Perhaps the best way to describe this is that Atomic Heart's entire story is predicated on a choice between two evils, one that is bad and one that is worse, and players are incessantly shuffled between the two. The back and forth between him and Charles flips so much in every passing hour that it's impossible to ascertain what P-3 or Charles believes. This, in turn, creates some seriously confusing dialogue, as P-3 will find himself playing both sides. Everyone wants him to accept some truth, but none of them are upfront with the truth. P-3 is pulled in every possible direction, and every character in the game is manipulating him, or so it would seem. But chaos is woven into everything else related to its story. Along the way, a variety of secrets and relationships are unearthed, and there are a few exciting moments created out of the chaos.

Sechenov is preparing for the launch of something called Kollective 2.0, and P-3 must discover and end a conspiracy that would prevent said launch.

Essentially, Charles is nearly identical to Cuff in Forspoken, which may be Charles' best point of comparison on all fronts. A special assignments officer assigned to USSR hero Dmitry Sechenov, Nechaev wears an AI-controlled glove named Charles that gives Nechaev someone to talk to and unlocks some special abilities throughout the game. Players step into the shoes of Major Sergei Nechaev, who is also referred to in-game by his callsign P-3.

RELATED: Atomic Heart Trophy List RevealedĪtomic Heart's story has its moments. Of that playtime, less than half of it involves something interesting or fun, while the rest is nothing but frustrating bloat, resulting in a game that can be best summarized as an incongruent mess. This gives the game plenty of time to set up its story, delve into its most interesting parts, and back it up with fun mechanics and gameplay. At its core, Atomic Heart has a promising story and several design elements that make it stand out, but as it progresses players will realize that the game stretches out its best and worst parts until nothing good remains.Ī simple playthrough of Atomic Heart will take players around 25 hours to beat, which is a solid playtime generally. Atomic Heart has plenty going for it when booted up: a unique premise, a strong setting, and an interesting player character.

Atom heart trailer