Highlights
- BioShock 4 has the opportunity to showcase its reputation as a top gaming franchise by surpassing the underwhelming experience of Atomic Heart.
- Atomic Heart had an attractive premise and impressive world-building, but fell short in terms of gameplay and narrative execution.
- BioShock 4, rumored to be set in a cold era Antarctica, could potentially incorporate the political and espionage elements that made Atomic Heart intriguing, while still delivering fresh mechanics alongside better gameplay and writing.
At this point, the BioShock series is a touchstone of gaming for both mechanics and storytelling. Irrational Games’ 2007 original, a spiritual successor to the previously groundbreaking immersive sim, System Shock, set a new standard for the medium at the time. Followed by two more releases between 2010 and 2013, the franchise was subsequently etched into the industry zeitgeist. BioShock 4 was announced in 2019 to be in development by a newer studio, Cloud Chamber, under 2K’s umbrella. However, it has as yet to see the light of day, and there has been little firm information shared about its current status.
Released back in February 2023, Atomic Heart from developer Mundfish initially had all the appearances of possibly filling the space for a BioShock-like experience. With its own spin on the core genre and gameplay components within a fresh, intriguing setting, many fans were looking forward to what it promised to offer. Upon release, however, Atomic Heart ended up feeling more than a little half-baked, with sparks of good ideas and creativity that, unfortunately, in many instances were buried under technical annoyances, some uninspired design, and a story that fell fairly flat. Given that it failed to impress on this front, BioShock 4 has an opportunity to prove why it’s earned its reputation by showing Atomic Heart how it should be done.
Why BioShock Fans Should Check Out Close to the Sun
BioShock fans looking for an experience in a similar fashion would likely be interested by what 2019 title Close to the Sun has to offer.
How BioShock 4 Could be What Atomic Heart Wasn’t
Atomic Heart’s Strengths and Weaknesses
Atomic Heart‘s setup and atmosphere seemed primed to deliver an outstanding title for fans of BioShock and similar games. Framed around an alternate-history post-World War 2 Soviet Union estate powered by advanced sci-fi technology, which enabled it to be the dominating force of the Cold War, AH had an attractive premise. While this was an excellent starting point, it stumbled more in its execution. The art direction and world building of Atomic Heart were generally regarded as its most striking and well-realized elements. Indeed, its fascinating realization of the world it created largely outshone the actual gameplay and narrative in the grand scheme.
The story of agent “P-3”, AKA Major Sergey Nechayev, attempts to mirror that of BioShock‘s protagonists. Making use of plasmid-like abilities and an assortment of weapons to uncover the truth behind his history and superiors, it was again good on paper, but lackluster in practice. Overall, Atomic Heart was thought by many fans to be underwhelming, and failed to leave much of an impact, ending up somewhat forgotten not long after launch due to its unevenness, despite getting some solid post-launch fixes and a piece of DLC.
Though it wasn’t warmly received critically, Atomic Heart surpassed publisher Focus Entertainment’s sales projections, and contributed to the company’s highest grossing fiscal year to date after release.
How BioShock 4 Might Improve Upon Atomic Heart’s Potential
The wait for BioShock 4 was already on the longer side when Atomic Heart was released, and it remains the case that not much has materialized regarding BS4‘s direction and other details, with Cloud Chamber noticeably quiet about its progress. Some rumors and leaks regarding BS4 have painted its development cycle in a troubled light thus far. However, information that has emerged, specifically about it allegedly being set in the literal cold era of 1960s Antarctica, could open up a path for it to outdo Atomic Heart at its own game.
If accurate, this factor, along with others, could set BioShock 4 up to incorporate the political/social tension and espionage angles seen in Atomic Heart, and already present in much of the series’ identity. It could be the case that BioShock 4 will pick up the ball Atomic Heart dropped, and explore the realm of alt-history Cold War-era scenarios further, with all the elements that players likely expect from it, hopefully putting some fresh spins on them as well. For now though, it remains a waiting game to see how, and if, BS4 will return to the form that Atomic Heart tried to emulate.
