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.
From a really large exposure, a person can lose consciousness. Most likely there will be no clouding in the eyes, but damn it, you can sit down and not rise again
The counter was useless. It maxed out at about half of what the actual radiation level was. Surprisingly, none of the guys who went into the water under the reactor died of anything related to radiation. I think some are still alive. Some pf the shovelers did die, however.
the counters werent made to go super high, none of the counters anyone had read anywhere near how much radiation there actually was (depending on where the person was in relation to the radiation), so a lot of them thought they were much safer than they actually were, very few people knew/ realised just how dangerous it was, especially being that a lot of people didnt know how immense the risks and danger of what happened was until after
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.
You’re correct. Chernobyl would’ve been incredibly radioactive at this point, especially in the power plant itself, so they absolutely would’ve had to be wearing heavy radiation-proof gear.
@@therealpop6343 Water is a very good radation isolator so much so that you can swim safely until about 5-15 meters close to the fuel rods in most nuclear reactor cooling pools. Even if the water is completely radiated there wouldn't be a difference in floatation capacity.
@@th3sh3rm4n4 even aerated water isn’t super dangerous; I believe Kyle Hill on UA-cam did a video about it. Either him or someone else; he’s a science communicator who has covered “drowning pools” before but I remember him saying something after doing more research that most people would actually float on aerated water, it’s the undercurrents in drowning pools that are dangerous and will suck you under
@@sparrw_ I think the first ever picture did not use any mirrors. There’s an afterimage of the man who took the picture in it, standing very close proximity to it. The person who was originally given the photo was told “The Soviets told me that a man died to take this photo”. And the photo is very grainy because the film was irradiated.
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!
they went in all knowing it was a suicide mission. as far as i know, all but one of them are still alive, and he, died of a non-radiation exposure related heart attack. i have no idea how they're able to walk with balls that size, but...
@@Gantradies They were heros and sacrificed themselves to save millions of lives, if they didn't do this mission the whole world would have been affected with deadly radiation
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.
Especially the first guy he played. He had no family and was a military veteran. He probably knew he would be missed less than others and how to do a lot of what he needed to do.
lol volunteer in Soviet, was more like "You have the skill to do this job, you have no choice but to serve your country or you and your family will starve". So many people in Soviet history have been forced to do what their leaders said. Just look at what happened to those that didn't want to; Gulag.
The soviet union was not a nice place to live, I can imagine that these people were either forced to do so or went in knowing they would die for the sake of what they actually cared about.
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.
All the chatter in this game shows the fascinating divide between how the Soviet government and military command neglected safety and human lives and how the people who were actually there are real people like everyone else. People who are afraid, people who have friends and family, people who are friends with their coworkers and sometimes bosses.
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.
Thank _you_ for producing the soundtrack of my nightmares for the next few months, and for the entire team for creating such an impressive game, and releasing it for free to boot.
“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
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.
"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." " That quote is nothing more than pure sensationalist radiophobic drivel. Even at the peak of its radioactivity, you would need to be exposed to the Elephant's Foot for five minutes to receive an LD50 dose of radiation, which isn't even a guaranteed death, just a 50% chance of death. Not to say it wasn't dangerous, but it wasn't as dangerous as the quote makes it out to be. The heat let off by it at the time was far more of an immediate danger than the radiation.
@@megajimmyfive You're correct, 2 of them are still alive. I know one (Ananenko) even did a few interviews more recently and talked about things the HBO series got wrong, and he continued working in a nuclear-related job until 2017 . The third diver (Baranov) still lived until 2008 and died of a heart attack, completely unrelated to any radiation he may have received during his time at Chernobyl. Granted, this game took quite a few creative liberties with some of the things the divers in particular experienced (it's entertainment 🤷🏻♀️), but I still very firmly believe that every single person who helped contain the damage done that day is a hero.
as far as I remember all three volunteers lived well past when they were expected to die and some died of unrelated causes that weren't radiation. they were to go down and open the valves to drain the water. at the time the scientists believed the reacter was going to melt through the concrete below into the water tank and instantly turn all the water in to steam in a explosion. but after they mined a new shift beneath the tank and installed the concrete heat exchange pad. it turned out they wrong and it was no longer going to do that and their was no need for miners to dig. back on the subject of the liquidators. when they went to the board and explained the problem. they pretty much said in the show know idea if it's true but I imagine it's close ( were asking u permission to kill 3 men) because they knew how suicidal the task was
The elephants foot also has lost a good bit of its radioactivity in the past 36 years. It’s no longer a death sentence to stand by it for a few seconds. I believe the “safe” exposure time with no lasting effects is around 5-10 minutes now.
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.
We knew the effect of water on radiation since it's a core feature in a reactor. The water slows the neutrons decreasing their energy, this is called a "Neutron Moderator". This makes water a good shield against radiation.
@@Valsorayu A moderator accelerates nuclear reactions by slowing down neutrons to a speed more conducive for reactions. But other than that you're right regular water blocks radiation. While heavy water an alternate isotope, is a moderator that speeds up reactions.
@@anxiousearth680 We both said the same thing different ways. By reducing the energy of neutrons they are slowed. I just thought that in this case why its used is not as important as the fact that the energy is reduced.
... As far as know, there are conflicting reports. Scientists believe the amount of radiation they were exposed to was just too much for them to get out. Sure, it would be awesome if they were still alive, but there is no way to verify it for sure. Specially considering how much the USSR tried to ofuscate about the accident;
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."
@@King0fPeasants literally stop watching mark a lot back then because of it. No progress just killing himself 90% of the time or making a joke for 5 minutes straight. I skip most of it to get to the point
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
@@kh6853 a material that is created in a nuclear reactor core during a nuclear meltdown accident. Think a type of artificial molten lava made up of all the nastiest shit in the reactor core. Fresh corium from a meltdown can put out over ten thousand roentgen per hour, enough to kill you in less than five minutes of exposure. Even being in the same room as it for a few seconds can put you at risk for radiation-related illness. In reality the liquidators never encountered the Elephant's Foot, it wasn't discovered for nearly a year after the meltdown.
This game is based off the actual events of Chernobyl, Alexei Borys and Valeri were all real people. Following the disaster two hundred thousand citizens signed up to clean up the wreckage. During May the USSR discovered that there would be a second explosion unless the water near the melting reactor was drained, of the 200,000 men only 3 went inside the plant. They drained the water and lived to tell the tale. These were real people with real lives, they aren’t just video game characters.
The "second explosion" was just fear. Hot core material was recorded as dripping into water tanks and nothing happening. It's also physically impossible for hot concrete sludge to ignite like gunpowder with water.
@@bakerboat4572 So highly reactive material coming from a nuclear reactor pouring into open water tanks days after an explosion poses no concern? Why are you so determined to undermine the accomplishments of the liquidators?
10000%. after 10+ years of monster chasing horror games, i’m so glad we’re finally treated with games like these. psychological horror is (imo) so much more effective in both movie and game format. the best part is that it’s not just the fear whilst it’s happening, it’s the terrible dread you feel afterwards that stays with you.
The Elephant's foot has gotta be one of the most terrifying objects on this planet. The reason the Geiger counter is displaying "err" is because the elephant's foot puts out so much radiation that it is literally "off the charts".
fun fact: there's a fungus that was discovered in 1991 in the ruins of the chernobyl power plant that essentially eats radiation. maybe one day we'll be able to use it to take care of the elephant's foot
@@nikkigriffin6441 When the reactor exploded, an unfathomably radioactive lump of metal was left over. That lump is called the Elephant’s Foot because it looks a bit like the foot of an elephant. Standing next to it for less than half an hour would guarantee death, even today.
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!
@@zizi33girlpanini87 Chernobyl was a city/town of the soviet union back in the 1980’s. It had a nuclear power plant, which - (afaik) due to poor regulations and practices - ended up in a meltdown, reaching extreme temperatures and high amounts of radiation. The radiation started to spread throughout Chernobyl, forcing an evacuation. The disaster is over now, but the aftermath is still present, former residents can’t return to their homes as the radiation is still present (though not as much, and only exists in pockets), and some wildlife have been effected. It’s expected to take centuries for the radiation to fully dissipate. You can look up photos of explorations, the whole mood is eerie since this was a town/city that was abruptly abandoned. The elephant’s foot is the most iconic, as it was the largest area of radiation during the disaster (and still sort of is). The radiation (as many stated here) was so immense that it could kill you in seconds if you stood too close, and the distance for it to be lethal was a bit more than you’d expect. It’s not as deadly now, but it certainly was back then.
@@Dr.OofersThis information mostly comes from the TV series about the disaster, but one of the biggest reasons the reactor malfunctioned was that the soviet union used a cheaper graphite tip for the control rods (the parts that start/stop the nuclear reaction). When doing the test on the day it blew up it was mismanaged and the control rods were re inserted in such a way the graphite caused an uncontrollable spike in reaction leading to the explosion
@@zizi33girlpanini87 so do you remember in cod4 when Price said “50,000 people used to live here, now it’s a ghost town” that was about Pripyat n Chernobyl and so was All Ghillied Up
@@zizi33girlpanini87The Elephant's Foot is a nuclear reactor which failed so badly it became ultra-radioactive artificial lava that could kill anyone who stayed within line of sight to it for a few minutes, which this game is quite accurate about. It has since gotten _somewhat_ less dangerous.
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.
@@zekkithenightfury1293 The dictionary definition is a person who finds sexual pleasure in their own pain or humiliation. It’s a running gag with Mark because he always puts himself in harmful situations cos he wants to see if he can take the pain.
@@zekkithenightfury1293 somebody who gets pleasure from their own pain (physical or emotional). obviously people aren't actually serious when they call him that it's just because he's very stupidly brave and seems to have high pain tolerance
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!
This is one of the scariest games he’s ever played, honestly. It feels so unsettling the entire time. Like he said, you’re waiting for a monster but the reality is so much worse.
@@pirkkorouvinen8522 Horror is being scared of the thing. Terror is being scared that there might be a thing there. Very different. Subnautica is a good example.
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.
. . .Kinda. . . As bad as Chernobyl was it has been blown way out of proportion, like the idea that Europe woulda became a post-apocalyptic wasteland if XYZ wasn’t done, is just flat out false. Could it have been worse? Yes. End all life on Europe worse? No
What's so utterly terrifying about the elephant's foot room is that its effect in-game is not exaggerated whatsoever compared to real life. According to most sources I've seen, direct exposure when it was still fresh like that could have easily incapacitated a human in a matter of seconds, and killed in a matter of minutes.
