Atomic Heart, the upcoming open-world shooter from Rebellion, has frequently been compared to STALKER due to its post-nuclear setting. However, if lead designer Ben Fisher's words are anything to go by, the latest title from the Sniper Elite developers seems to have also borrowed some ideas from Dying Light 2.

In a recent interview, Fisher explained that Rebellion is using Atomic Heart to experiment with ideas they wouldn't typically explore in other games. "We've taken the core of what we want to achieve and run with it," he stated. "So there are some experimental things in there that you wouldn't necessarily try elsewhere because you wouldn't guarantee the results."

According to Fisher, this includes hidden events that can significantly alter the state of the game world, and Rebellion isn't entirely sure how players will react to these creative choices. "There are events players might trigger or might entirely miss that will have a large impact on things like enemy population within the world... It may or may not work… I'm quite excited to see the outcome."

This approach is reminiscent of Techland's initial vision for Dying Light 2, where player choices impacted which factions controlled different zones. While these ideas were somewhat scaled back in the final game, the concept remains intriguing and deserves further exploration in other titles.

In the same interview, Fisher shed light on Atomic Heart's core gameplay. He mentioned the game is designed as a more challenging "high-intensity experience" by default.  The mission design is also meant to be less prescriptive, with Rebellion hoping players "feel a lot more like a detective, and [have] a lot more freedom."