Atomic Heart: A Skeptical Review

[@LukeStephensTV]

Sub to my Stream channel or I'll make yet ANOTHER Assassin's Creed video: www.youtube.com/@LukeStephensLIVE

[@JeremyBX]

this is an out of left field question, but i like your clear eyeglasses and am wondering what brand they are so i can shop for them.

[@yellowbeez93]

The part at 34 min where you said that they could have done it in a 'lame' way when it should have been 'cool' way is probably your weakest criticism. It's essentially just your style of preference which is as good as saying "Jake is way cooler than Alex" which is....ok? Lol but apart from that, in general your criticisms are well made. Now the only question that remains is, will Atomic Heart be Atomic Heart if they start changing things here and there in the sequel when they do ponder on the remarks and criticisms?

[@jessegartung294]

Well I’m getting Metroid prime remastered I know I have a Xbox pass but…prime is better

[@bobzip3994]

The game is too challenging you need a patch yeah tells me everything I need to know. Crispy critters it’s his catch phrase. You’re definitely missing something????????

[@pyner0s496]

Atomic heart is a beautiful game on ps5.. That's were it stops. Edit :The looting system is awesome

[@brucevandermescht6957]

In a weird way, the $70 thing (which I hate but it is the standard now) has made people a lot more critical of games which is a blessing in disguise. We've been accepting poor and outright shit games for far too long and now people actually take the time to evaluate if a game is actually good before buying it. I suspect (and hope) that we're turning a corner in gaming as a whole.

[@Lowkey-yb4nm]

Yea this is true. But even then, the whole 70$ standard is still bs. Yes games cost more to make now but, a large portion of the copies are sold digitally. No cases, no booklets, no distribution etc. They charge 70$ because they know people will pay it, not because they have to.

[@Aelitagurl]

It's a bit sad that it's taken an increase in price to get people to take pause and consider/do research before purchase, but it's a start at least

[@thebadwolf3088]

@@Lowkey-yb4nm + a much bigger group of consumers than ever before, people forget to consider this.

[@TKO-1503]

@@Lowkey-yb4nm they charge more because the games are more advanced, and look better. The more man power they put into a product the more it will cost. If they made a 2 day game, or graphically less powerful of a game then they would charge less. Not to mention paying voice actors.

[@MuiKaHo]

@@Lowkey-yb4nm game pass. $1

[@reizak8966]

I kept wondering why this game wasn't categorized or treated like a horror game, then realized that not everyone has a phobia of mannequins and robots that look like people. 😅

[@yeahboyz9314]

Yeah we got re8 DLC for that shjt

[@MrSpartan993]

I have a pretty deep phobia of mannequins.

[@gur262]

We need mannequins that look like raccoons in stores. I'd buy a shirt that looks nice on a raccoon.

[@DanielGonzalez-iz2zg]

Well, to be fair it has horror elements.

[@primalfeline]

I’m not scared of mannequins or robots but this game still scares me.

[@timfrank7461]

So fun fact is the crispy critters is a reference to P3s backstory when he was "rebuilt" one of the doctors kept refuring to him his wife as "those poor crispy critters" so much that when p3 regained consciousness he choked out the doctor and its thought to be a trauma response

[@thedude2596]

But, to play devil advocate (and working in the AAA business), people forgot that it's a first game for Mudfish, they have flush of 80 (growing during developpment) staff members and the stylistic choice is so original, every assets need to be made. I think, for a AAA level game from a 40-80 people team (not 500-1000 people +, like a COD for example), it's pretty amazing to see how game developpment is now more accesible than ever.

[@MuiKaHo]

as a first game.. they need to hit it for a home run. Especially since its a AAA title. If it was an indie title, it would've been ok. but there are standards to AAA

[@partyuptown]

triple a games used to be made by 30-50 people

[@aegisofficial3819]

@@partyuptown yeah, back when crash bandicoot as a character was 512 polygons. Not good comparisons. AAA games are typically made by 200+ people because those people are NEEDED. 40-80 is very impressive.

[@orlandoblanco9993]

@@MuiKaHo”standards to AAA” Wait, you’re serious!? Allow me to laugh even harder then bro where have you been for the past 20 years. You’re right, AAA games apparently do have standards and this blew them outta the water

[@Void6-]

​@@MuiKaHo that it is just simply not true. There are so many dogshit games out there that are "triple A" titles. This graphical fidelity and gameplay responsiveness for a team of 80 people is incredibly insane. They are lacking on the writting department and they need to improve their gameplay loops but technically speaking they created something that looks astonishing and runs smoothly, which is more than we can say for most triple A titles that are coming out nowadays.

[@CommanderCodyChipless]

I think what Bioshock successors are missing is the fact that the gameplay of Bioshock was built around the story and vision of the game, whereas all Bioshock copies are building a story around bioshock-esque gameplay, and it doesn't work.

[@JustSkram]

That's literally Prey 2017, go fucking play it. Also Bioshock didn't start it.

[@CommanderCodyChipless]

@@JustSkram Thanks for the reply! Yeah bro I LOVED prey. Such a cool game. And you are right! Bioshock wasn't the first, it was System Shock. I edited my comment so that it didn't say that Bioshock was the first game of it's kind, sorry I added that part, I'm a dumbass /:

[@thebadwolf3088]

@@CommanderCodyChipless You're not a dumbass lol, it was a small mistake. Bioshock was the one that truly made it popular.

