Atomic Hear t, the debut game from developer Mundfish, has seen reviews that range from glowingly positive to heavily critical. The game has been compared by many to the classic BioShock series of dystopian sci-fi shooters, which has given reviewers a basis for their criticisms. Atomic Heart draws clear inspirations from a variety of FPS games, though its similarities to the Wolfenstein series are just as prominent as its similarities to BioShock even if the way they manifest differs.

RELATED: Why Critics Are Split on Atomic Heart

BioShock Might be at the Core of Atomic Heart's Gameplay, but Wolfenstein Inspires its Aesthetic

Atomic-Heart-Gas-Mask

Aside from its unique sci-fi-meets-horror design for the game's robotic enemies, one of the main sources of comparison to BioShock comes from the enhanced powers the player's glove, Charles, grants to its protagonist. P-3. Similarly to BioShock's use of plasmids to augment the abilities of its protagonist, Jack, Atomic Heart utilizes a similar method of granting players the ability to use elemental attacks through upgrades to the glove Charles. These abilities combined with the FPS gameplay give Atomic Heart a similar core gameplay loop to that of BioShock.

Although the gameplay of Wolfenstein shares the commonality of being an FPS with both BioShock and Atomic Heart, the generally linear level design differs from that of the open-ended design of BioShock, and the open world elements of Atomic Heart. The area where Atomic Heart draws the most inspiration from Wolfenstein is in its world design. The world of Wolfenstein gives players a look at an alternate version of post-World War 2 history where massive scientific advancements led Germany to victory and world domination. Atomic Heart's version of a 1950s Soviet Union follows a similar trajectory to the world of Wolfenstein with advanced robotic technology leading to global superiority.

Both games share the similar theme of a World War 2 power gaining access to highly advanced technology, though while Germany makes its quest for global domination clear, the Soviet Union hides its intentions behind the goal of a utopian society. The ubiquity of AI technology in the worlds of both games, along with their mid-20th century settings is enough to see where Atomic Heart's world design inspirations came from. However, Atomic Heart breaks from the world of Wolfenstein by following the trope of a theoretical utopia becoming a dystopia, whereas Wolfenstein's Nazi-ruled world is portrayed as blatantly dystopian.

This plot element falls more in line with BioShock, which follows a similar corrupted utopia theme. Aesthetically, Atomic Heart leans on the world design of Wolfenstein to create a constructivist, technological society where robotics and the drive for scientific advancement shape its underlying foundations. While the societies depicted in the two game vary greatly, they share a common visual style and similar enough motifs to warrant comparison. Where Atomic Heart differs from Wolfenstein, it picks up from BioShock to create a wholly unique blending of sci-fi and alternate history in a dystopian shooter.

Atomic Heart is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.

MORE: Atomic Heart and System Shock Suggest 2023 Might be the Year of the 'Shock-like'