio-visual spectacle that tends to become better as you give it more time to open up, and it will surely stay in your memory as an original and fun experience.

Atomic Heart is a brilliant game, that is able to mix some beloved game mechanics in its own way, in order to make you experience an intriguing journey that will make you wonder how and when will this universe be expanded in the future.

Atomic Heart is a colorful title with a gripping story and powerful dialogue. Its universe between Bioshock and Wolfenstein absorbs you and takes you on a fast-paced adventure alongside a damn crazy and rather well-written hero. Not everything is perfect and everything remains fairly standard, but the experience is devilishly satisfying thanks to its effective gameplay, well-thought-out puzzles, lots of humor and fun. A really good explosive cocktail!

Despite a few missed opportunities to really build on the great games it’s inspired by, Atomic Heart surprised me, with a remarkably inventive world that brings to life (the tears apart) the weirdest, wildest visions of Soviet propaganda. This is a game that’s been through over half a decade of development hell, and come out the other side as one of the best first-person shooters this generation.

Atomic Heart is a game with identity and some brilliant elements, but its flaws prevent it from offering a solid structure. It could have been so much better.

Atomic Heart has all the premises for a great game. That is why so frustrating that Mundifsh dropped the ball by trying to do too much, and botching up some gameplay mechanics, and also by releasing a game that desperately would have needed more time for fixing the bugs that poison the experience. And while the latter can be solved through patches, some peculiar game design choices and compromises take away from the overall value. The vibes of the game are great, but when you look beyond the atmosphere you will find flaws that are much more than simple nuisances. Still, despite the disappointment, Atomic Heart is worth playing and hopefully marks the start of a new franchise, that will give the developers the chance to produce a sequel that rises to the level of expectations.

A competent first-person shooter set against the fascinating backdrop of an alternate history, technologically advanced Soviet Union. Atomic Heart wears its gaming inspirations on its sleeve, but never comes close to their greatness.

A brilliantly executed variation on BioShock with a lot of its own ideas and an original, unseen world. It's a shame about the technical problems and certain user discomfort that prevented it from going one step higher.

Atomic Heart turned out to be a pleasant surprise, a charismatic first-person shooter with gameplay ideas applied almost to perfection. Leaving aside the uninteresting open world stages, the development team managed to create a world with a remarkable aesthetic quality despite the presence of several bugs. In any case, Atomic Heart represents a good first work for Mundfish and, above all, remains a fun and brutal FPS in its Soviet madness.

Atomic Heart is not just another Russian Bioshock, although it certainly draws a lot of inspiration from it. Mundfish's game actually has a deeper lore than it appears and is interesting. The stakes won't break any bones, but they are more than enough to keep us on our toes. Our hero and his sidekick are talkative, but never heavy-handed and the game constantly oscillates between drama, reflection and humour, and it works. Visually, it's a hit. The art direction is insane and technically, it's superb on PS5. The details are legion, and the game impresses on many levels, notably with its special effects (light, pyrotechnics, blur, etc.) but also with its animations, some of which are truly amazing. So, yes, there are a few glitches like a handful of not-so-great textures, residual bugs or rhythm problems, especially during the cutscenes which are often very average, or even failed for some. But despite this, it's hard not to get a kick out of it. Atomic Heart remains a sure thing. An excellent surprise even.

For a first game from a new studio, Atomic Heart executes many of its ideas very well, delivers a solid story, and actually manages to innovate in a genre where it would be easy to remain stagnant...Yes, its main character won’t live long in the memory, the narrative takes some time to heat up, and the modern-day curse of technical hitches are noticeable. But as a whole, Atomic Heart is an electric and enjoyable FPS title with surprising puzzle aspects, and I can’t wait to see how Mundfish builds on this hot start in the future.

While Atomic Heart brings nothing new to the table, it brings flair to the concepts it borrows from games before it, making for a fun experience that will have your heart pumping, funny bone aching, and brain working overtime.