[@CommanderCodyChipless]

@@thebadwolf3088 kinda sad you didn't catch on... I didn't edit my comment, because I never said Bioshock was the first of it's kind. My point has nothing to do with Bioshock being the first do it. My point is that all the successors after Bioshock aren't doing it like the way 2K games did it

[@Jak239JC]

@@CommanderCodyChipless Bioshock didn't start yeah. But it did made it popular

[@Cool_Adam]

"Why Atomic Heart was underrated" "The thing about Atomic Heart" "We got it wrong about Atomic Heart" "Why Atomic Heart is a masterpiece" "Atomic Heart was great and here's why" "Blown away by this!" Edit: God, lmao I can even believe this...this is really what we're doing now? Atomic heart is a great game.

[@merlylvsm]

'I Tried Atomic Heart Again' 'In Defense of Atomic Heart'

[@AD3SPG]

😂 sometimes I like them but damn we know !

[@norak38]

Somebody’s gonna get at least 100k using one of these titles and give us a basic recap

[@JayDog459]

Glad I'm not the only one bothered by this. These videos really annoy me unreasonably for some reason. Another trend is "I Played (insert game here) in (insert year here). Is it worth it?"

[@Cool_Adam]

@@JayDog459 This will happen. Check back in a few years.

[@argnator]

It sounds like it imitated Bioshock perfectly. Incredible start, many powers, but only a few are actually useful and you're fetch questing through hoards of the same enemies broken up by a couple of different fights, and then eventually it ends. I guess that's more Infinite than first game, but still its closer to Bioshock than what most people remember.

[@jamesgratz4771]

And infinite was still loved by many. It’s a great game but not the complex masterpiece people think it is

[@aytony4090]

@James Gratz Most people just abhor the story of Infinite and how disappointing it was in comparison to the trailers and interviews. It's a good game with little knowledge of the marketing but no where near the first one.

[@jamesgratz4771]

@@aytony4090 I agree. The gameplay is powerful and kinetic

[@chiefinasmith]

@@jamesgratz4771I don’t think anyone thinks Infinite is a masterpiece

[@thebadwolf3088]

@@chiefinasmith many do.

[@blue3094]

this game has a vision, it has love and care put into it and I really like that. the game has issues but I really do hope that it sells enough to help the devs create what they want.

[@utrocks97]

Agreed. Obviously, no game is perfect and almost no one does things right the first time. This game gets things right more than it does wrong. It’s got creativity and passion and I’d love to see what they could do by learning from their mistakes of this game

[@oh-not-the-bees7872]

Just because they tried hard doesn't mean ignoring the problems will do anything but hurt gaming as a whole. The more people get away with selling copies of trash and mediocre games the more trash and mediocre games we'll get. I hate people that think like you guys. For the record, LOADS OF GAMES GET SHIT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME. That's called having good ideas and TALENT.

[@theonewayroad3867]

@@utrocks97 yeah this ain't a bad start, interested to see where the Devs go from here.

[@deadshot9946]

I have been really enjoying it so far, no real complaints other than some minor bugs but that’s normal I guess.

[@ALiberalVeteran]

Its on gamepass, im sure another game is coming from the devs.

[@DrSarcasmo]

The English voices were so bad that I switched the voice option to Russian and it's soooo much better. I don't mind subtitles, so now that I don't hate the protagonist's voice acting, the game is much more enjoyable. Plus, you get to learn to swear in Russian, so it's educational too!

[@theMerovingianMan]

Just past the opening and already considering it.

[@daijimin]

I did this with Metro too, adds immersion IMO

[@CrazyBunnyGuy]

The only issue I have with the game is main character's accent or rather lack of it? Just pure american english, totally does not fit in the setting at all. I'll be switching to Russian as well, this is painful to listen to. Nothing against the actor and the voice in general, and I definitely don't mind the swearing however the language itself simply does not fit :)

[@navtektv]

Maybe just maybe, Atomic Heart shouldn't have tried to become the Next Bioshock but should have just focused on becoming the First Atomic Heart.

[@Gary_a_normal_human_being]

I think that’s a problem in a lot of new games, maybe we should just get creative instead of Nostalgia bait

[@quantumvr7941]

its still a great game ya it cant be bioshock but cant be mad its a great game still

[@pilotmanpaul]

Maybe because its not Bioshock and its Atomic Heart.

[@Dexxter_slav]

Maybe play the game yourself first. I played it for few hours and it's not Bioshock. It's closer to Prey but it stands it own

[@ChaddeusThaddeus]

@Dexxter I loved prey so if this game plays like that one I'm pretty stoked

[@dr.loomis4221]

One of my pet peeves is when a game makes you do something lame/tedious, and the devs think it's OK because your character points out that it's lame/tedious. Hate it hate it hate it

[@skullsaintdead]

Yep, and I don't even think its that the devs condone it, rather they're anxious about the lacklustre mechanics and they add 4th-wall-breaking dialogue to try and placate their fears. Why not rework the mechanic if they're so worried? People, more broadly, do this nonsense all the time, rather than try and resolve the negative feelings, they just pretend it doesn't really matter to them, when it clearly does. It's all very disingenuous and tedious. Doesn't help anyone.

[@garrick3727]

The protagonist of this game complains about absolutely everything all the way through the game, so I wouldn't take that to mean the devs thought the tasks were tedious. I also hate those upbeat protagonists who tell you how exciting it is that they're doing exciting things. Honestly, I think the only non-silent protagonist I ever liked was Geralt in The Witcher, since his attitude was mostly skeptical with a side of badass, and he didn't say a whole lot most of the time.

[@dr.loomis4221]

@@garrick3727 What about Niko Bellic or Arthur Morgan?

[@Lightsaglowllc]

God of War is a great example of this. Game is tedious as heck.

