Atomic Heart Reviews
Atomic Heart is not the Soviet BioShock, as many are quick to label it, because to "be" BioShock, you need to do everything as well as Irrational Games' masterpiece did. However, it's a game that very much wants to be like BioShock and indeed in many parts it draws clear influences from the creation of Kevin Levine. So, those of you who like this kind of "thinking FPS", with strange content and setting that your eye is not used to, you may find something very interesting in Atomic Heart, which is already leaving its touch in the industry for many pleasant and also for many not so pleasant reasons.
Review in Greek | Read full review
Atomic heart does a lot right, but some decisions just don't sit right.
Atomic Heart offers a solid and enjoyable experience with a unique setting and a great soundtrack. Although it has some issues with linearity and lack of brilliance, it has enough tricks up its sleeve to be a memorable experience of this year.
Review in Spanish | 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
Mundfish threw everything but the kitchen sink at this one, and I wish most of it worked for it. Atomic Heart is good when you’re using the various guns which have been upgraded to your liking, and you get the time to explore these gorgeous and detailed environments with strong artistic direction. What’s not so good is that the protagonist is completely unlikable, the writing is cringey, and the combat encounters are either completely exhausting or totally worthless to engage in. A first-person shooter where it’s better to not fight seems to be missing the point. Atomic Heart is certainly an ambitious, gorgeous, but ultimately disappointing and flat first-person shooter that I cannot recommend.
It's been said that Atomic Heart presents the Soviet system uncritically but that is certainly not the case; in much the same way that Rapture and Columbia collapsed, so too does Facility 3826. The same hubris of those supposed utopias is also on display here, and the same human weaknesses. Provided you play the game in Russian and ignore the awful “dude-bro” attitude which comes across in much of the writing, Atomic Heart is an engaging and atmospheric shooter. It’s best when P-3 shuts up and you’re just left exploring this fantastically extravagant Soviet world, shooting and slicing the variety of impressively designed robots. If this had a far better script and voice-acting, it could have been something very special.
Atomic Heart is a surprising and often impressive game, with brilliant technical/artistical values and a varied gameplay capable of mixing many different elements. It manages to stay intriguing and interesting for all it remarkable length, even if it suffers of balancement issues and of a lacklustre and forgettable open world. If you love narrative FPS experiences, this is one not to miss.
Review in Italian | Read full review
While not flawless, Mundfish has succeeded mainly in their debut game. Gorgeous settings with a distinct sense of style and surroundings set Atomic Heart apart, especially its unforgettable robot twins. Despite its interesting concepts and combat mechanism, however, it suffers from technical and pacing issues that lessen its overall quality.
Atomic Heart presents itself with great ambitions and a huge love for other videogames, but ends up being a mishmash of ideas in a boring product, sometimes amateurish and potentially with a rotten heart.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Even as the story of "Atomic Heart" fails to keep you engaged, it's well worth playing only to see what strange concepts and areas await.
Atomic Heart has delivered a world overflowing with creativity and artistic flair that is rivalled by the likes of Bioshock. The highly political story may not appeal to everyone but it is an incredibly interesting take on an alternative history that quickly absorbs you into the madness. The game falls short when it comes to the overall progression. The tacked-on open-world elements deliver more frustration than anything with infinitely respawning bots and very little of interest to see. Atomic Heart has the potential to be something incredible but is held back by a few, often frustrating gameplay elements.
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.
Atomic Heart is a fun and challenging twist on the standard shooter formula.
Atomic Heart wants to be BioShock, but the tone of its narrative rubber-bands in quality. It's hard to tell which parts are poorly written, and which are intentionally comedic. By contrast, the environmental and character designs are excellent, which makes it worth pushing through the rougher sections. Atomic Heart is a spectacle, and it's got more highs than lows.
Atomic Heart is a bit of a surprise. It's not perfect and the open world is an unneeded dilution, but when you're in the story missions it's always entertaining, despite occasionally dragging things out a little. It can be a bit strange, but it's the self aware kind of strange that can be a bit charming. And the robots are pretty great.
Atomic Heart is an interesting approximation of better games that is slowed down by a tedious open world, messy writing, and jarring tonal shifts.
Although Atomic Heart is fun to play for its combat encounters, it’s packed to the brim with frustrating platforming and horrendous writing, making it tough to recommend. Ultimately, Atomic Heart feels like a Ubisoft game made by edgelords who love BioShock and Russia in equal measure. It’s a jack of all trades and master of none, which lands it somewhere near “decent.” The end result is an uneven gaming experience that has fun moments sprinkled throughout a marathon of cringe.
Atomic Heart is a very odd game; as much as you can list positive and interesting points, you can precisely list many shortcomings, weaknesses, and critical flaws that hurt the game experience. That being said, the game, like its name, has a big heart that can fascinate many people and remind them of the games that have inspired it.
Review in Persian | Read full review
Atomic Heart has all the premises for a great game. That is why so frustrating that Mundifsh dropped the ball by trying to do too much, and botching up some gameplay mechanics, and also by releasing a game that desperately would have needed more time for fixing the bugs that poison the experience. And while the latter can be solved through patches, some peculiar game design choices and compromises take away from the overall value.
Atomic Heart is a game I was excited to finally play, but went in with low expectations considering how long it was in the oven. The end result is easily one of the best games I have played this year and an experience I recommend everyone dig into. It won’t be for everyone, but for those that it is for it will be an amazing experience. There is just so much to this world and I had a blast exploring the world of Facility 3826. I am still digging into the side content and hope they continue to iron out its issues as time goes on. I cannot wait to see what is next from Mundfish, I just hope I don’t have to wait another decade to see it.