Metascore
73

Mixed or average reviews - based on 29 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 29
  2. Negative: 1 out of 29
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  1. Apr 4, 2024
    70
    Atomic Heart offers great graphics and enjoyable combat. While the weapon variety is moderate and the story predictable with some cheesy dialogue, the game excels in providing enjoyable character upgrades. Though it may not fully live up to the initial hype, it remains a decent choice for players craving an immersive dystopian game with an incredible soundtrack.
  2. Mar 2, 2023
    70
    Atomic Heart is a lot like Bioshock. Despite the unique look, however, the empty, open game world of Atomic Heart ensures that the game is not on the same level. Keep in mind some frustrations and sometimes poor controls, but behind that is a nice, well-shooting puzzle game.
  3. Mar 2, 2023
    70
    Despite its great ideas and foundation, Atomic Heart is a game with a strong lack of vision that ruins all the good things. Very interesting concept and game mechanics, but weird decisions in narrative and structure.
  4. Feb 23, 2023
    70
    Controversy aside, Atomic Heart is a robust first-person affair, albeit one that revels in glorified Soviet iconography and Wolfenstein-esque alternate history weirdness. The difference is, there's no ambiguity in shooting Nazis – here, however, you can’t help but have a sense of unease while playing.
  5. Feb 21, 2023
    70
    Atomic Heart nails the art design and core gameplay loops but loses focus due to its vast array of game mechanics and untailored open-world segments. Inconsistent writing quality and inaccessible game design will likely frustrate many players, but Atomic Heart can still manage to be an incredibly fun adventure.
  6. Feb 21, 2023
    70
    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.
  7. Feb 20, 2023
    70
    There's a lot going on in Atomic Heart, so it's perhaps unsurprising that consistency and cohesion aren't the game's strong suits. It does, however, excel in spectacle, presenting a fascinating world and packing it with an assortment of incredible mechanical creations.
  8. Feb 20, 2023
    70
    So, yeah, where do we even start with summing this one up? To be honest, 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 different characters 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.
  9. Jun 18, 2023
    67
    Atomic Heart surprised me, this is a solid game. And it is very frustrating to see her flaws. I hope that in the sequel, Mundfish will not try to grasp the immensity and focus on what's important.
  10. 65
    The story plays out like a Jerry Bruckheimer-produced popcorn atrocity, the upgrade shop might as well be Travelex given how many currencies it juggles, and the performance is less than optimal. Atomic Heart is an exercise in excess. It has some clear strengths, like its first in class art direction and gunplay, however these are far outweighed by the game’s faults.
  11. Feb 20, 2023
    65
    With the environmental glitches, an odd narrative, and too much imitation of two iconic games, Atomic Heart lands in the middle for me. Not bad, not great, just fine.
  12. Feb 20, 2023
    60
    Atomic Heart packs satisfying combat and a unique alt-history setting, but its open world feels half-baked.
  13. Feb 20, 2023
    60
    There are quite a few parts of Atomic Heart that just don't neatly fit together, and those disparities create an experience that often feels at odds with itself. That disparity is most evident in how the history of the world in Atomic Heart is interesting and sets up an intriguing conversation about the nature of free will and collectivism, but then the unlikable protagonist repeatedly prevents that topic from being explored. Atomic Heart is certainly going to appeal to some people, especially those looking to relive BioShock Infinite, but it's not an easy recommendation.
  14. Mar 1, 2023
    54
    Disjointed is the lingering feeling once all is set and done with Atomic Heart. The articulate opening and the immense effort made to craft an absorbing alternate-history World War II Russia is certainly appreciable and admirable. Dishearteningly though, the FPS experience is weighed down by an awful lot of busywork and obnoxiously annoying characters that it’s hard to feel wholly immersed. As an FPS it certainly has some aplomb going for it, but it gets lost in the shades of comparison with greater games. If Atomic Heart was able to carry the brilliance of its opening twenty minutes it would be an excellent game, but sadly we’re stuck with an entertaining enough but bland and by the numbers shooter.
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  1. Mar 22, 2023
    Is not perfect, but you must play it. Atomic Heart is a great action game with an amazing setting and funny gunplay. [Recommended]
  2. Mar 6, 2023
    A half-interesting game is buried by a mess of its own making - and represents an industry conundrum that will only continue to grow.
  3. Feb 20, 2023
    The pure pleasure of adventuring in this world as P3 is motivation enough to see this through to the end. [Impressions]
  4. Feb 28, 2023
    Ultimately, our opinion about Atomic Heart leaves a sour taste in our mouths. At first, we were very excited by this memorable introduction and a cool building to explore, but we were quite disappointed by the bland and trite open world environment. After enjoying the discovery phase, the fun of it all quickly fades away. The initial ideas concerning the various gameplay phases were not bad, but they should not have been recycled ad nauseam. Right now, Mundfish's title has all the makings of a repetitive game ticking all the industry’s requisites without mastering the ins and outs of the genre. This results in a pleasant title that should nonetheless find its audience. Sadly, it will also disappoint a lot of people. Was it too ambitious? Perhaps. It must be said that, according to us, the studio masters quite well the technical side: it still needs more work to be convincing, though. So, a sour taste, but one that still needs to be experienced nonetheless.
User Score
6.6

Mixed or average reviews- based on 574 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Feb 22, 2023
    10
    Amazeballs game, original, great graphics, good balance of everything, fun, played on pc with xbox controller
  2. Feb 22, 2023
    9
    The game is impressive; however, the gameplay sometimes is too slow. The parkour gameplay could be better.
  3. Feb 22, 2023
    10
    solid gameplay, interesting story and incredible proposal setting, very well optimized, amazing graphics. of negative points, the game hassolid gameplay, interesting story and incredible proposal setting, very well optimized, amazing graphics. of negative points, the game has some bugs, but nothing that disturbs the fun and the progress of the game. Full Review »