@@yinghuasys5276 basically the nickname of a very large mass of radioactive material found at Chernobyl , it is still active and will be for centuries.
@@yinghuasys5276 It's a lump of something called Corium, which is pretty much nuclear fuel, reactor materials and concrete all melted together into something like lava.
@@comyuse9103 I have 3 points to add here. 1st - It's mark... You know, the man who claimed to be the ruling monarch of squirrels. 2nd - often, there are no other way around than to run through the dangers. Room 1 is a maze of Corium, and Room 3... even Valeri cannot avoid the EF entirely 3nd - it's a bit open. one guy was lost due to burns he got from the corium he repeatedly strumpled into rather than reading his instrument (mark didn't know this at the time) The other guy died from running directly at the EF rather than running from cover to cover. (Mark got lost in the process) -Regards, von Cortex
There’s something especially scary about the fact that this actually happened to humanity. No monsters, no demons - just pure chemical terror. I think that’s why this is one of the scariest games I’ve seen Mark play.
Just remember that this was not because of nuclear energy itself, but bad communication, toxic leadership that led to an unsafe test, and the shitty design of soviet nuclear power plants. Today's reactor designs are incredibly safe.
@@swagmaster6922 I think you got the "toxic leadership" part from HBO's miniseries' portrayal of Dyatlov but a plant worker who worked with him at Chernobyl clarified that although Dyatlov was a strict man, he wasn't the arrogant bully he was portrayed in the show. People respected him. It's also worth mentioning that they guy had a terrible past including running from his abusive family during childhood and surviving a fatal dosage of radiation when he was working on a nuclear submarine in his days as a junior engineer. This explains why he initially underestimated the extent of Chernobyl's damage. The real problem was the shitty design as you said. RBMK reactors sacrificed safety for cost with one set of rods being used for empty, graphite moderation and boron inhibition. Normally, pressing the AZ-5 would've made the gamble of turning up the reactor during a period of probable Xenon buildup worth it as the worst that could happen was low power for half a day, which was going to happen either way. What nobody imagined was the rods getting stuck on insertion into a moderation position, speeding up the reaction immensely out of a xenon pit and you know the rest.
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
Maybe a boss that you can't directly look at but can only use mirrors around corners and such to injure and dodge from it. But everything is backwards because you're looking at through mirrors. Like you have to move left in order to dodge right or something like that. Could be a cool concept
This game is terrifying, it feels so isolated and claustrophobic. And the fact that this was a REAL thing that REAL people ACTUALLY had to do (given some liberties) is just insane. These guys were true heroes.
@@workingonit9699 Bc he's looking to start an internet fight because it makes him feel better abt himself and that's all he thinks abt. Trans people just happen to be the hot button topic and easiest thing to start an argument with.
@@workingonit9699 What my point is that those people needed to do something insane as that to save most of EU and nowadays some people cry about smallest "problems" what they made up by themselves.
@@rotta4667 These are two entirely different issues and it is not fair in the _slightest_ to compare them. It's honorable that people did this to save the EU, essentially, but who the hell told you that 1; other people having problems automatically invalidates all problems people see as "less," and 2; a comment on a historical event gave you the excuse to be massively homophobic and transphobic?
Just in case any of you were wondering, all three of the characters were real people. Valery Bezpalov, Alexei Anenenko and Boris Barenov were employees of the plant who volunteered to wade through radioactive water to prevent a second cataclysmic explosion at the stricken nuclear reactor. Alexei and Valery are still alive, but Boris died in 2005.
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.
The Chernobyl incident was terrible and those liquidators were the real heroes, and funnily enough survived Chernobyl... they are seriously not praised enough
@æ I’m sure there were many of not most or all of them that suffered health issues as a result. It may not have been major or noticeable, but I’m willing to bet on it.
i loved how there were no monsters at all. just the ominous feeling that you make one decision wrong, you make a whole continent uninhabitable. and the ear piercing sound of the elephant’s foot, scared me every time lmao
For those interested, Chernobyl was especially scary because nothing like this had happened before. Also, this game (those going into the basement) is real. It was a group of three men called the suicide squad who went into the basement of Chernobyl in pitch black darkness to relieve the valves to induce water flow to cool the plant, if I recall correctly Edit: They had to drain the water to prevent a massive lump of radioactive lava from sinking through the floor and hitting the water, which would create a catastrophic steam explosion. None of the men were affected by the radiation, and I’m pretty sure only one has passed from heart failure
>No monster chasing you >Based on a real event >Relatively restrained jumpscare tactics >Emotional attachment to characters >Scary as fuck thats a good horror game
what i love about THIS horror game specifically, is that this isnt a horror game with a direct enemy or creature to avoid, that the horror is more of the dark realism, and making things innocent in the normal world deadly in this situation. with Radiation as a main enemy more than anyhting, it definately creates this immersive, dark, and horrific reality of what the people of chernobyl had to deal with, and not only that, ANYONE that has to deal with Nuclear devices.
There really hasn't been any situation nearly as bad as Chernobyl. Most people who deal with nuclear devices are very safe, and don't really have anything to fear. Even nuclear cleanup and rescue operators' jobs aren't much worse than those of firefighters, thanks to how far nuclear safety has come. But Chernobyl is, to this day, probably one of the scariest places on Earth, and the fact that it won't happen again makes it a truly unique horror.
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.
@@lightningstrike5024I’m not educated all that much but i think that there were three people at first and then more went in after they like stopped the second meltdown
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.
And it's pretty true IRL as well. Winds carried radioactive particles around Europe. Before the USSR even told the international community about the accident, scientists in Sweden knew, because the levels of radiation measured at a nuclear facility spiked but when they looked into it they found out it wasn't a problem originating from Sweden or the neighbouring countries. My mom remembers not being allowed to pick or eat wild berries or mushrooms here in Finland because of the acid rains caused by the toxic and radioactive fumes. Some people claimed they were out in the rain pretty much a few days after the incident and got a nasty rash because of the acid rains but luckily there wasn't a lot of damage.
@@arshiaaghaei oh for sure,Iknow that and I'm not negating that???? maybe I didn't express myself clearly, just tried to illustrate the point that a lot of europe was already contaminated in ways that had an effect on people, which to me just illustrates how scary it would have been if there was a second meltdown
this game is actually horrifying, the fact this was a real event adds a new layer of horror to everything as well. When mark first encountered the elephants foot my skin was crawling....the people who actually did this are incredible
@@linktheherooftime5647 All the nuclear material in the core and concrete melted and formed a horrible lump of radioactive crud that is still lethal today.
@@linktheherooftime5647 just a few moments remotely close can give you a lethal dose. That's why the device (forgot what it's called) went crazy when he was in the next room over. One last thing the reason why it said ERR is because the radiation was so high it couldn't be recorded Edit: it's called a Geigar counter
@@linktheherooftime5647 they say its the closest thing man has came to creating medusa. Because if you seen it with your own eyes you were probably already dead
For those that are fortunate to be unaware of what the black sludge in several rooms was. that was corium, the most dangerous material in the world, made of molten cement, metal and the core rods from the reactor itself. It is genuinely terrifying stuff
To my knowledge, corium has only ever been "naturally" formed 5 times... all during very *VERY* bad nuclear incidents: Three Mile Island, Fukushima Daiichi, and of course Chernobyl.
The basics of corium formation is radioactive materials must explode + melt into materials surrounding it, which is turn means just MAKING it is extremely costly
not only is it insanely radioactive, but it's also just endlessly heating itself up internally. scientists are actually worried that the corium in chernobyl may seep into some kind of groundwater, either poisoning the water supply or straight up exploding
it isnt "endlessly heating itself up" @human of the idiot variety they were worried in 1986-87 when it was hot but now the corium is all mostly cold and dead
The sound design for this game is phenomenal. I had no clue what the elephant's foot was before this game, and the sound design alone made me google it and realise how TERRIFYING it is. The horrific inhuman sounds you hear when you look at if totally fit how scary it is. And the moaning and groaning of the building just adds to the horror aspect, and the real life descriptions the liquidators gave when they said the building sounded as if it was dying.
The Elephant's Foot is so terrifying in this game! Not because its actively hunting you, but the fact you can so easily stumble upon it and you have no clue what it is. Its exactly what it would have been like if those three liquidators had stumbled upon it by accident. No knowledge and no counter methods, just near instant death!
The sound design in that room is phenomenal. It feels like you're making contact with some otherworldly monster, so alien that even looking at it is harmful.
The picture taken of elephant foot with a liqudator next to it and the picture being messed up from the radiation is still one of the most haunting thinks I've ever seen
@@Oldass_Deadass_dumbass_channel it's a double exposed photo, the liquidator is a reflection on the film, he isn't actually stood next to it, he's round a corner.
The liquidators are true heroes, they willingly went into the most hostile enviroment on earth with high chances of suffering one of the worst deaths imaginable. Incredibly selfless.
Well, a lot of them didn't exactly go in willingly. They were living under a communist government. We know for a fact that thousands paid the ultimate sacrifice, and hundreds of thousands suffered from radiation exposure. But the official soviet death toll remains just 31.
14:51, she wanted to hear him breathing because they knew that the liquidator was getting close to the elephant foot(blob of radioactive material), because 5 minutes near that thing can kill you.
@@row0or yes but, we know about it NOW they did not know about it when the game takes place, (If it is realistic as possible) so how would some radio operator know about an unknown elephants foot they never heard of, your character was probably confused when they saw it because they had no idea what it was
@@Exp2DoomIn the mission info for room 3 (elephants foot) area they say "Without a doubt the most lethal area is area 3, *our scouts couldnt look at that monstrasity for more than a few seconds before collapsing*, their camera melted after this picture *insert elephants foot picture* stay out of its sight and find your way around it"
For those not in the know: the material that makes up the "Elephants foot" and the metallic looking stalactites scattered in the levels, is Corium. It's a mixture of nuclear fuel, insulation, concrete, nuclear moderator, and nuclear inhibitor materials, created during a core meltdown. Radioactivity from Corium is highly varied and unpredictable because of how these materials may be mixed, how they could interact, and because it is still being studied. Corium is always manmade, and accidentally created only 3 times: Chernobyl, Fukushima, and Three Mile Island. Deliberately made Corium is in laboratories in controlled conditions, for the purpose of study and research.
The term Elephants Foot is so disturbing for some reason to me, ngl. Like, the concept that a massive, radioactive, "it'll kill you if you are near it too long" blob of still slightly molten corrium is horrifying to me.
