Atomic Heart's Annihilation Instinct DLC brings jet-pack homes, time-freezing abilities, and big bosses

Alternate history shooter Atomic Heart is getting its first (out of four) DLC pack on August 2nd, developers Mundfish have announced. The Annihilation Instinct DLC picks up right where the base game left off, plopping us into the steely Mendeleev Complex and the surrounding swamp areas to dent some more mechs. Take a look at the new tools on offer below:

All four upcoming DLC packs will be available as part of the Atomic Pass which is available as a separate purchase on on Steam for £35/$40/€40 (or as part of Atomic Heart’s Gold and Premium Editions). The Annihilation Instinct DLC adds more of what you’d expect - new weapons, enemies, characters, and a glove ability. Your latest melee weapon is called the Klusha, which I'm hoping is the cool-looking shovel from the trailer that can be seen being twirled around like a Jedi's lightsaber. A new techno-stasis ability also lets you freeze enemies for a bit, before mowing them down with the fresh Seceteur gun.

On top of that, the trailer shows what appear to be two new bosses, beginning with a spider-like mech that, once you look a bit closer, is just a bunch of little mechs linked together. Would chopping off the boss’ limbs lead to more cannon fodder on the ground with me? Hopefully? That would be cool. The other one is the giant flying house/maybe-typewriter(?) at the end of the trailer - or at least I’m assuming it’s a boss, based on the roaring music that plays when it shoots into frame.

A New Game+ Mode is also available now for all owners of the base game, too. As always, you’ll carry over all your upgrades to deal with the toughest challenges in the game so far.

“I’ve played a lot of strange games, but never one that lurches between greatness and bafflement as hard or as fast as [this],” James wrote in our Atomic Heart review. “It’s glorious and tedious, polished and patchwork all the same time.”