Chornobyl Liquidators
- June 6, 2024
- Frozen Way
- 3h median play time
Get on Steam"Chornobyl Liquidators" is a grim, historically-inspired game that immerses players in the aftermath of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. As a firefighter or dosimetrist, you'll face treacherous radiation and combat the fallout's deadly effects. This is not a game for the faint-hearted, as it confronts the real-life sacrifices made by the liquidators.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game has an interesting and unique story that appeals to fans of the Chernobyl disaster.
- The graphics and atmosphere are well done, with moments that truly capture the setting.
- Some players found the gameplay fun and immersive, especially if they enjoy niche games.
- The game is plagued with bugs, glitches, and performance issues, making it frustrating to play.
- The story and gameplay mechanics are inconsistent, with many players feeling the game is unfinished.
- Voice acting and dialogue quality are poor, often leading to confusion and a lack of immersion.
- story124 mentions
- 21 % positive mentions
- 66 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The game's story has received mixed reviews, with some players finding it interesting and unique, while others criticize its execution, including poor writing, inconsistent character motivations, and a lack of emotional attachment. Many reviewers noted significant issues with voice acting, subtitles, and overall clarity of the narrative, which detracted from the immersive experience. Despite these flaws, some players appreciated the attempt to honor the real-life heroes of the Chernobyl disaster, suggesting that the story has potential if improved upon.
“The story is interesting and unique in its own way.”
“This game had a great story line and I believe it brought honor to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice during this disaster!!!”
“The storyline was very immersive, I appreciated the several subplots which allowed for different experiences.”
“Between an inconsistent storyline and graphics, annoying bugs, poor optimization, flat characters, unmotivated or nonsensical tasks, dialogue that doesn't match the captions, and an overall feeling that this game doesn't know if it wants to be viscera cleanup detail, a platformer, a stealth game, or what.”
“The kgb cover-up storyline is executed very poorly and one bit of it has you backtracking back and forth between locations in one level, hiding this bad game design behind a 'random dead npc gone mad' story.”
“But the story ultimately falls flat in my opinion due to the writing alongside voice acting, which does not seem like where in communication much.”
- gameplay76 mentions
- 16 % positive mentions
- 63 % neutral mentions
- 21 % negative mentions
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with many players highlighting clunky mechanics, frustrating interactions, and performance issues that detract from the overall experience. While some aspects, like atmosphere and certain mechanics, are praised, the repetitive nature and bugs lead to a tedious experience that feels unfinished. Overall, the game offers potential but requires significant improvements to justify its price and enhance player immersion.
“Its no simulator, but has fun gameplay.”
“The gameplay was excellent, the environment was very well done - the devs were clearly dedicated to making this game perfect.”
“But there's still tons of enjoyment to be had regarding gameplay mechanics, sound design, animations, atmosphere and story but gets bogged down by these terrible performance issues.”
“This game has been in development for a few years now and yet what we got was barely enough gameplay that you could complete it in a single day.”
“The game successfully transports you into Chernobyl visually, but whatever immersion it earns is immediately squandered by poor, clunky mechanics.”
“The firefighting mechanics were continuously frustrating, the ending didn't feel like it concluded much, and I didn't get any achievements even after watching the entire credit sequence.”
- optimization74 mentions
- 3 % positive mentions
- 38 % neutral mentions
- 59 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is widely criticized, with many players experiencing severe performance issues, including stuttering and frame rate drops, even on high-end systems. Despite some positive aspects like gameplay mechanics and atmosphere, the overall execution is deemed unpolished and buggy, leading to a consensus that significant optimization improvements are necessary before it can be recommended. Players suggest waiting for fixes before purchasing, as the current performance does not justify the price.
“Game is in desperate need of optimization.”
“Seems like a decent game, but performance issues (frame drops down to like 20fps randomly) ruin it, getting more frequent in the 2nd mission when you're in daylight.”
“I lowered my settings to the lowest and bumped my resolution down to 1440p, but I still have major stuttering and performance issues on a top-of-the-line card.”
“It's clearly not optimized well; even after meeting over the minimum and recommended system requirements, it was still laggy and choppy.”
“This game definitely needs a huge optimization in performance, which I doubt will arrive anytime soon as this was also an issue with the demo more than 2 years ago.”