"Corium is manmade and accidentally created only 3 times" sounds so scary. Like not even Earth has anything nearly as vile as whatever we ourselves invented
@@chanmandeath2993 people in chernobyl wanted to see things in a positive light. Most radioactive things were named something positive. When they came across the big blob of corium they thought it looked like an elephants foot. And so that was its name.
@@chanmandeath2993 and it's still sitting there in the dark somewhere restricted. And will be there and dangerous for a long long long long time. It's crazy.
Only Mark would immediately recognize the Elephant's Foot, then attempt to *run past* it, coming with literal feet of the most radioactive thing in history...
If you stay near the elephants foot for 5 minutes, you're dead, 3 minutes in, and your cells are hemorrhaging. And 1-2 minutes exposed will cause dizziness, blurred vision, and fatigue.
@@alexcarter3412It's even less than that. 5 minutes is 100% you will die extremely soon, if not right there, but anything over a minute will usually be lethal because it's hundreds of times higher than humans can withstand
@@nightwingchan8782 Yep, it was way, way worse back when it first happened. The famous photos of the Elephant's Foot were taken by men who died shortly after taking it because of how incredibly radioactive it was. Today, it's degraded enough to the point where you have a few minutes before you're a goner.
My grandfather was a liquidator. He survived 3 operations after that, but still health problems remained. He himself worked at several jobs, supported a family of 7 people in abundance. He lived all his life for the sake of the family and put all his strength into its well-being, even being a grandfather for more than 7 grandchildren. But at one point, when it would seem that everything is fine, old complications and traumas of the past made themselves felt. He was examined for a long time and, as a result, the doctors said that there was nothing to be done, even if they had an operation, it would not save him. it hurt to hear from him about his plans after recovery. Every day he got worse and worse, at some point the painkillers stopped helping him, he suffered a lot. What happening to him, only we knew in secret from him, no one could tell him about it. The whole family often visited him. And at some point, when my pregnant mother was sitting next to him and holding his hand, talking to him, he asked: "Somehow yous began to visit me too often. Am I dying?" She broke down and burst into tears. He did not live to see the birth of another granddaughter just a month and at the age of 64, on the first of June 2015, our beloved, responsible, smart, strict, fair, grandfather, father, husband, faithful friend, reliable comrade, hero of labor and just good, honest , a respectable citizen is gone. We will all remember him, love him, be proud of him, always set an example, honor and respect him.
Man. Your grandfather was a legend that help save the lives of the entirety of a Europe. And saved the world from an economical disaster that would've destroyed the entire world. May his soul forever rest in peace for his bravery.
Interesting radiation story: During the nuclear bomb testing, they would often bring soldiers so they can “get used to” the bombs, they would be around a mile away from the bomb when it would detonate, in which they were instructed to cover their eyes as best they can to not be blinded by the blast. Some covered their face with their arms, but ones using there hands claimed they could see the bone. They were then instructed to keep covering their face to wait for the heatwave, which they claim felt like opening a hot oven, but for 20 seconds. After that they were told to uncover themself and watch the mushroom cloud form. Some were shell shocked while others were scared, and some even genuinely enjoyed it. As expected many of them died the following years due to cancer, and some had fertility issues with their children. Of the 20-30 people there only in the 20-30’s, only 3 lived 20 years after the event.
"If that didn't kill you right away, there is no problem" was the mentality of the time... They knew barely anything radiation and its long term effect. This is why they put radioactive things in all king of stuff for a while... Gum, watch, beauty products etc...
@@bobbobber4810 yeah ikr, such as the radium girls story, which is about how they put radium on almost anything, even their face, to the point where their jaw literally fell off.. Look into it its crazy
I remember watching a video on Facebook about this story. Interviews with the 3 that survived it. Shit was absolutely insane. To think you could see your own bones covering your eyes. That is hauntingly terrifying.
The elephant's foot is the most terrfying thing about it imo. Radioactive molten steel and water pouring through the entire facility in minutes and settling down to the floor and hardening as it cooled and spewing invisible death is something i'd never want to see.
Yeah, the scary thing with the elephants foot other than the crap ton of runken it gives off is that the substance, corium, can only be made by man. You can look up scientists having fun making it in a CONTROLLED environment. And in terms of rads this thing is giving off is about 1,000 chest x-rays. Pretty cool and scary to look at, from afar of course.
dont forget that it was so lethal that getting near it at the time of the incidents first few mins wouldve irradiated you so badly youd literally drop dead. i think they had to take a picture from down a hall and around a corner with a mirror to avoid the radiation and a camera any closer wouldve had its internals fried. that foot and the plant itself is the closest humanity has to an irl eldritch horror.
@@mickyflint the interesting thing about the first photo of the elephant's foot is that an American scientist got his hands on the photo and it said on the photo itself or so: "that one man pushed a kart around a corner to take this one photo and immediately come back out again, this man is now dead." Super chilling all around
Alexei Ananenko, Valeri Bespalov, and Boris Baranov are the actual names of the 3 men who went into the tunnels flooded with radioactive water from the firefighting efforts, to drain the tanks that could have lead to a steam explosion. It's no exaggeration to say they saved millions of lives.
it wasn't just a "steam" explosion threat but a hydrogen (or thermonuclear) explosion threat (as far as I know and if I can translate words into English correctly)
@@kryvyi_juan Not quite, the Chernobyl TV show show claimed it could superheat and instantly vaporize, the explosion equivalent to 2-4 megatons of TNT. Modern calculations have estimated that it would be more like 1-2 kilotons, but that's still a disastrous explosion spreading fallout over eastern and northern Europe. It would also have been enough to destroy the other reactor units, multiplying the disaster. Edit: To give a more recent example of the explosive force even just 2-4 kilotons can deliver, they estimate the 2020 Beirut ammonium nitrate explosion was about 0.5 to 1.12 kiloton.
My grandfather was a Chernobyl liquidator, I'm going to go see him in a week. I don't have any stories from him during the time he was there but he has to go to some sort of appointment every year to have himself checked for any radiation in his body. Seeing this video, I think it's about time I ask him about everything that he saw and did.
@@zeta-o4z There were far more than 3, dude. I’m certain they aren’t related to the MAIN three liquidators that stopped the meltdown ASAP. But there were thousands afterward, they’re probably talking about the volunteers that later joined to help the recovery process.
The music that plays when the elephants foot damages you is so disturbing in my opinion. It really captures the subtle horror that an abomination of radiation like the elephants foot contains. It’s like as if the music plays signaling as if it sees you and is attacking you. That is genuinely horrifying considering this thing literally exists in our world and this game is pretty accurate on how it works. One of the photos taken of it irl literally killed the photographer shortly after.
Sadly in real life you cant tell if the radiation is killing you or not and theres no blurred screen and music to tell that your dying i mean the radiation detector thing might not work all the time near the elephants foot (i think)
@@coolepic626 yeah the radiation is literally off the charts for a geiger couter, but the visual effect of eye blurriness is apparently accurate for the "recieving lethal doses of radiation"
This is a myth. As far as we're aware, the Elephant's Foot has not killed anyone. At the time of the incident, it was dangerous. It could deliver an LD50 dose of radiation (The threshold at which the dosage has a 50% death rate on exposed subjects, or in other words, 50% chance you survive, 50% chance you die) within 5 minutes. But even with that danger, it would be hard pressed to kill you. Radiation is not nearly as dangerous as movies and TV make it out to be (though, don't underestimate it, it is still dangerous, it's just not how movies portray it). The man who took the photo of the Elephant's Foot is still very much alive and in good health. When the photo was taken in 1996, the radioactivity of it has gone down quite a bit.
If you were within sight of it you would die in 10 seconds and I believe 10 minutes behind a corner near it so they tried to use a rolling camera which broke due to the high amount of radiation as such they used a mirror to view the elephants foot then photograph it.
"I just wanted to hear your breathing... one last time.." That sentence gave me goosebumps, I feel so bad for wives with husbands in situations like this.
I did some research on the Chernobyl accident and the “elephants foot” and its a weird type of horrifying that I’ve never felt before, that a mound of Corium could give you a 50% of death if your near it for 5 minutes. the fact that there’s nothing like it at all and it’s still just, sitting there in an abandoned plant because it’s unsafe to remove is crazy to me. It’s almost like an Alien and you can just imagine the fear of those who came across it. Theres something so terrifying about this accident lol
When the elephants foot was first found one of the workers poked his head around a hall way to take a picture he spent less than a few seconds in direct line of site of it, he died later that day it truly is terrifing
Fun fact Corium is the most radioactive element on earth and that goop ( what used to be goop after it hardened) was the fuel for the reactor that melted and then melted the chamber and settled where we now find it.
When first discovered death was guarenteed in 30 seconds. Today it's probably less, but any time interval that low just being NEAR an object guaranteeing death is incredibly frightening.
Knowing that in a literal ghost town in Ukraine, lying in the sublevels of a ruined nuclear power plant, abandoned, not monitored, in the middle of the floor in some room is some unnatural, monstrous lump of material that will kill you in two days through basically liquifying your organs just for standing next to it for 300 seconds is, to me, one of the most terrifying realities to live with.
The area of Chernobyl is guarded and monitored and there's quite a lot of workers ensuring the place's safety. At least in peace time, I'm not sure how is it right now.
Lol what? THAT is terrifying to you?? That there is a small lump of danger somewhere? I'm guessing you probably don't even live in the same country. You're never going to be affected by that.
Fun fact: The elephant's foot was never officially discovered until weeks after the explosion. It's unlikely any of the three men would have encountered it as it was most likely still forming and melting though the floors at the time.
Sometimes a little fudging is needed to really tell the story. I'm glad they added it, even if it is somewhat untrue. For me, that is the scariest part of the game.
My heart goes out to all those men especially the 3 that went in knowing if they didnt do what they were told millions and billions of people would die and they did that knowing that they might not survive from this Fortunately all 3 survived a long life Massive respect to Mark for doing basic research and not treating this game like a joke, it's the biggest,worst, deadliest disaster ever made by man
These people are legitimate heroes, they sacrificed their lives for the sake of others when nobody else would've. All we can do is honor them for the selfless act they committed.
A great stylistic choice on the game's part, intentional or otherwise, is the pixelation and graniness of the game's graphics. Pictures taken inside the reactor and of the elephants foot were massively grainy and low quality due to all the radiation.
I think it actually gets worse the more radiation damage you've taken. Near the start, it's not too bad, but when he's running around near the foot in his second run at 77/78 damage, he's nearly blind.
