A little thing to note about hive minds: Hive minds in nature are actually more closer to collectivism than they are to being an actual singular consciousness spread across a group of beings. Creatures like ants, bees and termites are all still individuals with their own minds (especially bees, who have some of the highest intelligence of the mentioned creatures), but work to put everything that makes them special to use for the colony.

“Polymer” is a bit of a meme reference :) “Просрали все полимеры” roughly translates to “we fucking lost all the polymers”, which means either “we fucking squandered our legacy and resources” or we let them be stolen from us. Sooo, as a Russian, it’s funny to see the mystery magic substance be called “polymers” X)

I'm pretty sure there was a Twilight Zone episode about the whole idea of being able to share memories and experiences between people. As one would expect, it showed the inevitable result of it was that people who chose to take in the memories and experiences of others would eventually lose track of themselves and become unable to differentiate between their own memories and experiences and those they were borrowing from others.

The villains were the friends we made along the way.

The detail about Chariton that I belive most people overlook is how in The Academy, there's a bunch of logs implying the idea that Chariton did that to himself in fact, from personal notes of Chariton talking about how human biology is what limits us and that a being of "pure intellect" is the true path of evolution, to even logs about a fire in his laboratory that happened while he was trying to do some sort of neurologycal procedure on himself. The "official" version if that he fell on a bunch of neuro-polymer, the version told by Sechenov and the verion CHAR-LES tells P-3, but I kinda guess that's the lie told so that people wouldn't freak out on the idea this big brain scientist said "fuck it" to his body and decided to turn himself into a blob of polymer.

So my thoughts on the three villains: 1. He didn’t need to kill everyone to make a distraction, hell, a bunch of refugees fleeing the facility would add incredibly to the distraction, specially if they are hostages limiting the ability for military action inside the facility. So the fact that he didn’t think of that shows how much of an idiot he really is. 2. There are many people that will give up power, the thing is those who give up power would never seek to have ultimate power. So the simple fact that he even thought and went through with the Alfa instead of an alternative shows that he would never give it up, for if he would, he would have found another way to fulfill the task. 3. Honnestly he lost it, don’t blame him considering his current situation, but still. For being a mechanical being he sure lacks his fare share of screws and I doubt his “next step of evolution” would have lasted because for being “beyond humanity’s weakness” he is the platonic testament of each one of them. Hell, that’s assuming that he could even take over humanity/kills us all and not get nuked as soon as he gets too far.

Atomic Heart seems like another victim of the limitations of time. Whether or not it was rushed doesn't matter. To fully flesh out the story they wanted to, they probably would have needed double the time. Everything under the lighthouse just felt like it was desperately trying to squeeze all the remaining story details out as quickly as possible--around thirty minutes for me--instead of doing it naturally over the course of a couple hours.

Polymer is essentially a bunch of neurons. it's material that acts like a non newtonian fluid that's conductive and allows the storage of electrical charges. Basically it removed the need for huge batteries and copper wiring for the most part. apparently it's also got some sort of ai that allows it to interface with our brain's electrical patterns to interpret thought.

The moment you mentioned the part regarding the brain of P3's wife, it suddenly clicked that Right and Left weren't referring to hands of Sechenov, but freaking hemispheres of the brain!

Yo, there's some bad translations in the section about Zakharov (because in Russian it's more clear): He was not murdered by Sechenov rather he moved out to the polymer state himself or with some help from Sechenov - there's an e-mail about that - Zakharov was obsessed with idea of being out-of-body mind, so probably he's even more out of his mind than he even seems to be.

I'd say that Viktors story is ultimately a story of 'Who's the greater evil?'.

The sprouts were an even bigger threat than the robots. I didnt think the story was confusing though myself

the way you described "hivemind" could be more accurately described as an "overmind." Both are similar in outside appearance but the way they operate is very different. They exist on a sort of spectrum of unity, where our current society with the internet could be described as the lowest end of the spectrum (but still on it) while an overmind (one being that uses many bodies) being on the farthest end. Hiveminds, like bees and ants are in the middle. Apologies for this not being super relevant for the video, i just wanted to rant about collective conscious lol absolutely love this video for clarifying so effectively some of the plot points i was a little confused on, i hope it gets lots of attention!

