It always looked very promising in its gameplay videos leading up to launch, and now it's finally here. Atomic Heart is an alternate history shooter packed with crazy combat powers and weird looking robots.
Atomic Heart is launching in an especially busy period, and so questions will no doubt be asked about whether it does enough to stand out from the crowd. But at a glance, the general consensus seems to be that this is a solid FPS, even if the reviews have been a bit divided.
So, are you playing Atomic Heart? As always, vote in our polls, and then explain yourself in the comments section below.
Are you playing Atomic Heart? (1,462 votes)
- Yes, I'm playing it
- Not yet, but I do want to play it
- I'm not sure about the game yet
- Nah, I'm busy with other games
- No, I don't care about Atomic Heart
Are you a big FPS fan? (1,259 votes)
- Yes, I love FPS games
- Yeah, I like them
- Hmmm, it depends
- Nah, not really
- Nope, but I'm playing Atomic Heart0.8%
- No, I don't like FPS games at all
Comments 71
I find FPS game to be hit or miss depending not the genre its in, but im definitely not like some gamers that only can play fps games I find that weird on may levels.
I said yes, but only because I played it on Gamepass for a good chunk of time yesterday. After that initial playtime though, I won’t be returning. I’m usually the one to support divisive games on this site and the affiliates, but, man, the game was a huge disappointment for me. Feels like a game that peaks in the first hour. You can tell that the kernel of what they were trying to do stylistically is interesting and the graphics are outstanding (when they aren’t a janky and jittery), but there’s just so many problems with the game where gameplay, level design, tech, and optimization that I’m likely not returning.
I am playing on Gamepass. It's mediocre at best. Now with PSVR it will be a huge while until I pick it up again
@somnambulance Thanks for that info. Looks like the kind of game that has potential as long as the devs support it over time. Maybe next year will be a good time to play it.
I like a good single player first person shooter. However, they are very few and far between for me. This looked promising but I am not sure about it yet.
That said: Sony, Resistance remasters please. Sell them well and then make a sequel. Thanks. A man can dream.
Yeah... but on GamePass. Was not 100% sure, so glad it is an option and I gave it a try.
Doing the job as a bridge game until PSVR2 shows up and keep Hogwarts Legacy (mostly) for my commute and work trips.
I rather play 3rd person games. But I just need to be entertained, everything else are side options.
Chose busy with other games. I don't think AH looks a bad game at all although I was expecting a lot less devisive reviews overall. Seems the ideal game for GP to check it out or add it to your wishlist for when it's half price or less come December?
I started playing it on gamepass and so far I like it the combat has a good feel to it and robot dismemberment is interesting. Also pigs and chickens will attack you if you kill their fellow pigs and chickens it seems.
Beautiful game, neat premise, absolutely horrific writing and voice acting. It's so bad I quit and uninstalled the game. I've never been so turned off by video game writing before. It completely ruins the experience for me. It's peurile, unimaginative and toxic. Turns what could be a compelling immersive sim into a truly insufferable experience.
I had thought this was just some generic FPS shooter, but after seeing some clips it looks like it might be a cool robotics themed game. It doesn't help that I keep getting Atomic Heart and Wild Hearts muddled up.
Anyway, I could do with finding a trailer and perhaps digging out a review or two to unmuddy my mind on what this game is like.
Already download it on pc gamepass, I'll play it tomorrow.
Yep I'm a playing it and enjoying it, FPS is my favourite genre, looks and plays well but the characters let it down. 7/10 seems about right so far.
Personally not really interested in this one. Not really fussed about classic FPS campaigns at the moment.
Not really a criticism of the game, just a personal mood thing right now.
I gave it a spin after being very intrigued, but decided not to continue playing. The writing is so grating as are some gameplay elements. At the end of the day I just want to play Ishin and Fire Emblem and have no time for something I'm not fully invested in.
@Dloki Hi-Fi Rush perhaps, Signalis most definitely, but Atomic Heart... No. Especially if you see the psplus releases for this month.
i want to play & voted ''i love'' fps because it seems like outside of fighters those are the only really fun games to play for hours and hours , and years
Playing via GP. Put around 8hrs into it and thoroughly enjoyed what I've played so far.
