Atomic Heart Reviews

Just finished Atomic Heart (except DLC, looking forward to that) ... man, what a game. So misunderstood. Yeah it's a bit janky and unfinished* in some ways, but it's super creative, visually stunning, and so satisfying to play. I usually don't like fighting robots OR zombies, but these ones are a blast. Gunplay and melee both feel great thanks to visual and auditory feedback. The sound in general is amazing, as well as the MUSIC. First soundtrack I've ever listened to outside of a game, besides Donkey Kong Country. Hilarious to me that people denounced it as 'communist propaganda' when it is very anti-communist. And the main character is SUPPOSED to be a cringey macho action hero, based on the story. Besides, what's up with gamers expecting all characters to be "likeable?" Haven't they watched, like... Always Sunny? The writing does get repetitive towards the end if you've been reading all the terminals and 'chirpers'... but they needed to make sure the beeliners understood the story, too. *To clarify "janky and unfinished" ... 1) Overlapping/interruptable dialogue (can often be avoided by standing still whenever dialogue starts so you don't trigger the next lines). 2) Getting stuck on terrain and/or blocked by things you should realistically be able to climb over or slip past. I hope the next game has more fluid and open-ended movement in general. 3) Fair bit of 'sameyness' to the level design, despite some incredible themes and set pieces. Obviously the open world was unfinished but I didn't mind that as much as others. My main complaint is the game was much too easy on the highest difficulty if you've been upgrading things, collecting resources, and know how to dash (I LOVE the dash though). I'm sure you could make it even easier by spamming abilities and using heavy weapons, but I did not. I tried to challenge myself by focusing mainly on charged melee attacks and the 3-shot pistol. Didn't use any of the elemental weapon modifiers, grenade launcher etc. Also limited myself to the small healing items. Ended up with dozens of medium and large ones in my inventory at the end of the game. Tons of ammo leftover, too. Never had to craft anything. Did my best to make it hard to no avail. Wish I could play it more like an FPS soulslike ... the i-frame dash gets you nearly there. Some might complain about the save system but I love that it encourages you to take your mistakes in stride. Unlike Bioshock and Prey where you can find yourself save scumming to phony perfection. Altogether a worthy successor to Bioshock and Prey (2017). I just played both of those last year, so I can make a fresh comparison. Really hope the developers get to make more games, and have a bit more time/resources to polish them up.

🎮 Overall Rating: 9/10 ✅ Pros: ✔ Incredible World-Building – The retro-futuristic Soviet setting is stunning, filled with immersive environments and breathtaking visuals. The art direction is a major highlight. ✔ Engaging Combat – The mix of melee, ranged weapons, and abilities (like telekinesis and shock) makes for dynamic and fun battles. Enemy AI is aggressive, keeping you on your toes. ✔ Deep Lore & Story – A mix of mystery, sci-fi, and dystopian themes keeps the narrative intriguing, with unexpected twists. ✔ Impressive Soundtrack – The music, composed by Mick Gordon (DOOM series), enhances the intensity of fights and exploration. ✔ Variety of Enemies & Bosses – Unique enemy designs and challenging boss fights make encounters thrilling. ❌ Cons: ❌ Weak Writing & Dialogue – Some lines feel awkward or forced, and the protagonist's attitude can be off-putting. ❌ Technical Issues – Occasional bugs, FPS drops, and performance hiccups, especially at launch. ❌ Pacing & Open-World Limitations – While the world looks great, exploration can feel empty at times, with too much backtracking. ❌ Stealth Feels Useless – Despite being an option, stealth mechanics are not well-developed compared to direct combat. ⚖ Final Verdict: Atomic Heart delivers an unforgettable experience with its rich setting, intense combat, and unique world. While it has flaws in writing and some technical rough edges, the gameplay and atmosphere make it a must-play for FPS and immersive sim fans. If you enjoy games like Bioshock or DOOM, this one is worth picking up. 💡 Recommended? ✅ Yes, especially if you love story-driven shooters with deep lore.

Amazing game. This game combined everything I like: combat, exploration (in assumption that game is not open-world), puzzles and etc. Everything I listed is not ideal, but very good. Music and sounds are excelent, I was and will continue listen it. Art and graphics are stunning. Even optimization is well done, especially knowing that this is Unreal Engine 5. I will definetly recommend this game for all FPS lovers.

[h3]Pros:[/h3] -Striking visual design and art direction -Atmospheric setting reminiscent of Dishonored [h3]Cons:[/h3] -Gameplay becomes repetitive after the initial hours -First-person combat mechanics feel awkward and imprecise -Dialogues are cheesy and lack depth -Puzzles feel more tedious than rewarding [h3]Initial Impressions:[/h3] I tried the demo for Atomic Heart and was immediately impressed by its stunning opening sequence and immersive atmosphere, which reminded me of Dishonored’s blend of retro-futuristic style and grand world-building. The demo left such a strong impression that I decided to purchase the full game right away. [h3]Gameplay & Mechanics:[/h3] Unfortunately, after about four hours, the experience started feeling repetitive. While the first-person perspective works well for exploration, it felt clunky during high-intensity maneuvers—particularly the 360-degree spinning attack, which never quite clicked. [h3]Story & Dialogue:[/h3] One of the biggest letdowns was the dialogue. The writing often came across as cheesy, with characters speaking abruptly—as if they were just filling space rather than pushing the story or character development forward. [h3]Puzzles:[/h3] By the eight-hour mark, the game introduced more puzzles, but they felt neither satisfying nor rewarding. They came off as time-consuming diversions rather than meaningful challenges. These sections only added to my growing frustration. [h3]Overall Experience:[/h3] Ultimately, I uninstalled the game. Despite its gorgeous visuals and intriguing premise, Atomic Heart didn’t hold my interest due to repetitive gameplay, awkward combat mechanics, and lackluster writing. While some players may find the setting and style appealing enough to push through, it fell short of expectations for me.

