Developer Mundfish teased an E3 appearance for Atomic Heart just last week, with a studio representative affirming that at this point the game has “almost everything they wanted,” but we were still somewhat surprised to see it at the combined Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase. It’s nice to know that Atomic Heart will launch on Xbox Game Pass, though. It’s shaping up to be exactly the kind of wild, experimental game that’s more easily sampled through Game Pass. 

Naturally, Atomic Heart’s Xbox announcement trailer also brought us some more weird robots to gawk at, as well as the armed grandma that Mundfish teased last week. I don’t care what anyone says, in the hands of any grandma, a ladle is a lethal weapon. 

The trailer opens with yet more confirmation that, yes, this world is filled with extremely weird robots that want to kill you. From there, it’s right into a new take on the usual nonsense: music fit for a Russian street festival, androids coming at us live from the depths of the uncanny valley, and a concerning mix of suspended liquids and what seem to be time bubbles. However, this trailer does at least feature our two lead characters more prominently than usual. We couldn’t tell you who they are or what exactly they’re trying to do, or why that woman has wiggly wires attached to her temples, but hey, it’s something. 

The more we see of Atomic Heart, the less certain we are of what it’s about. Mundfish has outlined a heady mix of Russian landscapes, AI disasters, and the occasional evil clown. It is, put simply, all over the place – the place being an alternate Soviet Union… maybe.

One thing’s for sure: Atomic Heart is some kind of first-person open-world game with a mix of shooting and melee combat. It’s also quite the looker, and not just because of its unique aesthetic. Atomic Heart has become one of the go-to poster children for new graphics tech, and Mundfish regularly drops raytraced gameplay as well as lavish 4K showcases. 

Atomic Heart doesn’t have a release date just yet, but we do know that it’s coming to PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PC. 

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The trailer, and at this point I think we can say “in typical Atomic Heart fashion,” is weird and unsettling. It opens with talk of a neuro network called “The Collective” and a “Universal Polymer Vaccination,” which, according to the title of the video, is not going well. Regardless, Atomic Heart looks like a very pretty game if you ignore the absurdly disturbing-looking monsters. If you’ve got a good enough PC and an Nvidia GPU, you’ll definitely want to switch on raytracing and DLSS.

Though Atomic Heart is due to release on last-gen consoles as well as PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC, Mundfish is really selling the whole next-gen (current-gen) thing. “Our game will have no loading screens due to [the] fast SSD,” Mundfish told IGN (opens in new tab) in August. “Next-gen hardware also provides an exclusive opportunity to fulfill our artistic vision and deliver our game with stunning visuals with no downgrading, which was absolutely essential for current gen.”

Atomic Heart was first unveiled back in 2018, and we later wrote up a preview drawing comparisons to Metro 2033, Bioshock, and Fallout. Though, it’s fair to say Mundfish is largely doing its own thing here. Personally, it’s rare that video game creatures freak me out as much as the ones in Atomic Heart, and the plot involving an alternate reality where the USSR has robots and holograms is really interesting. I can’t wait to check it out when it releases sometime in 2021.

Here’s a bunch of other new games of 2021 to keep on your radar.

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