@@timelysnail8656 pretty sure they didnt? I think the photos we see of it were taken in 1996, long after the disaster. I might be wrong tho if im even looking at the right images. Edit: "The pictures were taken in 1996. The man, Artur Korneyev, was interviewed by, I believe, the New York Times after his retirement in 2014. In the pic, Artur has entered the room with his automatic shutter camera. The only light in the room is his flashlight, so he has the shutter time up to 2-3 seconds. Like the old-time flash pics, he has to stay still the entire 2-3 seconds to get a solid image. The camera takes a few before he’s ready. That is why he looks ghostly in the most-used pic. The ones where he is stable aren’t as popular, and I’ll let you guess why. The EF itself looks like concrete poured out on the floor; it has no intrinsic light of its own. The specular flashing comes from the only light in the room - Kornyev’s flash. In the middle of setting up, he drops it and it lights up and overexposes the Foot."
My parents always told about this day as we are Finns and they remember the government's "psa" about staying inside houses since the rain was coming and the radioactive cloud was blown straigt above western and eastern Finland, scary stuff.
I “visited” Chernobyl 9 times, and every time I couldn’t not imagine how many people died there without even knowing why, and how many animals got shot to not spread more radiation while dying slowy for it, they only thing that would be worse than what happened, would be a nuclear war
A bad thing that would probably have happened if it wasn't for the ''suicide squad'' is the contact with the elephant's foot and the water which would have caused a catastrophic explosion. The whole continent of Europe probably wouldn't have even been inhabitable
The animals actually have it a lot easier, when it comes to "radiation resistance". Humans are actually way worse than animals like deers, or other animals in nature, when it comes to radiation. That's why you see nature flourishing around the Chernobyl power plant
Around 30 people died from the initial explosions itself. Over a hundred people got radiation poisoning, but most of them recovered and lived for decades. All in all, it is estimated that only around 50 people died from it. It's still really fucking bad, but not really that unimaginable. Also no mass cullings of animals were done. It happened in a city of people, and of the hundred thousand people there only a handful were affected. Although a lot of pets and livestock were abandoned, most of them weren't put down. If you've actually visited Chernobyl, you would know it's basically a thriving nature sanctuary now.
@@shrekscrusader1139I'm sure it wasn't common knowledge that animals are more resistant to radiation at the time. And even still, the threat of contaminating surrounding areas was a real enough concern to warrant elimination, as cruel and heartbreaking as it was.
Fun Fact: The names of the men in this game are the names of the ACTUAL 3 people who went into the site to drain the tanks before they exploded. Everyone was expecting them to die within a week, but they lived for years! Edit: I know they state it at the end, but I also know that not everyone is going to watch it until the end and I want them to be recognized.
@@TrishaRyan Nice job getting those internet sarcasm points. I'm only stating it because I know a lot of people aren't going to watch it to the end and I feel like the real people should be recognized.
Why is this game, with no monsters and no moving threats, the most terrifying game I've watched Mark play in a very, very long time. Like it's not even just terrifying conceptually (with the threat of invisible radiation and whatever), the game itself is just genuinely horrifying. Being trapped within a cramped industrial facility with only a geiger counter to measure how dangerous an area is, all alone and with the scary messages you receive on the radio. And then you get to the Elephant's Foot, where your trusty radiation-measuring tool BREAKS and the sounds of the damned start screaming louder as you get closer. Seriously just a fantastically terrifying game.
If it was like, 100% realistic, the geiger counter would only say… 3.6 rontgen ;). Which is the max reading it can give, but it’s technically not lethal, so it’s fine! (Reference to HBO Chernobyl, laugh please)
Because monsters (atleast the ones usually depicted in fiction) aren't real, but radiation is and its terrifying to think how close we were to an entire continent being deemed uninhabitable for longer than we all will live to see.
The Elephant's Foot is easily the creepiest thing in the game. That shrieking sound that plays nails it, but also at how eldritch it is The fact that you die simply from *looking* at it is absolutely fucking nightmare fuel, and I love it
Incredible way of telling the story of the Chernobyl Liquidators, as well as good game design, intense, scary and not caving into the trope of a monster created from the radioactive waste. Very well designed and simple game.
Well, if you define a monster as a huge, ugly, powerful object that can kill through horrible means, the Elephant’s Foot is technically - and unfortunately a very real - monster made of radioactive waste.
Props to the creator for making a Chernobyl game that doesn't include any, like, "radioactive zombies" or a "Chernobyl was actually a secret superweapon testing area" or anything dumb and unnecessary like that
I checked out the Steam page. The devs chose to remain completely anonymous, and the game costs nothing. They made it precisely to show the dangers the liquidators were in. Big props to the creators indeed. Wish I could know who they are, the design of this game shows they have incredible potential for some great games
Agreed. Sci fy totally has it's place in horror, but anything based in even pseudo realism (let alone based very heavily in real events) sometimes has a larger capacity for extending a feeling of dread that is very hard to match or imitate with just monsters, no matter how scary they are.
I like this kind of horror, no lame jumpscares, just the scenario and the disturbing, tense background. And good job with "the monster". It cannot chase you, but just looking at it can be fatal, that's interesting.
what makes it even scarier is that this is almost exactly what happened on chernobyl- those three men, which are real people, literally saved the entire world.
When the light bulb broke and the error message read out I instantly knew what we were dealing with. Oh God, the Elephant Foot is still one of the scariest things on this planet.
Not-so-fun fun fact. The actual spaces they entered were only about five feet tall, and were separated into two identical floors. Dozens of steam suppression pipes filled the flooded rooms, making the pitch-black conditions even harder to navigate. While the "bubbler tanks" (emergency core cooling system component) were filled halfway during normal operation, fire water and ruptured circulation lines filled them up almost completely. These three men navigated a flooded, sprawling pipe maze, with molten nuclear fuel literally feet above their heads. Even worse, the steam explosion theory was later proven to be false. The fuel reached the remaining layers of water (some remained after draining), and cooled harmlessly. They didn't need to be sent in there after all. We should never forget their bravery, nor the sacrifice of those sent to much more dangerous areas of Unit 4. They helped contain a catastrophe, and, thanks to their efforts, helped make nuclear power safer for all of us. The efforts of the liquidators, scientists, and engineers have guaranteed us that another RBMK explosion can never happen.
@@hugobelafonte5020 Umm. Patently false. Chernobyl was a RBMK reactor and it blew its concrete lid, estimated to be half a million or more pounds, clear off through the roof. They are dangerous and Russia is the only country that still uses them for some reason. Can’t imagine why everyone else stop using them. 🧐 because they aren’t safe
@@wolfiemuse an RBMK reactor, outside of the dangerous conditions that lead up to the disaster, is one of the most economical and efficient (for its time) energy producers, able to use lower quality/concentrations of uranium fuel compared to peers. Besides, those have been upgraded.
@@wolfiemuse The RBMK was retrofitted extensively post-accident, and is now considered to be up to modern safety standards. They are being decommissioned slowly due to old age.
Odd fact about the liquidators which only makes them more heroic: Back then it was not known that water would actually protect them from radiation, and it was though that the irradiated water that they were about to enter contact with (as some sections of the power plant were flooded) would kill them in a matter of days. They still volonteered to go in and prevent the disaster from getting much worse. These people (as far as I know) are still to this day alive and have not had too many serious sequels, as it turns out the water actually kept the radiation for itself and protected them. It's cool that things some times just turn like that for such honorable people.
I find it funny that Mark kept saying, "I was expecting a Monster throughout this game even though there wasn't one." There was a monster, and it was blood thirsty, it was called, "The Elephant's Foot".
to the editor- you are an amazing human being. i dont have epilepsy, but my brother does, and by a simple warning, you are basically saving a life. i lost a friend to a seizure a long time ago. thank you again
@@xXFeralPyr0pteraXx maybe you didnt read my comment? i said that *I* wouldn't watch youtube because there's tons of videos on yt with flashing lights and no warning so in *my* opinion it wouldnt be a smart thing to risk death
The Elephant's Foot is a two ton mass of Corium, or molten uranium oxide, that actually ate its way through the Chernobyl reactor core and through 2 meters of solid concrete into the basement of the power plant. It is still there today, and is still radioactive enough to give a lethal dose of radiation within a few hours of exposure.
@@DawnLu you read that from another comment didn't you. Nowadays if you are in the same room with it, it takes around 40 minutes till you will 99% surely die. But if you go and like.. Lay on top of it. Then yes its around 300-500 seconds till you die.
@@theq4602 no, they were right. It ate through 8~ish feet of concrete shielding, metal plumbing pipes in the floors, ceilings, - it ate through everything in its path until it cooled down enough finally in the basement of Reactor 4. Corium isn’t technically just molten uranium oxide - that’s one of the smaller components of it, but the reason why it’s so dangerous. Much more of it is concrete and other building materials. For a period of time, it was hotter than the surface of the sun. So yeah it ate through everything
so if your wondering what those stalagmites are, thats is molten slag from the damaged core able to melt through LITERALLY ANYTHING. thats why the radation spikes everytime you go near them.
As a former lead nuclear tech and chemical operator, just note Chernobyl was a disaster waiting to happen and a terrible representation of what nuclear energy can be. Safety protocols and safe guards were cast aside and was a sketchy design even for Russian standards. Interesting game, just don’t fear nuclear power or radiation; respect it and all that it’s capable of…good and bad.
@@rowan. They could of done everything right but the design was flawed from the get-go, bad engineering and they knew it; Fukushima should of never happened either. Once we implement thorium/molten salt reactors on a grand scale, hopefully peoples perception of nuclear energy will change. Even that tech is dated but it's better than current fuel rod systems from the 40s and 50s which are way inefficient and a pain to maintain. Thorium reactors have been used in the majority of US naval ships since the late 70's with minimal incidents, all aircraft carriers and subs use them. The NRC (Nuclear regulatory committee) is just as much to blame for the fear of nuclear energy as much as the politicians.
@@BigPawTivald Its a bit misleading in of its self to frame it like nuclear energy on any kind of large scale doesn't have massive drawbacks, not to say it can never be used for anything, that's incredibly complex, but it's by no means without very real implications, risk, and drawbacks.
