The first few months of 2023 will bring some of the most anticipated releases of the year, along with other titles that may not have the same impact as triple-A games but have managed to generate quite a lot of hype, such asAtomic Heart. This is the first video game from Mundfish, a studio based in Cyprus that was founded in 2017 and that just now launched its first game.
The retro-futuristic shooter, inspired by titles likeBioShockandSingularity, has been a graphical powerhouse practically since its conception. The title had ray tracing as one of its hallmarks, butAtomic Hearthas finally come to next-gen consoles and PC without this new technology.
RELATED:Why Critics Are Split on Atomic Heart
Atomic Heart’s Ray Tracing Controversy Is Soured By Past Trailers and Marketing Material
Prior to its release,Atomic Heartwas one of the most anticipated games of 2023. This first-person action game with RPG elements was supposed to be delivered without ray tracing to consoles, but it would enjoy a 4K and 60 FPS gaming experience. This madeAtomic Heart’s PC players think that they would have an advantage in terms of graphics, but it turns out thatAtomic Heart’s ray tracingnever made it to any of its versions.
This fact is even more shocking considering that it was something very advanced by the developers, and it was promoted in collaboration with Nvidia.Nvidia’s technology inAtomic Heartwas even showcased in several demos of the development stages, and fans could see clear differences in using this technology. Shadows are softened, and there is a more accurate ambient occlusion, resulting in a clear improvement in reflections.
It is also surprising because Mundfish has talked many times about the implementation of ray tracing and how it would improve the graphics of the game. About a year ago, the studio stated thatAtomic Heartwould incorporate RTX Global Illumination technology on PC, assuring that the result was good. And in the summer of 2020, Robert Bagratuni, the game’s director, assured that the reflections and shadows from ray tracing would be kept.
However, Bagratuni announced shortly before launch that ray tracing would not be available out of the box in the console version. The director said that the developer team will be working closely with Nvidia to make this happen in the future alongside one of the game’s updates, but nothing was said about a delay on PC.
After so many mentions of ray tracing inAtomic Heart’s trailers and marketing materials, it is natural for the public to be surprised by the lack of something they thought was included. This is already being criticized by some users, as a game like this can not be left without a feature that was supposed to consolidateNvidia’s Ampere generation.
Atomic Heart’s Performance
Those unwilling to playAtomic Heartwithout ray tracing will just have to wait for the corresponding update to arrive. In the meantime, looking on the bright side,Atomic Heartperforms quite well on both consoles and PC. This is something to be welcomed as the Xbox Series X and PS5 achieve dynamic 4K at 60 FPS, mostly stable. Still, there are reports ofperformance issues forAtomic Hearton the Xbox Series S.
In fact, the Xbox Series S does have more occasional dips at 1080P and 60 FPS, especially in the open world. On the other hand, on PC the FPS soar outdoors. In fact, with an RTX 3070 Ti and with DLSS 2 enabled, gamers can easily play at over 60 FPS in 4K Ultra. With an RTX 3050, they can play in 2K Ultra with DLSS 2, and with the powerfulRTX 4090, the game exceeds 120 FPS in 4K thanks to DLSS 3.
Atomic Heartis available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
MORE:Atomic Heart’s Setting Is Its Greatest Strength and Weakness
