If you’re starting a new game of Atomic Heart, consider playing it with Russian voice acting. The English voice acting ranges from adequate to pretty horrible, and it’s easier to take seriously in Russian. Of course, as citizens of the Soviet Union, that’s what all the characters in the game would be speaking anyway, so it fits.
Is the English voice acting bad in Atomic Heart, and should I play with Russian voiceovers?
The English voice acting is terrible in Atomic Heart, but not because the actors themselves are doing a poor job. The script varies wildly in quality. In some parts, it’s fascinating, and most of the secondary characters are just fine, aside from a few corny accents, but in others, it’s just weird.
However, the main character of Atomic Heart, Major Sergey Nechaev, is written horribly. He constantly bickers with anyone who comes near and calls everything “crispy critters.” In one scene, he’ll be lamenting the death of his fellow Soviet citizens. Less than a minute later, he’ll be making a prank call or getting belligerent with his glove AI Charles who he’s alternately best friends with or can’t stand seemingly at random.
Fortunately, in Russian, the tonal shifts aren’t so apparent, at least for me. I don’t speak Russian, so it’s mostly background noise to me, but it’s better than hearing Sergey’s babbling or a talking corpse with a southern accent. Of course, your mileage may vary if you’re not predominately an English speaker. The Russian voiceovers may be just as bad or worse than the English ones.
