It has been a rocky few days for Atomic Heart, which was released this week to an underwhelmed reception that ultimately uncovered more than a few issues with the Soviet-centric title. From an unstable experience on certain platforms to racist imagery in-game, Atomic Heart is having, at the very least, a bad time.
Now, the game’s developer, Mundfish, is backtracking in certain areas, releasing a public apology regarding the inclusion of racist imagery in one scene and promising to strip it clean out of the game.
And So, The Work Begins
In the days following the launch of Atomic Heart, massive updates were released that addressed certain bugs. This was one of the first aspects of the launch that rankled with fans, especially considering that, on some platforms, the update was up to 67 GB in size.
It wasn’t there that the controversy stopped, though – it actually worsened. For instance, it was revealed hours after the launch that the Ukrainian Government planned to petition Valve, Sony, and Xbox, urging them to restrict digital sales of the game in-country for its depiction of a romanticised Soviet-centric world.
Now, Mundfish has gone a step further towards resolving one key issue: racist, outdated imagery in one particular scene. It’s a clip taken from a Russian cartoon that was produced in the 1960s, which is apparently the Soviet version of Tom and Jerry, but it instantly hit a sore note with fans the world over.
Mundfish reached out and made an apologetic statement (recorded by IGN) regarding the racist clip:
The Mundfish team thanks the PC Gamer contributor for bringing this lack of sensitivity to our attention. We apologize if using the vintage cartoon or music has caused hurt or insult. We will edit the parts in question.
Under the weight of issues and lacklustre reviews that have seen Atomic Heart produce ratings of around 70% on Metacritic, it’s safe to say that the future isn’t so bright for the robot-slaying, post-apocalyptic title.
From this writer’s perspective, it’s a shame, as Atomic Heart just doesn’t feel unique enough to really succeed. It’s as though components were stripped from dozens of games to create Atomic Heart, and through cliché, awkward voice acting and some complex, unwieldy elements, it becomes a relatively painful experience overall from the very opening scenes.
For more Insider Gaming news, check out our coverage of EA’s survey that’s asking players if they want more Dead Space remakes.
