New Details about Atomic Heart 2 from Summer Game Fest 2025 — Faster, Higher, Stronger

This year’s Summer Game Fest 2025 was rather light on major announcements. Over the course of two hours, only about three or four standout projects truly caught our attention — ones we’re genuinely looking forward to. However, one reveal absolutely blew the roof off the venue and quickly became the main highlight of the show. Yes, we’re talking about Atomic Heart 2. The first trailer ran for a solid two and a half minutes, showcasing a wide array of new footage well worth diving into. In this article, we’ll break down all the latest details about Atomic Heart 2.

But let’s start not with the trailer, but with the fact that the final DLC for the first game still hasn’t launched. If you’ve been following the story, you’ll know that the climax of Major Nechaev’s adventures — and his love story with Katya, who now resides in the body of one of the Twins — is approaching. The hero has found a set of special rings that will allow him to infiltrate Zakharov’s polymer system and remain in relative safety.

With that in mind, the announcement of a full-fledged sequel feels rather odd, and honestly, we’re not quite sure why it happened. Either the developers have scrapped their previous plans, or we simply shouldn’t expect too much from the final chapter. Neither option is particularly great.

The trailer opens with a shot of the Luna-2 space station. It’s no secret that many fans have long wished for Atomic Heart’s geography to expand beyond Earth. From the very first seconds, it’s clear that those requests have been heard. Of course, the station itself appears to be yet another series of labs and endless corridors — something we’ve had our fill of in the original — but maybe the devs have a few surprises in store.

A voiceover narrates how, according to Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, intelligent life should exist elsewhere in the universe — although it hasn’t yet made contact. Whether it ever will remains unknown, but what is known is that the era of Atomic Heart 2 has begun. Sure, it sounds grandiose and a little meaningless.

That said, the visuals matter far more here than the words, which clearly serve as stylish exposition. We see that Luna-2 is home to a recreated whale. These mammals played an important role in the original game, so it makes sense for the theme to carry over into the sequel. Next, we glimpse one of the Twins — or someone resembling one — wearing a kokoshnik. A tube of lipstick floats mid-air beside the robot. Without the final DLC, it’s hard to make sense of this imagery just yet.

Then, the scene suddenly cuts to Earth, where a mysterious figure in a full-face mask drives a futuristic car down a highway toward a city. Yes, we’ll be seeing peaceful cities bustling with life. Other clips from the trailer support this theory — but more on those in a moment.

Much more intriguing is the identity of this mysterious new character. At first, we assumed it might be a redesigned version of Nechaev — but he does appear in the trailer, looking exactly as he did in the first game. And Atomic Heart is, after all, a narrative-driven game with expressive characters (including supporting ones), where facial animation plays an important role.

If the developers are deliberately hiding a character’s face, there’s really only one conclusion — Major P-3 is no longer the only playable protagonist. If the sequel features co-op gameplay, then a faceless character makes perfect sense. They can appear in cutscenes and take part in the action without interfering with Nechaev’s storyline or drawing attention away from him. Just a blank slate.

In fact, it seems like there will be multiple optional characters. One shot shows a humanoid figure made entirely of polymer — who appears to be playable, and even shown from a third-person perspective. Nechaev is also still present. He’s easily recognizable thanks to his familiar glove, so even in the traditional first-person view, fans will immediately identify the pie-loving protagonist.

Speaking of camera perspective — we have a theory that third-person view will be used while operating various vehicles. The game promises many types: cars, robots, even flying contraptions you can latch onto and use to launch off ramps and dive into battle. For everything else, the classic first-person perspective will likely remain intact.

Nechaev himself now wears an interesting helmet, although it appears inconsistently — sometimes it’s there, sometimes it’s not. Most likely, it’s an augmented reality device designed to help control machinery. Parachutes are also shown — straight out of Far Cry.

New enemies are immediately noticeable — both small and massive ones. It’s hard to evaluate them just yet, but one thing’s certain: the bestiary will be expanded. What’s particularly intriguing is that each protagonist appears to play differently. Nechaev sticks to his usual glove-based combat, while the unnamed captain (yes, he’s referred to by rank) has a completely different style. Instead of a high-tech prosthetic, he uses a grappling hook to climb quickly and shoot mid-air or while running. Visually and mechanically, this is strongly reminiscent of Titanfall 2 — much more dynamic and vertical. The question is whether P-3 will also receive gameplay upgrades. If not, playing as him might start to feel stale by comparison.

The Twins make an appearance too — now in gold, sporting pioneer scarves. We have zero clue what’s going on there. Once again, crucial context from the still-unreleased DLC is sorely missing.

And then things really get interesting. We finally see a glimpse of peaceful civilian life — specifically, a nightclub straight out of Cyberpunk 2077. People walk around with implants and wear extravagant outfits. A robot bartender pours a bizarre yellow creature into a glass for a guest — creatures that may be used as currency or something else entirely. There are numerous female-styled robots that seem to be designed for entertainment. You can even spot a hefty man handing over payment to the masked captain — and the money is just regular paper bills. So what are those yellow critters?

For a few seconds, we’re shown a chase sequence. The robotic car is highly maneuverable and easily handles sharp turns — a refreshing contrast from the clunky vehicles in the first game. It already looks like a lot of fun to control.

Organic monsters also make an appearance. One of them resembles a creature from Resident Evil, and the protagonist (not Nechaev — no glove) injects a strange red-orange fluid into its body.

The trailer ends with a shot of the same rings Nechaev recovered in the last released DLC. Strangely, the rings are once again locked inside a protective cube — even though the major had previously placed one on robo-Katya’s finger. A golden Twin’s hand appears, playfully dropping a cocktail umbrella into a drink containing something that looks suspiciously like the substance inside that organic monster. And that’s where the trailer cuts to black.

There’s no release date yet — not even a tentative one — so a lot about the game may still change. We wouldn’t go so far as to claim that everything shown will make it into the final version, or appear exactly as presented. After all, even Atomic Heart underwent many changes before launch.

To be honest, the sequel’s trailer currently feels like a flashy salad — packed with every idea imaginable, just to avoid resembling the first game. That’s a valid approach, but there’s a big difference between making a fun, chaotic trailer and building an actual game out of all those elements — with engaging gameplay evolution and a coherent story. The latter is where the developers struggle the most. After the first game and three DLCs, not only have many questions remained unanswered — even more have emerged. We sincerely hope Mundfish at least has a rough idea of what they’re doing and where their universe is headed.

What we can say for sure is that the developers are planning to upgrade the gameplay — making it more dynamic and multi-layered. We also know for certain that there will be a variety of vehicles, especially means of transportation. That alone implies an expanded map. Every vehicle shown moves fairly fast, which suggests that the scale of the original Atomic Heart simply won’t be sufficient anymore.

It’s also clear they’re preparing multiple characters — and possibly co-op. One clue is the appearance of both Nechaev and the unnamed captain fighting side by side in the same battle scene. However, how this will be implemented remains unknown.

Also, the remixed Russian musical classics from the ’90s seem to have vanished. Not that it’s a big issue — but now the game’s identity seems to rely more on visuals than music.

And the coolest change — peaceful life. The endless scientific complexes and empty corridors of the original were tolerable, but the sequel needs something more. We’re especially curious to see how other countries and Soviet citizens live when everyday problems are solved with a snap of the fingers — by robots.

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The Atomic Heart 2 trailer left us with a positive impression. The developers are clearly trying to expand the game in every direction, offering something truly new for the sequel. What will actually make it into the release version is still anyone’s guess. But we hope Mundfish has enough talent and vision to preserve the series’ identity while crafting a compelling new story that deepens the existing lore.