ATOMIC HEART: A Satire of Putin's Russia?
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- Опубликовано: 16 апр 2023
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Given the on-going context of the situation in Ukraine, some have questioned the intent and appropriateness of Mudfish's recent game, ATOMIC HEART, which released on the one year anniversary of the 2022 Russian invasion. In this video essay, Jorin makes the case for why, though flawed, Atomic Heart may actually be the very opposite thing it's been accused of.
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"In an alternate [timeline], the Soviet Union...at its apex of power... dispatches you to investigate its supremely secretive Facility No 3826. It is imperative that you recover the artifact that Dr. Stockhausen was experimenting with there: the Atomic Heart. Since all contact with the facility was lost, rumors have begun to creep out, warning of horrific abominations gone amok, some biological, some machine, and some unknowable."
www.giantbomb.com/atomic-hear... 
Игры
I think its funny how P3’s catchphrase in the English version is “crispy critters” but in Russian it is “fucking pies”
I went into this game thinking it would be dark and serious like Bioshock, imagine my surprise when my character started saying "crispy critters" every 10 seconds.
@@brunomatassini9879inb4 you learn WHY he says it.
Spoilers:
That's how the recovery team referred to the MCs wife's mangled burned corpse when they found them and it got burned into his psyche. There's some messages you can read at the end of game where other people describe him UNKNOWINGLY adapting that phrase.
Wait people thought this game was pro-russia? I've literally only seen tbe first like 3 hours and I felt like thw satire was so thick I was about to suffocate
Yeah i heard that and was like wtf, theres no way someone took it that way. But...they did. Unintelligence rules the day
its not that its pro russia , but who investment of game came from , and who CEO and owners were , all have high ties to russian goverments , game was financed mostly by pro war copanies like gazprom , tencent and other goverment subsidieries , noticed how game tried to scrub all its existance claim its not russian company? has 550 workers in moskov , 1 small office in cyprus with 5 people , and claims to be "international company" since last year
i cant judge game myself as due it was financed by mostly russian goverment/pro war companies like gazprom , i would be directly financing war in ukraine on russian side.
so i refused to buy it as im already helping ukraine. content it represents matters less then where money you pay for the game goes to. (ukrainian genocide)
to make allegory , if the sticker "putin is bad" is sold by putin to finance war to kill people , it not matters what products says , but that your buying something who causes people missery.
i think you guys also forgot it had "communism flavoured parties" who had government officials visit it , imagine "new order" had nazi theamed tea party in SS uniforms.
@@VarenvelDarakus The Russian military budget has been around 60-80 billion dollars throughout the years, the money a game can earn is just laughable in comparison, not to say that the result is then divided between studios and other people. Hell, even the money the government actually gets might not even go into areas outside of military.
@@greyish7212 it's more about ethics then how money is divided
@@VarenvelDarakus Wait, this is so silly. A genocide? There is no genocide happening in the Ukraine. There are atrocities committed, but it does not reach the level of being called a genocide. You can be against a country without resorting to make it look worse; you just make yourself and the movement you represent look bad and by claiming something so ridiculous.
Love the non-MGS conetent, not hating just think it's a great way to grow your channel. Awaiting "What Even Happens in MGS2? Part Four"
Yes when it has some relevance for the topics this channel brings up, like it does in this video, I agree it's a strong addition to an already incredible part of youtube
It's been days since the upload and if the low view count is any indication, I don't think he'll be branching out any time soon.
Like the opening of MGS5, this game was made in Cyprus. And the team was made by a multinational group just like everyones favorite Diamond Dogs.
The loss of the 6 hour scene is the biggest mistake that Russia has made in the last decade
"Maybe I'm being played like a damn fiddle." 😂
Great short video scratching the surface. I hope you do a longer breakdown or play through of this sometime
At the moment, I think it's best to say 'Il n'y a pas de hors-texte'. We're all trapped within the confines of interpreting this game within the context of our current time and all we have is looking at the past to spot similarities or to other reference material. It will be interesting to see how we interpret this game in the future. By saying there is no outside text, this isn't to say that the story stands alone, everything is referential and in flux. I'd like to consider the ethics (which are also subject to change) of how things are produced which makes me cautious about spending money on the game where I'm unsure about what it could possibly be funding. Whilst I understand the hypocritical nature of that statement, considering that partaking in any nations economy will eventually lead to investment into some sort of military, I still think timing is key here. I can't even give a definitive view on it due to my own upbringing, ego and circumstances of living in my own nation - norms, media, etc. It's difficult to judge until we can look back on it retrospectively. It is ok to not be sure about something.
