Atomic Heart released a little under a year ago, and I loved the base game. With clear Bioshock inspirations, great graphics, and fun gameplay it was an excellent addition to Game Pass. Its second DLC, Trapped in Limbo, has hit and much like the first DLC, I hate it. Instead of being more Atomic Heart, it’s a mish-mash of Go Up, Temple Run, and occasional combat arenas against boring enemies.
Limbo
DLC 1 found you in a post-game set after choosing the “bad” ending in the main game. DLC 2 finds you trapped in Limbo, a bright and colorful space made from your imagination. Your dead but split into two robot twin halves wife Katya is a cloud of Polymer that floats around in Limbo trying to help you escape. Turns out she’s been lost in there for “three years” as time flows differently. In this version of things, you made the good choices and aren’t a piece of shit.
There are five base levels of the DLC. Two of them have you sliding along giant pieces of candy as you try and angle properly for jumps to the next platforms. It is a fun mechanic for the first few minutes and then you realize it’s most of what you’ll be doing for the next hour or so. The second level type is an Atomic Heart take on Go Up, where you’re focused on climbing platforms with rigid feeling mantle and climbing mechanics. There are constant checkpoints in both level types which keeps the frustration down a bit. Still, by the end of my time in all four levels, I despised it.
I appreciate the attempt to find something new to do in this DLC, but it is rarely enjoyable. Frustrating flying and sliding mechanics had the rage seething up inside of me. It didn’t feel like a fun challenge, but a punishment of some sort. Occasionally in both modes, you will get a combat arena or mini-game style challenge. For the sliding levels, this means trying to send small enemies flying into a big gingerbread man until his HP is gone. To fight the hordes of candy creatures off you’ll be collecting apples which you can then spend at a checkpoint vendor. The weapons feel weak as shit until they’re upgraded, but at least you have unlimited ammo.
Obmil
Limbo is a bright, colorful place made out of candy. The floors, walls, and buildings are all candy-themed and like the base game, it looks and runs well. DLC is nearly impossible to review on consoles so I played on Steam. Graphically it ran at a locked 4k/60 and looked great on my rig, with the only issues being a constant change between the entertaining but impossible-to-read Russian VO and the worst in-class English Dub.
Seriously, the English voiceover is as bad as the graphics are good. You will find more realistic dialogue and line reads in a dubbed 70s porno from Europe. Tommy Wiseau and Neil Breen run rings around the writing and direction on this dub, which goes in stark contrast to how excellent and committed the native version sounds. The music is full of absolute bangers, much like the main game. There are a few goofy tunes that I had to turn down but they are the exception
The final section of the DLC is Temple Run, with you playing as the asshole Goose from the main game. After spending way too long contorting your hands to not run through all of your lives you’ll have a final fight back as the main character from the base game as you murder a bunch of geese and see an ending that could potentially lead to more actual regular Atomic Heart gameplay for once.
Wrapping Things Up
As disappointed as I was with the first DLC I think I dislike the second one even more. It’s a mishmash of unenjoyable mini-games, and while the music is great the gameplay is not.
Atomic Heart: Trapped in Limbo
Played on
Steam
PROS
- Looks great
- Excellent music
CONS
- Not fun
- Zero of the base game’s depth
- Horrendous English VO
- Short but feels too long
Because you didn’t do weapon combo
The majority of this DLC is just sliding or climbing. You barely fight at all, and the fights weren’t hard.
Perfettamente d’accordo, sapevo già che sarebbe stato una delusione come dlc ma è stato peggio ancora, l’ho continuato solo per la storyline per poi finire il gioco con una cutscene che non dice nulla e lascia il tutto a metà