Atomic Heart is recognized as a fever dream among FPSs, realizing a wonderfully twisted dystopian world where Bioshock and Fallout meet and have a literal blast. We are already at the second expansion pack of several planned, with the first one being Annihilation Instinct, but things take a turn into the – even more – bizarre with the release of the Trapped in Limbo. This is not one for the diabetics, a candy and sugar visual overload that is hard to believe it comes from the same universe as Atomic Heart, and even harder to swallow when you realize what it is and how it plays.

Sugar Overdose

Imagine this if you will – Sonic and Candy Crush had a baby, and this baby fell into a pool of Cookie Run jelly. It’s so colorful, it’s so yummy you can almost taste all that sugar in your arteries, but this is not what players wanted. This picture gives you an overall idea on the design of Trapped in Limbo, a game that is as much Atomic Heart as it is Dark Souls. Quite the departure from the BioShock-inspired trappings of the original, this is a playable but completely unremarkable expansion of the universe, with very little in terms of story itself.

Trapped in Limbo expands on the ending where P-3 is left in limbo, and it lasts for a very reasonable four hours or so. The issue here is that it’s just not fun, most of those hours will drag on as you frustratingly repeat section after section, most of the sliding ones being the main offenders. The difficulty is unforgiving, not so much because it’s hard, but more due to visibility issues and forcing you into a path (or two, but that’s not the point here), no real freedom to explore; you touch on a ceiling that is still very much the way forward but it’s treated as an out of bounds asset, you lose.

The sliding sections are intertwined with a few things, such as platforming with a significant dose of clambering. Then you have arena combat in repetitive areas, but the weapons feel puny and it all looks like a sugar fever dream that despite gorgeous and with this zany retro disco soundtrack (which you may love or hate), takes a very focused mindset to appreciate, especially considering that it couldn’t be more contrasting with what we know of the original Atomic Heart.

Between sliding and shooting mini-games, you’ll eventually reach the later stages of Trapped in Limbo, where it takes another unexpected and underwhelming turn. This time, the DLC riffs harder from Temple Run, as you control the goose from the main game, taking turns between running in predefined paths by moving left and right, and… you guessed it, more sliding.

The final showdown finally puts you back into character, controlling P-3 as you are attacked by geese from all sides. It’s anti-climatic, at times looking more like a shooting gallery than the FPS adventure we know as Atomic Heart, and then it ends with a whimper instead of a bang.

A Different Kind of Heart

Trapped in Limbo isn’t a bad game, but the creative approach is so disconnected from Atomic Heart, so exaggerated and simplified that it feels like you should check your brain at the door. Look hard and fail to spot any attempts at narrative, get frustrated at the sliding gameplay as you fall to your doom countless times – because that’s exactly what you would expect from this game, sliding – and eventually give up. It adds nothing to Atomic Heart that you can’t live without, and while it looks good, terrific at times, it takes a particular liking for this style of colorful and childish art style to withstand. This is the sheer definition of a disposable DLC, a shame considering that the game deserves a lot more than this.

Pros:

• Graphics are colorful and with nice detail
• It plays okay… if you like Temple Run and mini-games

Cons:

• Frustrating sliding sections
• Extremely basic gameplay mixing Sonic speed and arena mini-games
• Doesn’t add anything to Atomic Heart

Rating: 4/10