Atomic Heart All Endings [Explained]

Atomic Heart has two different finales that are both quite cryptic, and players don’t really understand how the game ends in either of these finales, which is why we bring an explanation for both of them. Depending upon the ending you choose, you can actually accidentally skip on some of the best boss fights in the game as well.

Choosing The Ending In Atomic Heart

Before the last section of the game, players will meet Granny Zina where she will reveal that she is actually P-3’s mother-in-law. She will also show him the picture of his wife and reveal the lore behind his death. That includes everything that Sechenov has done to P-3 in order to save his life. 

Granny Zina explains that Sechenov has manipulated P-3 but the main character insists that his past and present don’t matter anymore. However, both Zina and Charles, the robotic glove, force P-3 to eliminate Sechenov because they think that the Doctor is trying to take over the world with his Kollektive 2.0 Program.

At this point in the game, you will be given two different choices, and depending upon the choice that you make, you will get one of the two endings in the game. 

• If you decide to select the first dialogue choice shown in the image above, then you’ll get the short ending where you end up skipping the final fight of the game and spare Doctor Sechenov.
• If you decide to choose the second dialogue option, then you will face the Ballerina Twins in battle and come across an amazing plot twist in the story additionally.

Both endings lead to different characters dying and there will be different consequences as well.

The Short Ending

If you choose the first dialogue option, “I’m not laying a finger on Sechenov” while talking to Granny Zina before the last boss fight, then the game will end right then and there. You will also end up completely skipping the final boss fight additionally. 

Before you get the dialogue choice Charles reveals that he is actually the consciousness of Chariton Zakharov and that Sechenov actually killed his real body and stored his consciousness. Charles wanted P-3 to turn against Sechenov, but if you choose the first dialogue option, the game ends with P-3 destroying his robot glove aka Charles, and escaping the facility without a trace.

P-3 blames Charles for putting him in Limbo, and it was not actually Sechenov who was manipulating him but Charles which is why he destroys the robot glove. The final cutscene hints at the fact that Sechenov proceeded with his Atomic Heart plan and was successful in building Kollektiv 2.0, which allowed him to control all of the robots. Doing so would result in the destruction of the USA since P-3 didn’t try to stop him and escaped. 

The Main Ending

If you choose the second dialogue option, “Whatever Lady….” while conversing with Granny Zina then you actually decide to eliminate Doctor Sechenov and that is what both Zina and Charles want the player to do. Choosing this dialogue will allow you to fight the Ballerina Twins in the game.

After talking to Zina, you will go confront Sechenov. But before that, you will face one of the twins in a solo boss fight as well. After defeating that twin, you will go meet Sechenov, where both of the twins will also be present. The main character aka P-3 will blame Sechenov for manipulating him and will also threaten to kill Sechenov.

Sechenov will then order both Left and Right, aka the Ballerina Twins, to attack you. This is where one of the best boss fights in the game begins and why we recommend you choose the second ending, as it lets you experience the Robot Twins boss fight.

After you beat the boss fight, another cutscene will play where P-3 shoots Sechenov. But it is at this point where another plot twist will take place. Sechenov reveals that it was actually Charles, aka Zakharov, who has been manipulating P-3 and made him kill members of the Soviet Union. Zakharov was also the one who put P-3 in Limbo, and it was not Charles.

At this point, P-3 tries to destroy the robotic glove, but Zakharov electrocutes him. Then Zakharov comes out of the glove as a blob and uses the Polymer to attain a Humanoid form. He then kills Sechenov and puts P-3 in another Limbo. Limbo is basically a dream sequence where the consciousness of the host resides, but the main body of the host is controlled by Zakharov.

Lastly, Zakharov destroys the invention of Sechenov, and the game ends with P-3 meeting a ballerina Robot Twin, who additionally has the consciousness of his late wife, while inside Limbo. It was Zakharov all along who wanted to use Kollektiv 2.0 to control all of the robots and humans, not Sechenov.

Sechenov just wanted to go on with his “destroying USA” plan, but Zakharov wanted more which he ended up getting in this particular ending of the game. You can probably even consider the ending where Zakharov wins as the bad ending of the game additionally.

However, both endings aren’t good either, where one results in the destruction of the USA, and the other results in the destruction of the whole world. The second ending just tends to be more evil. 

Summary

Atomic Heart is one of the best FPS games to have come out in 2023 so far. It has one of the most unique settings that features the Soviet Union in all of its glory and shows an alternate timeline. The art direction and sound design are superb, but the gameplay is great too. There is a whole skill tree where you can customize the special powers of your glove, and the weapons in this game are all worth playing around with.

This concludes our guide on the two different Endings of Atomic Heart. We have entailed the method of obtaining both of these endings in the game. Additionally, the lore of these endings has also been explained in complete detail. We hope that the guide was helpful in understanding the cryptic finale of Atomic Heart. Let us know what you think about Atomic Heart in the comments below!

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