Atomic Heart starts with a bang — but can it land its Soviet story?

polygon.com:

I’m 10 hours into Atomic Heart and the end is nowhere in sight. The game feels like it has only just finished its initial throat-clearing, now throwing open the door and hinting at some weird, sci-fi Soviet mysteries. It’s violent and familiar, like so many other first-person shooters. But as I barrel into the core of Atomic Heart, I wonder whether this game is what it appears to be — or if it’s something much more interesting.

Set in 1955 in the USSR, Atomic Heart sees players step into the large shoes of Major Nechaev, also known as “P3.” Nechaev is in the employ of a scientist, Professor Sechenov, a member of a group of Soviet scientific geniuses whose technological marvels propelled the USSR to be the leading scientific nation in the world.

This is not our reality. Semi-sentient robots, advanced botanical research, devices that grant you instant knowledge, and so on are par for the course. P3’s main job is overseeing security for various facilities run by Sechenov and the government. It is Sechenov’s robots and systems at these various facilities that begin… well, failing.

P3, as Sechenov’s personal agent, must investigate and figure out just why the robots are turning on their human overlords.

The game begins with spectacle, peacocking its world, its aesthetics, its technology. Soviet technological advancements aren’t just colorful set decoration; they’re storytelling devices. Vendor scientists peddle their wares, museums and factories showcase the USSR’s achievements, and Sechenov prepares for a big speech unveiling his latest tech — incidentally providing plenty of juicy context and backstory.

The Soviet aesthetic is central to Atomic Heart in the way the original BioShock’s art deco design was inseparable from