Atomic Heart deserves the numerous controversies and criticisms lobbed at it, but it is a fascinating experience nonetheless. Each contrived narrative beat, confusing line of dialogue and striking aesthetic choice rests anywhere between inspired, baffling, or completely unhinged.
The protagonist is obnoxious, foul-mouthed and never stops talking, the game is ripe with sexual iconography and uncomfortable explicit scenes, and a majority of the cinematics look stiff and robotic. Yet when the game's most compelling visual moments are front and center, it is unforgettable.
I started Atomic Heart passionately despising the main character’s childish arguments with his talking glove. But by the end I found myself listening carefully whenever the two delivered long-form exposition regarding the narrative conflicts, with some end-game arguments in particular really catching my ear.
I also started the game uncomfortable by the protagonist's complete passiveness towards the situation unfolding around him (robots murdering everyone), with him and his A.I. companion spouting all sorts of mindless propaganda that (I assumed) was played too straight to be an intentional aspect of the narrative. But by the end, I cannot help but respect how hard the writers went into the extremity of the main character's brainwashing, regardless of how much of an idiot he is.
And I cannot even for a second begin to unravel the obsession with sex in Atomic Heart. What the fuck was with what vending machine? Why did they make that character so gross and weird? In the same vein, I was expecting to despise the Twins due to their male-gazey design and the bizarre manner in which they move about, but by their second cinematic, I was completely on board witnessing an overlong ritual depicting a monstrous ceremony reminiscent of eldritch horror. That cutscene had my eyes widened and jaw dropped for four minutes straight. I will never forget it.
Is Atomic Heart's story poorly told and executed? Absolutely! Was I gripped throughout every moment of it, attentively listening to each conversation and enjoying the various bits of (admittedly bizarre) worldbuilding? Yes, I did! As a result, I cannot comment on the whether or not I like this story. I could probably say I'm fond of it, but I don't think I ever will be able to come to a definitive conclusion. I came away from the game speechless.
My speechlessness is (obviously) no result of excellency: A majority of the performances lack emotional poignance, certain elements of the open-world design are lackluster and the story is probably really bad in actuality (regardless of how much its strangeness makes me fond of it). Certain fights frustrated me, climbing is super janky, there are tons of weird bugs and dumb ways to get stuck, the main character is immensely annoying, and some side content feels repetitive. The ending is also terrible, quickly undoing the few good things this script accomplishes.
But Atomic Heart is also full of stuff I wholeheartedly love. Mick Gordon's soundtrack is phenomenally thrilling, enhancing the tension of each gunfight tenfold, alongside a great use of classic Russian music (and their respective remixes). Environments boast an intoxicating abstract beauty, enemies move and attack in weird and fun ways, and the moment-to-moment gunplay feels tight and impactful. This is only enhanced by the expectation to constantly dodge, slash and use utility abilities.
I played on the Armageddon difficulty and adored how much bullshit I was able to pull off. Rotating between my electric shock, shield and freeze abilities while hacking enemies to bits with a machete even though I had 300 shotgun shells in my pocket was inexplicably satisfying. And when battles did get really difficult, pulling out my array of weaponry and just going ham while dodging lasers, projectiles, and bombs was so much fun.
Alongside a series of visually incredible bosses with attack animations comparable to a choreographed dance (which makes sense considering theater is a big part of this game), these glimpses of controlled chaos brought me back to the simple joys of Doom Eternal (although Atomic Heart offers a mere shadow of how good that game gets).
So yes, I’m pretty conflicted. This game deserves the hate, but I am so glad I gave it a try despite how much bad press it got. By no means do I love what Mundfish has crafted here, yet I feel as if I will never quite forget Atomic Heart.
The protagonist is obnoxious, foul-mouthed and never stops talking, the game is ripe with sexual iconography and uncomfortable explicit scenes, and a majority of the cinematics look stiff and robotic. Yet when the game's most compelling visual moments are front and center, it is unforgettable.
I started Atomic Heart passionately despising the main character’s childish arguments with his talking glove. But by the end I found myself listening carefully whenever the two delivered long-form exposition regarding the narrative conflicts, with some end-game arguments in particular really catching my ear.
I also started the game uncomfortable by the protagonist's complete passiveness towards the situation unfolding around him (robots murdering everyone), with him and his A.I. companion spouting all sorts of mindless propaganda that (I assumed) was played too straight to be an intentional aspect of the narrative. But by the end, I cannot help but respect how hard the writers went into the extremity of the main character's brainwashing, regardless of how much of an idiot he is.
And I cannot even for a second begin to unravel the obsession with sex in Atomic Heart. What the fuck was with what vending machine? Why did they make that character so gross and weird? In the same vein, I was expecting to despise the Twins due to their male-gazey design and the bizarre manner in which they move about, but by their second cinematic, I was completely on board witnessing an overlong ritual depicting a monstrous ceremony reminiscent of eldritch horror. That cutscene had my eyes widened and jaw dropped for four minutes straight. I will never forget it.
Is Atomic Heart's story poorly told and executed? Absolutely! Was I gripped throughout every moment of it, attentively listening to each conversation and enjoying the various bits of (admittedly bizarre) worldbuilding? Yes, I did! As a result, I cannot comment on the whether or not I like this story. I could probably say I'm fond of it, but I don't think I ever will be able to come to a definitive conclusion. I came away from the game speechless.
My speechlessness is (obviously) no result of excellency: A majority of the performances lack emotional poignance, certain elements of the open-world design are lackluster and the story is probably really bad in actuality (regardless of how much its strangeness makes me fond of it). Certain fights frustrated me, climbing is super janky, there are tons of weird bugs and dumb ways to get stuck, the main character is immensely annoying, and some side content feels repetitive. The ending is also terrible, quickly undoing the few good things this script accomplishes.
But Atomic Heart is also full of stuff I wholeheartedly love. Mick Gordon's soundtrack is phenomenally thrilling, enhancing the tension of each gunfight tenfold, alongside a great use of classic Russian music (and their respective remixes). Environments boast an intoxicating abstract beauty, enemies move and attack in weird and fun ways, and the moment-to-moment gunplay feels tight and impactful. This is only enhanced by the expectation to constantly dodge, slash and use utility abilities.
I played on the Armageddon difficulty and adored how much bullshit I was able to pull off. Rotating between my electric shock, shield and freeze abilities while hacking enemies to bits with a machete even though I had 300 shotgun shells in my pocket was inexplicably satisfying. And when battles did get really difficult, pulling out my array of weaponry and just going ham while dodging lasers, projectiles, and bombs was so much fun.
Alongside a series of visually incredible bosses with attack animations comparable to a choreographed dance (which makes sense considering theater is a big part of this game), these glimpses of controlled chaos brought me back to the simple joys of Doom Eternal (although Atomic Heart offers a mere shadow of how good that game gets).
So yes, I’m pretty conflicted. This game deserves the hate, but I am so glad I gave it a try despite how much bad press it got. By no means do I love what Mundfish has crafted here, yet I feel as if I will never quite forget Atomic Heart.