@@BigPawTivald I definitely agree with what you said. I think that dealing with any type of radiation and nuclear energy always has pros and cons. With that said, I think that nuclear energy/radiation should be talked about more. As we evolve technologically, we should ALL be educated about what energy sources we are using and the consequences of using them (granted that not all of it will result in a tragedy like Chernobyl). Many people don't even know how nuclear energy works, or how nuclear fusion (or fission) works. In reality, it's scarier to think that many people aren't educated on our current (or past) ways of "keeping the world running". Once we start being more educated on Nuclear Energy and Radiation, we will learn from past mistakes and from historical events like Chernobyl and Fukushima.
As someone who's of Ukranian origin, I think raising awareness to incidents like this is really important when understanding significant events in my own culture. My dad was going to go to Chernobyl the day before the incident happened. Had he done so, I wouldn't be here today. Слава ліквідаторам
It's mind blowing how much a single day's decision could have changed the lives of both your dad and you. It's stories like these that remind be to be thankful I'm alive.
Russian orcs really brought Chernobyl back to the forefront of folks’ minds when they irradiated themselves by digging trenches around it. Kyle Hill also has a fantastic documentary on UA-cam about Chernobyl. I’d highly recommend it to absolutely everyone.
MAJOR props to the liquidators cause if I heard my little radioactivity detector machine goes off, *immediately I would empty the content of my bowels into my suit* like I would physically SHIT myself this is so terrifying
I want more games like this. Stuff that leans into the real horrors of history and stuff like the phenomenal cosmic power of the universe. Like, radiation is the power of the stars.
I would enjoy one on the town of Centralia PA. While they still aren't 100% sure what caused the fire it is still uninhabitable as the fires that started back in 62 are still burning today. Estimated that the fires will go for at least 500 years.
@@powerviolence._.enjoyer819 all would horrific but from the perspective of the liberators would be easiest as you could portray it in a post apocalyptic way. And have the game end with your character shooting the unarmed SS guards as a way to finish the game
In most games, the phrase "my flashlight died" means that it has used up all of the chemical energy available in the battery and will not shine anymore. In this game, it means the ambient conditions are so dangerous that _your flashlight exploded_
This game is so amazingly executed. Like, I can only imagine how scary and confusing it must've been to deal with when it actually happened. It also kinda blows my mind how if all the people who went in there to contain and deal with the situation hadn't made that sacrifice I would probably never have been born
This game is made so well, genuinely terrifying, and not in a suspenseful way. I like the “No saves” system. Really adds a ton of weight to a character being trapped unconscious where no one else can get them.
I agree this was genuinely one of the most terrifying and stressful games to watch Mark play. The lack of saving really did raise the stakes and make it feel more real and urgent. Not to mention this if based off true events not some fictional monster or killer.
It’s very eye opening to see just how terrifyingly close it really was to ruining SO much and knowing that a simple mistake can do so much damage and gives more credit to the people that were able to achieve these tasks and actually save so much.
To add onto what Dbzeno said, the sheer magnitude of the disaster as presented here is based off of erroneous knowledge and estimates held at and around the time of the disaster; knowledge since gained about the potential for disaster in those conditions shows that it would have been serious, definitely, but would not have been anywhere near as dangerous to the entirety of Europe as it was made out to be. No blame to the estimators though; they did the best they could with what they had at the time.
and to add something else, it wasnt a simple mistake, it was many, untrained people messing with what shouldnt be messed, protocols and safety being ignored, faulty systems i'd say it was at least 20 different mistakes, all pilled together caused it if it hadnt been for that, it'd likely have shut down with no bad effects at all for example, one that was partially human and partially the design's fault: When a power level of 200 MW was reattained, preparation for the experiment continued, although the power level was much lower than the prescribed 700 MW. As part of the test program, two additional main circulating (coolant) pumps were activated at 01:05. The increased coolant flow lowered the overall core temperature and reduced the existing steam voids in the core. Because water absorbs neutrons better than steam, the neutron flux and reactivity decreased. The operators responded by removing more manual control rods to maintain power. It was around this time that the number of control rods inserted in the reactor fell below the required value of 15. This was not apparent to the operators because the RBMK did not have any instruments capable of calculating the inserted rod worth in real time. The combined effect of these various actions was an extremely unstable reactor configuration. Nearly all of the 211 control rods had been extracted manually, and excessively high coolant flow rates through the core meant that the coolant was entering the reactor very close to the boiling point. and this was all just a small part of the many errors
@@PrawnMuncher no. At the time it would be of much luck if you could get your hands on OZK, which is literally a rubber cloak, footgear and a simple gas mask. Most liquidators were just wearing simple respirators at most.
not sure if he mentioned this at all, but alexi ananenko, valeri bespalov, and boris baranov were three plant engineers who did indeed go into chernobyl on april 28th to drain the steam suppression pool in an effort to minimize potential damage. All three survived and were awarded the order for courage, but baranov was awarded posthumously as he died in 2005. edit: ah its mentioned at the end!
People don't understand these days how absolutely terrifying this whole event was back in the 80's. If they had not succeeded in containing it, millions would have died and a lot of Europe and some parts of Asia would have turned into a radioactive wasteland unfit for life.
Absolutely untrue, even if chernobyl would have been left burning for weeks all Europe and Asia had to fear was radiation contamination from the air, they Absolutely would recover very fast, even chernobyl nowadays is pretty "safe" with a lot of people living near it. The feared death toll was over exaggerated and based on knowledge that's now outdated
I love how scary they make the Elephant’s Foot, it genuinely feels like some otherworldly eldritch beast that you can’t be near when in reality it’s just radioactive material. This game does the mounting terror so well
THE ELEPHANT’S FOOT The spot where the corium solidified wouldn’t be discovered until December in 1986. To contain the fallout, a large concrete enclosure named the sarcophagus was built on the site. Access points were left in the sarcophagus for researchers. During one such research trip, their equipment registered levels of radiation so high that it would kill anyone who got too close for more than a few second. -Wikipedia. Corium=Elephants foot
I mean like even being near it for a few seconds, when it was new, made you dizzy and fatigued. Within 5 minutes you’d received a lethal dosage of radiation. I believe it’s less dangerous now, but still pretty damn dangerous.
Fun fact, people found black mold growing on the Elephants Foot at some point. Anything living in Chernobyl is mutated beyond comprehension to live there with the radiation
I've tried this game for a bit and honestly pretty horrifying, couldn't finish it because I'm to stupid at finding directions and clues and have an attention span of a child so glad that mark played it
2:09 The scariest thing is that this was an actual thing which could have happened. They had to send 3 men into the basement of Reactor 4 to drain the water which flooded the basement. If the magma from the reactor core made contact with that water, the resulting explosion would likely wipe out the entire country and render Europe completely uninhabitable. There were hundreds of trains ready to fully evacuate Kiev (The Ukraine capital) if they could not drain the water.
The Corium never burned through enough floors to reach the water compartments, so it was actually fine; but the consequences if it had happened were so disastrous that they had to treat it as certainty. A lot of the containment measures were in that vein - things that *might* happen that they had to prevent, regardless of chance. The Soviets fucked up royally with the RMBK reactors, but they didn't half-ass the cleanup.
Something very similar happened with Fukushima in 2012. The plant was designed to use sea water to cool the reactors which was clever in theory but the unprecedented conditions of a combined earthquake and tsunami caused the water pump Room to flood rendering the pumps useless and flooding the majority of the plant. There were major concerns about radioactive material and possible fallout in the ocean following the explosions of I believe 2 reactors (1&3 if memory serves). I remember watching on the news and thinking how hauntingly similar it felt to footage I'd seen of Chernobyl. I believe Fukushima Daichi (sp?) accounted for 2 of the 5 unintentionally created Corium events? I could be wrong on that, it's a long time since I read about it. But yeah, legitimately terrifying stuff.
Whats even scarier is that the elephants foot still exists and is still radioactive as shit and a couple year after the initial explosion it began to melt through the floor which just so happened to be above some sort of well or natural water source so they had to construct something under it just to stop it from exploding
@@psychosocial6661 I think it was 5 unintentionally created Corium, but out of all of them. Only one managed to escape the contaiment. And that was at the Chernobyl disaster.
christ just seeing the elephants foot sat there doing nothing, knowing what it is, is horrifying. It's way more scary than any monster sentinal. Just this giant warped block of death.
The game really makes you realize that the liquidators kind of single-handedly saved humanity, if that entire area were to have been deemed uninhabitable, too many people would have to evacuate, and knowing that a lot of people would have just barely made it, there might have been left over radioactive material stuck on the items they bring, so even if we somehow survived with the low amount of food to go around, more people would have been affected by the radiation If that's not alot of pressure for somebody, I don't know what is
Anyone evacuated, was forced to leave any possession behind. Houses to this say sit filled with love and memories lost to time, too remote for raiders. If you're lucky a bear might find your house a good place to tempor.
I dont think he counted as a Liquidator since they were the ones doing stuff next to the actual reactor but my grandmothers brother was one of the people there burying all the technology that was being brought out, computers and stuff - he was in shock himself that they had to bury all this new technology and stuff. Unfortunately his pinkies fused from the radiation but money wise he was set for life after doing that one job - and they still apparently kept paying him up until the point of where he passed away a few years ago.
Everyone involved in the clean up and function is a Liquidator. No matter how small the job, your grandmother’s brother had a part in protecting many from even worse exposure. He was a hero, as was everyone else.
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.
I think that's the scariest part of radiation you never know your safe or not even with indicators
From a really large exposure, a person can lose consciousness. Most likely there will be no clouding in the eyes, but damn it, you can sit down and not rise again
That actually scares me the most to think about it. No eerie sounds, no music, just silence, and a Geiger counter.
The counter was useless. It maxed out at about half of what the actual radiation level was. Surprisingly, none of the guys who went into the water under the reactor died of anything related to radiation. I think some are still alive.
Some pf the shovelers did die, however.
the counters werent made to go super high, none of the counters anyone had read anywhere near how much radiation there actually was (depending on where the person was in relation to the radiation), so a lot of them thought they were much safer than they actually were, very few people knew/ realised just how dangerous it was, especially being that a lot of people didnt know how immense the risks and danger of what happened was until after
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.
It might have become the water that you can’t float in due to the radiation.
You’re correct. Chernobyl would’ve been incredibly radioactive at this point, especially in the power plant itself, so they absolutely would’ve had to be wearing heavy radiation-proof gear.
@@therealpop6343 Water is a very good radation isolator so much so that you can swim safely until about 5-15 meters close to the fuel rods in most nuclear reactor cooling pools.
Even if the water is completely radiated there wouldn't be a difference in floatation capacity.
