Atomic Heart Review: Mechanical Wonder

Ali Hasan March 19, 2023

It has been quite some time since Atomic Heart, a first-person action shooter game from developer Mundfish was first revealed. What was initially shown to be an almost indie-like title from a small yet determined team quickly picked up steam and developed into what we have today From its very clear inspirations across a number of games and the extremely stylistic nature of its world, it isn’t hard to see why this game has been on the radar for many but does it actually manage to live up to what it had promised, and more importantly does it hold a torch to the games it is so clearly inspired by?

The derivate nature of Atomic Heart meant that it was always going to be held up to strict scrutiny, at least by me, and while it excels in some aspects it does falter in others. However, the good news is that Atomic Heart is a largely solid game that has a ton of exciting elements, both in its story and combat and they do work well enough to keep you entertained but it’s the way these elements are sometimes executed that leave a lot to be desired.

Atomic Heart Pulls From a Number of Popular Games

When you first boot up Atomic Heart the many inspirations it takes across a number of games become immediately apparent. Whether that’s the retro-futuristic aesthetic that it borrows from Fallout or the isolated dystopian world and larger philosophical ideas from Bioshock, there are enough derivations here to fill an entire page but that isn’t necessarily bad. In its derivative nature, I felt that Atomic Heart was able to craft an identity of its own, it may not be the most original or the most robust, and an alternate reality of soviet Russia has definitely been done before, but not in the way Atomic Heart handles it.

Atomic Heart takes place in an alternate post-WWII Soviet Russia where a robotics boom had led to the abolishment of many human processes, instead, the nation is run by automatons that are controlled by a single hivemind. You assume the role of Major Sergey Nechaev, (nicknamed P3) a WWII veteran tasked with exploring one of the main research facilities in the country. P3 soon finds himself in a midst of an uprising as most of the robots have gone rogue.

P3, The Protagonist Severely Undermines the Game

While the story of an evil robot uprising isn’t all that exciting or even original what I did like was how it was layered with deeper philosophical questions of free will and collectivism and individualism. It adds a greater sense of depth to the overall narrative which I honestly was not expecting but in the end, was pleasantly surprised.

It is a great shame however that the game is held down by its main character. P3 is a foul-mouthed, pessimistic individual that complains, whines, and curses every chance he gets, a Debbie downer if you will. While I found that this did add a sense of levity to the otherwise drab world and story, it comes at the expense of really alienating the player, and that is exactly what it did to me.

There is absolutely zero character development on P3’s part. The idea of him being a war veteran and processing his trauma is nice but the implementation and the payoff could have been much better. At points, he even undermines the game’s many thematical elements. it almost felt like the game would have benefitted if the protagonist was silent (a la Fallout 3)

Atomic Heart’s Combat is Uninspired but Serviceable

Atomic Heart’s combat is perhaps its most robust facet but one that is not without faults. Early on in the story you acquire Charles, a sentient glove that is not only your companion for the entire game but also acts as another tool in your arsenal of weapons. Charles allows you to use telekinesis abilities to throw, stop, freeze, and shock (among other things) your enemies. This is another area where the Bioshock inspiration is apparent but it works very well and given the tone and narrative of the game seems apt. The telekinesis abilities also work to add variety to the game’s largely uninspired combat. The melee combat works well enough and is about what you’d expect, it’s weighty and satisfying but at times felt very inconsistent.

What I did like however was the games shooting mechanics. Atomic Hearts features some of the most punchy, weighty, and believable shooting mechanics I’ve ever seen in a video game. The weapon animation system is top-notch, rivaling what we’ve seen in recent Call of Duty games. It’s not often you see unique weapon animations for a single weapon in open-world games but this is not the case here in Atomic Heart.

The Enemy Variety and Boss Fights are Incredible

The game’s excellent enemies work as a great complement to the combat. There is plenty of variety on display here, although it isn’t apparent right out the gate as the standard enemy type, the menacing, white crash dummies are the ones you’ll be facing for the most part, as you progress the game opens up in regards to its enemy types, keeping you on your feet, and really leveraging your skills to balance and use every tool at your disposal accordingly and appropriately.

Perhaps where the game shines the most is in its massive boss fights. The large-scale mechanical behemoths not only serve as the game’s greatest spectacle but also represents one of the most challenging aspects of the title as a whole. Each boss is crafted so well and is so unique from the previous one you face that I actually found me looking forward to each encounter. I think the art team truly outdid themselves here. All this is further accentuated by Mick Gordon’s incredible head-banging soundtrack, bringing some of the adrenaline-pumping feeling from the DOOM series to Atomic Heart.

The World Feels Empty and Tacked on

Atomic Heart isn’t your standard open world as most of the story is told through rather linear underground facilities and labs which I personally liked. Too often games these days are open worlds just for the sake of being an open world. Between bouts of making your way through facilities, you are allowed to venture into the dystopian USSR. There is a considerable contrast between the cramped nature of the facilities and the openness of the open world but the latter merely serves as a vessel for the game’s side quests.

There isn’t anything inherently exciting about the world, apart from the side quests you’ll be mostly fighting enemies which can get tiresome at times. There is little substance and most of it feels like tacked on to check a box. On top of that, the game feels extremely static, while I didn’t expect something to the effect of GTA, some interactivity would have been nice. The worst offender for this problem, in my opinion, was bulletproof balloons.

Verdict

Atomic Heart combines the very best of some of our favorite games to deliver a largely satisfactory package. The enemy variety and layered nuances of the narrative help it establish its prowess but the game is let down by its bland open world and a protagonist that may alienate players rather than pull them in.

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