Playing it via gamepass on Series S. Despite the annoying banter of the main character it's pretty good. I think I'm four hours in. Will buy this most likely on PS5 as well.
@CthulhuFhtagn
For Sony fanboys this community seems pretty tolerant regarding Xbox I really love my Series S but will always return to my PS5 xD
Honestly, this game look like an oddball game I would enjoy through & through. I plan on checking this out later on life.
@BrotherFilmriss this community is absolutely not tolerant towards Xbox . Try having a peak at the comment section when there’s anything about the activision-blizzard acquisition. People throwing blades of chaos and claws of Hades towards you whenever you say something bad about Sony.
Apparently that’s not allowed here.
Anyway, back on topic, I’ll definitely give this game a go since I love the Bioshock series and I hope this will give me a piece of that same vibe again. On gamepass. (No need to spend 60 euro’s on that game on my playstation, which is nice. If I love it I will buy it afterwards for the collection!).
Playing it and loving it
Downloaded through game pass to play tomorrow, but won't get a chance to play it as I'll be playing assassin's creed syndicate since it's been fixed on ps5.
@somnambulance what’s wrong with the gameplay,level design and tech? The game runs absolutely smooth on ps5,the level design is great and fun to explore and the gameplay is a blast on normal once you have some powers and guns. Oh and divisiveness has lost all meaning when a game that has a 77 on metacritic with the majority of reviews positive is considered divisive lol.
The combat/gameplay seems to be lacking from what I have heard in terms of weight and feel which is pretty much the number one criteria for enjoyment for me in a game like this. I am definitely going to play it at some point but likely once it drops below 25 bucks on a deep sale
@Logonogo idk where you heard that but I don’t agree at all. The melee def has weight too it with nice hit reactions on enemies and the combat with guns def feels good especially combined with powers.
For sure, having a blast! Man, I miss good old BioShock.
@dark_knightmare2 I've heard it from a lot of different reviewers that I trust and also from people playing the game. I am glad you are enjoying it though I look forward to trying it out sometime in the future
i am playing it, but only because of XBOX gamepass. microsoft doesnt get praised for making games accessible for those who arent first worlders
Got gamepass on PC for 1€ to try this. It's fine, if you're not paying for it but I wouldn't pay 70€ for it.
Im a big fan of fps games.i will get atomic soon.my backlog is huge.word up son
It's a game from a Russian dev, with headquarters in Russia (not Cyprus, that's not their main studio), being funded by Gazprom and paying taxes to the Russian government.
So no I won't be buying this game.
Im holding out on the potential PSVR2 port. Its not fully confirmed, but the devs have said they are quite intrested in pursuing it after relesse...im willing to hold out, i got plenty other stuff to play otherwise.
@Irae gaming has always been an expensive hobby
@Friendly i talk “bad” about $ony all the time, & i don’t see it . maybe i’m on a lot of block lists
Tone of it seems a bit off, bit puerile and silly in the wrong ways. Still want to play it one day as it looks technically and artistically brilliant. Hopefully I can switch language to Russian.
@nomither6 have you been called a 10 year old already? . I unlocked that trophy today for saying that Sony does do scummy business with their timed exclusive deals which originates all the way back to the ps2 with GTA 3 for instance.
I asked which comment made me look like a 10 year old, no response. I’m probably on that ignore list too….
@Sequel you can that’s the way I’m playing it
I'm a huge FPS fan and I love a good stylistic game. That said though, I'll be waiting for a sale on this as there's either too much coming out soon or games that are already out that I want to play. Besides, with the criticisms levelled against it by both professional reviewers and the player base, I can't justify $70 for it. But I'll definitely get to it at some point.
@Loamy Glad to hear that, I will certainly be giving it a fair shake but am not willing to spend full price given the wildly different accounts of how it plays and feels. The world looks fantastic though and that alone guarantees I will be playing it eventually
@Friendly lol 😂 closest i’ve been called is a kid and whiner . surprisingly i’ve never been called a troll , so that’s an achievement for me because that lets me know that they know i’m being honest and my intentions are genuine
or they just blocked me before it got to that point LMAO 🤣
my complaints usually are because of the empty suit in charge of SIE right now and all the things they removed from the ps5 that the ps4/3 had & the monotony of their exclusives
@nomither6 i would agree with that paragraph.