@@th3sh3rm4n4 even aerated water isn’t super dangerous; I believe Kyle Hill on UA-cam did a video about it. Either him or someone else; he’s a science communicator who has covered “drowning pools” before but I remember him saying something after doing more research that most people would actually float on aerated water, it’s the undercurrents in drowning pools that are dangerous and will suck you under
@@Dovahkiin914 and they also chug a shot of vodka "to deal with the rads"
Fun fact, the elephant’s foot was initially so irradiated that it broke cameras, that was probably why mark’s equipment broke when he got near c:
didn't they have to use a mirror to get a picture of it?
@@sparrw_ they did actually
@@sparrw_ I think the first ever picture did not use any mirrors. There’s an afterimage of the man who took the picture in it, standing very close proximity to it. The person who was originally given the photo was told “The Soviets told me that a man died to take this photo”. And the photo is very grainy because the film was irradiated.
@@wolfiemuse yea I'm pretty sure they just had him run around the corner, snap the picture, then gtfo as fast as possible. crazy shit
@@haleyyyyyyy and he still died that’s insane
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!
they went in all knowing it was a suicide mission.
as far as i know, all but one of them are still alive, and he, died of a non-radiation exposure related heart attack.
i have no idea how they're able to walk with balls that size, but...
@@Gantradies They were heros and sacrificed themselves to save millions of lives, if they didn't do this mission the whole world would have been affected with deadly radiation
Best part is that 2 of them are still alive, Boris died in 2005 unfortunately.
This continent, Asia, Africa and some parts of America would propably have been damaged
idk why but this kinda reminds me of the "suicide squad" movie, even though its a DC owned thing
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.
Especially the first guy he played. He had no family and was a military veteran. He probably knew he would be missed less than others and how to do a lot of what he needed to do.
lol volunteer in Soviet, was more like "You have the skill to do this job, you have no choice but to serve your country or you and your family will starve".
So many people in Soviet history have been forced to do what their leaders said. Just look at what happened to those that didn't want to; Gulag.
Stop glorifying the soviets
The soviet union was not a nice place to live, I can imagine that these people were either forced to do so or went in knowing they would die for the sake of what they actually cared about.
@@Schmorgus
"you have two options: you either receive a medal or a gulag sentencing. your choice."
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.
1k likes and no comments. Let me fix that.
That is fucking *terrifying*
All the chatter in this game shows the fascinating divide between how the Soviet government and military command neglected safety and human lives and how the people who were actually there are real people like everyone else. People who are afraid, people who have friends and family, people who are friends with their coworkers and sometimes bosses.
This is truly terrifying, that's such a heavy weight to put on those people...I couldn't, they were real heroes
My like turned the 1.2k to 1.3k and it made me happy.
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.
Thank _you_ for producing the soundtrack of my nightmares for the next few months, and for the entire team for creating such an impressive game, and releasing it for free to boot.
I wish you all the best the game was amazing!
How did you manage to make the Elephant’s Foot theme so menacing in such a short amount of time?
oh the atmosphere as absolutely made with the sound design. thank you
You did a GREAT job, this game is super cool and the sound design is probably the most horrifying part
“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
😂
@sendmemessagemarkiplier7806how about an slq injection. If ya keep scamming and spamin?
Thats a kot of words to bad im not reading em
That’s exactly the kind of volunteers we’re looking for.
@@Iliketoilet538 damn, sorry you aren’t able to read 4 sentences
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.
"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." "
That quote is nothing more than pure sensationalist radiophobic drivel. Even at the peak of its radioactivity, you would need to be exposed to the Elephant's Foot for five minutes to receive an LD50 dose of radiation, which isn't even a guaranteed death, just a 50% chance of death.
Not to say it wasn't dangerous, but it wasn't as dangerous as the quote makes it out to be. The heat let off by it at the time was far more of an immediate danger than the radiation.
They also all survived. I think 2 of them are still alive
@@megajimmyfive You're correct, 2 of them are still alive. I know one (Ananenko) even did a few interviews more recently and talked about things the HBO series got wrong, and he continued working in a nuclear-related job until 2017 . The third diver (Baranov) still lived until 2008 and died of a heart attack, completely unrelated to any radiation he may have received during his time at Chernobyl.
Granted, this game took quite a few creative liberties with some of the things the divers in particular experienced (it's entertainment 🤷🏻♀️), but I still very firmly believe that every single person who helped contain the damage done that day is a hero.
as far as I remember all three volunteers lived well past when they were expected to die and some died of unrelated causes that weren't radiation. they were to go down and open the valves to drain the water. at the time the scientists believed the reacter was going to melt through the concrete below into the water tank and instantly turn all the water in to steam in a explosion. but after they mined a new shift beneath the tank and installed the concrete heat exchange pad. it turned out they wrong and it was no longer going to do that and their was no need for miners to dig. back on the subject of the liquidators. when they went to the board and explained the problem. they pretty much said in the show know idea if it's true but I imagine it's close ( were asking u permission to kill 3 men) because they knew how suicidal the task was
The elephants foot also has lost a good bit of its radioactivity in the past 36 years. It’s no longer a death sentence to stand by it for a few seconds. I believe the “safe” exposure time with no lasting effects is around 5-10 minutes now.
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.
We knew the effect of water on radiation since it's a core feature in a reactor. The water slows the neutrons decreasing their energy, this is called a "Neutron Moderator". This makes water a good shield against radiation.
@@Valsorayu A moderator accelerates nuclear reactions by slowing down neutrons to a speed more conducive for reactions. But other than that you're right regular water blocks radiation. While heavy water an alternate isotope, is a moderator that speeds up reactions.
@@anxiousearth680 We both said the same thing different ways. By reducing the energy of neutrons they are slowed. I just thought that in this case why its used is not as important as the fact that the energy is reduced.
As long as biteof87plier understands that the tragedy was bad ... we are good👍🏻
... As far as know, there are conflicting reports.
Scientists believe the amount of radiation they were exposed to was just too much for them to get out.
Sure, it would be awesome if they were still alive, but there is no way to verify it for sure. Specially considering how much the USSR tried to ofuscate about the accident;
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."
i love mark but god damn he fails to recognize warnings in games a lot.
@@King0fPeasants warnings are for the weak
Why do I die in games so much?
Pp
@@King0fPeasants literally stop watching mark a lot back then because of it. No progress just killing himself 90% of the time or making a joke for 5 minutes straight. I skip most of it to get to the point
@@BraidensWorldEntertainment caution is for NERDS
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
I was yelling that whenever he tried to just walk past it lol
LMFAOOO
Corium?
@@kh6853radiation releasing danger stuff
@@kh6853 a material that is created in a nuclear reactor core during a nuclear meltdown accident. Think a type of artificial molten lava made up of all the nastiest shit in the reactor core. Fresh corium from a meltdown can put out over ten thousand roentgen per hour, enough to kill you in less than five minutes of exposure. Even being in the same room as it for a few seconds can put you at risk for radiation-related illness.
In reality the liquidators never encountered the Elephant's Foot, it wasn't discovered for nearly a year after the meltdown.
This game is based off the actual events of Chernobyl, Alexei Borys and Valeri were all real people. Following the disaster two hundred thousand citizens signed up to clean up the wreckage. During May the USSR discovered that there would be a second explosion unless the water near the melting reactor was drained, of the 200,000 men only 3 went inside the plant. They drained the water and lived to tell the tale. These were real people with real lives, they aren’t just video game characters.
The "second explosion" was just fear. Hot core material was recorded as dripping into water tanks and nothing happening. It's also physically impossible for hot concrete sludge to ignite like gunpowder with water.
@@bakerboat4572 So highly reactive material coming from a nuclear reactor pouring into open water tanks days after an explosion poses no concern? Why are you so determined to undermine the accomplishments of the liquidators?
Why "were"? At least 2 of them are alive to this day.
@@YuretsLM40 I say were because this game takes place in the past, it is possible that such terminology is incorrect, but I mean nothing by it.
The balls on them.
A “horror” game that can make you question your own decisions and movements is scarier than any generic monster chasing you. What an excellent game.
A horror game with no enemy in it is terifying to me the more i play and theres still no monster the more paranoid i get
@@maryjoygelizon4268 indeed
Because the real horror is that This happened
And also based on a true (horror) story
10000%. after 10+ years of monster chasing horror games, i’m so glad we’re finally treated with games like these. psychological horror is (imo) so much more effective in both movie and game format.
the best part is that it’s not just the fear whilst it’s happening, it’s the terrible dread you feel afterwards that stays with you.
Wrong
The Elephant's foot has gotta be one of the most terrifying objects on this planet. The reason the Geiger counter is displaying "err" is because the elephant's foot puts out so much radiation that it is literally "off the charts".
I mean that's kind of right, but the real reason it says "err" is because it's broken. It read too high a reading and burned out.
The only way we got a sample of it is waiting then shooting it with a rifle. Corite I believe it’s called
fun fact: there's a fungus that was discovered in 1991 in the ruins of the chernobyl power plant that essentially eats radiation. maybe one day we'll be able to use it to take care of the elephant's foot
What is the elephants foot? I've never heard of that before
@@nikkigriffin6441 When the reactor exploded, an unfathomably radioactive lump of metal was left over. That lump is called the Elephant’s Foot because it looks a bit like the foot of an elephant. Standing next to it for less than half an hour would guarantee death, even today.
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!
😳jesus...Idk what Chernobyl is. What happened? What is this?
@@zizi33girlpanini87 Chernobyl was a city/town of the soviet union back in the 1980’s. It had a nuclear power plant, which - (afaik) due to poor regulations and practices - ended up in a meltdown, reaching extreme temperatures and high amounts of radiation. The radiation started to spread throughout Chernobyl, forcing an evacuation. The disaster is over now, but the aftermath is still present, former residents can’t return to their homes as the radiation is still present (though not as much, and only exists in pockets), and some wildlife have been effected. It’s expected to take centuries for the radiation to fully dissipate. You can look up photos of explorations, the whole mood is eerie since this was a town/city that was abruptly abandoned.
The elephant’s foot is the most iconic, as it was the largest area of radiation during the disaster (and still sort of is). The radiation (as many stated here) was so immense that it could kill you in seconds if you stood too close, and the distance for it to be lethal was a bit more than you’d expect. It’s not as deadly now, but it certainly was back then.
