The Chernobyl Liquidators

The untold story of the Liquidators of Chernobyl is a truly terrifying experience!

[grahamsouthern]

This is the composer / sound designer for Liquidators. Thank you so much Mark for posting this playthrough of our game, and thanks everybody for checking it out.

[skyaero]

Fun fact: Ironically enough 2 of the 3 liquidators are still alive and well today. You may wonder why this is considering the extreme radiation inside of Chernobyl at the time, but its mainly because much of the lower parts of Chernobyl were somewhat flooded due to leaking water pipes from the explosion. This meant that in order to stop this leaking and prevent a second explosion, they had to traverse a lot of flooded areas. And as some may know, water is very good protection against radiation. Its mainly how we discovered this fact. Don't let this fact make their actions undermined however. At the time they were unaware of how well water protected against radiation, and the liquidators who entered fully expected to live a day at max after coming out.

[memesouls]

What’s scary is the fact these three men who you play as are real people. They were known as the “suicide squad” as basically what they were doing was a death mission. They ended up basically saving the entire continent from nuclear disaster. Major respect!

[kermit]

i love how when the three protagonists die, instead of a quick game over, the game tells you how much the world is fucked because of Chernobyl. its honesty terrifying.

[kaisaniatan]

For those who aren’t aware, roentgens are the international unit for radiation. Under different circumstances, total body exposure to 100 roentgens per hour can cause radiation sickness. You’ll feel absolutely horrible, both physically and mentally, but if the right precautions are taken, you’ll be fine. Exposure to anything up to 400 roentgens per hour will cause the body’s cells to disintegrate and half of all victims exposed to this much radiation will die.

In 1986, when the Elephant’s Foot was discovered, it tapped out at *10, 000 roentgens per hour.* Anybody exposed to it for longer than a minute was going to die.

And Mark ran straight into it.

Because he’s not a masochist, he just wants to see if his body can take it.

[AdrianLopez-hfxo]

As a one of the developers of this game, this video along with the comments section made us so happy! This game was my friend's MFA project at USC a few years back, and seeing it resurface is amazing!! Just wanted to stress that this project was dedicated to all the liquidators, first responders, and support units that responded to the Chernobyl disaster. It was our goal to raise awareness for the people that contained the fallout, which is why we decided to go uncredited as developers and stay anonymous in the game. The focus of our game is squarely on them and the organizations that support those affected by this tragic moment in history. One such charity is Chernobyl Children International, who provides ongoing access to medical services and community support for children affected by the blast. Since the game is free to play, we ask that players donate to this cause and others like it in lieu of paying for the game.

Thank you all for your kind words about the game and we hope to be making a difference!

[themillers]

I still cry laughing over Mark just walking right up to the Elephant's Foot with blind confidence. My brother in Christ that is corium you just finalised your will

[pneumonoultramicroscopicsiIico]

“Every second is automatically saved. All actions and decisions are permanent. Extreme care and patience is advised”
Mark: this sign can’t stop me because I can’t read

[caitlinb]

I know a lot about the Chernobyl disaster so I'm just going to put this here: Alexei Ananenko, Valeri Bezpalov, and Boris Baranov didn't prevent the Chernobyl disaster; they prevented something much, much worse. They went on a suicide mission into a flooded basement after the explosion. "The Elephant's Foot is so deadly that spending only 30 seconds near it will result in dizziness and fatigue. Two minutes near it and your cells will begin to hemorrhage." Had they not went on a suicide mission; all of Chernobyl would have become that way. Before they went in, they were asked if they wanted to have out, but didn't. True heros.

[maxducks]

If you stay in the main room too long, the guy on the radio says “If you’re scared, don’t worry…we all are.” Legitimately one of the most subtly terrifying things I’ve heard, especially given the subject matter.

[woofy]

Mark: "I can't jump."

Me: "Almost as if Alexei is wearing a LEAD LINED SUIT to protect him from the radiation..."

[blackspirit]

I love that in this game the 3 people who literally stopped the apocalypse of Europe by turning those valves are legit named what these 3 guys are named in game. Kudos for the devs doing their homework.

[UndeadGhostGirl]

And the people who actually did this didn't have convenient music stings or blurring screens. Their geiger counter was their *only* indication of how much immediate danger they were in.

[WuceBrayne-lwre]

I think that the reason that you can't "float" or even swim at all is because weren't the liquidators wearing lead coats to try and protect them from as much radiation as possible? Either way, this is a genuinely scary game and I want more like this.

[Soulsworth]

Dying really quickly when exposed to the Elephants Foot in this game is fairly correspondent to real life, it's a nice touch. Back when the disaster hit in 1986, a mere 30 seconds of exposure would cause dizziness and fatigue, 2 minutes and your cells start hemorrhaging, and 5 minutes and it sends you to meet the angels. That's insane!

[sodpati]

fun fact : IRL, when the room of people who knew the layout of chernobyl were asked to go there, and only three decided to go, those 3 volunteers, were the only ones in the room filled with 30-40 people to survive the radiation.

[Mr.Man]

The game: "Warning all actions are permanent and carry consequences patience and careful consideration of actions advised."
Mark: "I push this button and we see what happens."

[motleythewild]

I think Mark didn't realize that when these guys were volunteered, everyone expected them to die from the very beginning. And all of the noises he mentions are the rest of the plant continuing to burn and explode and fall apart as the hottest liquid metal drips through and destroys the building around them. They themselves, expected to die. It wasn't about whether they survived or not, but if they could do their job before things got worse for more people. Also the "we will take care of your family if something happens" was said to any and every worker in the Soviet Union. It wasn't tailored to just these people, but everyone who had a dangerous job.

[LPdedicated]

Just stumbling upon the Elephant's Foot so suddenly is terrifying, and it sent chills down my spine. Imagine walking by what at this point is easily the most dangerous substance on earth.

[DoodlesFool]

30:04 yes it is most likely rust but there is posible a chance of it being blood. The union didn't want to admit they had made a mistake and so firefighters without any knowledge of what had happened were the first called. All of which became incredibly ill from radion poisoning, throwing up blood is one of the symptoms