I was under the impression that the polymer had change zakarovs personality a little bit and that the personality we see with the new zakarovs isnt entirely him. That the polymer itself had goals of its own.

my biggest complaint of the game is how G.Zina is used so little throughout the game except when utterly needed to progress the plot in some way or influence the player/character. She first pops up utterly randomly to save the player. She then inexplicably has the exact thing needed to help the player access cameras and the gate blocking you, and again saves you. She also has access to highly secretive networks only the politburo can use. She later picks up the player inexplicably after murdering the doctor woman, revealing she is his MIL, only now yet not earlier. she then somehow has a connection to charles when he was human, further helping charles to manipulate the player into putting him into power. she is simply a walking talking plot device to push the player where the devs want them to go. 1. need to get the player into the first facility 2. needs to get the player the ability to access the cameras 3. needs to help influence the player to choose the bad ending. Zina is positioned in the game as a good person, pushing the player to do the "right" thing but her "help" only pushes the story down a worse rabbit hole. If P3 had listened solely to Sechenov and only used charles for what was needed, there debatably would have been a far better ending than either two endings we got. Zina appears as a good person but is probably the biggest villain aside from petrov and Charles. she is a wolf plot device in sheeps clothing.

I think part of the reason why Sechenov didn't explain to P3 why Charles was so evil was that he was convinced that CHARLES was just a glove with the same knowledge as the human Charles but none of the humanity and ambitions. Much like the robot twins and how completely obedient they are to Sechenov. Everyone seems so surprised how sentient and how much free will Charles has. I think Sechenov truly thought CHARLES the glove was just an AI assistant.

The internet sure seems like Collective v0.05

27:41 I don't know what that white fluffy creature is but I want it.

So Sechenov is like Andrew Ryan and Zakharov is Frank Fontaine. Got it lol.

During the battle with the twins Sechenov states they're fighting Chariton, not P3 and asks him to remove the glove and he'll call off the twins (although that is not an option for the player). Gameplay wise they'll kill you, but since Petrov was able to return with just a head the same can apply with P3 (whose entire body is pretty much machine anyway). In the case of Chariton I believe he may have polymerized himself in a last ditch effort to transcend the flesh but the red polymer was still experimental so he was rendered dormant until Sechenov tinkered with it after. He may have deceived Sechenov into thinking he'll help him with Kollektiv 2 and watch over P3 when in reality he wants to use P3 to eliminate anyone with authority in the project (Larissa, Petrov, Sechenov). His plans are confusing since he crushed the alpha connector and had P3 dispose the betas - it's possible he just loathes humanity and wants to watch them destroy themselves than to see them reach their next stage in evolution.

So Sechenov's goal is to achieve human instrumentality

Sechenov says during the fight he's not ordering them to kill P-3 but to kill Charitan. He even tells you to take to glove off and stop fighting.

Tbh, i dont think that the story is confussing, Petrov wanted to be some kind of martir activating the military mode in civilian robot to make everyone aware of the Atomic Heart project, CHARles was lying from the biginning (I like the little nod of the first boss fight, "the [model] is quite dangerous" all tho was a "civilian" robot) and Sechenov was trying to evolve the human race, via a hivemind at first, but because Charles intervention when was alive, it become more like a overmind. Btw, when charles spokes about the next step, he is referring to absorve everyone with the polymer. I pretty much like the story

although I wished the game could have done without the final twist with charles- i still really enjoyed this game. it was creepy, fun, interesting- and even if the story seems to end on a bad note, or open ended, im excited to see what they do with any DLC

There's some information you missed. The wife of P-3 and P-3 himself was Sechenov's best trusting person, and the BETA connector was suppose to be like their rings, and they were suppose to help Sechenov stay aware of abnormality in Collective 2.0. That's why the BETA connector can make them undetectable, and this is their idea from the beginning Also, the reason for Sechenov to keep P-3's wife's brain in the robot's body, because his didn't have the tech to revive a dead human brain. Which is conflict the Chariton's story that Sechenov makes him into this. There also logs in The Academy about the Sechenov was once wanted to help Chariton "restore human form", and was refuse by him. This and the laboratory fire incident could indicate the Chariton may have turn himself into this form, and was planning to hijack Sechenov's plan from the beginning The Sechenov isn't saint tho, as if Chariton's claims was right, the Sechenov have inform Chariton to either help or guide, even control P-3, to remove the threats of Collective 2.0. And of cource, Chariton do it in his own way, by control P-3 and slaughter them

