Atomic Heart Reviews
It is understood that this is Mundfish's first game, but there is a lack of connection in the rhythms of the game and how things evolve. The narrative becomes a footnote and even pushed me away from what I was actually doing there. Despite some good times and things well presented, some coming from other games mentioned throughout the analysis, can not stand out when everything is added up. There is a lot of recycling in this whole journey, too many puzzles and too often to do the same. It could be saved by the narrative, but the final twist does not have the necessary impact. Following a line lacking in importance, a global confrontation moves to something so small and limited to a singularity.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Atomic Heart immediately draws you in with its enchantingly weird story of a retro-futuristic Soviet Union. However, an interesting and visually compelling vision is hampered by a meandering story and some truly awful combat encounters. What comes to mind is style over substance, yet there’s plenty of content to be found here, just none of it standing out as particularly well-polished. Still, the game has a fair share of interesting ideas and moments that make it worth experiencing despite its flaws.
Review in German | Read full review
Atomic Heart has a lot going for it, but with everything compounded into one cumbersome campaign thus far, it may have been better buried beneath Facility 3826.
Atomic Heart is worth checking out for its incredible setting alone – especially if you’re a Game Pass subscriber. But its disappointing gameplay lets down the exciting promise of its awe-inspiring world.
With a unique post-Cold War alternate sci-fi setting and some interesting-if-familiar gameplay mechanics, Mundfish has sure as heck made a memorable debut with Atomic Heart. It does need a bit more spit and shine to go full platinum though.
For everything that Atomic Heart does well, there’s a caveat in the controls, stability, or simple game UI. At some points, you can even step between sections of loading in the game to abuse AI or see scenery pop in out of nowhere. It’s a beautiful tapestry with a rich story to tell worthy of the games that inspired it, not least the BioShock franchise.
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.
So what does Atomic Heart truly offer other than an occasionally fun, not at all original, game with too many ideas that aren’t fully fleshed out? Unfortunately, not much. It’s worth a rent or definitely checking out on a subscription service but it needs some more polish and refinement before the good things can surface the way they should.
Teething issues aside, Atomic Heart is a remarkable achievement which I personally think is easily as good as the Bioshock games they so clearly draw inspiration from.
Atomic Heart is a title that seems to have been made with care, with its shortcomings only focusing on the parkour which is not often required, the character movement and with a bigger problem the English voice acting
Review in Greek | Read full review
While the narrative leaves a lot to be desired, Atomic Heart is nonetheless a great FPS set in a beautifully realized Soviet setting.
Atomic Heart is a mixed bag of weird design choices and gameplay mechanics, and while the combat loop is satisfying when everything comes together, there’s also a lot of jank that comes along with it. Several parts of Atomic Heart feel like they’ve been made to be unnecessarily complicated, adding layers of interaction that do not feel fun. The game does look very pretty, and the world and its inhabitants are interestingly unique, but the payoff at the end is predictable and ultimately disappointing. Given a chance, Atomic Heart is a frenetic first-person shooter with a great visual style and some set pieces that pack a punch. Yet just like its overwrought themes and its poor attempt at profound existential exploration, they feel ultimately superficial and shaky.
Atomic Heart looks great and the overall design is amazing. From the extensive environments over some small ideas, every works really well. Also the gameplay elements shines with a lots of variety in combinations that don't need to hide behind the games that inspired them. Some tedious collecting, unbalanced swarms of enemies and the only "ok" story scratch the paint of this well thought out art piece.
Review in German | Read full review
Atomic Heart is an excellent game, and it’s an incredible debut title from Mundfish. Clever storytelling, massive set pieces, fun combat, and more make this one easy to recommend. Hell, it’s on Game Pass Day One, so go pre-install it already and enjoy this ridiculous ride.
Despite the questionably tasteless tone its narrative takes at times, there’s a lot of fun to be had with Atomic Heart.
So far, Atomic Heart is a solid spin on the BioShock formula though it does seem to be a little lacking in cohesion. I'm not quite sure whether a more open-world approach really suits this style of gameplay and I'm not quite sold on the combat or the way it's been implemented. That being said, I'm still enjoying it and am looking forward to finishing it, so that's always a good sign. Stay tuned as we update our review and give Atomic Heart a final score over the next couple of days.
Atomic Heart may be summarised in a single statement as a game with amazing ideas but lousy execution. I cannot say that Atomic Heart is a bad game, it's just that I expected a lot more from it, and as a result, I got disappointed.