How to use Atomic Heart scanner

Andrew Highton
p-3 holding out arm in atomic heart

Atomic Heart gives players a scanner that acts as a modern environment-sweeping tool to provide useful information. But it’s not entirely clear how to use it, so let’s quickly show you how to use it.

We gave Atomic Heart a solid review with lots of praise dished out to the game’s outstanding visuals, its gritty gameplay, and the climax of its story.

The game was prone to some technical difficulties here and there though, and one aspect that players think might be bugged is actually one of the game’s opening tutorials.

The in-game scanner lets P-3 get a more in-depth look at his environment allowing him to spot crucial quest elements and find useful resources. This is when you get it working though, so let’s quickly run through how Atomic Heart’s scanner works.

scanner tutorial screen in atomic heart

Atomic Heart scanner guide

Contrary to what the Atomic Heart tutorial tells you, in order to use the scanner in the game, players need to press R1 on a PlayStation controller, or RB on an Xbox controller, then press the same button again in quick succession, but on the second press hold onto the button.

The same instructions apply to PC gamers too, just make sure you’re pressing the equivalent keybind on your Atomic Heart configuration.

The game tells players to “Hold R1 + R1” to use the scanner but doing this doesn’t actually do anything because chronologically this command is incorrect.

We’re unsure if this is simply a translation error that was missed in testing, or perhaps an overlooked bug. Regardless, this issue should, hopefully, get rectified over time.

You should now be able to use Atomic Heart’s scanner, and if you want more guides for the game, check out the rest of our coverage below:

Best guns & melee weapons to use in Atomic Heart | Best skills to upgrade in Atomic Heart | How to access Polygon Testing Ground chambers in Atomic Heart | Does Atomic Heart have microtransactions? | Is Atomic Heart open-world? | Is Atomic Heart on Xbox Game Pass? | Does Atomic Heart have multiplayer or co-op? | Atomic Heart PC Requirements: Minimum & recommended specs | Atomic Heart controversy explained

About The Author

Andrew Highton is a former Games Writer for Dexerto. He has a Creative Writing degree from Liverpool John Moores University and has previously written for games websites such as Twinfinite and Keengamer. With 13,000+ PlayStation Trophies to his name, Andrew is a fan of a huge variety of video games, his favourites being God of War and Metal Gear Solid. Contact him at andrew.highton@dexerto.com, on Twitter @AndyHighton8 or at www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-highton.