[@fatbroccoli8]

Yeah it's the most obvious joke that takes no effort at all, its ok if they have amazing side quests other than that one but if not it's lazy at best

[@divinkitty9452]

I think "Crispy Critters" is supposed to be like his version of, "Jinkies!" or "Zoinks!" But the execution just... makes it sound like the VA was expecting some kind of enemy called crispy critters to show up and he now has to get ready for battle, rather than a verbal tick representing anxiety.

[@matheusrangel7002]

I died with this commentary lol

[@63alkash]

Well, russian version says Fucking pies, and it's just a swear, like any other ,still, near the end they explain why he uses it.

[@karldergrosse-333]

I think the mistake was using English Audio. Russian VA is so much better.

[@olex2999]

It sounds better in Russian. I switched to English after the train, and cringed so hard. I think a lot got lost in translation

[@timfrank7461]

So fun fact is that its a reference to p3s backstory when he and his wife were being "rebuilt" one of the doctors kept refuring to them as "those poor crispy critters" so much infact that once when p3 regained consciousness he strangled the doctor and he had his mnd but he camt forgot that and so its trauma response

[@dubsane1]

In Russian, Major P3 Nechaev says "4king pies." This is explained by the plot, in one of the computers. The phrase sounds completely "almost burned there like 4king pies." But English -speaking publishers did not miss such speech circulation.

[@Bock728]

It sounds like a lot of folks are giving this title the "tough love" treatment. They really wanted this to be a BioShock successor but it was just a very good looking game with average to sub average mechanics. Not bad for a first outing.

[@hoarder1975]

Despite the game’s flaws, I can forgive em given how this is their first title. We can only hope either stuff gets improved with future patches, or they make another game in the future that’s better. I’m fine with giving Mundfish my money cuz it’s clear they care about making a good game which I can respect the Hell out of.

[@EJD339]

A lot of potential but some choices weren't the best. If they create another game, I'd imagine they will learn from the feedback.

[@creecher1118]

We already have a spiritual successor to Bioshock. It's called Prey (2017).

[@Jak239JC]

Still mad because people didn't get it because the name was based on a old ip. Even the creators wanted a different name. Oh well its still great game.

[@Zayindjejfj]

​@@Jak239JCI heard they originally wanted to call it Neuroshock. But I'm not entirely sure if that's true. It probably would've been a cooler title. I don't remember why they kept the Prey name.

[@Jak239JC]

@@Zayindjejfj i think because publisher thought prey name would get more sales.

[@red0death1]

God Pray was so good.

[@porkerpete7722]

Sorry Prey was too boring for me. Didn't finish and probably never will.

[@contiplays]

You flame if for 10 min and give it 7/10? doesn't seem the number with the arguments.

[@habadasheryjones]

"Waiting for a Successor to Bioshock for ten years..." As Prey 2017 has been out for 6 years now. I know that game flew under people's radar but its disturbing the lack of Bioshock fans that are aware of that game.

[@drantil]

let's be honest, it was not correctly covered by media. The game is a piece of art in my books.

[@RampidWarthogStudios]

I think the game looks impressive for a first release. Excited to try it out

[@AveryHyena]

Of course it "looks" impressive. Do you not know who funded it?

[@itsve8632]

@@AveryHyena Even with all the funding in the world, this is really their first game ( their actual first game was VR very different to "normal games)

[@RustedCroaker]

@@AveryHyena And who funded it? Are you their accounter?

[@AveryHyena]

@@RustedCroaker The russian government. It's 'accountant' by the way. And you don't need to be one to know this unless you've been living under a rock.

[@AveryHyena]

@@itsve8632 So what does that have to do with what I said? It doesn't, because it's a strawman. You're arguing as if I claimed that it wasn't their first game, which I never did.

[@bluecoin3771]

Wait a minute, clumsy quips as a halfassed attempt to waive away poor game design? Isn't that the kind of stuff we burnt Duke Nukem Forever in effigy for 12 years ago?

[@Matsdewilde]

Your reviews are great man, really interesting opinions. But i have one tip: sometimes you drag out small things waaaaaay to much. You explain a small opinion again and again and again. When you do this i am like :”damn dude iknow, move on”.

[@AbuHajarAlBugatti]

His reviews is just being a Karen who is sceptical towards every game in the world because it brings him views and youtube is this lazy ass's only job

[@Dragonit_es]

Exactly my thoughts. Also what I think he does too often is the comparison of a title to similar games, like in this case with Bioshock. I dont think these comparisons are relevant especially when he doesn’t expand on what the similarities are. Just « Bioshock » vibes lol

[@redfin382]

I get this too. Sometimes he talks to us like we are stupid and it bothers me. People that are watching his videos follow gaming and probably know more than the average person. You don't need to shove our faces into a point just to make sure that we get it.

[@thebadwolf3088]

People have pointed this out multiple times before, maybe someday he'll stop doing it.

[@GimmickCloud]

It might be his talking mannerisms, sometimes I get mentally locked into talking like that, but sometimes I don't think the point being made at least when made in a comparison, has enough constructive value, more like he's interested in selling you a point

[@sk.mahdeemahbubsamy2857]

The Rule34 version of this will live up to its hype....i think

[@PumpkinChi]

Heck yeah

[@thebadwolf3088]

Ballerina bots 🤤

[@PotatoJonson]

Atmosphere, originality, personality, combat are all things this game does well.

[@dr.loomis4221]

Maybe atmosphere and personality.

[@kronaaaa]

original does not equal good

[@rumuelnathanael8043]

Originality? Bioshock and Fallout would like a word with you.

[@PotatoJonson]

@@rumuelnathanael8043 What’s wrong with having influences from great games while still being original in its own right?

[@ellenripley4837]

Some interiors and exteriors are very original because they are very inspired in Soviet era architecture aside from that, there's a lot this game takes from Bioshock and fallout. That's not bad but I wouldn't say it's original.