Such a shame Sony got rid of their Japan Studio. And that Quantic Dream got acquired by NetEase.
We can now tell what two types of games Sony will make for the next 10 years. Single player narative driven action games, and the occasional racing game. Oh, and MLB the show. That’s all I think. Not much variety.
Oh, and apparently 12 live service games. Joy…
I am really enjoying it so far. The writing and voice acting starts off really jarring and goofy, but that gets a lot better. Combat is very fun and intense once you get the hang of it, and the graphics are gorgeous.
I can see myself finishing it.
@nomither6 at least its fine to criticise Sony here. go look at criticism of MS over on purexbox, labelled an immediate troll. Even seen well thought out posts by people like MightyAnt called fanboys.
on topic will give atomic a try on GP at some point
Played for 5 hours but not anymore, the game is simply not enjoyable, it has good graphics but every aspect of the gameplay is clunky, and while the story seems interesting the dialogue is borderline unbearable. Crispy critters everyone!
On gamepass yes
You forgot to add, “Still deciding whether or not I want to return my shipped-but-undelivered copy of the game” to your poll
With how many games I've bought day one, my reason for waiting on this is a suffering wallet. Poor Guy. Lightfall is my last big one until April, last couple of months alone had Forspoken, Wild Hearts, Hogwarts Legacy and Fire Emblem Engage. Will watch streams of it from smaller streamers though as I do find it artistically intriguing and quite a looker.
@Constable_What def agree I’m playing in Russian and it’s a really well written story once you get past the weirdly rough first hour or two. The main character settles down and the story really picks up. Oh and granny Zina is freaking awesome lol.
I’ll pick it up after the Russian federation collapses
@dark_knightmare2 I’ll just copy and paste a comment I made about Atomic Heart elsewhere:
“I’ve got to be honest, it’s been a long time since I’ve been so disappointed in a release at launch. I was really looking forward to the game and am typically generous in my understanding for bugs, but there’s a lot that frustrated me in playing this game for three hours last night. I can forgive the weird janky animations, but there were parts of my initial session where button inputs just didn’t work. In 2023, that’s a really bizarre issue to have in a AAA style game. I also had an issue where there was a quest already that just didn’t give any instruction what to do. I was trying to find an elevator, so it should’ve been simple to figure out, but the game was so obtuse about it. I restarted the game and the quest became active. The visuals are spectacular in the game though when they aren’t jittery or skittering (which happened heavily in a section where there were a bunch of forklifts racing around and anytime the rollercoaster sections occurred… they just felt really off). I like the voice acting, but I suppose I’m biased as a Supernatural fan. I want to enjoy the game. More obnoxious than the technical issues though is the gameplay loop so far. The game doesn’t seem to know what type of genre it wants to be, whether that’s an FPS, a first person puzzler, immersive sim, whatever, so the gameplay loop feels awkwardly paced. Shoot two robots, there’s a lock and pick it, shoot two robots, find a key and unlock a door, shoot two robots, find two canisters, shoot two robots, find five canisters, etc. I swear, I ragequit when the five canister search began, just because I was ready for the game to open up and I was getting tired of the game feeling like a repetitive set of fetch quests. The puzzles have been boring so far and the amount of locks have broken the pacing for me every time. I thought the copious amount of locks to actually be more frustrated than my button inputs not working during the roller coaster sections or when I’d get mobbed by robots. At least the button inputs disappearing made me have to figure out how to survive while severely crippled. I don’t know if I’ll go back to the game, honestly. The first hour, prior to real gameplay, was certainly stunning, but I was frustrated a lot once the game actually got started. Also, jeez, who decided that the size 8 font text size was suitable for the ui and subtitles with this one? It’s really hard to read if you’re not right in front of the TV. Its a shame because the art direction is truly unique.”
Also, 72 on OpenCritic. Any game that has scores that range from 4/10 to 10/10 and everywhere in-between is divisive. Same score as Pokémon Scarlet and Violet and one point higher than Sonic Frontiers and also four points lower than Cyberpunk 2077. If those three games, as comparison points, aren’t examples of divisive titles…:
@dark_knightmare2 Even the English VA isn't bad once P3 stops being a punkass for no reason. I think the turning point for acting and dialogue is when the glove notices that P3 is frustrated, and asks why he's taking it out on him, and then they have the first kinda heartfelt dialogue of the whole game. It really mellows out, stops being as cringe, and becomes engaging after a while too.
