It’s a party in the USSR….but not for long…
thanks to Xbox Canada who offered us a subscription Xbox Game Pass Ultimate in order to make the media coverage and the test of the games of this one. The publisher/developer therefore authorizes us to distribute and/or use excerpts from the game for our production needs and does not intervene in any way in the awarding of the final grade.
Beautiful
After making us salivate with its unveiling a few years ago, Atomic Heart finally arrives on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series, Xbox One and PC (et Game Pass). With its mouth-watering visuals, we were very excited regarding this new baby from Mundfish et Focus Entertainment. After spending several hours in it, does the gaming experience prove to be the most satisfying? This is what I tell you in the following lines…
As mentioned in the opening, the first thing that strikes is the visual quality that is offered to us from the first seconds of the game. P-3, we can see the richness of the colors, the quality of the animation, the lighting, the reflections and the sublime textures. The only thing that bothered me a bit regarding the visual is that the whole thing looks a bit uneven. Most of the exteriors are truly breathtaking, while for the interiors some of the textures look a bit bland. It’s a little weird what that gives in game…
The story in which Atomic Heart immerses us is very interesting. A few years before the 2nd World War, a scientific scientist from the USSR (Dmitry Sechenov) discovered a revolutionary material, called Polymer. Thanks to the properties of this substance, Russian scientists were able to feed and “to give life” to different types of robots, to free the inhabitants from certain tasks. Then, the second war broke out and before it was lost by the Germans, the Nazis released a deadly virus decimating part of the world’s population. The USSR subsequently became in great demand for its technology, in order to compensate for the millions of human losses and help countries to be able to rebuild themselves.
Sechenov continues its technological advances by launching the Kollectiv 1.0, used to link all the robots and thus gain in efficiency. Following this, the Russian scientist launches the THOUGHT neuro-connector, allowing the Polymer to be introduced into the human body, in order to be able to control robots by mere thought. On the day of the launch of the Kollectiv 2.0 program, a major bug occurs and the robots turn once morest humans, seeking to eradicate them. It was then that our adventure in the skin of the Major Sergey Nechaev, nicknamed Agent P-3whose mission is to get their hands on the author of the sabotage of the Kollectiv program which plunged research unit 3826 into total chaos.
Basically, I liked the premise, which is all quite original. On the other hand, where I had some difficulties, it is with the attitude and the personality of P-3. It must be said first of all that I played it in English, which perhaps wrongly heightens the bad impression I had regarding the character. Because the latter is very vulgar. Very, very, vulgar and the type of replica of the latter gives it more an “American” flavor than “Soviet”, which swears a bit. But hey, it’s not that bad either…
At the gameplay level, Atomic Heart launches us into a semi-open world in which we evolve in a first-person view. Basically, we’ll have to roam around the various locations of the massive science complex 3826, all while using our aptly named CHARLES Glove, to suck up resources from decimated desks, filing cabinets, cabinets, and enemies, to use them later to improve our equipment. Obviously, while trying to capture Viktor Petrovthe saboteur of Collective 2.0. In some sections of the game we will have more precise objectives, while in others it will only be enough to evolve from point A to point B to move on to the next “chapter”.
To help us in our quest, various weapons and abilities will be made available to us, which can be upgraded through NORA, a vending machine with an uncommon personality! Although the armament available to us is correct, I found the improvement operation a bit messy and almost painful. The menus are not always very clear, which tends to discourage us from spending a lot of time making our equipment better. In terms of abilities, we understand how to unlock them, but the use via CHARLES is a bit limited. Besides, it’s a bit disappointing, because in game, the combined use of the capacities of the glove and the weapons, is never as exciting or up to what we found in BioShock for example.
Let’s get along; Atomic Heart isn’t a bad game, but has a few minor irritants here and there that make it less fun than expected. It’s less prevalent since the last updates (including a huge one of almost 13Gb!), but some small collision or detection bugs are still present. I got caught between two rocks in two places, forcing me to have to quit the game and restart from the last autosave point. At another point, I encountered a mini-boss in a place that was logically not the right one, which allowed me to kill him in melee through a closed door! The game can be quite difficult at times, I was very happy, but when I arrived at the specific moment when this charming robot should have been waiting for me in the order of things, well he was no longer there and that was it. resulted in a rather bizarre sequence in the unfolding of the story!
In the end, you will have more than fifteen hours in Atomic Heart and despite the small problems here and there, the adventure is still relatively quite pleasant. If you subscribe to the Game Pass service, I definitely recommend that you give it a try. But if you’re planning on buying one, be warned that this one isn’t perfect and won’t slip into the Game of the Year 2023 nominations. What’s more, mentally prepare your wallet , because at the price of nearly $95 CAN before taxes, let’s say it’s a think regarding it…
Verdict
To know the criteria of our rating system, visit this page.
Note that the version tested is the one on Xbox Series X (Game Pass). The game is also available on PS5, Xbox One, PS4 and PC.
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