I love stories like these. Everyone is Evil but sees themselves as Heroes or the answer. Each three of them shows a certain type of person who makes the saying "The path to Hell is paved with good intention" but in a different way.

I thought Victor said the combat mode was programmed onto them before he became head of robotics. (Unless that was a lie, I'm not too sure since deception was a running theme through this game.)

Any day with a new FatBrett video is a good day, even when I don't know anything about this game

Excellent work as per usual, your language and deep understanding of a topic truly amazes me. As I walk to school and listen to your videos I’m basically always impressed with how you can conclude such confusing topics.

Kolektiv 2.0 sounded swell until the part where the Gamma, Beta and Alpha part was introduced

in its own way regardless of what you as a character choose you somehow still lose in the end, but if its on a morality scale, its a case of which of the two evils will you choose, that said it begs the question that is humanity in essence "evil" or is it the gift of free will that makes us evil, but there is one thing that the "good" ending tells me is that P-3 had to wise up and think for himself, where he had to say enough was enough from being manipulated by all the "devils" (the antagonists) especially as how he said he was cottoning on to what charlton was doing and he was fedup of being strung along by him like some kind of puppet master (kinda ironic since charlton generally exposes himself as a bunch of strings and in the evil ending p-3 flops to the floor like a sack of potatos like a puppet with its strings being cut when charlton ditches him) and even p-3 even states that after he ripped charlton out of him in the good part of the ending that he felt better, so its a statement to say think for yourself and make your own calls of judgement, although it was interesting when the "not baba yaga" lady was trying to antagonize p-3 for amusingly taking the "cowards way out" which ironically in todays politics by not choosing either side in politics will get you labelled as a coward, but is it cowardice for not picking either side which is both not just against you but are both "the devils" so choosing either side means you lose, the only way to win is to not play the devils game

10:00 even the game says that the polymer is something that even as studied as it is presented in the game, is still so advanced scientist dont know what it truly is, a terminal talked about how its something maybe humans werent supposed to see yet, and seeing how it changed everything and brings the end of the world it is probably true

Hey are you gonna do a character analysis for Baldur? I've watched all your gow analysis several times and I must say I love your work! I'm in love with your writing skills and perception of the character's history and I would love to see one of the last if not the last Asgardian god analysis on your channel ! Keep up the good work and once again congratulations 🙏

Also, I REALLY wish games and other media would cut it out with these forced evolution plots. Evolution isn't a choice. You evolve because your environment demands it of you and it happens over the course of several generations. And people are still continuously evolving as we speak. Just because we aren't becoming galaxy brained Super-Computer hiveminds or giant killer mutants doesn't mean we aren't still evolving.

There's good reason why the best ending is just the MC going "screw this, I'm out" and simply leaving.

I disagree, there are two things that hold true- First, As I get older I get wiser -Second, as I get older I also become more jelly like. The jelly form is clearly one of power.

They weren't murder bots, a few texts state their offensive capabilities were in case of an attack on the motherland. The attack on the USA was meant to cripple their power grid by making them reliant on the superior Soviet robots for power before shutting them down to ruin the USAs power capabilities as far as my understanding goes.

3:56 after hearing more on the collective 2.0, i’d be totally against it for two reasons: one, it would make each individual experience pointless as it and therefore yourself would be lost amongst the collective. two, because batman forever taught me if ideas can be given, they can also be taken, manipulated, or even implanted.

We also got to keep in mind there will be 4 DLC that they said will be story focused

The story seems a little too ambitious. If it weren't for the polymer being so abstract this could've been better as a movie.

So, it's like "Evangelion" ending, but in sovietwave way?

