Atomic Heart Review: 4/5 “A Strange But Humorous Ode to Russian Science Fiction”
For the Uncensored!
The idea of science fiction and the strange and wonderful tales that come about with rather strange and bizarre results. For Mundfish, the ambitious undertaking, for their first title, took over five years to make. What shows is simple. P-3, a soldier, is witnessing the eve of a new technological birth for the Soviet Union. Minus the idea that Communists actually wanted to destroy whole civilizations through mass starvation and death, except with their technological advance, create robots that will help them create and help mankind exist for the better.
Only with every story about Communist Russia, even in an alternate fiction version, things evidently go wrong. The robots, created by Sechenov, his mentor and friend, who helped fix him after the war, to stop the robots and help clean up the mess made by rogue scientists. What makes this horrible question possible is that while the historical evidence of Russia’s mass starvation is juxtaposed by creating killer robots and mind control devices to help enslave mankind, the ambitious undertaking is not only allowing phrases like “It’s great in China” to exist, but also delve into an alternate universe that only belongs in franchises like Bioshock and Metro.
Honestly, Atomic Heart is so good at delivering this weird story, it does create a dissonance between the fingers that should act in full aggro mode, but the premise is simple. Mass enslavement and killer robots, bad, but the Soviet Union, in its foolery, is embarrassed by the fuck up created by Petrov, the rogue scientist. The story itself, concerning rogue scientists, only then helping P-3 discover that Sechenov put the murdered wife, Eketerina, in the soul of two sexy murderous robots, is also a mind fuck, by the end of the game. And all the while moving through abandoned Polygon puzzles, where P-3 can investigate, learn about the world, but also find weapon parts, too.
So, for story, this is game of the year. By far, the last great game that actually cares about level design, crafting a memorable tale that will be remembered in the First Person Shooter category.
Game Play and Visuals
What is a major drawback for game play, is the way the robots, repeat the same old attack patterns. Not enough care was given to the smaller AI, and even in some bigger boss fights, Mundfish don’t throw that many enemies in P-3’s way. It’s a shame to pretend this isn’t a design feature, it’s probably about too much time being put into the surroundings, and how P-3 and the player interact with the world. Some tedious Hawk puzzles that send a large floating beacon down to let P-3 climb up, but it only shuts down the robots, and allows P-3 to travel across the map at a short distance from a tethered rope.
P-3 can also crawl through the vents, as it does remind me of crawling through the tunnels in Metro.
The question of rote AI mechanics throws the enemy headlong, and it almost forces the player to run away, instead of fight. Only if you fight the robots, you can gain valuable loot and craft more guns. But the world itself is almost like staring into a painting. It’s almost preferable to how those art students who stare at Van Gogh pictures and then offer up some piffy bullshit terms that only art students get. Well, the game is phenomenally crafted, visually, from top to bottom. Maybe the game had bugs at launch but as of May 27th, 2023, this isn’t the case. On a XBOX Series X, the game itself demands to be experienced on the widest screen possible.[1] It’s probably a game just as much involved in the fictional language between the characters as the visuals of large hills and cows just walking in the middle of the road. It’s almost hilarious how the robots don’t kill the animals at first, but that is eventually explained, too. It can get repetitious, but somehow, belongs, as the difficulty can be troublesome, too. So, save your bullets, comrade. Because running might be better than fighting. And running away from killer robots never felt so cool, yet so exhilarating.
Music
Mick Gordon, as all music aficionados know, has a knack for video game music. For his twenty year span of creating long lasting musical chords with heavy metal synth tracks but also club dub step mantras, it’s interesting to see Gordon flex his creative muscles away from the Doom (2016) and Doom Eternal (2020), and create a soundtrack in love with classic music. As all studiers of Russian history know, music was banned during the communist regime, and seeing how Mick Gordon seemed aware, really took the music toward a different tone. Where it helped compliment the story but also be as loud as fuck. If you’re going to play with headphones, beware, that this could still blow out your ears. As Mick Gordon, in his wild interpretation, gives as much as he gets, the soundtrack, itself, should definitely make music aficionados of classical songs catch tunes that create the disharmony between the dystopian sci-fi world and the player interacting with it. And it’s like listening to a man make hard love to your eardrums, when the music starts. And I actually had to take my headphones off, at some point. So, again, Mick Gordon is, and always will be, an expert craftsman to the video game world.
Weapons
A man is measured by the weapons he carries, and in Atomic Heart, there are two types of weapons. There are regular weapons, including an Ak-47, Makarov Pistol, and a shotgun, a rocket launcher, which you can all upgrade and turn into lethal threats to all living and inaminate beings. You can upgrade using various butt stocks, and barrels, too. The AK-47, Shotgun, and rocket launcher, are the go to, once you have all the weapons readily available. There are energy weapons, too, which can be upgraded, but often are more of a hindrance. But there’s a slight addition to the regular weapons. You can add shock, frost, or fire capsules, as it can help add more damage to your enemies kill count, wounding them as you send bullets into robot scum.
With this being said, the world, the story, cutscenes, are all to praise, while the combat itself can be the same, repeatedly, except for boss fights. While visually stunning, Mundfish are on there way to become a new hot gaming company to watch out for.
Final Analyis: 4/5
[1] With this caveat, I have not played the PS5 or Steam versions of the game.
-Louis Bruno is the author of more than 20 books, including, The Michael Project, The Michael Project: Book 2: The Lost Children of Eve, Thy Kingdom Come, The Disintegrating Bloodline Part 2: Chaos, The Data Chase, The Disintegrating Bloodline part 3: Solvè, The Disintegrating Bloodline (and the original text re-released in 2019), Apocalypse Soldier, The Data Chase, Selection: The First Book of the Life and Death Saga, and Blinking Eyes: The Second Book of the Life and Death Saga, Hierarchy of Dwindling Sheep, The City of Sand, The God of Curiosity, To the Moon and Back, The Villain Lives and The Villain Lives: The Divided Pinpoint, Come Home, Young One, City of Sand: Book 1: The Holy Terror, and The Voices Are Alive, and The City of Sand: Book 2: Jerusalem Ignited. He has a Bachelor of Arts in English from University of Phoenix. His books can be found on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Lulu. He can be found on Gab, https://gab.com/thereallouistbruno, Minds https://www.minds.com/lbruno8063/. Instagram @lbrruno8063 and @louisbrunoofficialbook. Twitter: https://twitter.com/LouisBr88881650. He has written for the Intellectual Conservative and Ephemere. His two newest books, The City of Sand: Book 2: Jerusalem Ignited, and The Savior, the Flood, and the Beast: Three Plays are out now: https://www.amazon.com/City-Sand-Book-Jerusalem-Ignited/dp/1365979660/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1G8HAWZP73ZFO&keywords=Louis+Bruno+City+of+Sand+book+2&qid=1675772880&sprefix=louis+bruno+city+of+sand+book+2%2Caps%2C88&sr=8-1. https://www.amazon.com/Savior-Flood-Beast-Three-Plays/dp/1088120997/ref=pd_ybh_a_sccl_4/140-0249150-4265358?pd_rd_w=W5fsa&content-id=amzn1.sym.67f8cf21-ade4-4299-b433-69e404eeecf1&pf_rd_p=67f8cf21-ade4-4299-b433-69e404eeecf1&pf_rd_r=2E73RTDRBVPZEY5D77V2&pd_rd_wg=69KGI&pd_rd_r=59d8721c-bf89-4fa7-bd88-7a072004a89f&pd_rd_i=1088120997&psc=1.