Enter the world of wonders and perfection where humans and their AI creations live in harmony, or so it appears. Set the record straight on this deceitful utopia as you explore a twisted sci-fi world, blasting rogue robots, gigantic machines, and mutants. And know that if you want to unveil the truth, you will have to pay in blood.
Atomic Heart has been beating away in developing for many years now – appearing, disappearing, and finally reappearing with a new trailer full of action and combat. First announced four years ago, Atomic Heart has been a long time in the making, and finally, after a slight delay, the makers of this game have confirmed its release date.
What is the Release Date of Atomic Heart?
Focus Entertainment and Mundfish are thrilled to announce the release date for their upcoming action RPG Atomic Heart. The game is set in the mad utopia of an alternate post-WWII world and will release on the 21st of February, 2023, on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series XS, Xbox One, and PC.
While the release window was originally set and later confirmed as being in late 2022, an announcement that the game would now be published by Focus Interactive described it as ‘initially planned for 2022’. However, the release date was later rescheduled for the winter season. But now in a recent trailer, the gamers finally know the exact release date of the game, and they cannot keep calm.
What is Atomic Heart All About?
Atomic Heart is an alternate reality Soviet-era first-person combat game with clown-themed torture chambers, killer robots, and grandmothers trapped in the flowing molecular gloop. The whole ambiance doesn’t just sound weird but looks threatening too. The combat is a juxtaposition of shooting and melee with improvised weapons as well as the shortage of ammo means you will want to sneak through some areas.
The makers have revealed some previews of the gameplay. You will spot many combat options on display and catch a glimpse of all sorts of powers from the player’s left hand, such as ice jets, telekinesis, varied weaponry in the right, pistols, pitchforks, electrified rifles, and whatnot.
Coming to the premise of Atomic Heart is like an episode of Black Mirror if it was set in a warped version of the Soviet Union sometime between the ‘30s and ‘60s. According to Mundfish CEO Robert Bagratuni,
“The USSR still exists in this reality, but a technical revolution has already taken place – robots, the internet, and holograms have already been invented. All these innovations are submerged in the atmosphere of communism, confrontation with the imperialism of the West, and all the other inherent political and social aspects of the time.”
The robots have been mass-produced to aid with agriculture, timber production, defense, and simple household shoes, and now they are setting off toward rebellion. You play Major Nechaev, a mentally unstable KGB special agent codenamed P-3, and the government has sent you on a mission to investigate the manufacturing facility that has fallen silent.
When you arrive, everything seems pretty normal; however, it is not. The robots are out of control, once-dead creatures walk again all over the place, and the traps are set to ensnare anyone who enters the facility. It is up to you to find out what has happened and how to end this existing chaos.
The makers have confirmed that the plot of Atomic Heart is linear. It rests somewhere between murder and madness.
What is in Atomic Heart Gameplay?
According to Mundfish, Atomic Heart is all set to get wilder, weirder, and more adventurous.
Similar to the footage reveals, the release date trailer is full of eerie, baffling, and violent imagery. You will spot massive facilities full of Soviet mannequins performing their aerobics routines. There are flying men with fanged worms for heads, cyborgs doing lightning-hand high-fives, and a guy who keeps doing the middle finger.
The Atomic Heart combat trailer reveals bloodthirsty mad scientist mutants, mischievous robots, and a lot of combat diversity for players. Another trailer showed another bizarre side of the gameplay, featuring killer robots, frozen explosions, and others messing around with the laws of space and time, and a babushka who appears as if she is about to beat someone up. This trailer also shows the players using a glove to defy gravity, hack electronics, and shock those killer robots.
Different trailers released by Mundfish over time depict different gameplays that the upcoming show will feature. For instance, in the 10 minutes of Atomic Heart gameplay released in 2019, you will spot shooting and melee combat and the perils of the weird world. In another gameplay clip, you will catch a glimpse of the enemy Plyush. It begins with you exploring a museum and clearing out less-threatening enemies before spotting their boss.
Another quick gameplay teaser reveals the game’s retro-tech environments and a few really huge enemies, including those wild drill snakes. Right before the official teaser in 2020, the gamers also saw some footage courtesy of the Russian gaming service 4game played four hours of an in-development build spanning five in-game areas. They released a lengthy video stating everything they saw while trying the game.
There is also a cinematic teaser of the game that depicts a cryptic conversation between what you may assume is the main character and a shadowy figure on the screen. In short, the internet is full of many videos that share a glimpse into what the gameplay of Atomic Heart would be like, and it is making everyone extremely excited.
Will Atomic Heart have Multiplayer Support?
No. The game will not have multiplayer support. The developer confirmed it in the news. At one point, the studio stated that Atomic Heart would feature dedicated regions where you could fight other players, with the official website going so far as to confirm the combative spaces.
Sadly, the director of the game recently confirmed that no multiplayer add-ons are planned at this time.
There has Been a Controversy
Not many know this, but Atomic Heart has been a part of controversy too.
It all bubbled up in January 2019, after a report that cited anonymous sources within Mundfish and stated mass layoffs and incompetency at the studio. A summary of the report was posted on the Russian game-developer-related Telegram channel.
The developers responded to these claims in a later interview. In their response, they dispute the initial report and claim that the game is far more polished than the Telegram channel has claimed it to be. The developing team also reassured the fans about Atomic Heart’s development process.
“Our experienced developers, who worked in large game companies like Ubisoft are experts in making AAA games and complex subsystems like online multiplayer, AI ecosystems, analytics, scoring systems, and other complex and high-tech tasks. Also, we are working closely with Epic Games, and we stay informed about all the latest technologies and UE4 features before they actually get publicly available. Our partners from Nvidia help us with graphics and performance optimization. So, for all the reasons described above our game is being developed at the highest technical level.”
Atomic Heart is Available to Preorder
While the game’s release date is nearing, you can already pre-order it with exclusive weapon skins granted to those who do in the form of the Labour and Science Weapon Skin Pack. You can pre-order from the three available editions:
- The Standard Edition comprises the base game
- The Gold Edition includes the Atomic Pass along with the game
- The Premium Edition includes contents of the Gold Edition, an exclusive digital art book, and some extra cosmetics.
The Atomic Pass takes the Atomic Heart experience to a level up with four DLCs, opening up access to new areas and labs and new weapons, new enemies, bosses, and whatnot!
You can being the pre-ordering process of the Limited Edition Bundle that includes the base game on the platform of your choice – PS5, Xbox Series X in retail, and Steam Key for PC.
