Atomic Heart, the debut game from developer Mundfish, has seen reviews that range from glowingly positive to heavily critical. The game has been compared by many to the classicBioShockseries of dystopian sci-fi shooters, which has given reviewers a basis for their criticisms.Atomic Heartdraws clear inspirations from a variety of FPS games, though its similarities to theWolfensteinseries are just as prominent as its similarities toBioShockeven if the way they manifest differs.
Prior to the release ofAtomic Heart, interested fans latched onto the comparisons toBioShockfrom the bizarre enemies and player abilities shown in trailers for the game. However, the developers themselves noted inspirations for the game included bothDoomandWolfensteinwhen describing its gameplay. Although comparisons toBioShockare valid, the developer statements drawing specific comparisons toWolfensteinare made much clearer when jumping intoAtomic Heartfor the first time. While there are elements ofBioShockwithin the game’s formula, they are counterbalanced by an equal amount ofWolfenstein-inspired aspects.
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BioShock Might be at the Core of Atomic Heart’s Gameplay, but Wolfenstein Inspires its Aesthetic
Aside from its unique sci-fi-meets-horror design for the game’s robotic enemies, one of the main sources of comparison toBioShockcomes from the enhanced powers the player’s glove, Charles, grants to its protagonist. P-3. Similarly toBioShock’s use of plasmids to augment the abilities of its protagonist, Jack,Atomic Heartutilizes a similar method of granting players the ability to use elemental attacks throughupgrades to the glove Charles. These abilities combined with the FPS gameplay giveAtomic Hearta similar core gameplay loop to that ofBioShock.
Although the gameplay ofWolfensteinshares the commonality of being an FPS with bothBioShockandAtomic Heart, the generally linear level design differs from that of the open-ended design ofBioShock, and the open world elements ofAtomic Heart. The area whereAtomic Heartdraws the most inspiration fromWolfensteinis in its world design. The world ofWolfensteingives players a look at an alternate version of post-World War 2 history where massive scientific advancements led Germany to victory and world domination.Atomic Heart’sversion of a 1950s Soviet Union follows a similar trajectory to the world ofWolfensteinwith advanced robotic technology leading to global superiority.
Both games share the similar theme of a World War 2 power gaining access to highly advanced technology, though while Germany makes its quest for global domination clear, the Soviet Union hides its intentions behind the goal of a utopian society. The ubiquity of AI technology in the worlds of both games, along with their mid-20th century settings is enough to see whereAtomic Heart’s world designinspirations came from. However,Atomic Heartbreaks from the world ofWolfensteinby following the trope of a theoretical utopia becoming a dystopia, whereasWolfenstein’s Nazi-ruled world is portrayed as blatantly dystopian.
This plot element falls more in line withBioShock, which follows a similar corrupted utopia theme. Aesthetically,Atomic Heartleans on the world design ofWolfensteinto create a constructivist, technological society where robotics and the drive for scientific advancement shape its underlying foundations. While the societies depicted in the two game vary greatly, they share a common visual style and similar enough motifs to warrant comparison. WhereAtomic Heartdiffers fromWolfenstein, it picks up fromBioShockto create a wholly unique blending of sci-fi and alternate history in a dystopian shooter.
Atomic Heartis available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
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