Atomic Heart
Official cover art
Developer(s)Mundfish
Publisher(s)
Director(s)Robert Bagratuni
Producer(s)Oleg Gorodishenin
Designer(s)Maxim Kolesnikov
Programmer(s)Andrey Dyakov
Artist(s)Artem Galeev
Writer(s)
  • Alexander Romashkov
  • Robert Bagratuni
  • Artem Galeev
Composer(s)
EngineUnreal Engine 4
Platform(s)
ReleaseFebruary 21, 2023
Genre(s)First-person shooter
Mode(s)Single-player

Atomic Heart (rus. Атомные Сердца) is a first-person shooter video game developed by Russian game developer Mundfish and published by VK Play, Focus Entertainment, and 4Divinity. It was released for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on February 21, 2023. The game is set in an alternate history version of the Soviet Union, during the 1950s. Initially depicted as a retrofuturistic utopia, the game follows the quick collapse of the Soviet Union into a dystopia, after a robot uprising begins.

Atomic Heart received mixed to positive reviews from critics. It was the subject of controversy over its reported Russian links, following the country's ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Gameplay

Atomic Heart is a first-person shooter video game with role-playing elements.[1][2][3] The combat consists of shooting and slashing with improvised weapons. A wide variety of enemies are featured, which may be mechanical, biomechanical, biological, and some of which are airborne. A crafting system allows the player to piece weapons together from metal parts that can be detached from robots or taken from household appliances. Weapons can be upgraded via a mechanic called "cassettes". Ammo in the game is scarce, and there is a stealth option. Quick-time events are featured in the game.[4] The player wears a special glove, the Polymer Glove, which grants powers such as telekinesis, freezing, and electricity to defeat foes. Its powers can be combined with both melee and ranged weapons.

Ammunition can be upgraded with various elemental effects using "canisters". These canisters can be looted and crafted, and equipped by the player on both melee and ranged weapons. If the canister depletes, it is discarded from the player's inventory.

Plot

Setting

Atomic Heart takes place on the grounds of Facility 3826, the Soviet Union's foremost scientific research hub in an alternate history 1955. In 1936, scientist Dmitry Sechenov developed a liquidized programmable module called the Polymer, sparking massive technological breakthroughs in the fields of energy and robotics in the USSR and freeing much of the populace from manual labor. When World War II broke out, the Soviets quickly gained the upper hand, but just before Nazi Germany was defeated in 1942 the Germans unleashed the Brown Plague virus, leaving millions dead and creating an international demand for Soviet robots to compensate for the resulting worker shortage. As part of the Soviet Union's post-war reconstruction program, Dr. Sechenov created a wireless, networked artificial intelligence called "Kollektiv 1.0" that linked his robots together for greater efficiency.

Most recently, Sechenov developed the THOUGHT neuroconnector, a device that integrates Polymer into the human body and allows humans to remotely interface with robots. THOUGHT is to be released alongside Kollektiv 2.0, and Sechenov boasts that it will usher in a true post-labor era for the entire world.[5] However, Kollektiv 2.0's official launch on 13 June 1955 goes awry, plunging Facility 3826 into chaos.

Synopsis

Major Sergey "P-3" Nechayev is a World War II veteran with memory problems, who was saved from a life-threatening injury in the past by Dmitry Sechenov. As Sechenov's agent, P-3 is invited to assist in the rollout of Kollektiv 2.0 at Facility 3826, but he finds that the robots of the facility have gone rogue and massacred most human personnel. Sechenov explains that robotics designer Viktor Petrov sabotaged the Kollektiv 1.0 node and asks P-3 to apprehend Petrov. With his AI partner CHAR-les (nicknamed "Charles") attached to his glove, P-3 is tasked with confronting homicidal robots and failed biomechanical experiments of Facility 3826.

P-3 tracks down Petrov and finds out that he is working with neurosurgeon Larisa Filatova. Petrov flees and is apparently killed by a robot. Meanwhile, the Politburo grows suspicious about what is happening. Yegor Molotov, a member of the Politburo threatens to shut down Sechenov's "Atomic Heart" project. Charles explains to P-3 that Sechenov and the Politburo are in a struggle over who will control Kollektiv. Sechenov orders P-3 to intercept Molotov, but once P-3 makes contact, he blacks out and wakes up to find Molotov murdered. Sechenov later informs P-3 that Petrov is still alive, placing his THOUGHT tracker on a dead corpse with the assistance of Filatova.

