One of my favorite franchises in all of video games is easily the “Bioshock” series. With great first-person shooter mechanics, with some supernatural elements and a good political deconstruction for good measure, it’s always stayed in my mind even several years later. The developers over at Mundfish seemed to have a love for “Bioshock” as well, seeing as how “Atomic Heart” could very well be in the same family of games. It’s been a while since I’ve played a game with such gorgeous production design on every level, it made me feel completely immersed into a whole new world.
In the world of, “Atomic Heart,” players are transported to an alternate history where the Soviet Union won World War II and developed advanced polymer technology. The general premise is, in this world, robots are abundant and do the bidding of man, until all the robots rebelled against their masters after a widespread software update, leading to the death of a ton of human beings. Players take on the role of P-3, a World War II veteran who is equipped to fight back against the robot uprising. However, P-3 has amnesia, and the player unravels the mystery of his past while navigating the game’s gorgeous dark fantasy world, and like any game trying to emulate the “Bioshock” magic, it also highlights the cracks in a fictional utopian society with this politically charged story.
Gameplay is still king, especially first-person shooters, and this title plays exceptionally well. Players have a range of weapons with a good sense of impact upon firing them. P-3 also has this magnetic glove that can be used to accumulate loot materials around the area or your enemies. This glove also adds that magical touch that makes the “Bioshock” franchise stand out where you’re given elemental attacks such as electricity powers. The combat in “Atomic Heart” is great, but the robots are tough opponents and can take a bit of time or strategy to kill, and some can sonar for help from other robots nearby (they seem to all be connected like a hive mind) making an already difficult situation that much worse. The game also features drones that convert dead human bodies into horrific nano-bot driven zombies, which, if you’re not careful can multiply rather quickly, making for a quite terrifying experience.
However, “Atomic Heart” unfortunately doesn’t come out of the gate a completely perfect game, it has an unfortunate number of technical issues. It is super glitchy, with many characters I interact with randomly start to T-Pose, general texture issues, and pieces of the map such as grass constantly popping in late. Additionally, too much of the game is based around puzzles, many of which are a bit obtuse and take a while to figure out. This can ruin the flow of the FPS gameplay, and some puzzles are not all that fun. I know puzzles are important in these extended story driven first-person games, but it was just a bit more than necessary for me. Another frustrating element was that there are a ton of locked doors in the game, each requiring different mini-game-style ways to open them. I understand this being a necessary mechanic, however, it was just done at nauseum and often found myself getting frustrated with the frequent interruptions to the game’s flow.
While not perfect, “Atomic Heart” is a unique and intriguing game that offers players a different take on a genre of games that are well beloved and are few and far between. The combination of Bioshock vibes, political undertones, and an alternate history storyline makes for a compelling experience. While the game has some issues, the overall mystery, interesting world building and characters, along with an exciting and challenging gameplay experience there’s a lot to love here and the issues can for the most part be easily overlooked for what you gain from this experience.
8.5/10
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Related: Nick Navarro Reviews
Gaming since I was given an original Nintendo as a kid. I love great storytelling and unique ingenuity. When both collide in a single game, I'm a happy gamer. Twitter/IG @NickNavarro87
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