Like I really enjoy them debating conspiracies, the logic, and the ideology behind what's going on on the island. I like the idea that they both know they're being used, but they accept it, in the glove's case, or are fine with it, in P3's case.
P3 isn't strictly a meat head, he's reasonably intelligent and can have a coherent and interesting conversation sometimes, which is surprising. Coz yeah, he's a massive goofball, but it's obvious he is paying attention and observing what's going on, and able to discuss it with the glove.
I also don't really have too much issue with the pacing. It's really fast and a lot of varied content comes at you all at once, but I enjoy the balancing act of it all. It's a bizarre game. It's kind of a mess, but it's a hot mess, and it's really fun.
I wasn't all that hyped for it either. I've been burned so many times, that I have learned to not do that in most cases. Game reminds me of something like Singularity, which is a solid game, and Metro Exodus which had a similar "open world" structure.
And yes, the ol' Baba Yaga is awesome. She is very interesting.
I'll catch it in a sale on a boring night in the future.
@Constable_What man Singularity and Metro Exodus are two of my fav games absolutely love them
@somnambulance it’s actually 74 on opencritic but I and most people don’t use that and a 77 metacritic from unknown dev releasing their first game is great. A divisive title would be a whole bunch of 4 or 5’s with a bunch of 8 or 9’s which isn’t what this title has it has mostly 8’s with a couple absolutely stupid scores of 4 or 5. You don’t enjoy it that’s cool and your opinion I just wouldn’t personally call it divisive especially when user reviews have been pretty high
@Loamy these two games make awesome crossover fanart ideas.
A few hours in and I’m not sure what to make of it yet. The game looks so good and the gameplay is decent. There just seems to be too many fetch quests objectives. I’ve just got outside, so I’m hoping the game will be more enjoyable now its opened up a bit.
From the comments, it seems the GamePass trial is probably hurting this game. A lot of people are “playing it on GamePass”, meaning “playing the timed trial” and I’m seeing a lot of “deleted it after the first couple hours because it wasn’t good because of …”. I think I’ve seen only two or three comments of people who have played the trial and are convinced to buy. It would be interesting to see the abandonment rate.
I’ve always thought some games don’t demo well and you kind have to have some skin in the game, so to speak, and have invested money in it so you’ll stick with it if the opening hours are rough. If it’s a game trial, it’s easy to just waste a couple hours and then just flush it since you don’t feel invested. A successful game trial has to be absolutely riveting and easy to get into and fall for the characters in the first couple hours. Like Hogwart’s Legacy — After 2-3 hours it’s impossible to put it down. A game like Red Dead Redemption 2 is an absolute masterpiece but if I’d have played it on a timed trial I wouldn’t have ever actually bought it. Thankfully I had bought it and made it through the somewhat boring and drawn out intro and to the excellent meat of the game.
@Friendly @nomither6 I’ll agree that I miss Japan Studio and really enjoy Quantic Dream, but I see a lot about the “monotony of Sony exclusives” and I think a lot of people forget about first and second party exclusives like Bound, Dreams, Concrete Genie, Knack, Returnal, R&C, Nioh, Resogun, The Last Guardian, SotC, Erica, Astrobot’s Playroom, Until Dawn, Death Stranding, Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, not to mention all the investment in VR. A lot of that is second party but it’s Sony produced and funded.
In fact, Sony produced gaming over the last generation has been arguably the most diverse of the three console makers, I’d wager. Sure there a lot of 3rd person action narrative games — Horizon, Spider-Man, GoW, the ND games, even the less successful attempts like Days Gone and The Order 1886, but everyone forgets about the others like Dead Nation and Tearaway. And yeah — as you mention — a major sports title and a major racing sim. Does anyone else have all that? Artistic indie style games, experimental quirky stuff from Kojima and niche games like Returnal, and games that are basically unable to be categorized like Dreams. Even different genres like Twisted Metal are on their way. And again … VR2. How much more niche can you be.
I’d say their biggest weak point is FPS and online games and I know @nomither6 that’s your biggest beef with Sony and guess what — you’re getting your wish with this hoard of live service online games coming in excess soon.