P-3 finds Petrov at Maya Plisetskaya Theater, who rants about how Sechenov plans to enslave the world. He tells P-3 that the rogue robots had a combat mode installed beforehand, which was part of their initial design. Petrov then gives P-3 a pair of rings and commits suicide. When Sechenov asks about the rings, P-3 lies, and concludes that Sechenov and the Politburo's "Atomic Heart" project involves distributing combat robots disguised as civilian robots to seize nuclear power plants. P-3 takes Petrov's head to Michael Stockhausen's lab to extract his memories, but Filatova destroys the machine, kills Stockhausen and knocks P-3 out.

When P-3 wakes up, Filatova contacts him and meets him in secret at a secluded area in Facility 3826. She reveals to him that Kollektiv is a means to mind-control people, and Filatova was in charge of the facility that houses numerous volunteers of the project. P-3 also discovers that Charles isn't an AI, but rather the preserved consciousness of Chariton Zakharov, Sechenov's colleague and a fellow researcher presumably murdered by Sechenov. Using Zakharov's security clearance, they uncover more of P-3's past: he was previously critically injured in a mission in Bulgaria alongside his wife and fellow agent, Ekaterina. While Ekaterina did not survive, Sechenov managed to fix P-3's brain injury by installing a Polymer implant, erasing memories of Ekaterina while also implanting her memories into robotic ballerina bodyguards called the Twins. In doing so, Sechenov gains control over P-3. Furious, P-3 decides to confront Sechenov. However, he blacks out again and wakes up in the care of his mother-in-law, Zinaida Muravyova, who has been anonymously assisting him throughout his mission in Facility 3826. She reveals that P-3 had killed Filatova while blacked out. At this point, P-3 can either choose to leave Facility 3826 or confront Sechenov, resulting in different endings.

If P-3 refuses to confront Sechenov, he destroys Zakharov and slips out of Facility 3826 and disappears, allowing Sechenov to continue with his plans to activate Kollektiv 2.0. Zakharov is shown to still be alive as a small mass of living Polymer and he manages to escape as well.

If P-3 chooses to confront Sechenov, he goes to Sechenov’s office. P-3 and Zakharov argue with Sechenov briefly before the latter orders the Twins to kill P-3. After P-3 defeats Sechenov’s guards, Sechenov draws a pistol but P-3 uses his glove to snatch it from him and shoots Sechenov in the gut instead. While lying bleeding on the floor, Sechenov reveals that Zakharov used P-3’s Polymer implants to cause his blackouts, killing Molotov and Filatova. P-3, now furious at Zakharov, attempts to rip him from his glove, but Zakharov electrocutes and incapacitates him before he escapes the glove in a form of gray goo. Zakharov reveals his manifesto as he jumps into a vat of red Polymer, transforming it into a massive, black humanoid body that houses him, planning to exterminate the human race with Polymerize Beings. Zakharov picks up the wounded Sechenov and breaks his neck, killing him. It was later reported that Zakharov consumed Sechenov's body, then fled and disappeared from the scene. P-3 later reawakens and finds himself in an illusion before one of the Twins descends upon him with an outstretched hand, as the voice of Ekaterina speaks to him.

Annihilation Instinct

Taking place three days after the ending where P-3 refuses to confront Sechenov, Kollectiv 2.0 has fully launched and is steadily growing as more people around the globe join, unfortunately Chariton has merged within the network and has brainwashed people with their THOUGHT device and has leaked information to outside the USSR, effectively causing a civil war. Meanwhile, P-3 wakes up in the Mendeleev Complex, which has been fully taken over by the rogue artificial intelligence NORA. NORA had fallen in love with P-3 during the Kollectiv incident, and synched herself to his brain implant. NORA then tasks P-3 with eliminating Zinaida, who has become hostile to P-3 for abandoning the fight against Sechenov. Heading to the surface, P-3 encounters NORA's inventor, Lebedev. Lebedev repairs P-3's glove and explains that Zinaida joined an anti-Kollective faction, declared war against Sechenov, and seeks to take control of NORA to make use of her weapon manufacturing capabilities. Meanwhile, NORA has completely sealed off the complex from the outside world with an electromagnetic barrier. Lebedev then tasks P-3 with finding BEA-D robots scattered around the complex, which contain parts of NORA's code which he can use to access her core and reset her.

Realizing P-3's plans, NORA tempts him with top secret knowledge about Ekaterina in return for betraying Lebedev. P-3 considers it, but Lebedev puts him direct contact with Sechenov, who admits that he preserved Ekaterina's body and brain in neuropolymer, creating the Twins in hopes that one day she can be revived. He also promises access to all of the files about his and Ekaterina's past, as well as a vacation. P-3 agrees and heads to NORA's core. With assistance from the Twins, P-3 is able to reset NORA and order is restored to the Mendeleev complex. As promised, Sechenov gives P-3 leave time, but as P-3 leaves the facility in an airship, Zinaida follows him.

