Once you hit the open-world part of the game, all robotic enemies get essentially infinite respawns. However, these giant concrete edifices present a strong contrast with the technological marvels, such as fields of solar mirrors, that dot the facility.įortunately, you don't have to worry about conservation. The installation is filled with monuments to alternate Soviet grandeur, which are primarily designed in the classical Stalinist style (with a touch of Brutalism and Albert Speer). Atomic Hearts review: Sound and VisualsĪtomic Heart is an absolutely gorgeous game, and I commend the designers for crafting a fantastic atmosphere with Facility 3826. However, they're so densely packed that you'll quickly tune out this cue. Fortunately, every camera makes a loud, irritating noise, which makes them easy to locate. You can stun them with a blast from your shock power to temporarily disable them, but destroying a camera just results in those damn Pchela coming to rebuild it. The problem is that the open world has cameras everywhere.

Of course, like every game that's been released in the last 15 years, you can use stealth to take down enemies or slip past them. However, Mundfish, like many other ambitious developers, committed the cardinal sin of breaking up a well-designed linear experience with a needless open world.

When The Major isn't quipping about crispy critters (I cannot overstate how often he throws that catchphrase out there), Atomic Heart flirts with being a traditional big-budget title. The pacing tends to be good, with a decent mixture of combat, puzzles and exposition. The linear sections of Atomic Heart, during which you'll predominately explore vast experimental Soviet facilities, are put together well. If I meet a dead cow with a neural link and it starts to broadcast weird cow-related facts, is that comedy or tragedy? Atomic Hearts review: Gameplay These tonal 180s happen often throughout the game, and I never really knew how to feel. The next, the Major will talk about 'crispy critters' or pick up a phone to prank call some hapless Soviet citizen. One moment, the Major and Charles finish lamenting a gruesome scene of humans beaten to death by robots (and telling you their horrifying last moment, thanks to their neural implants). But the humor clashes terribly with the tone of the story. That's not a terrible thing, and I even had a sensible chuckle or two.

Instead of examining the ramifications of an alternate Soviet Union holding hegemony over the world, the game spends a good deal of the time telling jokes. Unfortunately, Atomic Heart doesn't utilize its premise to the fullest.

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