The Stalin Subway: Red Veil

47%
Game Brain Score Based on 384 reviews
  • story
  • graphics
  • gameplay
The Stalin Subway: Red Veil Game Cover
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"The Stalin Subway: Red Veil" is a first-person shooter game set in an alternate 1950s Moscow. Players must navigate the metro system, battle enemy factions, and uncover the truth behind a mysterious red veil covering the city. The game features a variety of weapons, upgrades, and tactical options to combat the dangers lurking in the subway.

  • PC
  • Windows
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

47%
Audience ScoreBased on 384 reviews
gameplay8 positive mentions
story18 negative mentions
  • The game has a nostalgic charm and can be entertaining in a 'so bad it's good' way.
  • Some players found the gunplay satisfying and enjoyed the challenge it presented.
  • The game is relatively short, making it easy to complete in a single sitting.
  • The game is plagued by numerous bugs, poor AI, and frustratingly difficult gameplay.
  • It lacks modern features such as customizable controls and proper resolution support.
  • Voice acting and translations are terrible, detracting from the overall experience.
  • story100 mentions

    The game's story is widely criticized for being incoherent, poorly executed, and filled with frustrating escort missions that detract from the overall experience. While some players appreciate the attempt at a narrative set in a dilapidated Russian environment, many find the plot ridiculous and the character development lacking, leading to a disjointed and unsatisfying storyline. Overall, the narrative fails to engage players, often feeling like an afterthought amidst technical issues and gameplay frustrations.

    • “The game's dynamic story grips the player by the throat and pulls them straight into the action, whilst doing this it allows the player to learn firsthand that this is no ordinary first-person shooter. It instead makes the player learn the harsh truths of the difficulties the soldiers went through by throwing them straight into a chaotic warzone whilst simulating how heavy the soldiers' bodies were after days of fatigue.”
    • “Best FPS I played in a long time; the story is something, and you play as a woman.”
    • “I rate it 10/10 for its story, graphics, and Stalin. Don't try to start it in the evening, because it only works in the afternoon.”
    • “The plot, which has you playing a woman who makes sex groans every time she dies, is slightly more coherent, to the point where you could probably try to follow it without getting lost somewhere in Siberia, but it's still not really good.”
    • “It was way shorter than the first one and the story is an incomprehensible mess.”
    • “Huge technical mess with buggy physics, useless AI, and horribly implemented story.”
  • graphics68 mentions

    The graphics of the game are widely criticized as outdated and subpar, with many reviewers noting issues such as flickering textures, lag, and a lack of resolution options. While some acknowledge that the visuals may have been acceptable at the time of release, they generally fall short of modern standards, leading to an overall negative reception. A few users appreciate the game's atmospheric design, but the consensus is that the graphics detract significantly from the overall experience.

    • “Positive aspects are that it's more stable than its predecessor; it has slightly better graphics (at least no missing textures) and the price again was dead cheap.”
    • “Voice acting and graphics are 'amazing'.”
    • “Otherwise, I'd say that the graphics are good as ever, beats most other current gen games and has great dialogue.”
    • “There's no option to change the resolution and no useful graphics tweaks.”
    • “This game has very bad graphics and it is a very laggy game and you can see right through the walls because the graphics are so bad.”
    • “Bad graphics, bad effects, bad story, bad AI... absolutely not recommendable.”
  • gameplay52 mentions

    The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with many players criticizing it for being repetitive, unbalanced, and buggy, while others appreciate the increased difficulty and some new weapon additions. Level design is often deemed inadequate for the combat mechanics, leading to frustrating encounters in narrow spaces. Despite its flaws, some players find the gameplay to be a redeeming quality, especially when enhanced with mods.

    • “The gameplay is difficult, sure, but it is this difficulty that makes it fun for some.”
    • “The gameplay is arguably this game's saving grace.”
    • “Everything is realistic and the gameplay mechanics are unmatched even in today's game engines.”
    • “The gameplay is extremely dull, and the game is still very buggy.”
    • “I just completed it on normal difficulty and I honestly can't believe that it got released with all the problems the game mechanics have.”
    • “The graphics are fine for a game this old but the gameplay, plot, characters, voice acting, level design are just terrible.”
  • music38 mentions

    The music in the game has received mixed reviews, with some players noting it as an improvement over the original soundtrack, while others find it inferior and annoying. Technical issues, such as crashes when enabling music, have also been reported, detracting from the overall experience. Despite these problems, some users appreciate the music's fit within the game, suggesting it has redeeming qualities amidst the criticisms.