Development

Atomic Heart is developed by Mundfish, which styles itself as an international studio headquartered in Cyprus[6] and has offices in Moscow and Saint Petersburg.[7]

The team has previously developed the VR game Soviet Lunapark, but ceased development and delisted the game in late 2018 to focus on Atomic Heart.[8] The studio uses Unreal Engine 4 and was advertised to support ray tracing and DLSS technologies for the GeForce RTX graphics cards.[9] However, ray tracing was not implemented in time for the release of the game. Mundfish stated that they will add the feature "post-launch", without giving any further details.[10]

Soundtrack

The game's soundtrack was written by three composers: Mick Gordon, famous for his work for such video-game titles as Doom, Prey and Wolfenstein (The New Order, The Old Blood, The New Colossus), Andrey Bugrov known as Boogrov[11][12][13][14] and Geoffrey Day.[12][13][14]

Along with the original tracks created solely for the game, Atomic Heart also features popular Soviet songs and their remixes, including "Arlekino" and "Zvyozdnoye leto" by Alla Pugacheva, "Trava u doma" by Zemlyane, "Kosil Yas' Konyushinu" by Pesniary and more.[15]

Themes

Atomic Heart was interpreted by many game critics and journalists as a political satire of authoritarianism,[16] artificial intelligence, and communism.[17] Ed Power of The Daily Telegraph wrote that:

"Playing the game, the player will be left with no doubt as to the dark side of Soviet manifest destiny. The central conflict is between the Politburo and Sechenov. The implication is that the latter is a power-hungry madman who has poisoned the Communist dream. Whatever Atomic Heart is, it isn't a love letter to the Soviet Union. This is a paradise lost, fatally undone by its Prometheus complex."[18]

Journalist Kevin Purdy of Ars Technica wrote that within the game:

The USSR makes the world's best robots, its citizens live in a utopia where those robots do their menial tasks and labor, and even greater things are just about to happen...a world full of astounding promises, yet take apart that optimism by showing the hypocrisy, the false promises, the ego-driven leaders and actors causing so much pain, and the impact on real people's lives when it all comes apart...The Soviet State in Atomic Heart, and its maniacal leaders, are responsible for the death of untold thousands or millions of citizens at the hands of their own robots. There are plans to foist this death on the rest of the world, rather than win them over with the benefits of collectivist effort. The KGB, for which your protagonist formerly worked, are not the good guys.[17]

Jason Faulkner of GameRevolution felt that while the game is frequently critical of the Soviet Union, it stops short of ever outright condemning it.[19] Renata Price of Vice News also wrote that the game "depicts a scenario where the Soviet Union's quest for technology and expansion—there are numerous sarcastic references to conquering the stars—has gone horribly, murderously wrong...To call Atomic Heart a straight-up celebration of the Soviet Union would be a misrepresentation."[20]

Release

In February 2022 a story trailer showed that Atomic Heart will launch in "#######BER", suggesting the game's release some time in Q4 2022.[21] However, later in November, it was announced that the game will be released on February 21, 2023,[22] published by VK Play in the CIS, co-published by 4Divinity from Singapore-based entertainment marketing group GCL in Asia,[23] and published by French-based company Focus Entertainment elsewhere.

The game's first DLC expansion, titled Annihilation Instinct, was released on all platforms on August 2, 2023.[24]

Sales

Atomic Heart sold above expectations, raising Mundfish's revenue to an all-time high. Three weeks after the game's launch, Mundfish announced that the game had been played by five million players. However, the game was also available upon launch on Xbox Game Pass, which accounted for an unknown percentage of players.[25]

Controversies

Atomic Heart developer Mundfish was accused of harvesting data of users based in Russia and providing it to Russia's security services. The developer denied the allegations, writing "Our game and website DO NOT collect any information or data. The website's privacy statement is outdated and wrong, and should have been removed years ago."[26][27][28] Developer Mundfish possesses no direct ties to Russia or its President Vladimir Putin, and claims to be located out of Cyprus. However, the game's publisher is based in Russia and several investors are also Moscow-based and linked to Putin's regime, via Gazprom.[29][30][17]