[@nahuelcutrera]

several times I've been critical of your work but as time goes on I have to say I trust you more than I trust other reviewers, you aren't afraid of telling the truth and you are commited to your public instead of the videogames companies so I have to say Chapeau Mr. Stephens Chapeau... you do a great job as a videogame critic and public figure for gamers.

[@radiatedritch]

game is trash

[@banderas1879]

@@radiatedritch no u

[@alessandrodelpierojuventus8156]

@@radiatedritch Amazing game lol

[@naevan1]

@@radiatedritch its top

[@maxm2639]

This is the 4th review I've watched so far, and the criticisms are all mentioned in one or more of the other reviews, along with some of the same positives. So even if you have played thru the game & disagree with his opinions, he's not the only one mentioning things that will be problems for some of us.

[@CdrRogue]

I really wanted this game to be an imsim like Prey, but it seems a bit limited in that regard.

[@kellz9972]

Kind of crazy this is the first review I've seen talk about the dialouge attacking or satirizing what you're actively doing in game during a mission. Meanwhile, "High on Life" got obliterated for this and it's almost entirely a satirical game so it actually matches the tone there unlike Atomic Hearts which looks like it actively tries to be gritty and more grounded in tone.

[@thebadwolf3088]

IGN did it as well.

[@Deiwert_Shock]

Skillup made some mention

[@kellz9972]

@Nathan Deiwert skillup just said the dialogue was bad and didn't mention much outside of the main character talking like a douche.

[@Deiwert_Shock]

@@kellz9972 That’s true, I was mostly equating the dialogue to the writing

[@XxWolfxWaRioRxX]

It's emulating old action heroes such as Duke Nukem it's just OTT cheesy fun, sick of people not understanding this and crying lol

[@joseribamarjr5164]

I've just finished the game and I agree 100% with everything you said (and this is after all the patches and stuff).

[@cykablyat9526]

man i wished they had the balls and kept with the original vision of the game where it looked more like a resident evil 7 with robots, even now after i looked again at the initial trailers some of the original designs looked terrifying

[@rahmadrenaldi2624]

For a new studio, it's pretty decent. Look a little bit rough around the edge but that's a natural progression, cd pr doesn't start with the witcher 3 but the witcher. But nowadays game studios are being twisted by the marketing department and loosing sights of actually make a good enjoyable game. But still, hopefully for the next entry they'll be improving it from the feedbacks of the consumers.

[@lilfern3466]

Throughout the hour I played, I appreciated the fact that it was a Game Pass title. Started playing Dishonored instead.

[@Stebborn]

Can't wait for an 80k sub youtuber to make a recap video in a year or two with a thumbnail that says "PERFECTION"

[@dustinakadustin]

Why do so many modern games miss the fact that shotguns are meant to be fun? You start with a pistol then upgrade to a shotgun which has less ammo but is powerful and kills enemies instantly with glorious head shots. How is that hard?

[@onewayTlCKET]

on ps5 ... only few glitches. no hard crashes. i love the game. as a USSR 80s baby... its Nostalgic from start 2 finish lol

[@thewhitepanda10]

Right at the beginning he says crispy critters and the glove tells him to watch his language, so I guess that was their attempt at some sorta dystopian curse word 😆 that’s why he say it so often

[@drantil]

was it in russian or english? because let me tell you, the english version has NOTHING to do with the spanish castillian one. The amount of curses, how strong they are and sound, and more than a few licenses with castillian swearing expressions make me feel that in the original russian version the swears have nothing to do with the other ones either. For instance, when the drone first attack and you fall, and then the lady robot gets you on the elevator the character says "pero que pollas en vinagre pasa aquí?" that would literally translate as: what dicks in vinegar is happening here? a classic swearing castillian expression. Also, when interactinc with the glove, in spanish the swears are MUCH stronger and feel more hostile and threatening than in the english version.

[@cheetany5207]

@@drantil in Russian he also uses a stronger swear instead of crispy critters. I guess, the English version is a bit milder. Also, thank you for sharing the castillian swears, I feel culturally enlightened and will use "dicks in vinegar" in my swear vocabulary now XD

[@GreatWhiteNinja21]

I don't know if they rebalanced the game at launch but my weapons were pretty OP most of the time playing on the middle difficulty. I used melee the entire game and loved it. grinding resources and exploring the environment for new weapons and upgrades kept me busy beefing up my build and seeing new areas. I feel like Luke didn't really spend time to take in the sights and notice the environmental story telling. Comparing it to Bioshock that game also doesn't have as an impactful lore or story if you don't seek it out by exploring off the main path or listening to audio logs. Its one of those games you have to take everything in to fully enjoy not just blow through the campaign. Another thing is that the enemies being repetitive make sense because they are produced to fulfill a specific duty or role in the lore of the setting and again Bioshock has mainly Splicers and Big daddies as enemies so... Idk what he was expecting from Atomic Heart. I'm guessing Luke was a bit over hyped and ultimately disappointed because the game didn't meet his expectations. I love Bioshock and Atomic Heart did a decent job for what it was I don't think the developer intended it to be a ten out of ten as their first big game. I hope everyone takes a chance to play Atomic Heart and has a good time.

[@SplittingOfPrides]

I like this game. When the game was first announced, I didn't believe it would come out. Surprisingly well done.

[@radiatedritch]

game is trash

[@Username-wh2ij]

It's too bad that your money will be used to fund the Russian government while it's trying to genocide a country. Plus, I've heard that the game is stealing the user's data. Definitely not picking this one up.