@@Dr.OofersThis information mostly comes from the TV series about the disaster, but one of the biggest reasons the reactor malfunctioned was that the soviet union used a cheaper graphite tip for the control rods (the parts that start/stop the nuclear reaction). When doing the test on the day it blew up it was mismanaged and the control rods were re inserted in such a way the graphite caused an uncontrollable spike in reaction leading to the explosion
@@zizi33girlpanini87 so do you remember in cod4 when Price said “50,000 people used to live here, now it’s a ghost town” that was about Pripyat n Chernobyl and so was All Ghillied Up
@@zizi33girlpanini87The Elephant's Foot is a nuclear reactor which failed so badly it became ultra-radioactive artificial lava that could kill anyone who stayed within line of sight to it for a few minutes, which this game is quite accurate about. It has since gotten _somewhat_ less dangerous.
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.
That is absolutely terrifying.
can you explain what a masochist means? I heard it a lot of time and still don't understand it.
@@zekkithenightfury1293 Somebody who enjoys pain
@@zekkithenightfury1293 The dictionary definition is a person who finds sexual pleasure in their own pain or humiliation. It’s a running gag with Mark because he always puts himself in harmful situations cos he wants to see if he can take the pain.
@@zekkithenightfury1293 somebody who gets pleasure from their own pain (physical or emotional). obviously people aren't actually serious when they call him that it's just because he's very stupidly brave and seems to have high pain tolerance
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!
You guys did an absolutely amazing job.
i didnt know much abt this topic at all. amazing job guys!!
I’m so happy when developers get to see their dreams come to life!!
nice
You did an incredible job with this game!
This is one of the scariest games he’s ever played, honestly. It feels so unsettling the entire time. Like he said, you’re waiting for a monster but the reality is so much worse.
this game makes horror by makeing you belive that there is something thats going to hurt you.
@@pirkkorouvinen8522 which is the eating of terror
Munstrum
@@pirkkorouvinen8522 Horror is being scared of the thing.
Terror is being scared that there might be a thing there.
Very different.
Subnautica is a good example.
This game is so scary I hoped there was a monster
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.
Homework? Its literally based ENTIRELY on that event. It would be scummy if they used different names.
@@renszoroquino7369 Yup that's why I hold games in high regard where the devs stick with the source
. . .Kinda. . . As bad as Chernobyl was it has been blown way out of proportion, like the idea that Europe woulda became a post-apocalyptic wasteland if XYZ wasn’t done, is just flat out false. Could it have been worse? Yes. End all life on Europe worse? No
@@Supernova2464 True. Some parts were exaggerated.
@blackspirit1015, a lot of parts were greatly exaggerated
What's so utterly terrifying about the elephant's foot room is that its effect in-game is not exaggerated whatsoever compared to real life. According to most sources I've seen, direct exposure when it was still fresh like that could have easily incapacitated a human in a matter of seconds, and killed in a matter of minutes.
What the fuck is the elephant's foot (genuine question)
@@yinghuasys5276 basically the nickname of a very large mass of radioactive material found at Chernobyl , it is still active and will be for centuries.
According to the Wikipedia page for it, it took only about five minutes of exposure to the Foot to receive a lethal dose of radiation from it.
@@sleepythemis and in order to get a photograph of it, they had to use a mirror down the hallway and around a corner
@@yinghuasys5276 It's a lump of something called Corium, which is pretty much nuclear fuel, reactor materials and concrete all melted together into something like lava.
Game : "Extreme care and patience is advised. "
Mark : " *I'M GONNA GUN ITTTT* "
I cant like its 369
The biggest problem I had with the game: it tells you to be careful and patient while the only way to make it is to hurry through it.
@@insovietrussiavodka I didn't see any kind of timer in the game; why do you feel like it's rushing you?
@@insovietrussiavodka what? him rushing right into radiation was what killed the first run
@@comyuse9103 I have 3 points to add here.
1st - It's mark... You know, the man who claimed to be the ruling monarch of squirrels.
2nd - often, there are no other way around than to run through the dangers.
Room 1 is a maze of Corium, and Room 3... even Valeri cannot avoid the EF entirely
3nd - it's a bit open. one guy was lost due to burns he got from the corium he repeatedly strumpled into rather than reading his instrument (mark didn't know this at the time)
The other guy died from running directly at the EF rather than running from cover to cover. (Mark got lost in the process)
-Regards, von Cortex
There’s something especially scary about the fact that this actually happened to humanity. No monsters, no demons - just pure chemical terror. I think that’s why this is one of the scariest games I’ve seen Mark play.
Not so chemical but nuclear.
the way devs give the sound of elephant (kind of) when mark near elephant foot.. is amazing and terrifying
Just remember that this was not because of nuclear energy itself, but bad communication, toxic leadership that led to an unsafe test, and the shitty design of soviet nuclear power plants. Today's reactor designs are incredibly safe.
@@swagmaster6922
I think you got the "toxic leadership" part from HBO's miniseries' portrayal of Dyatlov but a plant worker who worked with him at Chernobyl clarified that although Dyatlov was a strict man, he wasn't the arrogant bully he was portrayed in the show. People respected him.
It's also worth mentioning that they guy had a terrible past including running from his abusive family during childhood and surviving a fatal dosage of radiation when he was working on a nuclear submarine in his days as a junior engineer. This explains why he initially underestimated the extent of Chernobyl's damage.
The real problem was the shitty design as you said. RBMK reactors sacrificed safety for cost with one set of rods being used for empty, graphite moderation and boron inhibition. Normally, pressing the AZ-5 would've made the gamble of turning up the reactor during a period of probable Xenon buildup worth it as the worst that could happen was low power for half a day, which was going to happen either way. What nobody imagined was the rods getting stuck on insertion into a moderation position, speeding up the reaction immensely out of a xenon pit and you know the rest.
That’s true radiation is a not an monster but more dangerous than any monster if you get what I mean
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
That's sad :(
@@ARandomWolfApproaches the reason they were throwing up blood was because their organs were melting
@@fluffywhompus oh my jesus
@@fluffywhompusGod I wish that was me
@@StuartLittlesNo1HaterNo. No you absolutely do not want that to be you.
Honestly the elephants foot is probably the most interesting concept for a “boss” I’ve ever seen in a game
And it can kill you without moving a centimeter and you can't tell until after you get away from it. Truely the Dark Souls 4 final boss
Summed up exactly what I was thinking
Maybe a boss that you can't directly look at but can only use mirrors around corners and such to injure and dodge from it. But everything is backwards because you're looking at through mirrors. Like you have to move left in order to dodge right or something like that. Could be a cool concept
@@avabellaa you mean like Medusa? Lmao
Reminds me of that one boss in Shadow of the Colossus
This game is terrifying, it feels so isolated and claustrophobic. And the fact that this was a REAL thing that REAL people ACTUALLY had to do (given some liberties) is just insane. These guys were true heroes.
@@rotta4667 ...how the fuck did you make that jump
@@workingonit9699 Bc he's looking to start an internet fight because it makes him feel better abt himself and that's all he thinks abt. Trans people just happen to be the hot button topic and easiest thing to start an argument with.
@@workingonit9699 What my point is that those people needed to do something insane as that to save most of EU and nowadays some people cry about smallest "problems" what they made up by themselves.
@@rotta4667 Whatever floats your goat, ma'am.
@@rotta4667 These are two entirely different issues and it is not fair in the _slightest_ to compare them. It's honorable that people did this to save the EU, essentially, but who the hell told you that 1; other people having problems automatically invalidates all problems people see as "less," and 2; a comment on a historical event gave you the excuse to be massively homophobic and transphobic?
Just in case any of you were wondering, all three of the characters were real people. Valery Bezpalov, Alexei Anenenko and Boris Barenov were employees of the plant who volunteered to wade through radioactive water to prevent a second cataclysmic explosion at the stricken nuclear reactor. Alexei and Valery are still alive, but Boris died in 2005.
They were absolute heroes. Mad props to them
Thanks for the trivia, amazing human beings!
It's mentioned in the ending.
They literally saved millions of lives
Sorry for asking through here, but did they walk away with any permanent damage to them? I’m surprised to hear that two of these men are still alive!
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.
I think even now it still is one of the most dangerous substances on the planet, almost 40 years later it’ll still drop u in a few minutes
The Chernobyl incident was terrible and those liquidators were the real heroes, and funnily enough survived Chernobyl... they are seriously not praised enough
@Don't Read My Profile Photo Okay I won't.
far right capitalist shills will never give any of these people the credit that they deserve sadly
even though they knew the consequences of its exposure they still went for it to save eastern europe from being exposed to radiations smog
@@gunbun1048 im pretty sure it would have spread through out all of europe, not just in the east.
@æ I’m sure there were many of not most or all of them that suffered health issues as a result. It may not have been major or noticeable, but I’m willing to bet on it.
i loved how there were no monsters at all. just the ominous feeling that you make one decision wrong, you make a whole continent uninhabitable. and the ear piercing sound of the elephant’s foot, scared me every time lmao
Somewhere I heard that one of the people who came from the reactor said it felt like there was an invisible monster they could not see.
continent, not country
@@pogpogger9497 sorry i fixed it
More than one. Europe and Asia at least.
@@MrPingn also it could reach North Africa and some parts of American continent
For those interested, Chernobyl was especially scary because nothing like this had happened before. Also, this game (those going into the basement) is real. It was a group of three men called the suicide squad who went into the basement of Chernobyl in pitch black darkness to relieve the valves to induce water flow to cool the plant, if I recall correctly
Edit: They had to drain the water to prevent a massive lump of radioactive lava from sinking through the floor and hitting the water, which would create a catastrophic steam explosion.
None of the men were affected by the radiation, and I’m pretty sure only one has passed from heart failure
even they knew the consequences of its exposure they still went for it to save eastern europe from being exposed to radiations smog
They survived and two of the three are still alive today
It's my favourite part/episode of the mini-series, so intense!
Those three guys are heroes. They made the disaster much MUCH less intense than it would have been.
Those men radiate pure gigachad energy
when he ran into the elephant's foot and the meter broke my jaw dropped, one of the most well-done and terrifying things i can imagine
Imagine being the guy that crawls. "What qualifies you for this job sir?"
"I'm reeeaaaaall good at crawling"
"This man will save Europe"
"What qualifies you for this job sir?"
*I can touch buttons.*
"Oh my god, Send him in!"
"What qualifies you for this job?"
"Am tough guy."
"He's perfect."
And ya know what?Them mad lads fucking did it.
and thus Europe was saved
They fucking did it. Truly the real chads.
