First impressions of Atomic Heart: Prey and Bioshock walk into a Russian bar
The upcoming Atomic Heart will only release on February 21, 2023. Now the developers from the Mundfish studio organized an event in Moscow, where they presented a playable demo version of their project. The author of "Kanobu" Ruslan Yarsanaev was among those who were able to try out Atomic Heart live and form a preliminary impression of it.
Briefly about Atomic Heart
The events of Atomic Heart unfold in an alternative reality in which Professor Sechenov was able to create an artificial intelligence "Collective". Its goals are varied, but one of the main ones is the control of robots designed to help humanity. Unfortunately, the utopia did not work out: an incident occurs at Enterprise 3826, during which the machines get out of control and attack those who were supposed to be helped. Major Nechaev, who will be controlled by the players, must find out the cause of this incident and deal with it.
Atomic Heart has been at the center of scandals more than once or twice, and a lot of unpleasant rumors have been circulating around it: at first, players were disappointed by the new distribution method in Russia, then not everyone liked the preview from IGN. But you stop believing most of the conversations immediately after you personally ran through the locations that were shown in the gameplay videos. Upon personal acquaintance with the game, Atomic Heart pleasantly surprises and makes it clear from the first minutes that this is a real game, and not a tech demo or random footage cutting.
What was seen during the demonstration proves that everything shown earlier was not a pre-render or content created only for a beautiful trailer. Almost everything is already in the game, we managed to see and “feel” all this live. And during the game session, you understand that the Mundfish studio really tried to create a quality game.
Bioshock: Soviet version
To reveal the universe of the game, the authors have done a lot of work, which the authors are gradually sharing with the players. For example, one video shows the opponents that the main character will meet; from the other, you can learn more about the rich history of Atomic Heart yourself. In many ways, the game looks fresh, although it is reminiscent of the first part of Bioshock. Only this time on the screen is not the entourage of America of the 60s, but a bright Soviet flavor: ballerina robots, colorful red flags, posters with appropriate symbols and other objects that work on the atmosphere. And so it is everywhere.
Even the game starts in a similar way: for the first twenty minutes, Major Nechaev just walks back and forth in a peaceful location. There will be no action at this time, but players have time to communicate with NPCs and explore the territory.
Atomic Heart is a first-person shooter that constantly pushes players towards melee combat and the use of special skills. For the latter, a special HRAZ glove is responsible here, thanks to which Nechaev can bring down lightning on enemies, freeze or manipulate gravity - or interact with some objects with its help. The glove is a key item at the disposal of the hero, because it helps both in battles and in exploring the world and solving simple riddles. And she also acts as the only companion of the protagonist, with whom Nechaev often chats, which gives rise to various comical situations.
In order to fulfill his mission, Nechaev will have to rely not only on the glove, but also on his own skills. Of course, HRAZ is convenient, but the use of skills requires energy. Therefore, whether you like it or not, the major will have to take weapons into his own hands, starting with an ordinary ax and ending with completely insane energy guns.
The combat system of the authors came out curious and exciting. Long-range weapons do a lot of damage and have a unique rate of fire, but ammo is not unlimited, and the recoil is not weak, so you should save it for especially strong robots and flying enemies. For normal enemies, melee weapons are suitable, hits with which restore energy for the Major's gauntlet. In addition, Nechaev can quickly strafe in different directions, which makes him invulnerable to enemies. And you need to dodge, because charged attacks, highlighted in red, can knock the major down, making him vulnerable to attacks.
The authors even managed to add a system of damage to enemies, because of which the robots can literally be seen from the inside. This allows Atomic Heart to better showcase the state of the enemy in combat - and no overhead health bars that often break immersion in the game.
The hero's weapons can be improved by collecting scattered items and "polymer" at the levels - a special material used everywhere here. It is noteworthy that the installed modifications are displayed on the player's weapon. In other words, if you put an additional blade on the ax, it will appear on the weapon in the hands of the hero. And such attention to detail is present in many aspects of the game - what are some hanging posters and scattered brochures with various references. In addition, the authors do not seem to be joking about "Well, wait a minute!" in Atomic Heart: no wonder the developers answered in the affirmative every time someone asked them about the cartoon.
Live game experience
Mundfish has done a great job of delivering on what seems to be most of its promises. In Atomic Heart, players will fight against machines either in closed underground laboratories or in the vast territories of the enterprise. Judging by the first playthrough, there will be a lot of content: for example, there are definitely zones here that are completely optional to visit. And to move around the world of the game was not boring, you can use the surviving vehicles. This, however, is a double-edged sword: you can move quickly, but you will also attract the robots of the "Collective" to the light.
