Atomic Heart is a first-person shooter game that takes place in Facility 3826. The game’s protagonist is Comrade Major P-3, who has to fight against a robot revolt. While exploring the facility, players will encounter many robotic enemies, including bosses that have health bars and require perfect timing to dodge their attacks. The first boss that players will face in Atomic Heart is the HOG-7 Hedgie robot.
Although players will catch a glimpse of the Hedgie early on in the game, the real boss fight won’t start until they reach Exhibition Park. After gaining access to the park, players can start the boss fight by pressing the button at the center of the arena. Here are some tips on how to defeat the hedgehog-shaped bot in Atomic Heart.
The Hedgie will spend most of the fight rolled into a ball and bouncing around the arena. There is no point in wasting ammo when it’s rolling around since the outer shell will absorb the damage, and its erratic movements are hard to follow. However, after dodging enough of its moves, the Hedgie will stop and sink to the floor in an overheated state. Orange pieces glowing with heat will temporarily eject from the bot, which is the opportunity to strike and shoot/hit the glowing parts.
To quickly overheat the Hedgie and lower its health, players can bait its rolling to crash into the pillars that are scattered around the boss arena. The button to start the boss fight also activates a large pillar, and around the arena, there are more pillars that can be activated using the Shok ability. The Hedgie has a few nasty ways to harm the player, so it’s a good time to learn how to effectively use P-3’s dodge. Double-tap the B/Circle button to quickly move out of harm’s way.
When the Hedgie is in ball form and spinning in a large circle, it will shoot bursts of three projectiles. If the ball form stops and points at the player, it will charge at P-3. Use the dodge at the last second to avoid this. When the bot jumps in the air, regardless of shape, it will create a large shockwave that has to be jumped over to avoid damage.
As the Hedgie’s health lowers, it will get quicker with its attacks. It will bounce multiple times in ball form and throw a large slash when crawling around. It will also throw out a glowing gravity field that will suck the player close to it. Dodge as soon as it drops the field, as its next move will smash the player and shoot out shockwaves.
If P-3 is killed, the checkpoint will reset next to a new save station and vending machine to restock if needed. In summary, to beat the HOG-7 Hedgie in Atomic Heart, players should attack the bot when it’s overheating, bait its rolling to crash into pillars, use P-3’s dodge effectively, and watch out for its various attacks.
