But, considering you're never really looking for a fight, this response system feels a bit disconnected from what Atomic Heart really wants to be as a game.Īnd I say this as it's clear that Atomic Heart wants to be more like BioShock 1 and 2 then it does Infinite. ![]() The game does what it can to keep things thrilling in the form of the Kollektiv Neural Network engagement system, which will see robot reinforcements sent to wherever on the map you are causing trouble or are simply spotted by one of the hundreds of intrusive cameras. The closed world is designed in such a way that you are mainly supposed to follow the core narrative beats, and when you decide to explore elsewhere, you never really come across much of interest. Still the world is jaw-dropping to look at and wander around, even though it doesn't really beg to be explored. ![]() needs to be opened for you to acquire minimal amounts of resources) it all just mashes into an experience where I don't feel excited or enticed to improve my own gear. You'll need to be gathering tons of different resources to be able to improve P-3's weapons and abilities, and with the looting being over-implemented as well (you will walk into a room and find that every drawer, desk, cabinet, chest, shelf etc. It's sluggish and frustrating, and it feels like you are always fighting the game to push protagonist P-3 (also known as Major Nechaev) to be more of a generic and thrilling action hero.Īdd to this the fact that ammunition is hard to come by, and even acquiring and upgrading new weapons is a slog because Atomic Heart has such an overwhelming resource system, which is overly complicated. This all culminates in an experience where I found myself avoiding combat whenever I could, because while the shooting mechanics are well designed and optimised, the movement and melee combat is far from it. You can't sprint, you're not really expected to fight all of the robots (even though you can if you want), and the gameplay has been designed in such a way that it doesn't feel as smooth and fluid as other FPS titles. But fighting them feels like a chore because Atomic Heart is quite a rigid game in practice. The robots and the enemies you have to face off with are brilliantly designed and are genuinely terrifying at times. It is, without a shadow of a doubt, very BioShock, and I have absolutely no gripes with that whatsoever as the world and story are excellent.īut here's where things start to fall apart in Atomic Heart in my eyes, as the macro of this game, the wider and more influential parts, are all very good, but the micro, the small details that relate to the actual gameplay, tend to struggle. The narrative is also interesting and is rooted in mystery and betrayal, with you, the player, tasked with pulling together the pieces to determine why and how Facility 3826's robot population lost their marbles and what sorts of dark and horrible secrets the seemingly perfect utopian society is keeping. The first 30 minutes of Atomic Heart is also one of the strongest openings of a video game I have ever experienced, with tons of detail and colour bringing to life this alternate Soviet Union world - although it is worth mentioning that the opening is distinctly lacking in player actions and agency. Atomic Heart's world of Facility 3826 is without a doubt one of the most creative game worlds I've come across yet, and while it is very reminiscent of BioShock (particularly the floating city of Columbia in BioShock Infinite, which is ironic because this is a game rooted in communism, whereas Columbia is all about capitalism and the American Dream), there's no denying that the team at Mundfish has really let their creative juices flow to cook up this striking video game. The world is marvellously realised, beautifully sculpted, packed with character, and all plays incredibly fluidly with silky smooth animations and frame rates. ![]() Let me start by stating that the graphics and the presentation of Atomic Heart lives up to those trailers and then some. But anyway, Atomic Heart is now here and I've been thoroughly immersed in the world over the past few days to see how this anticipated project actually shapes up in practice. The trailers and gameplay that developer Mundfish has shared on the lead up to launch have made the game look remarkable, and years of being disappointed by trailers have made me second guess any opinion like this. It may have been a bit prejudicial, but I have always been a little sceptical about Atomic Heart.
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