- graphics48 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 54 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players praising the visuals as decent or even fantastic at times, while others criticize them for being inconsistent and poorly optimized. Many report issues such as lighting problems, stuttering performance, and limited customization options, suggesting that the game feels unfinished and clunky. Overall, while there are moments of impressive graphics, the performance and aesthetic coherence leave much to be desired.
“The graphics are fantastic and the sound design is superb.”
“Ran at a constant 70-80 fps when playing at highest graphic settings.”
“But so far, the visuals are decent, and the game is fun.”
“The graphics are disappointing and the lighting is so much worse than in the trailers.”
“Well, even when I downgrade the resolution to 1280x720 and use the AI upscaling feature on my graphics card, the game can say 90+ fps all it wants; you still experience this awful stutter and constant sluggishness when looking in directions where the rendering engine is worked to the limit.”
“This game is nowhere near ready for release, clunky mechanics, horrible graphics, annoying doors (seriously, why force them to close when I go near them??) tutorials that look like run-on sentences and are broken English.”
- stability42 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game has been widely criticized for its numerous bugs and stability issues, with players reporting frequent glitches, crashes, and performance problems that hinder gameplay. Many reviewers express disappointment over the game's unpolished state, suggesting it feels incomplete and poorly optimized, particularly in later levels. Overall, while some players appreciate the game's ideas and potential, the overwhelming consensus is that it requires significant fixes to improve stability before it can be fully enjoyed.
“This really disappointed me, the game is buggy, laggy, and unfinished.”
“Buggy mess, for some reason the devs thought that a game where you can't even progress to the second part of the game because of a glitch that crashes your game was fine to release.”
“It has some good ideas but the overall execution is a sad, buggy, unoptimized mess and the story is an insult to the real liquidators.”
- atmosphere24 mentions
- 67 % positive mentions
- 21 % neutral mentions
- 13 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its immersive environments, sound design, and attention to detail, creating a nerve-wracking experience that enhances gameplay. However, many players noted that performance issues, janky controls, and some unrealistic design elements detracted from the overall experience. Despite these flaws, the unique atmosphere remains a standout feature that contributes significantly to the game's appeal.
“Despite the issues, it's very unique and they nailed it with the environments and the atmosphere.”
“Loved the general atmosphere, true to nature world building, and little details.”
“Atmosphere is great, seeing the plant up close is awesome.”
“But there's still tons of enjoyment to be had regarding gameplay mechanics, sound design, animations, atmosphere, and story, but it gets bogged down by these terrible performance issues.”
“Sadly, it's quite rough around the edges in terms of controls and atmosphere.”
“I enjoyed the game and liked the puzzles and the atmosphere of most missions, with the exception of Duga radar.”
- music8 mentions
- 13 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with several users suggesting that it could benefit from a broader selection and a reduction in the reliance on mixtapes. While some appreciate the inclusion of Russian/Soviet doomer music, the overall soundtrack is rated around 6/10, indicating room for improvement.
“Nothing better than Russian/Soviet doomer music on the radio!!”
“Music/soundtrack: 6/10”
“Music/soundtrack: 6/10”
“Add more music and drop the mixtape!”
- emotional6 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Players report a mix of strong emotional responses, with some feeling physically affected by the game's intensity. While there are touching moments throughout, the story is considered inconsistent, only culminating in a satisfying emotional payoff at the end.
“There are interesting and touching moments in this game.”
“Keep in mind this game's story is very iffy and really only gets 'good' at the very end (emotional ending).”
- monetization4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The monetization strategy of the game has been criticized as a disappointing cash grab, failing to deliver meaningful content and instead prioritizing profit over respect for the historical significance of Chernobyl. Users feel that the ads and promotions do not enhance the experience but rather exploit the tragedy for financial gain.
“A sad and very disappointing cash grab dancing on the graves of the real men and women who gave their lives in trying to liquidate Chernobyl.”
“My personal expectation of watching the ads and the promotions was that it would be a highlight, a showcase of multiple different parts of Chernobyl.”
- grinding4 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the grinding aspect of the game initially engaging but quickly describe it as tedious and repetitive, leading to a loss of interest over time.
“Gameplay-wise, although interesting at first, becomes quite tedious and repetitive quickly.”
“The beginning was extremely tedious.”
“Gameplay-wise, although interesting at first, becomes quite tedious and repetitive quickly.”
- replayability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game offers limited replayability, with many users expressing that there isn't much incentive to play through it multiple times.
“You're not going to get much replayability, though.”