[@RustedCroaker]

@@radiatedritch It's a masterpiece

[@alessandrodelpierojuventus8156]

@@radiatedritch looool it's great

[@synicritic524]

24:30 but doesn't Elden ring also have unfair boss battles. Like how often their approach to difficulty is, "yknow that one boss you fought? well fight 2 of them at the same time"

[@yeahboyz9314]

Yeah but you can always avoid bosses to grind until you can take them on

[@synicritic524]

@@yeahboyz9314 that’s fair

[@morkgin2459]

Bro one is a shooter while another is a melee game.

[@garrick3727]

I think the problem is the definition of "unfair". If the game gives you various tools you can use, but you choose not to use them, is the game unfair or are you not being fair? This applies to both Elden Ring and Atomic Heart. The true issue, I feel, is reviewers trying to blow through a game without engaging with the mechanics.

[@drantil]

@@garrick3727 best review I saw, from someone who completed the game and the optionals, put emphasys on how you tackle the enemies. Every enemy has weaknesses that must be properly work on in order to have a pleasant time defeating them. If you ignore those weaknesses and just go ham, they feel like bullet sponges and the combats are tedious. So yeah, reviewbombing the game because the reviewers are willingly ignoring core mechanics of said game doesn't say anything good about them.

[@JustSkram]

How long until you post a "Came back to atomic heart and was BLOWN AWAY" video?

[@Art__E]

For anyone wondering how this game performs on an average pc. My pc is pretty average in terms of everything but I can still run it on the highest graphics. It’s the first time I’ve been able to run a game on the highest graphics without experiencing constant frame drops, so I applaud the devs for giving us good graphics without killing the experience. I also experienced like maybe 1 or 2 bugs that were noticeable throughout the entire game.

[@D..S..]

The second I heard about the infinitely respawning enemies that you can't permanently disable, I was immediately out. Who the hell would think that is fun...

[@Bemenhorst]

Same here man! Probably one of the most annoying concepts I could think of

[@AD3SPG]

Honestly hopefully something changes, but I'm sure someone on PC will mod to change the pace.

[@ashutoshbundela3744]

Try playing frigid outskirts in ds2. You'll have fun.

[@obitosenju3768]

Especialy in an immersive sim. That ruins so many rules of them

[@navtektv]

You mean like every From Software game?

[@naedanger123]

A bit late now, but you don’t need to use melee attacks to recharge your energy for energy weapons, it automatically recharges. You can acquire some upgrades that let you get extra energy by making melee hits, though.

[@joshwent]

22:06 I think it's actually the opposite. That this started off as a pretty linear game, that then added the semi-open world when they got more funding. Classic feature-creep leading to a diluted experience.

[@melomaniakjm]

The sluggish control are inexcusable. I think overall it is a fun experience but they were too ambitious.

[@Zayphar]

Mortismal liked it, sort of. He liked the asthetic and the atmosphere and hated many of the combat mechanics. Enemies swarming in unending wave attacks and always respawning after being killed. For example, none of the enemies stay dead. If you clear out an area and go back through it, it will be refilled with enemies you have to kill all over again. And...oh yeah...the ammo is limited and the enemies are massive hp sponges, so it does the Callisto Protocol thing where you have to use melee combat most of the time. Fortunately, the melee combat is much better than Callisto. This makes it so the best tactic is to try and avoid combat entirely. Which would be a really wierd game mechanic for a FPS, except, of course, that stealth doesn't really work, so you have to fight.

[@garrick3727]

I didn't sense that Mortismal "hated" the combat mechanics. He's the only reviewer who pointed out that there was an alert level, so if you go into some sections guns blazing you will be swarmed with enemies, and instead you had to take out cameras to lower the alert level and keep it down. He did say that the stealth mechanics were basic, which makes it hard to keep the alert level down, and that once the alert level is high it is difficult to get it under control. He was also positive about the higher difficulty, saying that you had to play smarter to avoid running out of ammo, likening the early part of the game to a survival horror. Since he 100%'s the game, and his track record is someone who prefers harder difficulty, I tend to pay closer attention to his reviews because he doesn't just race through the game on easy/normal like most reviewers.

[@drantil]

but... you don't have to kill them... enemies are supposed to be dealt with if needed for parts or if you want to; the sense that everything must be dealt with until nothing is on it's feet is a flaw from the players; a preconceived notion fed to us from other games. It's like one of those games with a sequence where infinite enemies keep swarming you until you realize there's no end to it and you must procede with the objective and/or flee the area completely, only a lot of people spend minutes and minutes dealing with the enemies expecting it to end. The only difference is, here the robots are so efficient on their repairs, the thread is constant throughout the game, and to me personally it just feels right. I would expect an AI robotic kind of enemy to be that efficient with all the resources it has on it's power when gone haywire. The game just keeps repairing the destroyed robots while sending out bigger meaner ones to deal with the thread (you), now tell me that's not only efficient but also logical from a machine standpoint and strategy. It's best to run from the robots (on open world area) or procede to disconnect them altogether for a few minutes via the flying control drone, so you have a few minutes to check the area/secrets/loot before they reconnect.

[@fatbroccoli8]

You just described a really bad game

[@Zayphar]

@@drantil The problem with this theory is that you can't escape fighting the robots. If they see you, then mobs will gather and chase you down, and stealth doesn't really work, so you can't really avoid combat by trying to sneak past. Finally, you need to kill robots to get reasources in order to improve your character in order survive from enemies that can 1- or 2-shot kill you, and are at the same time massive bullet sponges that eat all your ammo. But you need to kill robots in order to gain the resources you need to craft more ammo. They created a beautiful world, then discourage you from exploring it. It is what they call a 'Catch-22'.

