One would think, at $4.99, Soviet Project would be completely awful. Surprisingly, it is not. Care obviously went into this, and the developers should be commended for trying to create a free-roaming horror-adventure on what had to be a very tight budget. Whether it is a trip worth taking is of course another story entirely, but again, care went into this. This obviously was not shat out in a week, like some other developers, like Midnight Works..
Soviet Project begins with you waking up in a dingy apartment with an air siren going off. You find your key to unlock the apartment door. Go down one floor to a weird doll laboratory, and find yet another key to unlock the building door and outside you go. You are tasked with finding a workbench. Follow the marker to find a work bench to build a trap and a shield. Then the game opens a bit and as you need to find the materials. Bring up the map for some guidance:
Green makers are objectives puzzle, and red is objects to collect. If you press direction button down, a list comes up which shows you what the objectives are. Otherwise, you are left to bumble around the map in Soviet Project, avoiding shambling evil dolls who make baby sounds and try to kill you. At first, you’ll get hit a lot, maybe even die. Eventually, you learn just to tail it when their back is turned and you should be alright. Still the evil dolls do provide a measure of need tension and you always need to be on the look out. Also, when they are close, you see and hear static, ala Silent Hill, which is a nice touch and throwback.
The biggest issue with Soviet Project is shown in the image. You need to key on the kitchen table, but it doesn’t tell you which kitchen or which table. Or I find a key to the scientist’s friends house, but I have no idea where that is. I guess that is intentional in Soviet Project, which I guess works as you need to bumble around the dangerous streets.
So you get Soviet Project? Honestly, I don’t see why not if you’re a fan of horror-adventure games. It could use slightly more structure, but for five dollars, it’s not bad and could provide a few hours of fun. Not bad at all.
Overall: For five dollars you could do a lot worse than this decent horror-adventure.
Verdict: Recommended
| Platform | Nintendo Switch |
| Release Date | 10/19/23 |
| Cost | $4.99 |
| Publisher | 17Studio |
| ESRB Rating | T |
