The company behind the game and its investors deny ties to Russia and the Russian government. Harenko did not respond to a request for comment.Ītomic Heart’s production, which was announced more than five years ago, predates the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. “This kind of approach to the showcase of the USSR and communism walks a thin line between using it for world-building and praising it,” Harenko said in a video titled “Please, Don’t Buy Atomic Heart.” Harenko, whose video on the game received more than 2 million views, said in the video he believes the game crosses that line. Fedorov specifically pointed to the game's promotion of 'the communist regime and Soviet symbols.' (NBC News has not played Atomic Heart.)

Critics are also wary of the game's lead character, Nechaev, who is a member of the KGB and loyal to the USSR. Definitely something to keep an eye on, if only to see whatever weirdness comes next.Ītomic Heart is set to launch on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.Those who believe the game is propaganda point to things like Atomic Heart’s aesthetic: a utopian USSR where red banners adorned with hammer and sickles are a frequent part of the scenery. The ones that stood out to me were of a sort of skeleton clown(?), robotic amphibians(?), a strange mass of red tentacles(?), and a baby robot with spider eyes(?). The principal character of the game is a special agent P-3, who after an unsuccessful landing on enterprise '3826' is trying to figure out what went wrong.' (sic)Īs a result, the weird gel you swim through and owl-like murder bees leave much to be desired in terms of explanation, but the game still looks anything but uninspired.Ītomic Heart doesn't have a release date yet, but you can still wishlist it on Steam, where you can also check out another weird trailer featuring robots running on treadmills and a guy with a strange, silvery plasma bubble protruding from his chest (presumably an atomic heart?) You can also check out some pretty wacky screenshots at the official Mundfish website.

'Atomic Heart is an adventure first-person shooter, events of which unfolds in an alternate universe during the high noon of the Soviet Union.

Atomic heart video game artist