The game also garnered criticism due to its anticipated release date of February 21. Some critics accused its timing of nearly coinciding with the first year anniversary of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and Defender of the Fatherland Day, on February 24 and 23 respectively. Developer Mundfish stated that the company is neutral in world affairs and "do not comment on politics or religion". Mundfish also added that the studio "is undeniably a pro-peace organization against violence against people".[26][27][28] The Ukrainian Ministry of Digital Transformation critiqued Mundfish, noting that "the developers of the game did not come out with a public statement condemning the Putin regime" and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, also pointing out that the game has "Russian roots and romanticizes communist ideology and the Soviet Union."[17]

Independent of this criticism, the game's music composer Mick Gordon released a statement condemning the war and donating his fee from the project to the Red Cross Ukraine Crisis appeal.[26][31]

Reception

Atomic Heart received "generally favorable" reviews for the PC version, while Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 versions received "mixed or average" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic.[32][33][34]

IGN praised Atomic Heart for being "deeply ambitious, highly imaginative, and consistently impressive", though criticized its writing and "tedious" elements of gameplay, such as fetch quests.[2] PC Gamer called it "one of the oddest" AAA games. They felt it took primary influence from BioShock, but criticized its combat and progression system as inferior, while being conflicted towards the story and characters.[41] Similarly, Polygon felt that Atomic Heart failed to eclipse BioShock through its gameplay and attempts to tackle multiple themes at once.[44]

Sequel

In 2021, two years prior to release of the Atomic Heart, the developers stated that they already had plans for a sequel.[45] In June 2023, Mundfish's studio head officially confirmed the development of a sequel.[46][47]

