The idea is to conjure up an exaggerated version of the strangeness of the real Soviet Union. The USSR was famous for its brilliant engineers and advanced research in science, while at the same time, in the atmosphere of secrecy, some research institutes could easily have spawned robots and zombies, absolutely anything.вЂќ In fact, it was this way in the Soviet Union, in the sense that everything was very unusual and unpredictable. вЂњThe game world is definitely stuffed with all sorts of weird things. Bagratuni is a little more cryptic on that front. He leaves it at that, but itвЂ™s clear from the trailer that thereвЂ™s more at work here than broken robots. In every house there was a robot, in every business. They have an appealing appearance because they were being sold everywhere, like iPhones. вЂњRobots are everywhere, they are bartenders, cleaners, security guards, caretakers for the elderly. вЂ3826вЂ™ is inherently strategic - it produces robots for working in the fields, gathering timber, harvesting, keeping everything in peace as well as for working at home and in the public catering. And his party has sent him to the power plant вЂ3826вЂ™ and is waiting for the report. вЂњThe protagonist is a Soviet KGB officer. So far, so Fallout - until weвЂ™re told about the lead character: вЂњThe storyline takes place in a reality where the USSR still exists, but a technical revolution has already taken place: robots, the Internet, holograms have already been invented, but all these innovations are submerged in the atmosphere of communism, confrontation with the imperialism of the West and all the other inherent political and social aspects of the time.вЂќ this is a game about everything that could have happened but did not take place in the USSR in the вЂ™30s through to the вЂ™60s. вЂњThe world of Atomic Heart is an alternative reality of the Soviet Union, or an alternative pastвЂќ, says Bagratuni. Then, together with the producer, Oleg, we assembled a whole group of talented game developers who shared our way of thinking, every single one of whom has worked on various game projects in the past.вЂќ When I read the synopsis and saw the first sketches, it became clear that the game had a huge potential. вЂњHe had it in the making for seven years. вЂњThe credit for вЂ‹вЂ‹the plot of the game belongs to the art director of the project, Artyom GaleevвЂќ, explains Mundfish CEO, Robert Bagratuni over email. Mundfish is a Russian studio currently made up of 20 developers (although thatвЂ™s expected to double over the next six months) and, somewhat perfectly, was founded specifically because Atomic Heart sounded so cool - itвЂ™s been exciting people from nowhere since before it even had a name. IвЂ™m happy to say that I can spoil some of the mystery for you. Perhaps more importantly - whoвЂ™s making all this? Mundfish is listed as the developer, but thereвЂ™s precious little information out there about the studio, aside from a willfully cryptic website that reveals another game, Soviet Lunapark VR, is in development. What has caused robots, zombies and eldritch blood tentacles(?) to start cropping up, why are we fighting them, and should it be making me. But so much of what? While it seems pretty clear that this is a first-person action game amid a Fallout-like rewritten history, thereвЂ™s a lot more we can only guess at.

An absolute dervish of styles, combat and, particularly, threats that promises so much. I just watched it twice more myself - itвЂ™s brilliant.

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