The problem is, many of these lesser known games that I listed don’t sell. I see people say that they want Sony to make more diverse games but then they don’t buy them or play them. If people would actually put their money where their mouth is and buy the other games then we might get more of them. If Gravity Rush and Everybody’s Golf sold, then perhaps Japan Studios would still be around.
Edit: oops.. forgot where I was. Um, Atomic Heart looks ok I guess. 😅
@Th3solution they need to make more appealing AA/indies then . i don’t think it’s because of us not buying them more-so than those games just aren’t appealing . make an IP that’s of a popular genre or style & start small , or just bring back their dormant IPs .
Riot Games is killing it right now and now they’re making a fighting game . Hi-rez is another studio that’s a good example i think
between PSVR, Hogwarts, Dead Space and a killer Plus lineup this month I just dont have time for it.
No idea when im going to fit it in
@Dloki
My guess is either MS' deals with these companies to get the game on gamepass has an exclusivity clause that it can't be on PS+;
Or Sony doesn't know what they're doing and is too stuck in the 'buy the game' idea. Japanese companies aren't known for their dynamic management/market pivots. Just look at Nintendo or Toyota.
I mean they were dragged kicking and screaming into BC. You'd bet they'd rather not allow it.
@nomither6 I responded here then realized I was getting pretty off topic with this article so I deleted the comment and moved it to one of the forum threads. 😄 . Sorry for the confusion.
@Loamy Very well reasoned thoughts and I do think you’ve hit on the issue right there. Although I’ve enjoyed PS+ Extra, I am more of a gamer like you — most of what I play is purchased and I usually will try to stick it out if the opening hours are mediocre. I’ve definitely abandoned my share of games, but there’s a lot of games I had to really push through several hours before the game clicked for me. I mentioned RDR2 as a good example — I shudder to think if I gave up during those opening hours in the snowy mountains and getting used to the clunky controls and I would have missed out on arguably one of the best open world narratives ever made. Another really recent one for me was Dark Souls Remastered. I actually abandoned it on PS3, but at the urging of the community here tried it again when I found a physical copy for cheap and I absolutely loved it. But you have to get past the first several hours and figure out how the game works. If you just booted it up randomly on a whim to try it for a couple hours then most people will quit pretty quickly, I’d guess. It’s probably why we’ll never see FromSoft put their games on a service.
Come to think of it, when I look at some of the games I started and never finished this last year or so, they are usually PS+ games. Slay the Spire, BioShock 2, Subnautica, Hitman… I do often still finish the PS+ games I try, but I am more likely to drop them than those I bought.
And that’s a really interesting point about how the subscription service model and how it breeds this quick abandonment is almost certainly affecting game development. And you look at the successful service and F2P games and they are a lot of ‘drop in, drop out, get right into the action’ types of experiences. Which is fine, I guess, but if the creative vision of the developer and the story they want to tell is more of a slow burn (a la The Last of Us, etc) then you can’t exactly accomplish your vision by developing for the ADHD lowest common denominator. 😅
@Loamy My most impressive PS+ game completion has to be Marvel’s Avengers. I brute forced my way to the completion of the game’s campaign by sheer iron will. The opening moments of the live-service microtransaction-ridden menus should have immediately scared me away, but I pushed through to end of the single player story. I know I didn’t pay any money outright for the game, but that’s 7 hours of my life I’ll never get back! 😂
Probably wait til it's on sale. Have plenty of games to play with the likes of like a dragon issen, octopath traveler 2 and with legend of dragoon and wild arms 2 being released for ps4/5(wild arms 2, never came out in uk til now)
I'm not playing Atomic Heart, waiting until the game is on sale for $20 New or free with PS Plus.
Normally dislike FPS but depending on the story, my mind can be changed.
I wont support russian developers as long as Russia is maintaining war against Ukraine. If you want to support war - shame on you who bought this game imho.
I got a backlog growing out of control and really need to take care of a few games before adding more to it
I'll play it this weekend.
About 10 hours in so far and I really like it. I actually like the writing, harkens back to early 2000s. Duke Nukem meets Fallout. Lots of different combos to mess around with, can’t decide if I like melee or ranged better.
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