[@mrman-yj3bn]

I just noticed..... the new "gimic" games are having now is putting the player in a large room and giving them a puzzle that isn't hard but takes a while to complete so they end up staying in the room for 20 mins rather than 2 mins. And when that happens a lot in an under 50 hour game (looking at you gow ragnarok) you start to realise that multiple hours of gameplay have been spent moving a char around a room to solve 80 iq puzzles. Take hogwarts legacy, for example, of the HUNDREDS of puzzles. Only about 2 of them took more than a single glance to figure out what was going on.

[@JacobSantosDev]

I love when he is talking about Androids being able to take more than a single head shots when in the video he missed. I get the point. Bullet sponges are no fun and can turn a game into a chore. Just funny and ironic.

[@Kindlesmith70]

14:20 sounds like cursing/swearing in a censored way. Like Battlestar Galactica has "frag".

[@Manan_K]

I pre-installed the game a week ago. Does the game re-install when you update it? (in the game pass) because I got 66 GB of update. Edit: 29:50 He explains this in the video. If anyone is wondering.

[@AndRei-yc3ti]

The game had two patches released. Likely that is thr cause

[@discod992]

Ken Levine's new game will be the real spiritual successor of Bioshock

[@Jonathan_Sherwood]

Let's be real, the bathrooms at Disneyland and Disney world are pretty neat.

[@FAArscape]

The chore of all them 'Door-Puzzles' was what made me uninstall the game after a few hrs in..

[@jhit2026]

Are unlikeable playable characters a popular things these days? I guess these kind of games are written for someone but not me.

[@garrick3727]

Unlikeable is subjective. Personally I thought the way he insulted everyone was amusing. Apparently it loses a lot in translation though.

[@drantil]

@@garrick3727 like A LOT. Spanish version, for instance, has nothing to do with the english one, I don't know about the intended russian one.

[@blueveil3277]

5:04 I can't see that in this way. If are aware that It's bad, why would you keep that in the first place?

[@chr0my850]

Seems like they implemented denuvo with the update on steam you mentioned.

[@wildeyshere_paulkersey853]

Yep.

[@Steve-c7d]

About the "Crispy Critters" line: It was a term used in the Vietnam war referring to the enemy that had been burned to death in their thousands from the napalm and other explosive bombs. Many of the soldiers became very cold-minded and hardened of heart towards the enemy and frequently used quips like "Crispy Critters" to refer to the enemies who had been horribly burned to death.

[@GK_Imagimotion]

Actually looks cool, I personally never liked Bioshock 1&2 but liked Infinite, which stylistically looks more like this game. Maybe will buy it when will be on sale.

[@godlyaardvark7265]

I agree with all of your points except for the difficulty of the game. I found it only challenging at the beginning as you learn how to play, but as soon as you begin learning the flow of the game and gain new skills and weapons, it becomes fairly easy imo.

[@devantetoppin7879]

Honestly not surprised. This game was getting AAA hype but always had AA energy and a troubled dev history it seems. Still looks interesting enough to try especially since it's on gamepass. Definitely a tougher sale if you pay full price though.

[@moralesjourneyman]

It's on Gamepass, so I won't say anything bad about it. I just wish the controls were better. I just can't wrap my head around the use of polymer skills. Shok?! Shock?! is always available to you and used to solve puzzles. But the rest have to be turned on/off with only 2 that can be set and switched with the d-pad. It's overly complicated and unnecessary.

[@Stevie-pr8tk]

The crispy critters thing is explained very clearly in the email terminals later in the game

[@filzeppelin]

Imho this review is too harsh. Yes, this game has flaws but, most importantly, it's a fun experience. The art direction is simply stunning and the lore is interesting, combat is engaging, the world is full of secrets and easter eggs. Again, a lot of flaws, but ultimately a fun experience that can't be missed on Game Pass.

[@stevenietz2531]

Luke, I always come to your vids to enjoy e deep and elaborated review. Love your work to the core! Thank you❤️❤️❤️

[@kriskater]

Dude Lukes impersonation at 11:48 has me dying 🤣 i love it lmao

[@VForcesoul]

Always watch multiple reviewers for the games you want to know about. Watching other tubers have fun with the game vs this review I'm like huh? I didn't think this game needed a variety of enemies if the enemies are mostly made by the same company. I'm grabbing this game later this year after Legacy, NFS and Crew 3 if it actually gets released.

[@flow185]

I think you just want your opinions on the game to be validated

[@VForcesoul]

@@flow185 Nah he put skeptics review on the title so I knew what it was going to be and I always watch his videos all the way through. I just didn't think he trash everything about it, the game is gold compared other releases lately.

[@VForcesoul]

@ont-elegram_lukestephens Oh boy warm up the kabbage cuz Ima comin in hot~!!

[@garrick3727]

This game lacks the massive enemy variety that Bioshock had. Oh wait. Actually, I wonder if people actually listened to his review because he doesn't trash it. He says "Good, not great." Also, his criticisms vary from other reviewers, and none of the other reviewers agree with each other, so I am left wondering who to believe.

[@VForcesoul]

@@garrick3727 I'd agree if this was Dr.Robotnik making 500 types of robots but they showed the majority of the machines in the opening cutscenes I never really expected the doctor to make more than that, I guess you're talking about the real world with bioshock and I'm talking about the in game story . It's not the biggest deal to me I guess. I just like the game, it's 100% playable and that's all we've been asking for these last four years.

