
However, Mundfish, like many other ambitious developers, committed the cardinal sin of breaking up a well-designed linear experience with a needless open world. When The Major isn't quipping about crispy critters (I cannot overstate how often he throws that catchphrase out there), Atomic Heart flirts with being a traditional big-budget title. The pacing tends to be good, with a decent mixture of combat, puzzles and exposition. The linear sections of Atomic Heart, during which you'll predominately explore vast experimental Soviet facilities, are put together well.

If I meet a dead cow with a neural link and it starts to broadcast weird cow-related facts, is that comedy or tragedy? Atomic Hearts review: Gameplay These tonal 180s happen often throughout the game, and I never really knew how to feel. The next, the Major will talk about "crispy critters" or pick up a phone to prank call some hapless Soviet citizen. One moment, the Major and Charles finish lamenting a gruesome scene of humans beaten to death by robots (and telling you their horrifying last moment, thanks to their neural implants). But the humor clashes terribly with the tone of the story. That's not a terrible thing, and I even had a sensible chuckle or two.

Instead of examining the ramifications of an alternate Soviet Union holding hegemony over the world, the game spends a good deal of the time telling jokes.

Unfortunately, Atomic Heart doesn't utilize its premise to the fullest.
