A few months ago I sat here (I ask the readers of the article to now imagine a gray couch with the PC Games logo in the background) and lamented that the movement shooter subgenre had almost died out after its brief heyday is. It’s supposed to be about shooters again today, but this time less pessimistic: Because in addition to movement shooters, I also have a heart for shooting games that are committed to pure single-player, want to tell me an interesting story and playfully demand more than aiming and shooting. At the end of February we have the biggest title for years in store for us in this segment: Atomic Heart.
The Soviet Bioshock with the weird trailers has been haunting the release lists for so long that one could at times have assumed it was vaporware. A game that only exists in pre-rendered videos and in the minds of the developers. But after my colleague Carlo was invited to an audition in Paris last week and came home not only safe, but quite convinced, anticipation is finally the order of the day – at least for me.
A heart for soloists
Because of course, there are many shooters with single-player campaigns. In addition to the annual Call of Duty, titles such as Destiny 2, Halo Infinite or Far Cry 6 also offer decent solo experiences with great gunplay. With the first two you can’t really speak of a single-player focus, with the latter you have to live with the open-world formula.
What I wish for is more in the direction of Control, Half-Life 2 or Bioshock: Crisp exchanges of gunfire and story in interesting, cleverly designed scenarios that offer more in terms of play than a shoot-out with script sequences and stupid opponents.
Because that’s exactly what it’s committed to, Atomic Heart stands for (buy now €69.41 ) been very popular with me for a long time. The setting alone is an absolute hit: The retro-futuristic Soviet Union, in which wonderfully weirdly designed robots have instigated a bloody uprising, creates this very special atmosphere that you only get in the genre from Fallout, Bioshock or Wolfenstein.
I want to shudder at cynical propaganda posters, I want to explore the ruins of a seemingly perfect society while listening to cheesy, age-old pop music that reminds me how wonderful it all could have been. In addition to the great character design, the soundtrack was my highlight in the many trailers – and if Mick Gordon then mixes in powerful bass and guitar riffs while fighting, all the better!
The fact that the developers have generated millions of views with short videos of their robots and creatures speaks volumes for how creatively and interestingly these were implemented visually. Especially in a genre that tends to focus on humans, these designs bring a much-needed breath of fresh air.
Great role models
When I think of Half Life 2, I don’t have any random Combine soldier in mind, but rather bizarre machine creatures like the Hunter. The same applies to Metal Gear Solid 4 with its Gekkos or of course the Big Daddys and Songbird from the Bioshock series. A multiplayer shooter with an attached campaign can’t offer me something like that, it needs creative settings and a focus on the single player experience.
Of course, it remains to be seen whether these enemies will also convince with interesting behavior patterns. Also, you can bet that I’ll search Atomic Heart for every single opponent shown – and woe to him jelly man or the clown trap didn’t make it into the game!
