Atomic Hearts "Annihilation Instinct" DLC review: 6 points

* This article is compiled from IGN US related content, the original author Luke Reilly, translated tonkotsu ramen, edited by Kamui Ye, unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.

Moving Atomic Heart's most eccentric supporting characters to center stage for the first DLC was a brilliant idea. The most memorable character in the main body is Nora, a crazy AI who controls the blushing upgrade machines throughout Facility 3826. The story of "Annihilation Instinct" continues one of the two unsatisfactory endings in the main story, this time we have to deal with Nora, who is completely out of control.

However, unlike the main campaign, the flow of the "Annihilation Instinct" is mostly linear. There isn't much to stand out for a few hours, as the player has fewer weapons and skills at their disposal, and less room for this DLC to perform.

The plot supplement about why Nora is obsessed with the protagonist P3 feels indispensable, but it is also expected. "Atomic Heart" has two completely different endings, but "Annihilation Instinct" can only follow up the plot of one ending at least for now, but the story does not clearly explain which one, which feels poorly handled. If you only play Atomic Hearts once (and make it all the way to Sechenov's office), you might be a little confused when you first open the DLC.

The story of the DLC also creates a strange phenomenon, because we have seen things that don't happen in this timeline, resulting in us knowing more about specific characters than P3 himself. I must admit that the "annihilation instinct" sometimes goes too much about machines, and I find myself just pretending to be listening. It's like explaining the principles of nuclear fusion to your dog.

The story takes place in the Mendeleev complex, a brand new location controlled by the mischievous Nora. The visual design of the "annihilation instinct" still did not disappoint. The terrifying environment here is comparable to the atompunk-style laboratories and factories in the ontology. The retro-futuristic hangar is the most prominent – even if players don't stay here for long. However, although there are some open spaces on the ground in "Annihilation Instinct", the story encounters are basically linear, giving players little freedom to explore the world.

The new machine enemies are well-designed – unsurprisingly, inheriting the same excellent enemy design from the Atomic Hearts base – but there are only two new enemies. The new humanoid machine — now more like a test dummy than the figure-eight attack robot that overwhelmed us in February — will creep in from behind us like a killer puppet. They can also throw their arms as boomerangs, which is a good idea, but being able to attack through walls makes people speechless.

Other new enemies are BEA-D, which are basically robots the size of fitness balls that can be combined to become more powerful enemies. There are two fixed boss battles that take on many giant armed droids formed by BEA-D that look like Mr. DNA, the mascot from Jurassic Park. However, these two boss battles are exactly the same, and the second time you encounter them, they are not interesting, just for the closing battle.

If there are more new tricks to take out these enemies, the measre number of new enemies will not be so disappointing. Unfortunately, there are not many weapons available in the Annihilation Instinct, only two new weapons, a melee weapon that is half an axe and half gardening tool, and a homemade light machine gun that does not match its seemingly powerful power at all.

Both weapons can be upgraded, but I don't know if these upgrades are worth the effort to search around the Mendeleev complex, I searched many rooms and only got a few. Collecting these upgrades takes a lot of work and is very useful in a later battle where P3 has to fight against a large number of robots in a small room, but it is also a bit useful here.

I find most useful a new ability that slows down the time around you, but many of the abilities in the Atomic Heart body (such as freezing and telepathy) are not present in the DLC for unknown reasons. Coupled with the fact that the only returning weapon is a pistol, a shotgun, and a club, many times I feel that the Annihilation Instinct is more of a demo for you to get a taste of the main campaign than a DLC that adds more new content after launch.

summary

The Atomic Hearts "Annihilation Instinct" DLC is a great addition to the form's imaginative enemy design, as well as the new environment design. But its linear flow and inexplicably limited arsenal are a step backwards on the basis of the ontology. There are a series of DLC expansions that are meant to complement the story of Atomic Heart, but the first DLC brings a little doubt. But it's still a pleasure to see Nora again.

merit

The excellent visual design style of the main story is retained

Numerous imaginative enemies

New environment design

shortcoming

Shorter, linear processes

The variety of weapons is relatively limited