Atomic Heart gameplay video shows 10 minutes of Russian System Shock

Remember Atomic Heart, that weird “BioShock, but in the Soviet Union” game we first learned about mid-2018? Well, indie developer Mudfish has finally released a proper gameplay video, showing it in action.

The video is 10 minutes long and shows a glimpse of the open world before our protagonist, a chain-smoking KGB officer, gets dragged into an underground bunker. As far as we understand it, this bunker is one of the game’s dungeons that dot the vast world map. Ammo in these dungeons will be very limited, and you’ll have to make do with your skills.

That is why we see our protagonist beat the heck out of some creepy androids using a melee weapon called “Karusel.” It’s nothing more than a fancy club, but it seems to be doing the trick. Later, when he finds a shotgun, he fires a whole lot of bullets into several other robots, including a smaller version of the robot from The Incredibles.

But the real star of this gameplay video is the game’s environments. They all scream “futuristic Soviet Union” and are both beautiful and dreadful at the same time. It’s exactly what I dream a System Shock or Prey game would look like it if was set in a technologically advanced USSR.

There’s no definitive release date for Atomic Heart, but Mundfish is planning to release a beta version in late 2019. If you want access to that beta, or just to support the game and its creators, you can already pre-order it for PlayStation and PC.

The final version will be available on Xbox One as well.