    • “I relaxed for 5 minutes listening to this music, long enough to realize that I would be okay.”
    • “The music, however, is quite good and fits the game well.”
    • “It's got better music than the original for the most part and that's basically the only positive since the new weapons kinda suck, the level design is tripe and it's so short.”
    • “Enabling the Russian electronica soundtrack, which is worse than the first game's music, makes the game take literally 30 seconds to pause/unpause, which I'm pretty sure is even longer than the first game took.”
    • “There was no music whatsoever, which made the game eerily silent.”
    • “Despite that, both the menu music and the in-game music are trash compared to the first game.”
  • stability22 mentions

    The game is plagued by significant stability issues, with numerous reports of bugs causing freezes, glitches, and unresponsive controls that severely hinder gameplay. While some users note that the game runs well once operational, the initial experience is marred by a multitude of technical problems, making it nearly unplayable for many. Overall, the consensus is that the game requires urgent fixes to address its instability.

    • “It is impossible to play this game, it's so buggy, please fix.”
    • “Huge technical mess with buggy physics, useless AI, and horribly implemented story.”
    • “The vehicle level is buggy beyond belief.”
  • humor18 mentions

    The humor in the game is largely derived from its low-budget production values, with users highlighting the hilariously poor English translations and voice acting. Many find the broken cutscene lip-sync and the presence of numerous bugs to be amusing, contributing to a comedic experience, especially for those who can overlook the game's high difficulty and technical issues. Overall, while the humor may not be intentional, it adds a unique charm to the gameplay.

    • “Hilarious because of how low budget everything is.”
    • “On a lighter note, the voice acting is hilariously bad and you occasionally catch soldiers having conversations about you before you engage them.”
    • “Cutscene lipsync is hilariously broken.”
  • optimization8 mentions

    The game is poorly optimized, lacking support for modern display resolutions and failing to run smoothly on contemporary gaming PCs, resulting in frequent crashes and subpar performance. Despite attempts to improve performance through online fixes for the previous installment, no such solutions exist for this title, which is further hindered by its outdated graphics.

    • “Really badly optimized game, barely works on any modern computer.”
    • “The performance was awful and there were crashes all the time - for the first game, there is a fix online to improve its performance, but there is no fix for this one.”
    • “- despite the bad performance, the graphics are terrible.”
  • monetization6 mentions

    The monetization of the game is perceived as exploitative, with many users labeling it a cash grab aimed at capitalizing on nostalgia and abandonware, despite some arguing it isn't entirely shameless. Overall, the game's poor visuals and story contribute to the negative sentiment surrounding its financial motives.

    • “This seems to have been put on Steam as a nostalgia gouge, or just a cash grab to try to profit from abandonware.”
    • “Horrible visuals, awful story, and the whole thing just feels like a big cash grab.”
    • “This seems to have been put on Steam as a nostalgia gouge, or just a cash grab to try to profit from abandonware.”
  • replayability4 mentions

    The game offers significant replayability, with some players reporting the ability to log up to 500 hours of gameplay. However, it may not be suitable for those looking for a game that guarantees a worthwhile investment of time or a reliable launch experience.

    • “I would not recommend this game to you if you seek a game to invest more time in or at least offer you some replayability, or if you are afraid to gamble your money on a game that may not launch for you at all.”
    • “The replay value is huge and I can easily log 500 hours.”
  • atmosphere4 mentions

    The game effectively captures an oppressive, post-war Soviet atmosphere, despite its graphics being considered subpar by both contemporary and release-era standards. While many players appreciate the atmosphere, frequent deaths can detract from the overall experience.

    • “The graphics, while terrible by today's standards and not very good for the standards of its release date, do a very effective job in recreating an oppressive, post-war Soviet atmosphere.”
  • emotional2 mentions

    The game presents a bizarre and emotionally charged narrative centered around nfkrz's quest to save his nation, intertwined with surreal transformations and dark humor. The storyline explores themes of acceptance and transformation, culminating in a unique blend of absurdity and emotional depth. Overall, it evokes a mix of confusion and intrigue, leaving players with a memorable, if unconventional, emotional experience.

  • grinding2 mentions

    Players find the grinding aspect of the game tedious, particularly when it comes to locating the correct doors or objectives to progress, echoing similar frustrations from the first game.

    • “Other than that, it can be tedious to find the right door or objective to activate... just like in the first game.”
Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

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Play time

10hMedian play time
10hAverage play time
10-10hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 2 analyzed playthroughs

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