It is worth noting that the authors managed to carefully immerse the player in what is happening: Atomic Heart does not dump a bunch of mechanics on his head, forcing him to figure it out on his own. Instead, the game gradually introduces innovations, allows you to experience them yourself, and then slowly complicates the passage due to what you have already seen.
An important point - the game was not easy. According to first impressions, it does not require the impossible from the player - you just need to be aware of what and why you are doing. Here you won’t be able to take the game in a rush, without understanding the mechanics, break into the thick of things and calmly defeat everyone. In this aspect, the shooter is very close to Prey, where the player was also given difficult tasks; I had all the necessary tools on hand, but I had to understand how to use them.
I also want to praise the game for its graphic and musical performance: everything looks and sounds bright, tasty, expressive. Atomic Heart offers a very grotesque experience: in the game, science goes hand in hand with absurdity, high-tech enterprises coexist with green fields, Soviet engineers discuss the conquest of space against the backdrop of three-meter comical robots called "Belyashi", and songs of famous performers of that time are arranged by Mick Gordon . Atomic Heart is reminiscent of many games at the same time, and at the same time unlike any other - this is a truly unique experience.
The ideal result from the developers, however, did not work out. There were no critical bugs or problems during the game session, but there are enough small rough edges. For example, all the doors during the demonstration were opened by a "push" by the hero's body - and for some reason one of them required a key to be pressed. There was also a strange visual effect in some cutscenes: the robots seemed to lack frames in the motion animation, because of which they moved "out of touch" from the rest of the world - as if the game was running at 60 FPS, and these robots at 20.
In any case, the first impressions of the project are extremely positive. Atomic Heart does not just exist: it really looks like everything that the developers promised. And even more, because there are some gameplay features that players should see for themselves. This is the first game for the studio, but it seems that they managed to turn all their ideas and ambitions into reality - and this rarely happens even among veterans.
Atomic Heart is scheduled to release on February 21, 2023. In Russia, the game will be available through VK Play, and abroad it will be published by Focus Entertainment. The release is planned for PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox One and Xbox Series, and the shooter will also be in the Game Pass subscription service.
First impressions of Atomic Heart: Prey and Bioshock walk into a Russian bar
The upcoming Atomic Heart will only release on February 21, 2023. Now the developers from the Mundfish studio organized an event in Moscow, where they presented a playable demo version of their project. The author of "Kanobu" Ruslan Yarsanaev was among those who were able to try out Atomic Heart live and form a preliminary impression of it.
Briefly about Atomic Heart
The events of Atomic Heart unfold in an alternative reality in which Professor Sechenov was able to create an artificial intelligence "Collective". Its goals are varied, but one of the main ones is the control of robots designed to help humanity. Unfortunately, the utopia did not work out: an incident occurs at Enterprise 3826, during which the machines get out of control and attack those who were supposed to be helped. Major Nechaev, who will be controlled by the players, must find out the cause of this incident and deal with it.
Atomic Heart has been at the center of scandals more than once or twice, and a lot of unpleasant rumors have been circulating around it: at first, players were disappointed by the new distribution method in Russia, then not everyone liked the preview from IGN. But you stop believing most of the conversations immediately after you personally ran through the locations that were shown in the gameplay videos. Upon personal acquaintance with the game, Atomic Heart pleasantly surprises and makes it clear from the first minutes that this is a real game, and not a tech demo or random footage cutting.
What was seen during the demonstration proves that everything shown earlier was not a pre-render or content created only for a beautiful trailer. Almost everything is already in the game, we managed to see and “feel” all this live. And during the game session, you understand that the Mundfish studio really tried to create a quality game.
Bioshock: Soviet version
To reveal the universe of the game, the authors have done a lot of work, which the authors are gradually sharing with the players. For example, one video shows the opponents that the main character will meet; from the other, you can learn more about the rich history of Atomic Heart yourself. In many ways, the game looks fresh, although it is reminiscent of the first part of Bioshock. Only this time on the screen is not the entourage of America of the 60s, but a bright Soviet flavor: ballerina robots, colorful red flags, posters with appropriate symbols and other objects that work on the atmosphere. And so it is everywhere.
Even the game starts in a similar way: for the first twenty minutes, Major Nechaev just walks back and forth in a peaceful location. There will be no action at this time, but players have time to communicate with NPCs and explore the territory.
