The long-awaited project about the alternative future of the Soviet Union - Atomic Heart made a splash not only within the CIS, but around the world. In this article, we will tell you what reviews of Atomic Heart were left by local and foreign critics, as well as what ordinary gamers praise and criticize the game for.
Atomic Heart reviews from critics
One day before the release on the English site Metacritic the first ratings and reviews of Atomic Heart from foreign critics have already appeared. After the release of the game, the average rating has grown slightly and now stands at 77 points out of 100 possible based on reviews from 31 critics. Below are a few key reviews of foreign and Russian-speaking critics on Atomic Heart.
Reviews of foreigners about Atomic Heart
Gaming edition GamersRD (100/100):
The developers at Mundfish have put politics aside and created a gaming universe with the perfect combination of passion, discipline and talent. This approach provided a magical level of attention to detail. What Atomic Heart is is a true work of art.
Gaming news portal IGN (9/10):
Atomic Heart is a highly inventive, atompunk-inspired attempt to continue what the BioShock games started: not without flaws, but with every chance of breaking into the big leagues.
Chinese edition GAMERSKY (88/100):
Atomic Heart is an imaginary utopian world that has a beautiful vision of an alternate timeline. The game impresses with countless terrifying mechanical bodies and experimental creatures, as well as references and atmosphere in the spirit of the culture of the Soviet people.
Edition Xbox Era (8,4/10) noted the impressive debut of Russian developers:
Atomic Heart is a great game and an incredible debut for Mundfish, albeit with some issues. Smart storytelling, large-scale scenery, fun fights and other elements make me recommend this game. Heck, it's coming to Game Pass, so just subscribe and enjoy this extraordinary adventure.
Review from PC Games (80/100):
With extremely addictive, varied gameplay, great art style, interesting story, and great sound, Atomic Heart manages to transcend a lot of its little mistakes.
Portal dedicated to video games GamesRadar+ (2.5/5):
Atomic Heart is a convoluted video game with big ideas and a desperate need for polish.
Портал Twinfinite (4/10) rather criticized the technical aspects of the game, the plot and gameplay:
Many elements could have worked in Atomic Heart, especially regarding the setting and storytelling, but they didn't. There is hope that Mundfish will fix the main problems of the action after the release, but now the game does not look like a long-awaited revolution, but like a nuclear catastrophe.
Reviews of Russian-language publications about Atomic Heart
Gaming online edition Playground (8.5/10):
Atomic Heart is primarily an action game, not a shooter, so depending on the personal preferences of the players, it can work in different ways, which causes a double perception of the gameplay. The gameplay will definitely delight gamers with a strong commitment to the genre, a special love for the BioShock or Prey series.
Game portal VG Times (7/10):
Atomic Heart failed to become the Russian version of BioShock. This is still a different game, assembled from a whole heap of game design solutions. It doesn't have a clear structure. It is filled with unnecessary mechanics and rudimentary features.
Player feedback on Atomic Heart
The site Metacritic the average score for Atomic Heart from casual gamers was almost perfectly in line with the opinions of various critics. Reviews of ordinary players in the end brought a rating 7.8 of 10. In game service Steam "Atomic Heart" currently has 78% Positive Feedback. Such a feedback rate in this digital store is considered as “very positive”.
Where the average rating has gone far from the opinion of critics is in the service VK play. Atomic Heart in this digital store now has an overall rating of 9.4 points out of 10 possible. On this platform, the game was released in the CIS countries, so it is closer to the players culturally.
Why praise the game
If we analyze all the feedback from Atomic Heart players, then in general the game is praised for:
- A gripping storyline.
- The atmosphere of the USSR.
- Memorable Bosses.
- Great soundtrack.
- Good optimization.
- Nice graphics.
- Great visual style.
- Deep gaming lore.
- References and Easter eggs.
And of course, the most important point that players note in almost all positive reviews is the presence in the game two beautiful twins.
Why criticize the game
There is a spoonful of tar in the barrel of honey, and players generally criticize Atomic Heart for:
- Small bugs.
- No support for ray tracing.
- Digital artbook in English.
- Problems with the voice acting of characters and dialogues.
- Short story.
Read on:We hope that the article helped to understand what is the general impression in the community of gamers about the new ambitious project - Atomic Heart. The site has a special section with useful guides to Atomic Heart». Share in the comments your opinion, did you like the game?
I would say that f***ing parkour is a downside. It's incredibly infuriating when you jump on these sleepers for 5 minutes and fall at the end ... And at the checkpoint.
And a sniper! Why is there no SVD??? It would greatly diversify the game. They would put her in some underground base, optional to visit.
The rest is great!
Of course, you can't please everyone, but your anger is understandable. Some of the gameplay elements and how often they are used can be really frustrating. Thank you for sharing!
For me, the main disadvantage is a dead open world. It is just, let's say, a distraction from the constant corridors and laboratories. But… There is nothing to do there. Resources are already above the roof, you don’t need to specially farm them. Polygons are purely an option. I passed 3, but I didn’t want to go any further, maybe I was strong anyway. If there were any side effects, then there was no price, and so ... In fact, a lot of work has been done, but it wasn’t really needed.
I cannot but agree that such a feature exists. When analyzing feedback from gamers, I came across the fact that some are happy with the open world, because after corridor laboratories it is a breath of fresh air. And this is enough for such players. Others understand what a real good open world should look like, so they are left with an unpleasant aftertaste. Because of this, in the end, I did not attribute this feature to either minuses or pluses.
I don’t know what kind of players, but in my environment everyone only looks at the twins for obvious reasons.
Perhaps that's why the game took off - in an era when any hint of eroticism in the image of a woman is considered taboo, such a vivid demonstration of sexual characteristics attracted the attention of the audience.
I didn’t find a deep plot in the game, rather, it’s a fan service game (including because of the Soviet paraphernalia, some even praised Endless Summer for the same image).
Each new game has some key characters who become the "face of the project". But in Mundfish's defense, the twins don't get much screen time. So if gamers play and pass Atomic Heart to the end, then this is still the merit of the whole game, and not two separately taken characters.
I’m not saying that it’s bad, on the contrary, there have been VERY FEW fanservice games lately, since everywhere they usually try to plant actual problems in the face of the humiliated and offended.
Although she didn’t enter the plot for me, she pleased the eye (even though I’m a girl 😀)
That's for sure! Subconsciously, I even want to close my eyes to some shortcomings for this.
Regarding fan service, if you don’t understand the plot, well, that’s kind of your problem, but the plot of the game is quite relevant, and the problems of the modern world pose actual ones, for example, the collapse of the labor market in the USA due to the spread of robotic labor and technology, isn’t this a modern problem? due to the spread of neural networks, which are already making thousands unemployed. Not to mention the ending, where, given a choice, most chose the victory of artificial intelligence, without even knowing it!