Not only is the game world filled with gorgeous retrofuturistic structures, but it also manages to chuck in a bit of rural variety. You can feel the attention and care gone into creating this alt-history universe, and nowhere is that felt stronger than in the architecture. The game world is perhaps the most striking part of Atomic Heart. The game’s lengthy development certainly didn’t help to quell fears, and lets be honest, how many times have we seen a promising-looking game with relatively high production values end up falling flat on its face at the finish line? You’d be forgiven for reluctance where Atomic Heart is concerned, but overall, this is a pretty solid game. On the technical side of things, there were also concerns. It’s a throwback in a lot of ways, and while that might undermine any message it has, it’s honestly a bit refreshing. A protagonist who is constantly snarky and grumpy, over-sexualised robots (including a delightfully over-the-top vending machine), and melodramatic conspiracy plots that don’t really pan out. Yes, it does glorify and make puppy dog eyes for what ‘could have been’ for the Soviet Union, but it’s largely an intentional setup for where the story goes, and the game’s story isn’t exactly subtle enough for you to not see where it’s going early on.Ītomic Heart is not a dumb game, but it’s very much in touch with its stupid, brash inner child.

Make no mistake, Atomic Hearts’ ‘utopia gone wrong’ narrative may be blunt in many ways, but it doesn’t appear to be inherently sinister.

The ‘oh damn, are the people in charge of this utopia actually bad guys?’ card gets played with little subtlety from the off. When things go so very wrong, he is quick to blame outside sources rather than the accused source of the problem, who just so happens to be his inspiration and father figure. Little hints of what could go wrong crop up early on, and when our protagonist first interacts with one of the machines responsible for this utopia, he’s far from impressed by them. The protagonist starts the game on a saccharine pedal boat ride along a waterway as a vivid parade takes place. In terms of the story, Atomic Heart begins by making this utopian vision of a post-WWII Soviet Union border on parody in much the same way the opening to Bioshock Infinite does (albeit not playing out nearly as clunky and clumsily as that).

Atomic heart ps5