References

  1. ↑ Notis, Ari (February 21, 2023). "Atomic Heart is twice as fun on easy mode". Polygon. Vox Media. Archived from the original on February 23, 2023. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 Reilly, Luke (February 20, 2023). "Atomic Heart Review". IGN. Archived from the original on February 20, 2023. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
  3. 1 2 Iwaniuk, Phil (February 20, 2023). "Atomic Heart review – hand in glove". PCGamesN. Archived from the original on February 20, 2023. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
  4. ↑ Horti, Samuel; Prescott, Shaun (November 1, 2022). "Everything we know about Atomic Heart". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on October 20, 2019.
  5. ↑ "Lore". Mundfish. Archived from the original on February 24, 2022. Retrieved February 2, 2023.
  6. ↑ Palumbo, Alessio (January 2, 2023). "Atomic Heart Final Q&A Part I – Mundfish Head Talks About DLCs, Delays, and Team Geographical Distribution". wccftech.com. Archived from the original on January 17, 2023. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
  7. ↑ "Ukraine wants ban on game allegedly funded by Russians and set in glorified USSR". ArsTechnica. February 22, 2023. Archived from the original on March 9, 2023. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  8. ↑ Feltham, Jamie (December 17, 2018). "Soviet Lunapark VR Cancelled As Dev Doubles Down On Atomic Heart". UploadVR. Archived from the original on September 7, 2022. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
  9. ↑ Palumbo, Alessio (January 14, 2019). "Atomic Heart Developer Q&A on NVIDIA RTX/DLSS, PvP Regions, Simultaneous Console Release and DLC". wccftech.com. Archived from the original on February 11, 2021. Retrieved October 20, 2019.
  10. ↑ Archer, James (February 20, 2023). "Atomic Heart, ray tracing poster child, won't support ray tracing for PC on launch". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Archived from the original on February 25, 2023. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
  11. ↑ @mundfish (May 29, 2023). "🚨ATOMIC HEART OST: VOL 2🚨 JUNE 2nd 32 tracks, including A Fridge Called Nora, Inside Nora, Arlekino (feat. Alex Terrible) Mick Gordon, Geoffrey Day, Boogrov No more words, just a little teaser of the cover" (Tweet). Retrieved June 24, 2023 – via Twitter.
  12. 1 2 "Второй альбом с саундтреком Atomic Heart выйдет в начале июня — Игромания". Igromania.ru (in Russian). Retrieved June 13, 2023.
  13. 1 2 Atomic Heart (Original Game Soundtrack) Vol. 2, retrieved June 13, 2023
  14. 1 2 Atomic Heart Credits 4K, retrieved June 13, 2023
  15. ↑ "Atomic Heart's authors presented the first part of the soundtrack". PlayGround.ru (in Russian). February 20, 2023. Retrieved April 5, 2023.
  16. ↑ Lamb, Joshua (February 20, 2023). "Atomic Heart review — killer machines, hilarious satire and a glove called Charles". The Times.
  17. 1 2 3 4 Purdy, Kevin (February 22, 2023). "Ukraine wants ban on game allegedly funded by Russians and set in glorified USSR". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on March 9, 2023. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
  18. ↑ Power, Ed (March 6, 2023). "Pro-Russia propaganda or mindless shoot-'em-up? The Atomic Heart controversy, explained". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on March 6, 2023.
  19. ↑ Faulkner, Jason (February 21, 2023). "Is Atomic Heart Russian Propaganda?: Controversy Explained". Game Revolution.
  20. ↑ Price, Renata (February 23, 2023). "Is 'Atomic Heart' Pro-Russia, or Just Russian?". Vice News.
  21. ↑ Warner, Noelle (February 10, 2022). "BioShock-inspired shooter Atomic Heart gets a new trailer, release window". Destructoid. Archived from the original on September 7, 2022. Retrieved September 7, 2022.
  22. ↑ Romano, Sal (November 2, 2022). "Atomic Heart launches February 21, 2023". Gematsu. Archived from the original on November 2, 2022. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
  23. ↑ Mr Toffee (December 16, 2022). "ATOMIC HEART WILL BE PUBLISHED BY ASIAN COMPANY 4DIVINITY". KAKUCHOPUREI. Archived from the original on February 25, 2023. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
  24. ↑ Ferdinand, Pam K. (June 2023). "Atomic Heart Reveals DLC Weapons, Robots, Setting, and More". Gamerant.
  25. ↑ Craig, Daniel (April 24, 2023). "Atomic Heart's sales have exceeded expectations". Hitmarker.
  26. 1 2 3 Nightingale, Ed (February 17, 2023). "Questions remain over Atomic Heart developer's Russian origins". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on March 5, 2023. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  27. 1 2 Gerblick, Jordan (January 27, 2023). "Atomic Heart developer denies claims that it's harvesting data for Russian authorities". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on March 4, 2023. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  28. 1 2 Wolens, Joshua (February 17, 2023). "Why are people arguing about Atomic Heart?". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on March 4, 2023. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  29. ↑ "The Atomic Heart & Russia-Ukraine War Controversy Explained". February 24, 2023.
  30. ↑ Avery, Elise (February 24, 2023). "Explaining the Atomic Heart Controversy & How It Connects to Russia's War in Ukraine". The Escapist. Archived from the original on March 3, 2023. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
  31. ↑ Jiang, Sisi (February 15, 2023). "Doom Composer Donates His Atomic Heart Fee To Ukraine After Russia Controversy". Kotaku. Archived from the original on February 17, 2023. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
  32. 1 2 "Atomic Heart for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on February 20, 2023. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
  33. 1 2 "Atomic Heart for PlayStation 5 Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on December 7, 2022. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
  34. 1 2 "Atomic Heart for Xbox Series X Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on December 24, 2022. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
  35. ↑ Andriessen, CJ (February 21, 2023). "Review: Atomic Heart". Destructoid. Archived from the original on February 21, 2023. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  36. ↑ Trinske, Connor (February 21, 2023). "Atomic Heart Review - A Red Rapture". Game Informer. Archived from the original on February 21, 2023. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  37. ↑ Ramée, Jordan (February 20, 2023). "Atomic Heart Review - Crispy Critters". GameSpot. Archived from the original on February 20, 2023. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
  38. ↑ West, Josh (February 20, 2023). "Atomic Heart review: "A messy game with big ideas that are in desperate need of refinement"". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on February 20, 2023. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
  39. ↑ Cunningham, James (February 20, 2023). "Review: Atomic Heart". Hardcore Gamer. Archived from the original on February 20, 2023. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
  40. ↑ Bindloss, Will (February 20, 2023). "'Atomic Heart' review: back in the USSR". NME. Archived from the original on March 1, 2023. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
  41. 1 2 Stanton, Rich (February 22, 2023). "Atomic Heart review". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on February 21, 2023. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  42. ↑ Talbot, Ken (February 20, 2023). "Atomic Heart Review (PS5)". Push Square. Archived from the original on February 20, 2023. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
  43. ↑ Erskine, Donovan (February 20, 2023). "Atomic Heart review: Rage against the machines". Shacknews. Archived from the original on February 20, 2023. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
  44. ↑ Moosa, Tauriq (February 26, 2023). "Atomic Heart could have been the next BioShock". Polygon. Archived from the original on March 2, 2023. Retrieved March 2, 2023.
  45. ↑ "Mundfish: "Atomic Heart 2 — быть"". dtf.ru (in Russian). August 19, 2021. Archived from the original on March 25, 2023.
  46. ↑ "Глава Mundfish подтвердил разработку Atomic Heart 2". Kanobu.ru (in Russian). June 5, 2023. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
  47. ↑ "Глава студии Mundfish официально анонсировал Atomic Heart 2". dtf.ru (in Russian). June 5, 2023. Retrieved June 6, 2023.
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