Atomic Heart Reviews
A story-led shooter that's heaving with ideas and boasts a distinct sci-fi setting in its doomed USSR. There are cringeworthy moments and occasional design missteps, but the way your abilities and the enemy ecosystem combine is a constant thrill.
Despite what is a promising combat formula as well as the supporting systems behind it when it comes to skills, crafting, and upgrades, there are also several equally frustrating aspects of it that hold the game back.
Atomic Heart is, most surprisingly, exactly what I expected. Its biggest strengths are the ones that treat the eyes, but great writing and exploration are welcome in an otherwise overstretched experience.
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.
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.
Atomic Heart presents an imaginative utopian world where there are beautiful visions of an alternate timeline, countless terrifying mechanical bodies and experimental creatures, as well as engravings and writings on the spirit and cultural symbols of the Soviet people.
Review in Chinese | Read full review
Atomic Heart is an "everything and the kitchen sink" type of adventure that feels like it should explode from the weight of its ambitions, yet keeps it together through a combination of good pacing of new elements and a deeply likeable world.
Atomic Heart is a brilliant game, that is able to mix some beloved game mechanics in its own way, in order to make you experience an intriguing journey that will make you wonder how and when will this universe be expanded in the future.
Review in Italian | Read full review
As a first major project from a largely new studio, Atomic Heart is astounding. It is a visual spectacle with great gameplay and an overarching story that is worth seeing to the end. But as a title that is aiming to take on the other major blockbuster games of the recent past, it's not quite there.
Atomic Heart promises tens of hours of tense, first-person, Bioshock-style combat, a compelling, twist-filled narrative, challenging puzzles and an eccentric lead duo that will definitely grow on you.
Things go horribly wrong and fall apart.
Atomic Heart is a shooter with some fantastic ideas, excellent presentation, and a fair bit of variety. Although it doesn't excel at any one thing and flatters to deceive at times, it still has enough to offer a compelling adventure.
Atomic Heart has some fun combat and a soundtrack that absolutely slaps. Unfortunately, it's glitchy, has a terrible open world, becomes a slog in the late game, and has the most aggressively awful writing I've ever seen.
Atomic Heart is an impressive first game from a new studio. It has lavish production values and a really good soundtrack that utilizes real Russian hits. The sense of humor in the game is a highlight that makes it stand out from other shooters in the market and the gameplay that shifts from high-octane combat to cheeky puzzles is stimulating.
Developer Mundfish impresses with its debut title, Atomic Heart set in an original, well-detailed and gorgeous-looking universe.
Atomic Heart leaves a lot to be desired, but its unique setting, varied gameplay and often inventive enemies go a long way to keep you interested in your traipse through its ruined utopia. Just bear in mind that while it may look like a AAA game, it’s not; Mundfish has achieved a great deal here, but there are signs of corners being cut and a considerable lack of polish. And so, you might want to wait for a patch or two to sort out some of its unfortunate bugs and other blemishes, but you could do a lot worse than venture into the hostile world that Atomic Heart offers.
Atomic Heart is not your next best, revolutionary shooter. Instead it's a combination of fulfilled and wasted potentials that could have done much better, but still is damn fun and satisfying to play.
Review in Persian | Read full review
After the linear and immersive nature of the missions, the transition to the open world is a welcome relief. While Atomic Heart takes us to a completely different dystopian USSR, it also made me smile by getting a lot of things right as a game. Sure, it's not a perfect game and it's a bit of a medley, but at the end of the day, it manages to entertain the player.
Review in Turkish | Read full review
Atomic Heart's captivating Soviet robo-topia crumbles under the weight of a poorly delivered story, clunky action, unnecessary open-world traversal, and a glut of technical issues.