The way a new game gets compared to another means a lot. On one hand, it's never good when players look unfavorably on a new game because they think it's copying something else that's popular. On the other hand, a favorable comparison to a classic game can be a big boost to a game's publicity and popularity. Atomic Heart is in a situation like that right now. The 2021 release of Mundfish's sci-fi action RPG is fast approaching, and there's a fair few players looking forward to taking it for a spin. That's partially because burgeoning fans have been comparing it to the highly influential BioShock.
It's been a while since a new BioShock game graced the shelves of game stores, and there hasn't been a new entry in the franchise since BioShock Infinite in 2013. When a game this influential stops releasing new games, it's only natural that spiritual successors will try to pick up the mantle. Atomic Heart seems like it falls squarely in the category of games taking their own shot at BioShock. Although there's plenty of specific details that set the games apart, there's also lots of broad similarities that bind the games to each other, and Atomic Heart probably wouldn't be the same without BioShock's influence.
Comparing and Contrasting
Both Atomic Heart and BioShock could be classified as a kind of historical fiction, while both of them are also sci-fi stories about alternate realities where technology developed a lot faster than it did in real life. Atomic Heart keeps that a little closer to reality, though, since it's set in the 1950s Soviet Union instead of a completely fictional setting like Rapture or Columbia. BioShock still leaned into the aesthetic sensibilities of the time periods that inspired the games, though, and that same spirit exists in Atomic Heart's alternate reality Soviet Union.
Both games seem to involve the player character gaining abilities by modifying himself with advanced technology, as Atomic Heart protagonist P-3 can apparently use a number of powers very similar to BioShock's Vigors. Gameplay trailers have shown P-3 using abilities that freeze enemies, give him telekinesis, and so on. Combat in general is very similar to BioShock's combat: players look through the protagonist's eyes during FPS action. When players aren't shooting or using supernatural powers, they also have a melee weapon they can rely on. P-3's buzzsaw mace is a little more dramatic than Jack's wrench, though.
Enemies are one area where BioShock and Atomic Heart look pretty different. BioShock pits players against humans a lot of the time, resulting in gunfights or battles between Vigor users. Atomic Heart, meanwhile, is filled to the brim with mutant monstrosities and angry automatons. P-3 is facing challenges from a really broad roster of enemies; for instance, if P-3 has to fight Atomic Heart's flying worm machines on the regular, the game is probably going to be pretty hard. Still, there's nothing wrong with hulking armored enemies to offer some significant challenges to players. That's what the Big Daddies in the first BioShock were good for, after all.
Building on BioShock
There's plenty of ways that Atomic Heart is taking BioShock's themes and bringing them into the modern age. For instance, P-3 can make improvised weapons based on whatever scrap he salvages on his mission, meaning combat will probably be a lot more diverse. Atomic Heart also seems determined to set itself apart aesthetically. Although it shares BioShock's love of early to mid-20th century architecture and decor, Atomic Heart boasts impressive ray tracing, making for razor sharp graphics that BioShock never got its hands on.
Overall, Atomic Heart will probably scratch an itch for BioShock players. Some of the franchise's die-hard fans might have had a hard time finding games that played on all the same themes, and luckily, there's a new BioShock game in development. BioShock 4 might not be out for a long time yet, but in the meantime, Atomic Heart will probably revive a lot of fans' interest in the games that inspired it. What's more, its similarities might convert a lot of new players to the franchise if they missed out on BioShock in its heyday. Atomic Heart has potential as a standalone game, too. Hopefully, this spiritual successor turns out to be one of this year's smash hits.
Atomic Heart releases in 2021 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.