Atomic Heart Review: Flawed But Full of Heart

Atomic Heart is a fascinating game, yet some modern design trends weigh it down.

For a long time, I wasn't sure Atomic Heart was real. It seemed like all smoke and mirrors, and various gameplay demonstrations looked lacking. Stories of a messy development didn't help.

Well, I was proven wrong. Atomic Heart is very much real, and it's fantastic. Atomic Heart very much fills that Bioshock-shaped hole that's existed for the last decade. Russian Bioshock is the easiest way to describe Atomic Heart, but there's much more to it. The worldbuilding and art direction of Atomic Heart are second to none - standing out in a sea of sequels, reboots, and remakes.

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The combat offers a wide variety of tools to mix and match. Atomic Heart is a blast when it's firing on all cylinders and you fall into a groove. I wasn't sure about the open-world portions at first, but they did win me over with the sheer chaos that could occur during these sections.

As great as it is, Atomic Heart does fall victim to several trends that have plagued modern large-budget titles. The excessive amount of crafting items can feel like a chore. Atomic Heart contains one of the most egregious examples of too much banter and not giving the game room to breathe.

It's a shame some of these modern trends rear their ugly head because Atomic Heart is a standout in so many other ways.

I was able to put in 16 hours into Atomic Heart. About three quarters for the critical path, and a quarter for side content. I have not finished the game. The review guide says 20+ hours for the main campaign and 15+ hours for side content.

Thanks to the publisher Focus Entertainment for providing a review code for Atomic Heart a few days before the embargo lifting.

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
02:40 Atomic Heart Presence and Intro
04:00 Worldbuilding of Atomic Heart
06:50 Combat in Atomic Heart
10:33 Level Design in Atomic Heart
12:16 Open World Sections
13:13 Stop Talking For Two Seconds
17:21 In Conclusion

Additional Footage:
• Forspoken
• Resident Evil Village
• System Shock Remake

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