Atomic Heart is an adventure first-person shooter, events of which unfolds in an alternate universe during the high noon of the Soviet Union. The principal character of the game is a special agent P-3, who after an unsuccessful landing on enterprise "3826" is trying to figure out what went wrong.
A half-interesting game is buried by a mess of its own making - and represents an industry conundrum that will only continue to grow.
Atomic Heart wants to be BioShock, but the tone of its narrative rubber-bands in quality. It's hard to tell which parts are poorly written, and which are intentionally comedic. By contrast, the environmental and character designs are excellent, which makes it worth pushing through the rougher sections. Atomic Heart is a spectacle, and it's got more...
Atomic Heart is a bit of a surprise. It's not perfect and the open world is an unneeded dilution, but when you're in the story missions it's always entertaining, despite occasionally dragging things out a little. It can be a bit strange, but it's the self aware kind of strange that can be a bit charming. And the robots are pretty great.
Atomic Heart aims high and, even if it doesn't quite pull it off, is a decent shooter in an exceptionally realised setting.
The mix of highbrow story concept and complex first person combat is certainly reminiscent of Bioshock, but this churlish homage has nowhere near the same nuance in terms of either plot or gameplay.
