There are sincere attempts to make this open space more interesting – the hacking of security systems to disable certain barriers and the occasional bit of environmental storytelling – but too often it feels like dicking around in a theme park instead of a cohesive, lived-in world. The same aesthetic passion infused in the world is present in the game’s robot designs but between the sexualised nature of certain types and the fairly plain designs of others, the selling point of Atomic Heart runs out of value far sooner than you’d like. The experience wearing thinner as the initially charming line-up of metal comrades gives way to a fairly small rotation of enemies. Personal mileage being what it is you might have the stomach for these additional gameplay sections but my time with the main thrust of Atomic Heart was more than enough for me. These weapons can all be upgraded at the previously mentioned horny tool station, but Atomic Heart locks its best upgrades and guns away from the story missions in discreet challenge rooms. You’ll then spend the next several hours in search of something that feels anywhere as good, the game doling out a couple of timid pistols and calling it a day until the larger energy weapons of the campaign backend. Blessedly, the game gives you a shotgun quite early (ammo is a whole other story), and this thing whacks a decent wallop.

Your arsenal of guns is a mixed duffle bag, giving you a small selection of impactful and fun tools.

Atomic heart plot