Atomic Heart, the first game from Mundfish studios, as a first person character action/shooter set in an alternate reality Russian facility that has been overrun by the robots they develop there. The game owes heavy dues to Bioshock and Prey but fails in many ways to live up to those games.
The setup here is pretty good, Russia won WWII through the breakthrough development of AI robots and systems by Dimitry Sechenov. Flash forward roughly 15 years later and the soviet Union is about to unleash its AI Kollective 2.0, with Sechenov leading the program, which will help further the soviet Union and solve many of the worlds issues. The launch of Kollective 2.0 is sabotaged and the robots begin attacking and killing any humans that are nearby. The story here is well paced and serviceable, the inner workings and story structure is a little hard to follow and features a lot of seemingly deep Russian cuts (Mundfish is a Russian studio).
You play as Sergey, a Russian spy in service to Sechenov, who survives the initial robot onslaught and is tasked with helping, or so it may seem, Sechenov stem the robot rebellion. Sergey is a full on bad character, his dialogue is cringy, his catchphrase "Crispy Critters"!! is maybe the worst catchphrase I've ever heard. Around every corner Sergey is whining about everything he must do, unlock doors, fetch cannisters, scan areas, etc.. Sergey's dialogue bounces off the intriguing AI Charles built into his robotic glove, this AI is infinitely more bearable than Sergey in their back and forths.
The late game is full of twists and turns in the story, many of these help to explain why Sergey is such a pain in the ass. But no reason is good enough to have the person you spend the most time with in a game be so unbearable. The game features at least 2 separate endings which wrap things up but leave many questions and possibilities open for the future.
The combat is well paced and enjoyable for the most part. The physics and the special glove abilities leave a lot to be desired when compared to more modern dual stick action games. Only 2 out of the 5 upgradeable abilities can be equipped at a time which is pretty frustrating. Aiming is bouncy and enemies can be hard to nail down in the sights. There are several options of guns you can craft and upgrade, but the recipes for many of these weapons are in optional areas of the game. I beat the game without ever having access to the rocket launcher which was unfortunate.
Where this game probably suffers the most is its exploration and navigation. There is an overwold map but no maps for the various facilities and bunkers you will go through over the course of the game. There desperately needed to be a Dead Space/Metroid style map that shows where all you have been and what all you have explored. There are the typical audio logs that can be found and also employee terminals with emails that help flesh out the lore of the game. I think though in terms of audio logs these fall way short of what you would hope and expect. You don't know whos speaking really, there aren't enough fleshed out characters to support this style of storytelling. Other similar games do a better job of letting you know who the major players are in that facility/area and letting them build up the story of it.
The setup here is pretty good, Russia won WWII through the breakthrough development of AI robots and systems by Dimitry Sechenov. Flash forward roughly 15 years later and the soviet Union is about to unleash its AI Kollective 2.0, with Sechenov leading the program, which will help further the soviet Union and solve many of the worlds issues. The launch of Kollective 2.0 is sabotaged and the robots begin attacking and killing any humans that are nearby. The story here is well paced and serviceable, the inner workings and story structure is a little hard to follow and features a lot of seemingly deep Russian cuts (Mundfish is a Russian studio).
You play as Sergey, a Russian spy in service to Sechenov, who survives the initial robot onslaught and is tasked with helping, or so it may seem, Sechenov stem the robot rebellion. Sergey is a full on bad character, his dialogue is cringy, his catchphrase "Crispy Critters"!! is maybe the worst catchphrase I've ever heard. Around every corner Sergey is whining about everything he must do, unlock doors, fetch cannisters, scan areas, etc.. Sergey's dialogue bounces off the intriguing AI Charles built into his robotic glove, this AI is infinitely more bearable than Sergey in their back and forths.
The late game is full of twists and turns in the story, many of these help to explain why Sergey is such a pain in the ass. But no reason is good enough to have the person you spend the most time with in a game be so unbearable. The game features at least 2 separate endings which wrap things up but leave many questions and possibilities open for the future.
The combat is well paced and enjoyable for the most part. The physics and the special glove abilities leave a lot to be desired when compared to more modern dual stick action games. Only 2 out of the 5 upgradeable abilities can be equipped at a time which is pretty frustrating. Aiming is bouncy and enemies can be hard to nail down in the sights. There are several options of guns you can craft and upgrade, but the recipes for many of these weapons are in optional areas of the game. I beat the game without ever having access to the rocket launcher which was unfortunate.
Where this game probably suffers the most is its exploration and navigation. There is an overwold map but no maps for the various facilities and bunkers you will go through over the course of the game. There desperately needed to be a Dead Space/Metroid style map that shows where all you have been and what all you have explored. There are the typical audio logs that can be found and also employee terminals with emails that help flesh out the lore of the game. I think though in terms of audio logs these fall way short of what you would hope and expect. You don't know whos speaking really, there aren't enough fleshed out characters to support this style of storytelling. Other similar games do a better job of letting you know who the major players are in that facility/area and letting them build up the story of it.