I like this guy cos he actually has something interesting to say
It's a game as critical of Russia as you can make there without getting thrown out of a building by the state
I think this is a bit of cope for western audiences that can't enjoy a game that isn't outright "Russia bad" as 99% of media they get to consume.
@@retardedfishfrogs1 Nvm how it can also be applied to certain developments in the west.
@@retardedfishfrogs1 Russia/Putin bad tho...
@@themajesticspider-man6116 US bad tho...
@@cqare9684 Yes? Objectively not as bad as Russia tho? If you disagree, you are mentally [redacted] lmao.
The first thing I ever heard about this game was about the two robot twins.
it was used as an rtx tech demo way before that.
@@KL-tn1xc Interesting. I didn’t know that. Thank you for telling me!
It's literally the only thing i've heard. I tuned out all the hate-watchers and paid critics. People like Jorin are the only ones i trust when waxing intellectual.
Poor man's version of Solid Snake, by way of Rodney Dangerfield is an amazing sentence. Really interesting.
But this game has BEEN out there in development even before the whole war situation. I'd doubt they rewrote everything around that, it was just by chance. Just like W. Basinski composed DLP right on 9/11 (by chance) and is his most known work.
Parts of the game may have been changed or censored when the war situation happened, and Putin has been in power and been corrupt for multiple years. I think they wanted to critique Putin’s Russia, but had to change some parts to keep themselves from getting assassinated.
"before the whole war situation" Are you sure about that?
The Ukraine situation has been brewing ever since 2008 when Bush backed Ukraine joining NATO, the annexation of Crimea happened in 2014. The developer has been working on prototypes since 2008 but development proper only started in 2017.
@@hugevibez Indeed you have a strong point there.
Similar to Kojima writing the Big Shell story in the months prior to 9/11. In fact, he had to change his entire epilogue as not to upset his American audience.
Top quality content as always. Thank you!
how can anyone say that this game have something to do with the war when it was in development long before it?
“We choose truth over facts”
Joe Biden
the war has been going on since 2014
Crimea?
Is that true? The war going on is the result of a LONG history of violence that lead to this
@@Researcher_Jim good take, but i will have to say that its a tiny bit different event just based on the fact what they are like what? 6 years apart?
I love your analysis! Glad you're covering more topics!
Love to see new content
New video? Duck yes!!!!!!
Honestly the only big criticism I’ve come out of playing this game is the protagonist is so annoying with voice lines that sounds like a boneless Duke Nukem and kinda makes me wish for more silent protagonists in video games again.
People will take ANYTHING, anywhere and twist it to support their own agenda. The game looks fantastic. Original, fresh art style and an interesting premise. I'll definitely play it the next time I take a break from Destiny 😃.
Just make sure to take breaks, and play with the Russian audio with subs. If you binge it then it will get boring near the end, and the voice direction is more miss than hit, in English.
Russian ops, and disinformation are the new satanism.
@@LeuvahkTrigger Yes, I like the tip about the Russian audio. The English language dialogue clip was pretty painful 🤭.
Ehhh it’s alright, the main character is super annoying and the gameplay is very repetitive. If they make a sequel and fix the issues it will be twice as good as this game.
TAKE THAT GEARHEAD
TAKE THAT GEARHEAD
TAKE THAT GEARHEAD
TAKE THAT GEARHEAD
It's Red Alert with more plot. Plus we never got a space DLC
what about Julian Assange? Wikileaks? Is that American freedom of speech, freedom of journalism, the American Dream? Imagine that. Isn't it ironic when you point a finger at some one else three point back at you?
Apparently,based on Tv Tropes' YMMV on Atomic Heart,the game is anti-communist.
I think the controversy is to avoid giving tax money to russia by buying the game and fueling more "the special operation" , not the game itself
лол, никогда раньше не видел такой интерпретации
as a russian this theories just make me facepalm myself
yea im also ru and this was so dumb i coudnt believe it
engagement for the engagement god, comments for the comment throne!!
RAMBO 3 IS MORE THE INSPIRATION FOR MGSV, ALMOST A COMPLETE DUPLICATE....if you haven't watched Rambo 3 just watch it if you don't agree your blind.
Interesting take... I haven't played this game yet but have been considering it. Political content of a game can be very challenging to pin down, especially when there are so many hands in the games creation. There may be a general premise but that is often challenged within the game at random points, as is perhaps here as well. Many people have a desire, or a need to quantify and simplify something into a basic thing, but that isn't usually possible given all the complexities. Things are rarely as simple as they appear on the surface, which is usually shaped by our own prejudices, friends, media consumption, and personal experiences. Anyhow, I appreciate a mature discussion of these topics and certainly appreciate your video.
