Atomic Heart Critic Reviews

2023 has already been strong with Game of the Year contenders, and Atomic Heart is another one of them. It lives up to all of the hype and all of its promises; an amazing debut game for Mundfish. Nailing down a few things Atomic Heart is phenomenal at is nearly impossible because it’s extraordinary in all of them. This isn’t just my favorite game of this year, it might be one of my favorites of the decade.

Atomic Heart is a terrific game with minor shortcomings thanks to its strong narrative components, quick gunplay, and special abilities. It is not a Bioshock clone; it has its own pace, characters, and stunning artistic design, and it deserves all of the attention it can receive.

Atomic Heart has several fun elements that keep the player hooked from start until the end. Although it has some technical problems, they are passable in the face of the final work, which delivers much more than players expect. Diverse combat, lots of exploration and clever puzzles are just some of the points that make this game a must-have for PS5 owners.

Atomic Heart is undoubtedly one of the best first-person shooter campaigns I’ve played in years. In addition to rock-solid gameplay, the game offers an intriguing mystery and a robust upgrade system. It’s even more impressive when you remember that this is the first game from Developer Mundfish. Outside of controversial themes and a lack of enemy variety, it’s hard to point out any glaring issues with Atomic Heart.

In spite of some minor technical glitch, Atomic Heart is a fun, spectacular and intense shooter, that will amaze the fans of the genre with a passion for narrative. Bol'shoi!

Atomic Heart is a brilliant game, that is able to mix some beloved game mechanics in its own way, in order to make you experience an intriguing journey that will make you wonder how and when will this universe be expanded in the future.

Atomic Heart is a love letter to retro-futuristic soviet aesthetic incorporated in an intriguing story and decent combat that will put you in a genuinely immersive and exciting world that does not overstay its welcome. It comes with its flaws, but it is such an audio-visual spectacle that tends to become better as you give it more time to open up, and it will surely stay in your memory as an original and fun experience.

Atomic Heart is a colorful title with a gripping story and powerful dialogue. Its universe between Bioshock and Wolfenstein absorbs you and takes you on a fast-paced adventure alongside a damn crazy and rather well-written hero. Not everything is perfect and everything remains fairly standard, but the experience is devilishly satisfying thanks to its effective gameplay, well-thought-out puzzles, lots of humor and fun. A really good explosive cocktail!

Despite a few missed opportunities to really build on the great games it’s inspired by, Atomic Heart surprised me, with a remarkably inventive world that brings to life (the tears apart) the weirdest, wildest visions of Soviet propaganda. This is a game that’s been through over half a decade of development hell, and come out the other side as one of the best first-person shooters this generation.

Atomic Heart is a game with identity and some brilliant elements, but its flaws prevent it from offering a solid structure. It could have been so much better.

Mundfish has managed to capture the thrill of over-the-top action taking full advantage of Atomic Heart’s 1950s setting and insane narrative. Every moment of gameplay is packed with tense combat against haywire animatronics. Still, all the heavy metal shredding in the world isn’t enough to save the experience from its extremely poor user interface design and lack of basic accessibility features.

While Atomic Heart brings nothing new to the table, it brings flair to the concepts it borrows from games before it, making for a fun experience that will have your heart pumping, funny bone aching, and brain working overtime.

Mundfish arrives with a charismatic and powerful proposal that leaves us wanting a sequel.

For a first game from a new studio, Atomic Heart executes many of its ideas very well, delivers a solid story, and actually manages to innovate in a genre where it would be easy to remain stagnant...Yes, its main character won’t live long in the memory, the narrative takes some time to heat up, and the modern-day curse of technical hitches are noticeable. But as a whole, Atomic Heart is an electric and enjoyable FPS title with surprising puzzle aspects, and I can’t wait to see how Mundfish builds on this hot start in the future.

Atomic Heart is not just another Russian Bioshock, although it certainly draws a lot of inspiration from it. Mundfish's game actually has a deeper lore than it appears and is interesting. The stakes won't break any bones, but they are more than enough to keep us on our toes. Our hero and his sidekick are talkative, but never heavy-handed and the game constantly oscillates between drama, reflection and humour, and it works. Visually, it's a hit. The art direction is insane and technically, it's superb on PS5. The details are legion, and the game impresses on many levels, notably with its special effects (light, pyrotechnics, blur, etc.) but also with its animations, some of which are truly amazing. So, yes, there are a few glitches like a handful of not-so-great textures, residual bugs or rhythm problems, especially during the cutscenes which are often very average, or even failed for some. But despite this, it's hard not to get a kick out of it. Atomic Heart remains a sure thing. An excellent surprise even.

Atomic Heart turned out to be a pleasant surprise, a charismatic first-person shooter with gameplay ideas applied almost to perfection. Leaving aside the uninteresting open world stages, the development team managed to create a world with a remarkable aesthetic quality despite the presence of several bugs. In any case, Atomic Heart represents a good first work for Mundfish and, above all, remains a fun and brutal FPS in its Soviet madness.

A brilliantly executed variation on BioShock with a lot of its own ideas and an original, unseen world. It's a shame about the technical problems and certain user discomfort that prevented it from going one step higher.

A competent first-person shooter set against the fascinating backdrop of an alternate history, technologically advanced Soviet Union. Atomic Heart wears its gaming inspirations on its sleeve, but never comes close to their greatness.

Atomic Heart has all the premises for a great game. That is why so frustrating that Mundifsh dropped the ball by trying to do too much, and botching up some gameplay mechanics, and also by releasing a game that desperately would have needed more time for fixing the bugs that poison the experience. And while the latter can be solved through patches, some peculiar game design choices and compromises take away from the overall value. The vibes of the game are great, but when you look beyond the atmosphere you will find flaws that are much more than simple nuisances. Still, despite the disappointment, Atomic Heart is worth playing and hopefully marks the start of a new franchise, that will give the developers the chance to produce a sequel that rises to the level of expectations.

Atomic Heart is a compelling and exciting sci-fi action RPG, with a unique and well-developed setting. Although it has its imperfections, from its slow pace to occasionally annoying combat, the exciting mysteries at the heart of, well, Atomic Heart, made it worth powering through. For action-RPG fans with a taste for alternate history settings, Atomic Heart is definitely worth diving into, and I am excited to see what developer Mundfish has to offer in the future.