Atomic Heart is a first-person shooter with RPG elements from Russia-based developer Mundfish. Players take control of Major Comrade P-3 to fight off a robot revolt. The setting of Atomic Heart is an alternate universe USSR that has already replaced manual labor with advanced robotics early in the 1950s. The game is heavily influenced by the immersive sim genre and games like System Shock and Wolfenstein. Atomic Heart is filled with retro-futuristic designs from top to bottom. This includes the ways that players can save their progress, upgrade their arsenal of weapons, and level-up P-3's glove skills.
Save Rooms
During the opening chapter of Atomic Heart, players will not be able to save manually. There are autosaves that will pop during a few select checkpoints, but there is little to no danger of having to restart. Once players have gone underground into Facility 3826, they will find save rooms spread throughout key parts of levels.
Save Stations
These rooms feature a save station to walk up to and manually save by pressing R1/RB. They will also usually have a container for players to loot components from. Atomic Heart will still autosave at checkpoints and the beginning of every level.
Vending Machines
Players will eventually stumble upon the very suggestive vending machine named NORA. From then on, vending machines will be placed in save rooms and occasionally around levels. Most vending machines will not have NORA's voice and demeanor, as encountering her usually involves a new weapon/upgrade. All vending machines can be interacted with by pressing R1/RB.
Upgrades
Players can upgrade P-3's skills and weapons through two separate dialogue choices when interacting with vending machines. They can still flip between menus without backing out as well. The skills screen has upgrades for P-3's glove and abilities. These upgrades will consume neuropolymers that players have acquired.
The crafting screen is where players can make weapons more powerful and even create new ones. These upgrades will consume components that players have scrounged throughout the levels. Make sure to use the glove's magnet to stay stocked up.
Some resources are rarer than others. Players can click on the resources in the top right corner to view which enemies are likelier to drop the resources they seek. Certain upgrades and weapons will require a schematic for the item to be crafted. These schematics can be found throughout levels, with some being hidden while others are in plain sight.
Atomic Heart is out now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.