Should I play it?🫤
Think for yourself, mate.
@@Raphael_Bizmann i think you should pile drive your head into a stack of bricks he's literally just asking if the game is good like a normal person
@@blueshark4926 he can decide if the game looks good to him, so apply your advice to yourself, Mr Bizmann phrases is true, in more than one way
yes
@@blueshark4926 incredible response
unrelated but you should look into some of the criticism of Orwell, the youtuber Hakim has an interesting video on the subject
Вот скажи мне, американец, в чём сила! Разве в деньгах? Вот и брат говорит, что в деньгах. У тебя много денег, и чего? Я вот думаю, что сила в правде: у кого правда, тот и сильней! Вот ты обманул кого-то, денег нажил, и чего - ты сильней стал? Нет, не стал, потому что правды за тобой нету! А тот, кого обманул, за ним правда! Значит, он сильней!
Данила Багров
Think about it, my friends.
Умно, конечно, от государства через местные компании получать деньги, чтобы выстебать его же. План надёжный, как швейцарские часы.
It's definitely a critique of communism, nowhere near a glorification like some are trying to say.
While I understand and, to an extent, agree with your point - that you should try a game ( or any media) before passing judgement - I still don't think this accounts for the fact that my purchasing power is the main form of agency in supporting media we have as consumers. Therefore, I simply don't want to support iterative, shallow Bioshock / Doom Eternal clones.
I don't think I'm jumping on a bandwagon, I've looked at multiple reviews both negative and positive and tried to form an opinion on the game which has made me not want to purchase it in the first place. Does this mean I should be barred from discourse about the game's content? This goes without mentioning stuff like the game being funded by Russian oligarchs (on top of supposed the unsolicited data gathered by Russian Federal Body on Atomic Heart's own site).
The game's setting is a romanticize Soviet Union where they won the war. It is obvious that there's a lot of political meanings that are bashing the Ukrainians or Nato. Without the components of the war between ukraine/Nato during ww2/cold war (I'm don't know the history so this so correct me). It's the same thing alls Wolfenstein where they romanticize Nazis if the win the war.
I don't think this is a propoganda game nor is a pro russian game at all, but it is for u to decide if you think this is a propoganda game.
Were people accusing this game of being pro Russia? I only played like 3 hours of it on Game Pass, even I got the subtext immediately. I can only imagine sitting next to this person and watching them go "Wow, I can plug right into the Soviet Hive Mind? The future sure is exciting!".
I guess media literacy has been at a shocking all time low lately (especially in gaming) but this is like reading 1984 and finding no deeper meaning or real world allegory at all.
The whole controversy around this game just makes me think that Bioshock couldn't be made today. Some journalist would probably say "it promotes capitalism and conservatism, and that's a bad thing" or something, even though I think Andrew Ryan's character is suppose to be a libertarian on a extremist level. But I would like to see a modern "journalist" take on bioshock because I always like a good laugh.
Andrew Ryan was a stand-in for the ideal personification of the philosophy promoted by author Ayn Rand so it's not surprising you suspected something similar
Atomic Heart was just generic and boring. The art is great but that can only carry it so far
Чел, ты в муте. 😂
Not me, I’m not open-minded or diverse 👍🏻
I'm about 10 minutes into the game and just got to the big parade with the broadcast and like . . . if this is the tone of the game then I'm surprised people *don't* think this is satirical. There are huge groups of robots marching down the streets of a city full of artificiality and excess while the government is giving a speech about how everyone is being forced to physically undergo a process that creates a literal collective unconscious under the guise of "helping humanity recognize its own greatness" or whatever Sechenov said. We quite literally play as a government agent sent to "protect humanity" which in this case specifically means aiding a government that wants to create a world based on techno-eugenics and the guy doesn't seem to care at all.
I'm playing the English dub because I thought it would be funny so idk how different it is but the main character absolutely sucks to a comical extent. He absolutely sucks and that feels like it's the point. I'm in the car ride where he turns on the radio and upon hearing about how the US is struggling with unemployment due to the sudden wave of robots in the workplace he LITERALLY SAID "UGH POLITICS" AND TURNED IT OFF HOW MUCH MORE OBVIOUS COULD THIS BE.
It's entirely possible the game does a total heel turn and says "this is all great, actually" but judging solely off the intro I feel like someone would need to be intentionally misreading the text to say it's not satire
No
The anti-communist base that most are approaching this game from, as well as the current anti-russian base makes it very easy to dismiss this game, but like you pointed out, its a critique of communist nostalgia and modern russian exceptionalism. Anyone who thinks this game portrays russia as the heroes hasn't played it. It's silly at times, but there's real political comment in there, and i think this game got the short end of bad timing
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
really? seeya my guy
What? What’s wrong with the video?