Atomic Heart is a first-person shooter that constantly pushes players towards melee combat and the use of special skills. For the latter, a special HRAZ glove is responsible here, thanks to which Nechaev can bring down lightning on enemies, freeze or manipulate gravity - or interact with some objects with its help. The glove is a key item at the disposal of the hero, because it helps both in battles and in exploring the world and solving simple riddles. And she also acts as the only companion of the protagonist, with whom Nechaev often chats, which gives rise to various comical situations.
In order to fulfill his mission, Nechaev will have to rely not only on the glove, but also on his own skills. Of course, HRAZ is convenient, but the use of skills requires energy. Therefore, whether you like it or not, the major will have to take weapons into his own hands, starting with an ordinary ax and ending with completely insane energy guns.
The combat system of the authors came out curious and exciting. Long-range weapons do a lot of damage and have a unique rate of fire, but ammo is not unlimited, and the recoil is not weak, so you should save it for especially strong robots and flying enemies. For normal enemies, melee weapons are suitable, hits with which restore energy for the Major's gauntlet. In addition, Nechaev can quickly strafe in different directions, which makes him invulnerable to enemies. And you need to dodge, because charged attacks, highlighted in red, can knock the major down, making him vulnerable to attacks.
The authors even managed to add a system of damage to enemies, because of which the robots can literally be seen from the inside. This allows Atomic Heart to better showcase the state of the enemy in combat - and no overhead health bars that often break immersion in the game.
The hero's weapons can be improved by collecting scattered items and "polymer" at the levels - a special material used everywhere here. It is noteworthy that the installed modifications are displayed on the player's weapon. In other words, if you put an additional blade on the ax, it will appear on the weapon in the hands of the hero. And such attention to detail is present in many aspects of the game - what are some hanging posters and scattered brochures with various references. In addition, the authors do not seem to be joking about "Well, wait a minute!" in Atomic Heart: no wonder the developers answered in the affirmative every time someone asked them about the cartoon.
Live game experience
Mundfish has done a great job of delivering on what seems to be most of its promises. In Atomic Heart, players will fight against machines either in closed underground laboratories or in the vast territories of the enterprise. Judging by the first playthrough, there will be a lot of content: for example, there are definitely zones here that are completely optional to visit. And to move around the world of the game was not boring, you can use the surviving vehicles. This, however, is a double-edged sword: you can move quickly, but you will also attract the robots of the "Collective" to the light.
It is worth noting that the authors managed to carefully immerse the player in what is happening: Atomic Heart does not dump a bunch of mechanics on his head, forcing him to figure it out on his own. Instead, the game gradually introduces innovations, allows you to experience them yourself, and then slowly complicates the passage due to what you have already seen.
An important point - the game was not easy. According to first impressions, it does not require the impossible from the player - you just need to be aware of what and why you are doing. Here you won’t be able to take the game in a rush, without understanding the mechanics, break into the thick of things and calmly defeat everyone. In this aspect, the shooter is very close to Prey, where the player was also given difficult tasks; I had all the necessary tools on hand, but I had to understand how to use them.
I also want to praise the game for its graphic and musical performance: everything looks and sounds bright, tasty, expressive. Atomic Heart offers a very grotesque experience: in the game, science goes hand in hand with absurdity, high-tech enterprises coexist with green fields, Soviet engineers discuss the conquest of space against the backdrop of three-meter comical robots called "Belyashi", and songs of famous performers of that time are arranged by Mick Gordon . Atomic Heart is reminiscent of many games at the same time, and at the same time unlike any other - this is a truly unique experience.
The ideal result from the developers, however, did not work out. There were no critical bugs or problems during the game session, but there are enough small rough edges. For example, all the doors during the demonstration were opened by a "push" by the hero's body - and for some reason one of them required a key to be pressed. There was also a strange visual effect in some cutscenes: the robots seemed to lack frames in the motion animation, because of which they moved "out of touch" from the rest of the world - as if the game was running at 60 FPS, and these robots at 20.
In any case, the first impressions of the project are extremely positive. Atomic Heart does not just exist: it really looks like everything that the developers promised. And even more, because there are some gameplay features that players should see for themselves. This is the first game for the studio, but it seems that they managed to turn all their ideas and ambitions into reality - and this rarely happens even among veterans.
Atomic Heart is scheduled to release on February 21, 2023. In Russia, the game will be available through VK Play, and abroad it will be published by Focus Entertainment. The release is planned for PC, PS5, PS4, Xbox One and Xbox Series, and the shooter will also be in the Game Pass subscription service.
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