Mundfish arrives with a charismatic and powerful proposal that leaves us wanting a sequel.

Mundfish has managed to capture the thrill of over-the-top action taking full advantage of Atomic Heart’s 1950s setting and insane narrative. Every moment of gameplay is packed with tense combat against haywire animatronics. Still, all the heavy metal shredding in the world isn’t enough to save the experience from its extremely poor user interface design and lack of basic accessibility features.

Atomic Heart tries to do everything it can and wants: in fact, it offers a combat system that mixes firearms and powers, and then lowers everything into an open world that is a bit of an end in itself. The possibility of building custom builds is not lacking, just as there is a very detailed crafting system. Yet the gameplay ends up stumbling when the extreme dynamism of the droids is contrasted by the heavy movements of P-3 (and the use of Polymers is not enough to change the cards on the table). In terms of artistic direction, on the other hand, the title of Mundfish finds its maximum expression, also thanks to the good lighting system. We would have just preferred a greater balance between the various playful components underlying the experience.

Atomic Heart throws up some interesting ideas and visually is a very impressive game. Otherwise, it’s a jack of all trades and master of none that entertains with its brazenly silly throwback madness.

Atomic Heart is a compelling and exciting sci-fi action RPG, with a unique and well-developed setting. Although it has its imperfections, from its slow pace to occasionally annoying combat, the exciting mysteries at the heart of, well, Atomic Heart, made it worth powering through. For action-RPG fans with a taste for alternate history settings, Atomic Heart is definitely worth diving into, and I am excited to see what developer Mundfish has to offer in the future.

Despite being both fussy and clumsy throughout parts of the barely 15 hours the game lasts, Atomic Heart has just enough character and cool sequences to make this a game that might be well worth a closer look.

Atomic Heart is full of stuff that will absolutely make you love it immediately, but each one of those things comes with a major flaw that ultimately pulls it back from being a great game. It's far from perfect, but will still give you hours of awesome story, world, gameplay and music.

Atomic Heart does many things well. It capably takes what games like Bioshock did before and puts a unique spin on it. The guns and powers are fun to use, fighting rampaging robots is a blast, and the setting of an alternate-history 1950’s Russia is fresh and interesting. The protagonist, unfortunately, is a deluge of awful dialogue, and the attitudes for female-presenting characters are concerning. Mix in slogging through open-world segments of infinitely respawning enemies, and you have a good game that is a few better choices away from being great.

Atomic Heart stands out for its remarkable art direction and unique theme, in a retro-futuristic world dominated by the Soviet Union. It suffers from repetitive fetch quests, which intensely slow down the game's pace, becoming a barrier to the enjoyment of this virtual world. The story has to be approached with a touch of irony and sarcasm, but that doesn't always excuse some dubious voice-acting. Mundfish's debut has a few rough edges, but a lot of promise for the future.

Atomic Heart is a bit of a surprise. It's not perfect and the open world is an unneeded dilution, but when you're in the story missions it's always entertaining, despite occasionally dragging things out a little. It can be a bit strange, but it's the self aware kind of strange that can be a bit charming. And the robots are pretty great.

Frankly stunningly beautiful, Atomic Heart opens with stunning architecture and a catchy pitch before unfolding a story that struggles a little to convince and lets out dozens of dialogues that can make you wince. Remains a rather decent gameplay divided between classic and robust combat, hyper clever puzzles and barely decent platforming.

Setting aside the game’s pervasive Soviet imagery in these complicated times, Atomic Heart is an often impressive game with too many systems and not enough connective tissue between them. Combat and other mechanics veer between janky, confounding moments and an exhilarating flow as the complex narrative tone swerves between disparate lanes. Atomic Heart can wow you, confuse you, and frustrate you in the span of a few minutes. Atomic Heart has the feel of a classic obscured by too many ideas that never quite harmonize.

There are problems, but it is still a worthy trip to the alternate past.

