Atomic Heart has three different difficulty settings that are not your traditional (or conventional) difficulty options. Each setting is designed to increase the difficulty ceiling of the game and impact several aspects of the world around you.
Hence, choosing an Atomic Heart difficulty setting means adapting to the increased challenges and changing your play. For that matter, you will first need to know what each difficulty option does.
Peaceful Atom (easy mode)
This acts as a beginner mode in terms of difficulty settings. In Peaceful Atom mode, enemies will have far less health. The basic enemy (VOV-A6) can be taken down with only two hits. Swarms of enemies are manageable, and you will find many resources lying around.
This mode is quite suitable for Novice players with few skills. Enemies have less health, and inventory management is easier due to abundant resources. Players can better engage with the story and be more immersed in it.
Peaceful Mode, while easy, has some problems if you are an experienced player. The resources are abundant, and the enemies are weak in this mode, which makes the game less challenging and thus detracts from its appeal.
This mode also prevents players from experimenting with the game mechanics and unlocking their full potential. Experienced players should avoid this mode and prefer the more challenging ones.
Local Failure (medium mode)
The Local Failure Mode is a step up in difficulty setting for Atomic Heart. You can opt for this mode if you want to spice things up during the game and enjoy your fights with the robots. In this mode, the opponents will be enthusiastic and present a good fight with the difficulty being on medium settings.
This mode is for you if you want to enjoy the storyline with an equal challenge from your opponents in the utopian world of Atomic Heart. In this mode, VOV-A6 will need more firepower to take down; resources are scarce; thus, every bullet counts, and you must be careful before entering any room.
Swarms were not deadly and manageable in the previous mode with a few key hits. But swarms can be challenging in this mode, and a few slip-ups can down you easily.
Boss fights can be difficult enough that you may need to redo the fight multiple times to defeat them. This mode allows the game to be played as intended by the developers.
However, investing in this difficulty mode means you must resort to combat techniques like stealth to counter your foes. The Local Failure mode encourages players to develop their skills and thus makes the game more interesting.
This mode is not for new or inexperienced players. They might find the game too cumbersome, repetitive, or tedious.
Armageddon (hard mode)
This is the hardest difficulty mode you will encounter in Atomic Heart. If you choose Armageddon mode, it will test your mettle as the opponents will become extremely hard to defeat. This will increase your opponents’ damage and HP levels, making them impossible to defeat.
This difficulty mode is designed for those players who want to challenge their gameplay skills. The same applies to your opponents who will enhance as you advance in the main game.
Resources are few and far between; thus, you must rely more on your melee weapons. In this mode, a single VOV-A6 will require a lot of hits to take down, and dealing with more than one is next to impossible. Boss fights will be extremely difficult and will eat up a lot of your resources than before.
To counter this difficulty in AH, you will also have to level up your gameplay. You must train immensely to master the gameplay completely if you want to counter this difficulty.
This difficulty can be a source of frustration for novice players. This mode suits players who have completed the game once on a lower difficulty and are looking for an extra challenge.
You will have to resort to acquiring greater resources and time to build skills to take down your foes. This mode is made for hard-core gamers, so you should choose the difficulty option in Atomic Heart wisely.
Can you change the difficulty levels in Atomic Heart?
Yes, you can change the game’s difficulty level anytime to suit your skill. If you have chosen Armageddon at the start of the game, you can lower it at any point.
The difficulty can be changed even during Boss fights if you feel the fight is too hard. As the Armageddon difficulty can be very hard, especially in boss fights, this mechanic is quite important for players.
To change the difficulty settings, pause your game. Next, head to the game’s Gameplay Settings, and you will see an option for difficulty, which you can easily choose from.
In some instances, you may find a glitch where the game’s difficulty resets on its own. To remedy this, simply follow the steps above.
What difficulty level to play in Atomic Heart?
Considering all the above difficulty options, you should opt for the Local Failure difficulty. This is because you can enjoy the thrill of the gameplay as you pave your journey in Atomic Heart. Furthermore, this will make the game a little more interesting since the robotic foes you face will create a good fight for you.
Another benefit of the Local Failure difficulty is that you can complete most Achievements without hassle. Most achievements are easily obtainable, and you can also get them using Peaceful Atom mode, but the benefit of Local Failure is that it will prepare you for Armaggedon mode.
However, if you are struggling with the difficulty in this mode or if you have chosen Armageddon mode by mistake, fear not. Atomic Heart allows you to toggle down the difficulty settings to Peaceful Atom mode or the Local Failure one, which will make the challenge less hard for you to deal with.
During the game, you will run into many healing items, so you should use them during your fights and in your journey. You will also find red vending machines everywhere for you to access. You can craft items through them in Atomic Heart.
Most Achievements can be acquired by choosing the Peaceful Atom or Local Failure mode. One achievement, the Atomic Heart achievement, can only be unlocked if you play the game on Armaggedon mode of Atomic Heart. This achievement can be acquired later when you have completed the game on Local Failure and developed adequate skills for Armageddon mode.