[@adriangutierrez3196]

The problem with this game in my opinion is that it doesn’t do it’s own thing, it just looks so shallow considering it’s main selling point was the art style, when you compare it to bio shock, ur just never going to get to that point because bio shock makes sense, the world of bio shock feels real, philosophical questions are introduced and makes the gamer question humanity itself; this on the contrary , was created by developers that only see art in a art museum and not everyday life

[@Lightsaglowllc]

This game is pretty great so far (about 4 hours in). The art style is 😘chef’s kiss

[@Mrtwistedblack]

What’s the puzzles like?! Seems like I blinked and missed you mentioning them?

[@pilotmanpaul]

Why are people comparing it so hard to Bioshock? Yeah the Devs took inspiration but its Atomic Heart. It has its own taste and art.

[@porkerpete7722]

Ik people just run with comparisons, especially in games. Probably the elemental hand ability.

[@drantil]

Because gamers seem to have lost any ability to have crytical thinking, and just love to be spoon-fed reviews and bashing games without even trying them. The same people that is told who to vote, where to go, what to do.

[@MuiKaHo]

when ur aware of your issues and dont go out of your way to rectify it, is WAY worse than not knowing. At least when not knowing you have an excuse of "shiet i didnt test it out enough" or some sht. But here, they KNOW that its boring, "tim cook" KNOWS about the battery issue. They are willing to shove a broken product which the makers of or manufacturers of should have pride in.

[@drewandcharlie7583]

I’ll probably buy this game. I thought bioshock infinite fell off bad halfway through. But i still liked it. If the combat is good, if i think it’s good, then i’ll buy it. Its interesting that you and skill up said you wouldn’t recommend it but that you both enjoyed playing it. Interesting. Sounds like it has fun combat. So i’d like it.. maybe most people would like it. It looks great but ya cut in and its boring and tasteless… but i enjoyed my time with it. Doesnt really add up

[@garrick3727]

SkillUp's review was poor - he clearly rushed through it. Fairest review I've heard so far is Mortismal Gaming. He has more or less the same conclusion, that it's good but not great, but he provides a lot more detail because he spends more time on the game.

[@purgatoriprytania5382]

The developer's lack of experience shows in the amateurish gameplay design.

[@jeremybrown9611]

The Skeptic has returned. Awesome review. Honest gives the good and the bad

[@M1tZk1]

I haven't played the game, but I will play it in Russian, so maybe there was a bad translation fit Crispy Critter or trying to get an older swear phrase to fit the times better 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@drantil]

definetly the translation is made up at least on the swearing department. the spanish version has NOTHING to do with the english version, much more aggressive and strong swearing, to the point of feeling uncomfortable and even violent making the main character look like a "chav". The english version in comparison is how an old lady would say things. Also, a lot of swearing expressions that are properly spanish, in contrast with the only english ones like "crispy critters"

[@192venom]

I’ve heard it before and I’ll say it again because of how accurate it is, this game was originally a tech demo forced into a full.

[@cryingsurrogate]

No, originally, it was a movie.

[@392sasuke]

24:46 this rolling robot reminds me of the rolling robot from the first incredibles movie 🤔

[@drantil]

a lot of soviet conceptual tanks and armored vehicles have this spherical tendency. What can I say, post-WWII soviets liked big balls, I guess!

[@Tbear995]

For a game I paid $1 to get gamepass for, I love it

[@gman9tree851]

Aren't the people who made this behind bioshock and isn't bioshock 4 confirmed to be in development?

[@mrfrenglitch2172]

Im.... confused? "Its a solid 7/10. Its just fine...". Sounds pretty good to me lol. I was expecting more like 5/10 after watching xD.

[@garrick3727]

It's a "skeptical review" meaning he bashes it because that's what gets the clicks. He often releases another video at a later date titled, "I was wrong about ..."

[@silvermatter1739]

I haven’t played the game yet so I don’t have anything to say about the gameplay but I watched some play through’s and I genuinely don’t have a problem with the dialogue I think it’s bad but for me it hits that so bad it’s good kinda mark, idk but overall I don’t think the games that bad.

[@johnciano3524]

This is this studios first game I think they did amazing for that alone...there next game should be better

[@TerraWare]

I heard from a commenter that the Game Pass version of the game is broken when it comes to the ray tracing settings, which if true would be another time Microsoft drops the ball completely allowing an inferior version of the game to be on Windows store while Steam and other storefront have the complete package. Come on.

[@jayjaymyers5276]

Game is impressive for a first release tbh

[@CringeLord0119]

I think the dialogue criticisms can be remedied by playing in Russian with subs, not my favorite thing to do but that’s the intended language

[@bigfootisreal_]

So... P-3 is basically similar to Fray from Forspoken 💀.

[@dontfallyoumighthurtyourse4694]

Not quite that annoying but still pretty bad

[@MAzK001]

Love the format of the video. Keep it up!

[@BlazingConfetti]

Sounds like you meant 5/10

[@waverlybrown9474]

YOU COULD LITERALLY COMPARE THE END IN THIS GAME TO WHAT HAPPENED IN CYBERPUNK. BET YOU LIKED THAT THOUGH RIGHT. PLUS DO YOU KN0W HOW MANY GAMES YOU HAVE PLAYED WHERE THE IN WORLD TIME TABLE HAS ZERO IMPACT ON THE GAME.

[@Anthony19byrne]

All games on gamepass are recommneded lol. Anyway I'm looking forward to playing this. The art style got my interest and i was bummed out when it went dark all those years ago. So I'm going in without getting my hype up but i just hope it's good.

[@tni333]

I mean if the game isn’t unplayably broken and there’s some good about it, yeah why shouldn’t you recommend checking it out. That’s the magic of gamepass, you can just give games a spin if they look somewhat interesting to you but you wouldn’t invest 70$ otherwise.

[@NGEvangeliman]

I'd rather own my games.

