Atomic Heartdeveloper Mundfish recently confirmed that their upcoming alternate history FPS title will make use of the added power of next-gen hardware—but only in certain areas of the game’s world. The promise of peak performance only extends to the game’s dungeons, and, given how far removed from a dungeon-crawlerAtomic Heartappears to be, it’s tough to determine the exact parameters the developers are outlying.
First revealed in 2018,Atomic Hearthas often been compared to theBioShockfranchiseas a result of its mid-twentieth-century setting and combat loop that appears to revolve around powers like telekinesis and pyrokinesis. This is, of course, a lofty mantel to uphold, particularly for a hitherto-unknown development outfit. Still, despite a small delay and some controversy during production,Atomic Heartis due for release in roughly one month’s time—and, according to the developer, it’ll be primed for performance on PS5 and Xbox Series X.
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Despite the relatively small size of the development studio behindAtomic Heart,Mundfish has managed to link up with publisher Focus Homeas well as acclaimedDoomsoundtrack composer Mick Gordon. These assets helped to legitimize the production in the minds of many, and, shouldAtomic Heartmanage to hit the 4K 60 FPS goals outlined by the developer, the project has a chance to be remembered as a high-water mark of smaller-scale video game development. That said, as per a tweet from Mundfish, these performance parameters are only being targeted in certain interior “dungeon” locations.
An area roughly resembling a dungeon can be seen in afifteen-minute segment of leakedAtomic Heartgameplay. In this snippet, the player evades a trio of eerie-looking androids by slipping into an elevator that transports them to a kind of subterranean facility. Performance could certainly be boosted in these smaller environments, though the gameplay on offer seems to be no less mind-boggling. If 2017’sPrey, 2014’sWolfenstein: The New Order, and 2010’sSingularitycould be merged into a single product, this might well be it.
Regardless of the title’s maximum performance, Mundfish has a lot to lose shouldAtomic Heartsuffer from subpar performance. Often talked-about titles likeThe Callisto ProtocolandPokemon Scarlet and Violetreceived backlash from fans due to iffy performance, and it would be a shame to see yet another well-anticipated game replicate these mistakes. Then again, even Game of the Year-winnerElden Ringearned some ire early on as a result of issues, so perhaps performance isn’t a be-all-end-all benchmark.
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