Atomic Heart Reviews
Check out Atomic Heart Review Scores from trusted Critics below. With 33 reviews on CriticDB, Atomic Heart has a score of:
Atomic Heart was made with love, talent and a great deal of cynic humor poured into the game.
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Atomic heart does a lot well, but some decisions just don't sit right.
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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.
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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.
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Atomic Heart, developer Mundfish’s first major title, is a sci-fi FPS-RPG taking place in an alternate Soviet Union. It’s a valiant debut effort, featuring a compelling cast and setting and gorgeous aesthetics and music. Although some technical and pacing issues do hold the game back at many points, fans of Bioshock and Prey (2017) will really get immersed in what Atomic Heart is offering.
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We live in a complicated world. Well, maybe we always have, but the links between the entertainment we enjoy and the political or moral entanglements of its creators have more and more become an issue. Some cloudy skies are hanging above Atomic Heart and Cypress-based developer Mundfish. Denied allegations of Russian data mining, possible funding from Russian investors, and the seeming unwillingness of Mundfish to outright condemn the invasion of Ukraine have created controversy. Is any of this true? Should these allegations stop you from playing Atomic Heart? Do your research and decide for yourself. We’re here to talk about...
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And really, unless an extensive photo mode is added in a future update, I don’t see myself ever booting up Atomic Heart again. I admire the gusto with which Mundfish approached its debut game because it’s created one hell of a world to explore. But beyond its pristine setting and ass-kicking soundtrack, it’s largely forgettable. Maybe if the gameplay evolved beyond its basic beginnings or if the story was — I don’t know, good — I might be willing to give it another go. However, given how unlikely such a monumental change like that would be, Atomic Heart is destined...
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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. The Major actually comes across as a decent person, upset at hearing about people dying and loyal to those who have helped him, and Granny Zina owns any scene she shows up in. The Utopian retro-future turns out to have its secrets, of course, and a giant gap in the Major's memory is a flashing neon sign for...
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While Atomic Heart brings nothing new to the table, it brings flair to the concepts it borrows from games before it, making for a fun experience that will have your heart pumping, funny bone aching, and brain working overtime.
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Atomic Heart is advertised as developer Mundfish’s first game, but that isn’t quite true. The studio’s first venture into gaming, Soviet Lunapark VR, didn’t go too well; the Early Access game was removed from sale abruptly and support was discontinued mere months after its release. This new action RPG infused with a hefty dose of first-person shooter takes the remnants of Soviet Lunapark and expands the world, throws in a new story, and brings it to PS5 consoles for a second attempt at success. The problem is that it doesn’t quite hit the mark.
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So, yeah, where do we even start with summing this one up? A recommendation depends on your own interest with the world of Atomic Heart, we must admit. The game's premise remains intriguing throughout, and its main missions provide some great combat scenarios to get stuck into, especially when it comes to using powers and the skill tree system to create character builds. Yet, the game's overworld is largely skippable which is a huge bummer, and its main storyline does little to enhance the incredibly interesting world Mundfish has created. Atomic Heart is well worth a play for the immersive...
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An alternate history set in the wake of World War II. A technological utopia hiding terrible secrets. A square-jawed, bloodthirsty protagonist. Mick Gordon spewing fire from the speakers. You'd be forgiven for thinking Bethesda just stealth-dropped another Wolfenstein. Alas, this isn't a new adventure for the Blazkowicz family, but it does owe a great debt to that franchise.
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A Soviet sci-fi adventure with arresting visuals and occasionally excellent shooting, marred by uneven balancing, undercooked ideas, and an unlikeable protagonist.
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There were definitely many things that could have worked out for Atomic Heart, especially with its setting and the way it tries to tell a story of technology and how far we should go with it. 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. The hope is that Mundfish is able to fix some of the more glaring issues post-launch, but right now, it feels less like a welcomed revolution and...
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For lack of a better word, Atomic Heart is weird. The intro has almost no real gameplay for 30 minutes and plays out like a poorly scripted political ad, the story feels like a military thriller fever dream, and the characters have surely all gone mad — but it works. From the talking corpses to the mustachioed crash test dummies, everything feels like it belongs. Atomic Heart’s biggest strength is that it’s artistically bold and bizarre from start to finish.
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An ambitious and mostly fun shooter that delivers a satisfying BioShock-inspired story, but Atomic Heart falls short of greatness due to evident feature creep, frustrating platforming segments, and silly oversights in terms of its accessibility.
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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...
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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.
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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.
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Atomic Heart is undoubtedly one of the best first-person shooter campaigns I’ve played in years. In addition to rock-solid gameplay, the game offers an intriguing mystery and a robust upgrade system. It’s even more impressive when you remember that this is the first game from Developer Mundfish. Outside of controversial themes and a lack of enemy variety, it’s hard to point out any glaring issues with Atomic Heart.
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With the environmental glitches, an odd narrative, and too much imitation of two iconic games, Atomic Heart lands in the middle for me. Not bad, not great, just fine.
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Atomic Heart has a lot of big ideas, but it doesn't do a good enough job with the basics. With an incomprehensible storyline, weightless combat, and frustrating first-person platforming, Atomic Heart is left to stand in the shadow of the video games that so clearly inspired it.
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Another major highlight is the soundtrack. All the great songs from the trailers over the years are here. The reason why current pop music makes sense here is the “radio of the future”, a plot device that uses quantum computing and polymer to “guess” what music up to 80 years in the future will sound like. There is a lot of licensed Russian pop, rap, and rock music that fits the tone of the game and its absurdist takes well. The piano ditty that plays in the upgrade screen was a standout for me as well.
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When first announced back in 2018, Atomic Heart captured interest with its blend of alt-1950s Soviet aesthetics, Bioshock-style narrative and FPS/RPG hybrid gameplay. A lot has changed since then in the real world. Developer Mundfish has tried to downplay its Russian roots following the invasion of Ukraine, moving to Cyprus and adding Ukranian language support to the game, but it’s hard to overlook the controversy: you’re effectively playing a KGB agent in a revisionist utopian version of the USSR, in a title released the same week as the anniversary of the incursion.
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Despite a few missed opportunities to really build on the great games it’s inspired by, Atomic Heart surprised me, with a remarkably inventive world that brings to life (the tears apart) the weirdest, wildest visions of Soviet propaganda. This is a game that’s been through over half a decade of development hell, and come out the other side as one of the best first-person shooters this generation.
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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.
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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.
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Atomic Heart lacks follow-through on its most interesting narrative concepts and plays it safe with its first-person shooter gameplay.
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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.
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