Never planned on playing this, but after watching this Imma head over and buy it

This game is an example of why you should never watch reviews for games unless you’re looking for bug fixes. Every person that reviewed this game said that it was predictable and I have a hard time believing that they finished it.

Just a little side note, one of the reasons collectivism hasn't worked well is rugged individualism has spared no expense to try to destroy it.

the reason power was not relinquished was that obviously the collectivist society was not ready to hold its own due to the number of crises, poor leadership, resistance to change, and intervention by other forces. I choose to believe suchanov is a good person or at least genuinely wants to help humanity.

The Beginning felt like a commercial, a long commercial, but a damn good one!

Sechenov portraited as a genius, that explains why his acting in some simple actions can be off or strange.

Thank you for the effort put in this wonderful Video. I miss one little detail. During the last Boss Fight Sechenov claims that the Balerinas don't fight P3 but Zakharov and that he just have to take of the glove and solve it peacefully. If we can trust him in this than this paints him even less a vilain. I see his cold reaction to have P3 killed by the Balerinas as a fed up and anoyed one. He has his head full with other things and does not want to wast time because he thought all possible outcomes already through and does not see any other solution.

this plot sounds like the manipulation of the MC in Bioshock. but written a bit worse...

hands down, the best video explaining the plot and motivations.

even if kollectiv 2.0 was successful, I'd want to get removed immediately. if no matter how kollectiv is described as, it sounds like an existential, scratch that, a psychological nightmare. it would take the joy out of learning because it's essentially downloaded in your head like everyone else. kollectiv would remove the need to grow as a person and a society. I sympathize with Petrov because we would definitely be mindless drones. you wouldn't need to go anywhere or what you need because everyone else does. how could you find meaning in a world where everyone is literally equal?

Wow, this video was incredibly informative and fascinating. Atomic Heart has been on my radar for a while now, and this video really helped me understand the motivations and backstories of the game's villains. The way the video breaks down each villain's unique abilities and weaknesses is really helpful, and I appreciated the analysis of how each villain fits into the game's overall narrative. The game's emphasis on Cold War-era technology and Soviet culture is really intriguing, and I'm excited to see how the game world comes to life. The villains seem to be such an integral part of the game's story, and I can't wait to face off against them. Overall, this video has me even more excited to play Atomic Heart and explore the game's unique world and characters. Thank you for creating such a detailed and informative breakdown of the game's villains. Keep up the great work!"

Man those AI artists must have really wanted that Collective 2.0

It's not like Zakharov accepted his death, he just didn't want to remain human.

I love your Videos. I can't get enough.

sooo basically the collective is the protoss khala from starcraft

I'm not sure if its just me but the idea behind Kollektiv 2.0 reminds me of the Geth from Mass Effect, where there are thousands of geth minds, united by the Geth Consensus

I think the explanations I've seen thus far are great but for some reason, people somehow overlook the importance of P3's wife: the sexy curly haired, graceful, sporty martial arts agent and a prima ballerina who helps him to wake up during the times he is sent to limbo, who asks him to find her and set her free, because she's trapped, and she can't help him but she wants to. I've got several theories about that. It's so clear that both sechenov and Charles are lying about her. She says so herself twice during the combat with the twins. Her body might be dead, yes but they're lying about her consciousness being gone and her consciousness is definitely transferred and stored somewhere. Either as the same polymer blob as Charles but trapped in one of the ballerina's heads, or even crazier, she has been sitting in P3's head all this time, trying to reach him telepathically, and she could only do that through limbo. I think she is the "good factor" that will be able to cause a breakthrough if only P3 can manage to "set her free". The question is, did he really do that by killing the twins and thus the alpha connector (yes I believe the twins ARE the alpha connector. First, Right pulls it out of left's body, which suggests to me that she generates it every time if an important lock has to be opened). And in Pavlov, they use their high heels, which if you look closely, look like keys, because they have bittings on them that suppose to fit somewhere. So the alpha key also doubles as a control mechanism. And If I'm correct, Katya's consciousness can now be "free". Imagine that Charles doesn't kill P3 but because of his narcissistic nature, he uses P3's "combat mode" to tie up some loose ends. And I think that's when Katya can still help him. I'm very much looking forward to the continuation of this story and to seeing if much of my theory holds up. If it doesn't, all the better because then I'll be surprised. But I have the feeling that she is the key to breaking the stalemate and enabling p3 and Zina to mount a counter-offensive if she can wake up P3 at the right time. In the ending, there is this huge suggestion. P3 sees his loved one fly towards him, coming from the 2 golden rings. What if the next mission will be to find these rings, so the protagonists from the next chapter will be able to disappear from kollektive and be hidden from Charles for a while so they can prepare a plan to prevent him from converting every human into blobs? Anyway, I like the ending because there are so many obtuse factors that the writers can fill in later. Like, how does Katya even know so much about what a limited state is (she has this technical word for it), It tells me she has been able to observe the situation from behind the ballerina's sensors and memorize everything. The ballerinas followed sechenov everywhere, and I think - so did Katya's consciousness. But I may be wrong too.

