Atomic Heart has been one of the year’s more memorable games for me: a beautiful, flawed and deeply weird Soviet Westworld, per PCG’s Atomic Heart review. One element of the game that attracted particular attention from players was a lustful fridge called Nora, which had people alternately grossed-out, confused, and inexplicably thirsty. Developer Mundfish has clearly been taking notes and, sure enough, the game’s first DLC is gonna be all about the lore of a horny appliance.
The DLC’s name could be a forgotten Jean Claude Van Damme movie: Annihilation Instincts. This title apparently refers to an AI gone rogue and this is set after the game’s ending in the “mind-bending Mendeleev Complex and its surrounding swamps” where we will apparently “discover the truth about Nora”.
The trailer shows off various forms of a new enemy type, shape-shifting orbs that can operate independently or fuse together, and at certain stages appear to be under the control of Nora. So clearly Mundfish isn’t just giving us more Nora screentime, but letting her loose to beat up players too. Talk about leaning into what the fandom wants.
The DLC introduces two new weapons, the ranged Secateur and melee Klusha, though the major offensive addition is to your fancy techno-glove (think: plasmids). There’s a few clips here showing off the new Techno-Stasis ability which lets you manipulate time in localised pockets, slowing down and freezing enemies.
Mundfish has also delivered something for players right now, with a free update adding the promised New Game+ mode. The studio says this is “the most difficult game mode yet” where players will keep all of their unlocked skills and arsenal from a completed runthrough to face “the strongest enemies Atomic Heart has ever unleashed”. It also adds new specific resistances and attack effects to the enemies, with color-coded immunities and buffs.
Atomic Heart is currently discounted by a third on Steam, and I haven’t played much else like it in recent years. The Annihilation Instinct DLC will release August 2, and you already know that the Steam reviews are all going to be overwhelmingly positive and all about how much people want to have sexual relations with a fridge.