Atomic Heart

Play it on: PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Windows (Steam Deck OK)
Current goal: Start the game
Buy it from: Amazon | Best Buy | GameStop | Humble Bundle

2024 is here, which means the avalanche of video games starts soon. Although January will see some solid launches, including the side-scrolling adventure game Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and the 3D fighter Tekken 8, my eyes are set on two games that drop on March 22: Capcom’s high-fantasy RPG Dragon’s Dogma 2 and Team Ninja’s samurai-‘em-up Rise of the Ronin. While I wait for these duo releases, something else’s been beckoning for my attention: Atomic Heart

A first-person shooter that’s been dubbed the “Russian Bioshock,” developer Mundfish’s Atomic Heart kinda came and went when it dropped on February 21, 2023. It received generally favorable reviews across aggregators Metacritic and OpenCritic, but I missed its launch as I was far too preoccupied with Soleil’s hack-and-shoot action-adventure game Wanted: Dead. Now that I’ve got plenty of time before the games I’m really looking forward to come out, I figured I’d dig through some of my 2023 backlog, starting with Atomic Heart. I don’t have much of a goal in mind here. Really, since I haven’t played it and have heard some bad things about it—particularly around enemy design—I wanted to check it out. The setting, an alternative historical look at the 1950s Soviet Union, is intriguing. And the powers, which are quite reminiscent of Bioshock, piqued my interest. I just hope the game is as fascinating as it sounds. — Levi “Elle” Winslow

Blow up those robots with Game Pass (and try it out with PS Plus)

Got a Game Pass sub? Good news: Atomic Heart is available with your membership. If you’re a PlayStation Plus Premium subscriber, you can test drive Atomic Heart for two hours. There’s also a free demo on Steam (bet ya didn’t know that!).