Most disappointed I've ever been after purchasing a game. I was so excited to play this game after seeing the trailers, and I really tried to enjoy it. The art style of the game is actually really cool and some areas of the map look really cool, however that's the one praise I have for this game. This graphics and animations are terrible, really buggy at times. Combat is really unresponsive with enemies barely reacting to being hit. Most of the puzzles are really boring and just feel like a chore to do. As for the story, it feels like they gave up midway through development and decided to end it. The game just abruptly ends with a choice of two of the most unsatisfying endings I've ever experienced. After you complete the story (which won't take you very long), you get placed back in the "open world" in which there is literally nothing to do unless you haven't explored some of the underground facilities. 90% of the game is just unengaging puzzles, leading to zero replayability. A large portion of this game's community is also incapable of taking criticism of the game's state and seem to be in a state of denial about how bad this game actually is, do not waste your money buying this.

---{ Graphics }--- ☐ You forget what reality is ☑ Beautiful ☐ Good ☐ Decent ☐ Bad ☐ Don‘t look too long at it ☐ MS-DOS ---{ Gameplay }--- ☐ Very good ☑ Good ☐ It's just gameplay ☐ Mehh ☐ Watch paint dry instead ☐ Just don't ---{ Audio }--- ☑ Eargasm ☐ Very good ☐ Good ☐ Not too bad ☐ Bad ☐ I'm now deaf ---{ Audience }--- ☐ Kids ☑ Teens ☑ Adults ☐ Grandma ---{ PC Requirements }--- ☐ Check if you can run paint ☐ Potato ☐ Decent ☑ Fast ☑ Rich boi ☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer ---{ Game Size }--- ☐ Floppy Disk ☐ Old Fashioned ☐ Workable ☑ Big ☐ Will eat 10% of your 1TB hard drive ☐ You will want an entire hard drive to hold it ☐ You will need to invest in a black hole to hold all the data ---{ Difficulty }--- ☐ Just press 'W' ☐ Easy ☑ Easy to learn / Hard to master ☐ Significant brain usage ☐ Difficult ☐ Dark Souls ---{ Grind }--- ☐ Nothing to grind ☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks ☐ Isn't necessary to progress ☑ Average grind level ☐ Too much grind ☐ You'll need a second life for grinding ---{ Story }--- ☐ No Story ☐ Some lore ☐ Average ☐ Good ☑ Lovely ☐ It'll replace your life ---{ Game Time }--- ☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee ☐ Short ☑ Average ☐ Long ☐ To infinity and beyond ---{ Price }--- ☐ It's free! ☐ Worth the price ☑ If it's on sale ☐ If u have some spare money left ☐ Not recommended ☐ You could also just burn your money ---{ Bugs }--- ☑ Never heard of ☐ Minor bugs ☐ Can get annoying ☐ ARK: Survival Evolved ☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs ---{ ? / 10 }--- ☐ 1 ☐ 2 ☐ 3 ☐ 4 ☐ 5 ☐ 6 ☐ 7 ☐ 8 ☑ 9 ☐ 10

The game is fine overall BUT it has the best OST i've ever heard in a game. I cant get over the theater performance song

After all the rumors that accompanied the game before its release that it was not really there because the trailers were too good, in the end everything turned out to be true - the game turned out great. Setting, style, music, graphics, locations, cutscenes, monsters, plot, dialogues, lore, humor, shooting and game mechanics. It has everything, from good to excellent. Some mix of Bioshock/Half-Life/Wolfenstein. A must-have for those born in the USSR. Ebuchie pirogi! p.s. I also grabbed it on sale for 20 bucks. IMBA.

This is one of the best looking, worst feeling games I have ever played. There is not a single thing in this game that feels satisfying or fun to do. The waste of potential here is like nothing I've ever seen. Some game designers truly live on a different planet than the rest of us...

[b] Atomic Heart [/b] can be described as a budget version of Cyberpunk 2077 – the atmosphere is definitely there, but the limitations of the developers in terms of budget and storytelling are clearly visible. On top of that, the game got caught up in political controversies, which led to harsher reviews from critics. As a result, it lost many potential players and, with them, a significant part of its potential profit. Despite this, Atomic Heart is a game full of contrasts, where its strong points make up for some of its flaws. One of the biggest drawbacks is the lack of teleportation and a limited open world that doesn’t encourage exploration due to the absence of side quests or extra elements to discover. The main missions are rather simple and lead the player by the hand, but this is balanced by challenging logic puzzles. These puzzles can be frustrating at times, but solving them is very satisfying. A big advantage of the game is its unique style, set in an alternate Soviet reality. Both the machines and the cities shown in cutscenes impress with their detailed design, creating a very atmospheric world. Unfortunately, other locations, where players spend most of their time, feel empty and generic, lacking any special features to stand out. Another highlight is the excellent Polish localization, which was a very pleasant surprise and significantly improved my experience. The developers are also actively supporting the game by regularly adding new expansions, which expand the world of Atomic Heart and provide additional hours of gameplay. Despite its flaws, the game is an interesting experience that’s definitely worth checking out.