Atomic Heart leaves a lot to be desired, but its unique setting, varied gameplay and often inventive enemies go a long way to keep you interested in your traipse through its ruined utopia. Just bear in mind that while it may look like a AAA game, it’s not; Mundfish has achieved a great deal here, but there are signs of corners being cut and a considerable lack of polish. And so, you might want to wait for a patch or two to sort out some of its unfortunate bugs and other blemishes, but you could do a lot worse than venture into the hostile world that Atomic Heart offers.

Atomic Hearts is an interesting case of ambitious scientific experiment. Even if not everything went smoothly, the results are still fun, exciting, and a bit uneven. What matters here — is a brave attempt at something rather bold. And who knows what tomorrow will bring, as practice makes perfect.

Atomic Heart offers an unique style and atmosphere with exciting gameplay and an incredible soundtrack. The game, however beautifully crafted, falls short in various departments. The protagonist is absolutely awful and shows no interest in all the stuff that is going on in the world of Atomic Heart. That also leads to not really wanting to explore the world to find all the secrets, because the protagonist just doesn't care.

Atomic Heart can be a frustrating experience, but it also gives you as the player more than enough variety to warrant a look if you are searching for an interesting shooter that has lots of options when it comes to your play style. There are some compelling ideas here, but much like the entirety of the game, they're a mixed bag. It's a little rough around the edges but there definitely is a good time to be had if you're looking for a spiritual successor to the Bioshock franchise.

Although Atomic Heart is fun to play for its combat encounters, it’s packed to the brim with frustrating platforming and horrendous writing, making it tough to recommend. Ultimately, Atomic Heart feels like a Ubisoft game made by edgelords who love BioShock and Russia in equal measure. It’s a jack of all trades and master of none, which lands it somewhere near “decent.” The end result is an uneven gaming experience that has fun moments sprinkled throughout a marathon of cringe.

I admire the gusto with which Mundfish approached its debut game because it’s created one hell of a world to explore. But beyond its pristine setting and ass-kicking soundtrack, it’s largely forgettable. Maybe if the gameplay evolved beyond its basic beginnings or if the story was — I don’t know, good — I might be willing to give it another go. However, given how unlikely such a monumental change like that would be, Atomic Heart is destined to be a one-and-done type of experience.

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.

These are just some of the many signs that suggest the game was rushed past the finish line (including a reference to game crunch), but its problems run deeper than something that can be fixed with a couple of patches. The story isn’t explained well, the dialog is over the top, the tutorials don’t do their job, and the open world is just a boring place to be. While the combat and the linear facilities go some way to redeeming Atomic Heart, it’s not a game that I can faithfully recommend right now.

Atomic Heart has an impressive command of aesthetics and occasionally gives you the tools to enjoy its world, but an unstable console build, unsatisfying systems and complete misfire of a script prevent these atoms from achieving the necessary fusion.

Atomic Heart is an interesting approximation of better games that is slowed down by a tedious open world, messy writing, and jarring tonal shifts.

The mix of highbrow story concept and complex first person combat is certainly reminiscent of Bioshock, but this churlish homage has nowhere near the same nuance in terms of either plot or gameplay.

Atomic Heart is the result of 15 years of thoughtful world-building and storytelling, but fails to live up to any of it. Individual parts work well, and would fair far better if the padding was stripped away, but those who enjoy combat for its own sake will be happy with the amount on offer. I’ve never encountered a world that was simultaneously so intriguing and so off-putting. Every system implemented to pad out the playtime is the antithesis of fun, yet I’m still drawn to the more bespoke parts of Facility 3826. Atomic Heart is three times too big and beats erratically, but its more confident components prevent it from flatlining.

Atomic Heart has a lot of big ideas, but it doesn't do a good enough job with the basics. 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.

All style and no substance. Atomic Heart’s world looks the part but is undermined by poor mechanics and some of the worst writing in gaming history. [Issue#26, p.84]