Atomic Heart: Annihilation Instinct Review

Making one in every of Atomic Coronary heart’s quirkiest facet characters the star of its first dose of DLC is a intelligent contact. Few moments in the principle recreation had been extra memorable than these spent with NORA, the sex-mad Soviet AI operating riot throughout the lewd and lustful improve machines dotted all through Facility 3826. Annihilation Intuition’s story picks up after the weaker of the principle recreation’s two anticlimactic endings and pits us in opposition to NORA, who’s gone fully rogue. Sadly, not like the principle marketing campaign itself, the gauntlet you run in Annihilation Intuition is a largely linear and pretty forgettable few hours, with a stripped-back suite of weapons and power-ups giving it much less of a possibility to tell apart itself. 

The added context Annihilation Intuition finally offers about why NORA has constantly had the hots for our most important man P-3 within the first place feels inessential, however it suits firmly throughout the fiction. What’s much less elegant is the truth that, since Atomic Coronary heart has two totally totally different endings, Annihilation Intuition can solely choose up from one in every of them and – at the least for some time – it didn’t appear totally clear which one which was. For those who’ve solely completed Atomic Coronary heart as soon as (and battled all the way in which to Sechenov’s workplace within the course of) you’re most likely going to be completely confused on the outset. 

It additionally creates a bizarre kink within the storytelling the place we all know extra about sure characters than P-3 does himself on this timeline, due to a pivotal encounter that seems now to have by no means occurred. I’ll admit, there have been additionally occasions the place Annihilation Intuition leans a bit too closely into its techno-babble, to the purpose the place I discovered myself merely nodding alongside politely. It’s just a little like making an attempt to elucidate nuclear fission to your canine.

All of this takes place in Mendeleev Complicated, a wholly new location which is underneath the iron grip of the naughty NORA, and as soon as once more there’s admittedly little to fault in Annihilation Intuition’s visible design. It contains a terrific set of environments which might be simply on-par with the atompunk-inspired labs and amenities of the unique, and the retro-futuristic plane hangar is especially robust – though it’s not truly someplace you want to linger lengthy. Nevertheless, whereas it consists of some open area above floor, Annihilation Intuition in any other case funnels us by way of a linear set of encounters that don’t give us quite a lot of scope to discover its attention-grabbing world.

The brand new robotic sorts are effectively designed – not shocking, following the power of the enemy designs in Atomic Coronary heart – however there are solely two of them.

The brand new robotic sorts are effectively designed – not shocking, following the power of the enemy designs in Atomic Coronary heart – however there are solely two of them. The brand new humanoid robots – that are characterised by a extra crash check dummy look than the glossy, moustachioed assault bots we had been carving up again in February – creepily tiptoe in the direction of us like lethal dolls. Additionally they toss their limbs like boomerangs, which is a neat thought cheapened by the truth that this assault might be efficient by way of partitions.

The others are BEA-Ds, that are principally inflatable fitness center ball-sized bots that may mix to type extra highly effective foes. There are two scripted boss fights in opposition to a few-dozen BEA-Ds which have shaped what basically seems to be like an enormous, weaponised Mr. DNA from Jurassic Park. It’s, nonetheless, simply the identical boss combat twice, so the second time round it’s a lukewarm and repetitive technique to shut out the chapter.

The sparse new enemy sorts could be much less of a downer if there have been a variety of new methods to eliminate them and their older counterparts, however disappointingly, there aren’t truly many weapons out there in Annihilation Intuition. Solely two are new – there’s a melee weapon that’s half halberd and half gardening device, and a jerry-rigged mild machine gun that doesn’t fairly have the stopping energy I’d count on from one thing so massive and menacing. These could be upgraded, though I don’t know that it’s value schlepping backwards and forwards throughout the Mendeleev Complicated to take action. A vastly explosive power-up disguised as a chocolate bar makes an look too, however I ransacked a variety of rooms and solely ever got here throughout a few them. It’s a grand impact – and essential in a late, unfair encounter that pins P-3 in a small room to fend off a ridiculous wave of robots – however it’s a uncommon sight. 

I did get a variety of use out of the brand new skill to decelerate time inside a bubble round me, however many of the different powers from Atomic Coronary heart (like ice and telekinesis) are absent on this DLC for causes that aren’t totally clear. Mixed with the actual fact the one authentic weapons that reappear are a pistol, a shotgun, and a membership, there are occasions when Annihilation Intuition feels extra like a demo that offers you a style of the principle marketing campaign than post-release DLC that provides on new stuff.