Atomic Heart continues to look increasingly boombastic in new trailer

There's no real news to report about Atomic Heart. It's still a Soviet-inspired first-person shooter about battling unsettling robots in an alt-history 1950s. It's still coming out on February 21st, 2023. There is a new trailer however, shown tonight during The Game Awards, and it continues to convince me that Atomic Heart won't be short on spectacular setpieces.

Here's the new "Arlekino" trailer, which features more backpedalling than a Serious Sam game:

Atomic Heart initially seemed like it might be reminiscent of Stalker and BioShock, with a striking world to explore filled with creatively-designed monsters to fight via thoughtful first-person combat. Each trailer is more bombastic than the last though, with this newest one featuring quick cuts, swarms of enemies and huge explosions. It's all a reminder that developers Mundfish refer to Atomic Heart as an "action RPG", suggesting Diablo and its ilk are as much a relevant point of comparison as BioShock.

That said, BioShock still seems a relevant touchpoint when it comes to Atomic Heart's story, which features a floating city and humans who modify themselves to be smarter and stronger via "polymer injections". The protagonist, meanwhile, possesses an experimental polymer glove that gives you access to an expandable arsenal of magic powers. It's all very reminiscent of Splicers and Plasmids.

James spoke to Mundfish back in February this year where they discussed both the comparisons to certain classic first-person shooters as well as the tech underlying Atomic Heart's world.

For more of the latest news and trailers, check out our Game Awards 2022 hub. We also live-blogged the show as it happened right here.