This video deserves more love, the whole time I was playing Atomic Heart it felt like a satire and critique of communism, not praise or support for it.
Massive cope
game is amazing fuck the haters let them cry xD
It’s really nothing special lol. Just a mashup of mechanics taken from several other better games.
@@J0J0Reference name 5 mechanics taken from other games
@@bingojango2297 it’s literally Bioshock plus DOOM Eternal
You can say that games are out of politics, but in politics when it comes to life or death. For me, this game has never aroused interest, and I absolutely do not care about its content. But, the fact that people buy Russian products and it doesn’t matter whether it’s virtual or real is shocking. After all, you (Western societies) are helping us to survive, but at the same time prolonging the hostilities by paying taxes to the budget of the Russian Federation. And now every third ruble goes to war, consider that every Western gamer paid the Russian Federation $ 20 for the war by buying a simple game - and that was the argument for a boycott of the game among Ukrainians. community, and not its ideological background.
I don't know how to tell you this, but the US military industrial complex does not rely on sales of the next "Call of Duty" game in order to sustain itself. Likewise for Russia.
@@slyapbg Have you heard about taxes?
Comrade major dont come for my family please. In Russia living citizen opinion here.
Not being pro-war propaganda Atomic Heart is still scratching uncomfortably close placed surface. As Jordan said game takes more on world problems and threats to humanity from machinery and AIs, being in that matter far away from political talk indeed. And most outsiders (i.e. not being from Russia or Ukraine) will take that and just pass by. But not being propaganda itself AH is a subject of propaganda for in Russia audience. It's glorified and intentionally miss read to be "our game" about "how things might went if western countries not destroyed USSR" (yes, they really say so speaking of a game about machine rebellion). Game itself contains edgy things which makes russian rightist be happy about: In first location when you take first weapon in hand - axe, there is a pig and player might kill it, nothing interesting, but if you apply context of who russian rightists call "pigs" you see the message and they (meaning rightist) see it as well. Going on in. In some place in game there are flying drones moving around flower pots, also looks unharmful, but if you know that Iran's drone "Shahed 136" or "Geran-2 (translates as crane's-bill, flower) in Russian designation widely used in conflict (and rightist knew it, even making memes with this Iran's drone), this don't look so unmeaningful. Went crazy in searching such things and you will find caned pork mince (it wrote in russian on texture) ... with can being colored in Ukrainian flag. I didn't look for this things while playing game (I never played it) but they were circulated in russian group chats and chat-channels. So is Atomic Heart propaganda by itself? In my opinion - no, or at least not in a way most people think of it. Does it contains things inciting national hate? No. Does it contains things with messages for right people to understand and catch on? Yes.
So aré messages for leftist or rightist russians?
Plus the blatantly generic evil communist twist which has become so fucking boring among liberal anticomm media, god this shit narrative is way too fucking repetitive and boring omfg.
Thank you. Myself being polish it infuriated me to no end that the majority of western media jumped on this game completely missing how very anti-russia it is and how much the devs risked by even making it. The depth of the story is completely lost on outsiders and those who know nothing of communism.
Even the in-game story of Kollektiv 1.0 and 2.0 is a blatant allegory for socialism and communism yet somehow almost noone got it. Almost as if people that speak against the game know nothing about it.
you are one of the most based man on the internet just for this video
the game can actually mean to say fuck putin but if at the same time buying this game gives russia more money for war it doesn't really matter
ah yes, all those 0.0013 rubes from your copy of the game that will be paid in taxes and have a miniscule chance to go to war, meanwhile buying putins gas and shit for millions of dollars defenetly will have no effect
I'm a communist girl, so you don't have to! 😊
God this game was terrible. Boring from the start but looked nice. Such a bummer.
Putin is good
There’s no way I’d play this game tbh. Bioshock in Russia doesn’t sound interesting. Also prefer when ideology and politics isn’t a stand out point of a game.
then no mgs for you, no call of duty either, because it is, just hidden in dumbness
Local man decides to never play any videogame ever again
Could you explain why you prefer games without ideology and politics?
No ideology in a game is inherently an ideology. You just have a different bias, which is fine. But don’t go thinking you’re somehow neutral from the discussion.
@@UltraTaka1 yes, its just another ideology than it's own, he prefer his echo chamber
This is so wildly ignorant of modern Russia that it's unwatchable. Pity
How so? Seemed pretty on point to me 🤔
Explain please?
but usa is never propaganda 😂😂😂😂 hypocrite
@@KP-ec7mr How so? Explain, please.