"Magical jelly" let cold fusion to be possible. Basically it allows infinite energy.

“Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma” - Winston Churchill

I’m really hoping the dlc is going to expand on the game and add another ending or two. It’ll be really disappointing if it’s just more puzzle rooms.

The original Hellblazer Comics dealt with a similar concept, called The Empathy Machine. It backfired by way of many of the sheltered or priviledge people commiting suicide or suffering extreme mental trauma the moment the start truly understanding the pain, misery, depression, anxiety, etc of those who have undergone great trauma in their lives, or psychologically losing themselves as they chase the twisted and corrupted pleasure found through causing harm. meaning it left only those few people capable of dealing with extreme mental trauma or sociopaths and psychopaths.

"convoluted and confusing", perfectly put into words when it comes to stories of gameplay-focused titles, story-wise, it's bearable literally as game's direction purposes.

I guess this game has no good ending. Any ending a player would want isn't achievable, it could be on purpose, mirroring how P3 never got to choose his own destiny.

Babe Wake up, New Fat Brett video just dropped

There is a Kino no Tabi bit where Kino explores a city where something akin to Collective 2.0 was successfully implemented. The results and mental toll is explored

One tidbit of knowledge that was pointed out to me is the design of Left and Right.... The communist star combined with the greek/early Roman hair prompted my friend to ask if it was hinting to the fact that history repeats itself... There is a lot of subtle references and nods. But it is ambiguous....

Quick correction, collective 2.0 IS a tool that allows a hive mind. A hive mind does not remove individuality. Creatures in hive minds just dont have the desire to fullfill their individuality. And thus they just apply their individuality where it suits the collective most. A collective where individuality literaly doesnt exist is not a hive mind. Its a single organism, like a body. There is no value or difference in purpose of creatures in an organism, just how theres only one goal of cells in your body. To have the organism survive as a whole. The wh40k tyranids are propably the best example. They arent individuals, they arent different outside of their specialization. Unlike Ants where they very much are individuals, who's purpose is the collective and they are effectivly machines of the anthill factory. Ants or bees are a hive mind. A collective of indivifual organisms who put the collective above themselves at any level, so much so they appear to not have a mimd of their own. Creatures that truely dont have a mind of their own and are just part of a collective arent part of a hive mind. They are part of a single organism.

One of the villains is the reason why most who played thru the game didn't like the story. I liked it because it was bizarre and weird. Originality Trumps all. This game was nothing like Bioshock, even though it actually showed an underwater city towards the end. I filled out Telekinesis and occasionally used Shok. Never used freeze or anything else except the polymer jet when you had to use it to solve a few puzzles.

Very well put! I wasn't interested that much in the game but in some future I'll think of getting it. Your vids are extraordinary since Gow ragnarok ones, keep it up!

Remember when that one guy raged against atomic heart for being Soviet propoganda that actively fueled the war in ukraine; then it turns out the game is actually a pretty scathing critique of communism and the Soviet system.

Sexy ballerina robot bodyguards 😂

22:07 nice choice of bgm here. nostalgia bomb

I feel like Petrov was a character mis understood as a villain

I ain't going to lie: I only clicked cuz I saw one of the twins in the thumbnail. They are interesting characters with a compelling story arc

6:40 Fun fact is, this is exactly what Dr. Vegapunk was currently working on in One Piece manga.