[@ChaddeusThaddeus]

@@tni333gamepass is so key

[@porkerpete7722]

@@NGEvangeliman even games you've never tried before like this one?

[@drantil]

@@porkerpete7722 there's plenty of videos and reviews here on youtube, not going in exactly blind if he doesn't want to. Anyway, buy on steam, try the gameplay, return it if not convinced. That feature on steam basically let's you try the game as if it was a demo.

[@ProbablyNot18]

the difficulty was the breaking point for me. Couldnt get past 1 android in the first save section. I loved the combat in CP2077 so idk if my voice matters

[@drantil]

I get you, is not a forgiving game, and the combat mechanics are something special to get into. To me, it just makes me remember so much of Prey(2017), where you start with a wrench, but you get a foam-thrower gun before the first big enemy (that would be similar to the first fully functional android in this game) and the foam solidifies and retains the enemy for you to whack it up. In that sense, the combat feels very clunky and tanky when beggining the game just because how different the combat is from other games. A couple more hours in and it becomes natural and the game a fantastic experience. As I was saying, the combat movement and mechanics for me are just like Prey more even than any Bioshock, but you don't have the foam gun to paralyze the first difficult enemies and instead have a dodge system. So it's a matter of practicing the timings on your melee attacks, the attacks of the enemy and how to dodge properly.

[@ProbablyNot18]

@@drantil Nah the thing is the opening just mesmerized me and then it was taken away . I cant be bothered to practice maybe i will try it out an year later

[@bazdesh]

the steam update/redownload and the performance hit - denuvo? :D

[@devinmounce1838]

I love the gun play in this game. The way the guns sway and their recoil feels really good and I shoot guns a lot.

[@RandallBalls]

This game does nothing well but does everything pretty good. Sadly the puzzles were too boring, the logic for having every door locked behind weird canisters or needing to put a robot back together was too flawed, and the combat just wasn't exciting They should have never revealed all the weapons from the beginning of the game so I had something to be surprised about and a system like the surge would have went a long way here.. Would have loved to have had a system like shooting off robot heads or arms or particular parts of their systems going on to yield specific upgrades to have me engage with the combat more... But for me the game just went from running away from lengthy and boring combat encounters just to run into lengthy and boring puzzles. I was never a big fan of games like Dishonored or BioShock. They're just overly simple and lack the customization I love in a game

[@kyler247]

We already got a spiritual successor to bioshock, it was called Prey and nobody bought it lol

[@Weiswolfe]

and is excellent

[@spendsshanks6050]

Prey was amazing

[@jeanfrancozaratemarcial7916]

Thank Bethesda for royally fucking up the marketing and nearly dooming Arkane Studios for it (the creator of Prey left because of it)

[@thebadwolf3088]

@@jeanfrancozaratemarcial7916 sadly I have to agree, Bethesda killed Prey with the shitty marketing and publishing.

[@porkerpete7722]

Prey was boring. I could see why most didn't get it.

[@shinobismoke1466]

I know people keep talking about comparisons to Bioshock but I see A LOT of Fallout in this game and I haven't heard that from anyone. Guess only I see it.

[@shinobismoke1466]

​​@luke_stephens1 apologize but I don't use Facebook , Instagram or any of these.. Edit : You talked about dialogue and I guess this game and Forespoken ( or however it's spelled ) has had some of the most obnoxious main characters I have ever seen in gaming with their dialogue , makes it so hard to relate and envelope yourself into the story , much less play the game. Part of the reason I get physical copies , I can take it back with zero issues for the most part. Gamers can relate.

[@Zayphar]

The problem with this game design is that you can't escape fighting the robots. If they see you, then mobs will gather and chase you down, and stealth doesn't really work, so you can't really avoid combat by trying to sneak past. Finally, you need to kill robots to get resources in order to improve your character in order survive from enemies that can 1- or 2-shot kill you, and are at the same time massive bullet sponges that eat all your ammo. But you need to kill robots in order to gain the resources you need to craft more ammo. They created a beautiful world, then discourage you from exploring it. It is what they call a 'Catch-22'.

[@mattparish4451]

There was a dialogue exchange between P3 and the glove very early in the game that explains why he says crispy critters and I know it's silly because he says it a lot and it bothers me sometimes but you can't take it that seriously lol. And in the South it's a saying, I've heard people in Florida and Alabama and stuff saying a lot. When my friend's mom died and they were going to cremate her he said they're going to turn her into a crispy critter lol.

[@evgenkhersonets880]

I think the game is like Control. Some love it, some don't. That's it, it's just a matter of taste.

[@ak-ub1ym]

Yea love control 😆 Game is pretty fun and story is quite interesting , i would say.

[@evgenkhersonets880]

@@ak-ub1ym me too

[@Weiswolfe]

@@ak-ub1ym is delicious, but is flavor is not for everyone, this one looks promisiong tho, if the story is meh... that will be a dissapointment

[@ak-ub1ym]

@@Weiswolfe ppl like Duke nukem man. I am on the fence on that game so 🤷 From what I hear about Atomic heart it's sounds like a Russian Duke nukem games mixed with bioshock themes so not really sure why the hate? Feels unwarranted all controversy aside.

[@dreamingflurry2729]

A game having barely a story is no "a matter of taste" - unless you like "Gun down enemies for a few hours" and call that a good game! I do not, frankly I despise highly polished turds that pretend to be the next great thing...hell, Forspoken sucks, this thing probably isn't great either, so it kind of kicks the hope for good games in the near future hard IMHO!

[@magnumopus8124]

Maybe "crispy critters!" Is the surprised quote he says, much like "great scott!" was to doc brown in back to the future.....maybe? 🤷🏾‍♂️