Greetings Comrades!
The 2nd part of the Atomic Heart Q&A is here for you all. This set will contain 19 more questions. We hope that we were able to answer many more of the questions you have been asking to your liking!
Thank you to everyone who participated in asking questions on Discord!
- Can you play the game as a shoot and run game? Do you need to conserve ammo like Prey 2017 or will there be a lot of ammo like BioShock? Atomic Heart in some sense, is a “run n' gun” game. But you must add “if” and “then”: “if you shoot then run. Everything is set up in a way that it’s not advised to make noise as the Kollectiv network has threat mechanics. The network will harshly react to perpetrators and a loud gunshot is a serious reason to react - by sending a new party of robots to your location. Nevertheless, you will have to shoot as sometimes it's a matter of survival. As for the consequences - you’ll handle that later.
- Is the game gonna be an immersive sim? We are not striving to match the genre to the letter and canonically follow it. However, we can say for sure that the game is perceived as a mixture of a hurricane melee combat, shooter, and immersive sim. At least everyone who has played games of this genre and tried Atomic Heart says exactly this :)
- Will we have companions in the game? There is one companion in the game. But he just keeps talking and talking. No one will help you finish the game, don’t get your hopes up. The artificial intelligence in the game, even if it pretends to be a companion, will still try to kill you in the end.
- Is this going to be a full-on fiction soviet game or have some historical elements in it? We are not trying to make a historically accurate game. The game tells about the events of those years such as the Great Patriotic War (World War ll for those born outside of the USSR) and other significant historical events. But there definitely will be people who will think that we have gone crazy and mixed the events of quite different years into a single tight bundle. We will not convince anyone - perhaps we are really crazy.
- Will spears and polearms be used realistically? Like spears are almost only stabbing, and polearms like a halberd is a whirling storm of death and destruction? Halberd? Whirling storm of death? In the USSR? Great, we’ll think about it!
- Will there be optional or side quests available in the game? Of course there are side quests. There are not many of them, after all the game is not about that - the side quests will complement the plot, reveal it a bit more. But there will be quite a few puzzles that will force you to properly strain your brain.
- Will there be a perk/skill tree level-up system? The player doesn't have levels but you can acquire skills with interesting mechanics that may be combined with each other.
- How many guns and melee weapons will be available in the full game? There will be at least 10 of each type.
- Will there be any crafting system in the game? Yes, surely, crafting will take a special place in the game. You can and need to craft quite many things during your playthrough and you’ll have to gather resources for that. We tried to make the crafting system as consistent as possible - there are no game conventions like in arcade shooters. A certain tactical approach is required to efficiently gather resources. Simply put - the harder you hit the robots, the more they break and the less useful resources they have, but on the other hand, this does not mean that the game provokes you for full stealth. Everything is much more flexible and more complicated.
- Will there be stats on your character and/or on your weapons to make them better, like mods? The system of modifications is called “cassettes”. We won’t elaborate on it for now.
- How robust is the weapon customization gonna be? Is there going to be a weapon progression or an equipment based upgrade system? The weapons could be upgraded and made stronger and more precise. You may install special modules in certain weapons for special attacks.
- Will there be multiple endings and will your choices affect the story? That’s a secret. ;)
- Did you put hidden collectibles or easter eggs in the game? Yes, we too love jokes and references to other legendary works!
- Will there really be condensed milk in the game? Atomic Heart is the most expensive ad for condensed milk on the planet. We’re joking! In the universe! Yes, there will be.
- Will there be an opportunity to see more of the game soon? To the general public and the media? There will for sure be more chances coming soon. Stay tuned!
- Will there be a way to control the robots in-game to turn them against each other? This mechanic is not as fun as it may seem. Surely, some of the robots may be set against each other but this cannot be done with all of them.
- Is stealth a viable option for a playthrough? You can go stealth in some places but to finish the game full stealth is not possible. We did not set such a goal and we don’t see much sense in it - the combat in the game gives a lot of pleasure in our opinion and depriving ourselves of combat for the sake of stealth is not the best solution for our game.
- Does Atomic Heart have multiple difficulty levels? There will be 2 difficulty levels in Atomic Heart. The first one is “hardcore” difficulty for veterans of the Souls-like genre and those who like a serious challenge. We use this mode as a reference when working on the balance and combat system of our game. But we didn’t forget about other players as well. The second difficulty level is “Story playthrough”, in which we adapted gameplay so that the world of Atomic Heart could be enjoyed by a wider audience. There will be no hardcore challenges and no “platinum” trophy for completing the game as well. You can compare this level of difficulty with Bioshock. However, the combat system and gameplay are thoroughly adapted to both difficulty levels for experienced and casual gamers to enjoy.
- Will there be a photomode? We didn’t plan it yet. But if we’ll have some time left we may try to add it, but let’s not make promises.