Is anyone else having the issue where they can't focus on those final cutscenes because there's a camera shot full of robot ass?

Chariton tells Sechenov in the end of the game "You're glad it happened, aren't you?" which means his death was indeed accidental and that Sechenov saved his consciousness in polymer goo, while his absorbed body became jellyman.

I'm beginning to think you may possibly be distracted by the "sexy ballerina robot bodyguards."

In the original Sechenov says - "Left, Right - neutralise", not "terminate", which means he probably wanted to destroy P3's prostetic limbs and then convince him that he is right or wipe his memory again.

17:53 actually if you may read that log in Russian, it about different things: Sechenov's point: let me put you (Z is already goo at that point at time) into android body Zacharov's response: I don't want to be in some "buth man's body", he want to continue his research without limitations of flesh or another things. He wasn't ill, at least physically.

I like the game and this image that she draws. Russia today provides the world with an alternative reality.

Polymer is often used for the construction of fire arms. It makes guns light weight and but without being flimsy. It is a very durable like plastic, it's obvious you aren't into guns since the gun community often comes across this material.

Even with its flaws, I still love the story and world this game introduced to us. It's creative and different. I got into it easily. That's really what I want from games, a story and universe that gets me to engage with it and think about concepts and mindsets. Regarding who is evil, yeah I would agree they are all flawed and "evil" in their own ways. But I do rank them in terms of how evil they feel to me. I definitely feel like Zakharov is the main antagonist while Petrov feels like the secondary one even thought he is the tertiary one. Sechenov feels more honest to me, as in he really wants to help humanity. That doesn't mean he's a saint but at least his intentions feel more honest. Petrov on the other hand feels like he is obsessed with proving himself in front of Larissa. And he would do anything to accomplish that. After Larissa dumps him, him going fully insane and killing himself kinda backs that up. Basically he feels more mentally unstable to me than Sechenov. Also one of the DLCs kinda proves that Sechenov does have honest intentions at least to some extent. But in-regards to you saying Sechenov likely won't give up control when the time comes, I agree. And I think since the story is kinda split in two timelines, in this specific timeline Sechenov will likely be the final villain exactly because he refuses to give control and it corrupts him fully.

I do like this game. ANd while I was kinda let down... I can forgive it if they do more with it. But essentially there is no good guy.. and yeah.. now that I see it, the writing is very... odd. definitely confusing. HOWEVER, I do hope that this does turn into a series. and we can fix the problems as it goes along. Write it so we know who is who and what each really wants. So by the end we know all that we need to truly know. and at the end of it, give a choice. and not just one or two or three.. give like 5. Thats what I think they should do. I'd go into even more stuff, but id rather not make a page-long comment.. maybe i'll do document and put it out somehow.. idk about a video..

I finished the game half an hour before finding this. The story is a little confusing, its also barley apart of the bioshock universe, and I needed this because my thoughts about who the villain was switched 4 times

Fun fact the robot twins are also sex robots so it makes it more weird he put his dead wives mind in there

These robots are hard to defeat with one hand only

Says "It's not human nature to give up power." Lives in a country where literally the first president walked away from indefinite power and set the precedent for presidential election terms limits.

All this plot stuff involving mental collectivism *really* reminds me of something from the mainline Gundam franchise…

Solution: nonhuman higher ups that see humans as adorable

Sharing everything I. Peoples head is such a bad idea imagine the messed up crap that would suddenly be part of everyone.

Wow, sechinov talks a lot like Klaus Schwab of the WEF.

At the end he snapped his neck and absorbed his consciousness he became the most intelligent one

When I read “Evolution by extinction” All I though of is “RESURRECTION BY ERECTION”

Great vid bro.😺

I’ve been watching you’re videos for a couple days and I’m enjoying all of them. Could you possibly do a video on zack and wiki

So Kollective 2.0 is basically like the Borg collective.

"Is a mass mindcontrol chip that bad? There us no solid answer." What?

You can decide to join the collective by taking the connector.