''The Stalin Subway'' (Russian title ''Метро-2'', "Metro-2") is a

first-person shooter A first-person shooter (FPS) is a video game genre, video game centered on gun fighting and other weapon-based combat seen from a First person (video games), first-person perspective, with the player experiencing the action directly through t ...

video game developed by G5 Software and Orion Games. It was published by

Buka Entertainment Buka Entertainment JSC () — is one of the oldest Russian video game developers and publishers. Headquartered in Moscow, the company was officially established in 1994. Since 2008, it is a part of the 1C Company. Although Buka produces its own ...

in Russia in September 2005 and in the United States in October of that year.

Gameplay

The game features standard first-person shooter gameplay. Players can acquire a variety of both melee weapons and firearms, mostly based on Soviet weapons such as a

Makarov pistol The Makarov pistol or PM ( rus, Пистолет Макарова, r=Pistolet Makarova, p=pʲɪstɐˈlʲet mɐˈkarəvə, t=Makarov's Pistol) is a Soviet semi-automatic pistol. Under the project leadership of Nikolay Fyodorovich Makarov, it beca ...

PPSh-41 The PPSh-41 () is a selective-fire, open-bolt, blowback submachine gun that fires the 7.62×25mm Tokarev round. It was designed by Georgy Shpagin of the Soviet Union to be a cheaper and simplified alternative to the PPD-40. The PPSh-41 saw ...

sub-machine gun.

Plot

Like '' You Are Empty'' (2006) and the games in the ''Metro 2033'' series, the game is set in and around the

Moscow Metro The Moscow Metro) is a rapid transit system in the Moscow Oblast of Russia. It serves the capital city of Moscow and the neighbouring cities of Krasnogorsk, Moscow Oblast, Krasnogorsk, Reutov, Lyubertsy, and Kotelniki. Opened in 1935 with one l ...

system. It takes place in 1952 in Moscow in the Soviet Union, under

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

who has been in power for over 30 years. The game focuses on a fictional internal plot against Stalin and the Soviet government. Locations include the Metro subway stations including the secret

Metro-2 Metro-2 () is the informal designation for a clandestine and officially unacknowledged deep underground metro system in the Moscow metropolitan area. It was designed to provide the Politics of the Soviet Union, Soviet leadership with secure warti ...

line, the KGB

Lubyanka Building Lubyanka (, ) is the popular name for the building which contains the headquarters of the FSB on Lubyanka Square in the Meshchansky District of Moscow, Russia. It is a large Neo-Baroque building with a facade of yellow brick designed by Alex ...

, the

Kremlin The Moscow Kremlin (also the Kremlin) is a fortified complex in Moscow, Russia. Located in the centre of the country's capital city, the Moscow Kremlin (fortification), Kremlin comprises five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Mosco ...

, the

Moscow State University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public university, public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, a ...

, and Stalin's bunker. The protagonists are the MGB officer Gleb Suvorov and the

GRU Gru is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the ''Despicable Me'' film series. Gru or GRU may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * Gru (rapper), Serbian rapper * Gru, an antagonist in '' The Kine Saga'' Organizations Georgia (c ...

officer Natalia Mihaleva. Suvorov discovers that a conspiracy of high-ranking officers want to detonate a secret nuclear weapon sent via D-6 during the Party assembly. He rescues his father from the KGB prison and thwarts the plot.

Development

The art and design team used photos of Moscow for realism. Before

E3 2005 E3 (short for Electronic Entertainment Expo) was an annual trade event for the video game industry organized and presented by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA). It was held principally in Los Angeles from 1995 to 2019, with its final ...

GameSpot noted that its "combination fhistorical fiction plotline and modern FPS gameplay sets it apart from the typical sci-fi or military shooters that dominate the market today" and showed interest in way the

physics engine A physics engine is computer software that provides an approximate simulation of certain physical systems, typically classical dynamics, including rigid body dynamics (including collision detection), soft body dynamics, and fluid dynamics. I ...

allowed "different bullet penetration abilities for each weapon.

Reception

Released on Steam, the game received generally mixed to negative reviews from critics outside of Russia.

Sequel

A sequel ''The Stalin Subway: Red Veil'' (also known as ''The Stalin Subway 2'', Russian title: ''Метро-2: Смерть вождя'') in which players take on the role of the protagonist's wife Lena following his disappearance was released in 2008. Eurogamer Germany gave it a rating of 1 out of 10.

References

External links

Buka official website

Orion official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stalin Subway, The 2005 video games 2006 video games Alternate history video games Cold War video games First-person shooters Video games set in 1952 Video games set in the Soviet Union Video games developed in Russia Video games featuring female protagonists Video games set in Moscow Windows games Windows-only games Buka Entertainment games G5 Software games