Atomic Heart is an upcoming FPS action role-playing video game developed by Mundfish and published by Focus Entertainment. The game is planned for release for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on February 21, 2023.
Atomic Heart | |
---|---|
![]() Cover art | |
Developer(s) | Mundfish |
Publisher(s) |
|
Director(s) | Robert Bagratuni |
Producer(s) | Oleg Gorodishenin |
Designer(s) | Artyom Galeev |
Composer(s) | Mick Gordon |
Engine | Unreal Engine 4 |
Platform(s) |
|
Release | February 21, 2023 |
Genre(s) | Action role-playing, first-person shooter |
Mode(s) | Single-player |
Atomic Heart is a FPS video game with action role-playing elements.[1] The combat in the game consists of shooting and melee swinging with improvised weapons. There is a crafting system where the weapons can be pieced together from metal parts that can be detached from robots or taken from household appliances. Weapons can also be upgraded via a mechanic called "casettes.” Ammo in the game is scarce, and there is a sneaking option. Quick-time events are also featured in the game.[2]
Atomic Heart takes place in the Soviet Union in an alternate 1955.[3] Advances in robotics in the 1930s enabled the USSR to defeat Nazi Germany in 1941, though with a much more severe loss of life. This results in the automation of much of Soviet labor and the development of a proto-Internet called the "Collectiv 1.0" linking these robots, vastly increasing productivity and scientific advancement by the end of the 1940s.
Concurrently, scientist Dmitriy Sechenov develops the "neuro-polymer", a programmable module based on living tissue. A believer in a collective consciousness, Sechenov plans to launch the most advanced iteration of the "Collectiv 2.0" on his 55th birthday in 1955.[4] This Collectiv 2.0 allows the user to enchance its mental capabilities and brain-activity, causing in huge amounts of information to be absorbed in very little time, and more.
The main protagonist is a mentally unstable KGB special agent called Major Nechaev, nicknamed P-3, who is sent by his contractor Sechenov to keep the situation at facility 3826 from deteriorating. P3 is challenged with taking out robots that went haywire, failed biomechanical experiments, and his own mental health.[5]
Atomic Heart is developed by Mundfish, a Russian studio with headquarters in Cyprus.[6][7] The team has previously developed the VR game Soviet Lunapark, but ceased development and delisted the game in late 2018 to focus on Atomic Heart.[8] The studio uses Unreal Engine 4 and implements Nvidia RTX and DLSS technologies in the GeForce RTX graphics cards.[7]
In February 2022 a story trailer showed that Atomic Heart will launch in "#######BER", suggesting the game's release in September, October, November, or December of 2022.[9] However, later in November, it was announced that the game will be released on February 21, 2023, self-published by Mundfish in the CIS, and by French-based company Focus Entertainment worldwide.[10]
In January 2019, a report was published on gaming forum ResetEra that cited anonymous sources within Mundfish who reported about mass layoffs and incompetency at the studio.[2][11][12] The report stated that development had been rebooted as of August 2018, and it resulted in a gameplay downgrade.