>No monster chasing you
>Based on a real event
>Relatively restrained jumpscare tactics
>Emotional attachment to characters
>Scary as fuck
thats a good horror game
i know what you mean but they aren’t just characters, they were real people
Characters ❌️
Heros ✅️
indubitably.
not as horrifying as ur mom
@@Appleman1 fax
what i love about THIS horror game specifically, is that this isnt a horror game with a direct enemy or creature to avoid, that the horror is more of the dark realism, and making things innocent in the normal world deadly in this situation. with Radiation as a main enemy more than anyhting, it definately creates this immersive, dark, and horrific reality of what the people of chernobyl had to deal with, and not only that, ANYONE that has to deal with Nuclear devices.
There really hasn't been any situation nearly as bad as Chernobyl. Most people who deal with nuclear devices are very safe, and don't really have anything to fear. Even nuclear cleanup and rescue operators' jobs aren't much worse than those of firefighters, thanks to how far nuclear safety has come. But Chernobyl is, to this day, probably one of the scariest places on Earth, and the fact that it won't happen again makes it a truly unique horror.
there is one enemy you gotta avoid in the game,
the elephant’s foot
Not even dark realism. It's just real. It happened
This could be the only horror game I would play, no surprises, no jump-scares, just simple terror of what molten concrete truly means.
Besides the Elephant Foot, or whatever the name was as i know it yet completely blanked it after a while, you're right, no enemy or creature to avoid
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.
"fun"
how
how is this fun
Well that’s definitely a fact😅
thats not true, there were more then 3 that went in
@@lightningstrike5024I’m not educated all that much but i think that there were three people at first and then more went in after they like stopped the second meltdown
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.
And it's pretty true IRL as well. Winds carried radioactive particles around Europe. Before the USSR even told the international community about the accident, scientists in Sweden knew, because the levels of radiation measured at a nuclear facility spiked but when they looked into it they found out it wasn't a problem originating from Sweden or the neighbouring countries. My mom remembers not being allowed to pick or eat wild berries or mushrooms here in Finland because of the acid rains caused by the toxic and radioactive fumes. Some people claimed they were out in the rain pretty much a few days after the incident and got a nasty rash because of the acid rains but luckily there wasn't a lot of damage.
@@stinks7065 Yeah but the second meltdown would have extremely severe damage to human life.
@@arshiaaghaei oh for sure,Iknow that and I'm not negating that???? maybe I didn't express myself clearly, just tried to illustrate the point that a lot of europe was already contaminated in ways that had an effect on people, which to me just illustrates how scary it would have been if there was a second meltdown
@@stinks7065 I know, I'm trying to say at least we didn't face a continent-level catastrophe
Ye and it makes you feel guilty for fucking up
this game is actually horrifying, the fact this was a real event adds a new layer of horror to everything as well. When mark first encountered the elephants foot my skin was crawling....the people who actually did this are incredible
R.I.P to the Chernobyl liquidators
What is the elephant's foot I'm not familiar with the Chernobyl situation
@@linktheherooftime5647 All the nuclear material in the core and concrete melted and formed a horrible lump of radioactive crud that is still lethal today.
@@linktheherooftime5647 just a few moments remotely close can give you a lethal dose. That's why the device (forgot what it's called) went crazy when he was in the next room over. One last thing the reason why it said ERR is because the radiation was so high it couldn't be recorded
Edit: it's called a Geigar counter
@@linktheherooftime5647 they say its the closest thing man has came to creating medusa. Because if you seen it with your own eyes you were probably already dead
For those that are fortunate to be unaware of what the black sludge in several rooms was. that was corium, the most dangerous material in the world, made of molten cement, metal and the core rods from the reactor itself. It is genuinely terrifying stuff
To my knowledge, corium has only ever been "naturally" formed 5 times... all during very *VERY* bad nuclear incidents: Three Mile Island, Fukushima Daiichi, and of course Chernobyl.
The basics of corium formation is radioactive materials must explode + melt into materials surrounding it, which is turn means just MAKING it is extremely costly
not only is it insanely radioactive, but it's also just endlessly heating itself up internally. scientists are actually worried that the corium in chernobyl may seep into some kind of groundwater, either poisoning the water supply or straight up exploding
it isnt "endlessly heating itself up" @human of the idiot variety
they were worried in 1986-87 when it was hot
but now the corium is all mostly cold and dead
@@Shovel________________ Also is the strongest material we've produced-
The sound design for this game is phenomenal. I had no clue what the elephant's foot was before this game, and the sound design alone made me google it and realise how TERRIFYING it is. The horrific inhuman sounds you hear when you look at if totally fit how scary it is. And the moaning and groaning of the building just adds to the horror aspect, and the real life descriptions the liquidators gave when they said the building sounded as if it was dying.
The Elephant's Foot is so terrifying in this game! Not because its actively hunting you, but the fact you can so easily stumble upon it and you have no clue what it is. Its exactly what it would have been like if those three liquidators had stumbled upon it by accident. No knowledge and no counter methods, just near instant death!
The sound design in that room is phenomenal. It feels like you're making contact with some otherworldly monster, so alien that even looking at it is harmful.
The picture taken of elephant foot with a liqudator next to it and the picture being messed up from the radiation is still one of the most haunting thinks I've ever seen
@@Oldass_Deadass_dumbass_channel That sounds horrifying. I will not be googling that.
@@Oldass_Deadass_dumbass_channel it's a double exposed photo, the liquidator is a reflection on the film, he isn't actually stood next to it, he's round a corner.
@@thehorselesshussar9813 I know nothing about photography, I'm just repeating what ive been told. Thanks for the correction
The liquidators are true heroes, they willingly went into the most hostile enviroment on earth with high chances of suffering one of the worst deaths imaginable. Incredibly selfless.
And then they were unfortunately put into the hands of Markiplier
Fact is, you're correct. Gamma radiation is quite literally the leftover energy of very ATOMS being torn apart
Well, a lot of them didn't exactly go in willingly. They were living under a communist government.
We know for a fact that thousands paid the ultimate sacrifice, and hundreds of thousands suffered from radiation exposure.
But the official soviet death toll remains just 31.
@@TheHuffmanator if they were forced to do it doesnt make them any less of a hero. It just makes their government even worse
@@TheHuffmanator The fact that they "volunteered" does not diminish the fact that they saved basically Europe from radioactive death
Mark: "I can't jump."
Me: "Almost as if Alexei is wearing a LEAD LINED SUIT to protect him from the radiation..."
Actually historically speaking they were only wearing wet suits
Just use your feet bro
No, you can jump in lead lined suits
@@alexcarter3412 True, however id imagine that would be pretty heavy
@@o5-redacted0 it is, but it's not that heavy
14:51, she wanted to hear him breathing because they knew that the liquidator was getting close to the elephant foot(blob of radioactive material), because 5 minutes near that thing can kill you.
They didn’t know about the elephants foot though
@@Exp2Doom it’s part of the game
@@row0or yes but, we know about it NOW they did not know about it when the game takes place, (If it is realistic as possible) so how would some radio operator know about an unknown elephants foot they never heard of, your character was probably confused when they saw it because they had no idea what it was
less than 1 minit from what time this was from its prob after the explosion which still freshly leaked
@@Exp2DoomIn the mission info for room 3 (elephants foot) area they say "Without a doubt the most lethal area is area 3, *our scouts couldnt look at that monstrasity for more than a few seconds before collapsing*, their camera melted after this picture *insert elephants foot picture* stay out of its sight and find your way around it"
For those not in the know: the material that makes up the "Elephants foot" and the metallic looking stalactites scattered in the levels, is Corium. It's a mixture of nuclear fuel, insulation, concrete, nuclear moderator, and nuclear inhibitor materials, created during a core meltdown. Radioactivity from Corium is highly varied and unpredictable because of how these materials may be mixed, how they could interact, and because it is still being studied. Corium is always manmade, and accidentally created only 3 times: Chernobyl, Fukushima, and Three Mile Island. Deliberately made Corium is in laboratories in controlled conditions, for the purpose of study and research.
The term Elephants Foot is so disturbing for some reason to me, ngl. Like, the concept that a massive, radioactive, "it'll kill you if you are near it too long" blob of still slightly molten corrium is horrifying to me.
your name fits
"Corium is manmade and accidentally created only 3 times" sounds so scary. Like not even Earth has anything nearly as vile as whatever we ourselves invented
@@chanmandeath2993 people in chernobyl wanted to see things in a positive light. Most radioactive things were named something positive. When they came across the big blob of corium they thought it looked like an elephants foot. And so that was its name.
@@chanmandeath2993 and it's still sitting there in the dark somewhere restricted. And will be there and dangerous for a long long long long time. It's crazy.
Only Mark would immediately recognize the Elephant's Foot, then attempt to *run past* it, coming with literal feet of the most radioactive thing in history...
the most
If you stay near the elephants foot for 5 minutes, you're dead, 3 minutes in, and your cells are hemorrhaging. And 1-2 minutes exposed will cause dizziness, blurred vision, and fatigue.
@@alexcarter3412It's even less than that. 5 minutes is 100% you will die extremely soon, if not right there, but anything over a minute will usually be lethal because it's hundreds of times higher than humans can withstand
@@alexcarter3412 thats now. when it happened it was way worse. I believe. it's what i've been hearing/watching.
@@nightwingchan8782 Yep, it was way, way worse back when it first happened. The famous photos of the Elephant's Foot were taken by men who died shortly after taking it because of how incredibly radioactive it was.
Today, it's degraded enough to the point where you have a few minutes before you're a goner.
My grandfather was a liquidator. He survived 3 operations after that, but still health problems remained. He himself worked at several jobs, supported a family of 7 people in abundance. He lived all his life for the sake of the family and put all his strength into its well-being, even being a grandfather for more than 7 grandchildren. But at one point, when it would seem that everything is fine, old complications and traumas of the past made themselves felt. He was examined for a long time and, as a result, the doctors said that there was nothing to be done, even if they had an operation, it would not save him.
it hurt to hear from him about his plans after recovery.
Every day he got worse and worse, at some point the painkillers stopped helping him, he suffered a lot.
What happening to him, only we knew in secret from him, no one could tell him about it.
The whole family often visited him.
And at some point, when my pregnant mother was sitting next to him and holding his hand, talking to him, he asked: "Somehow yous began to visit me too often. Am I dying?" She broke down and burst into tears.
He did not live to see the birth of another granddaughter just a month and at the age of 64, on the first of June 2015, our beloved, responsible, smart, strict, fair, grandfather, father, husband, faithful friend, reliable comrade, hero of labor and just good, honest , a respectable citizen is gone.
We will all remember him, love him, be proud of him, always set an example, honor and respect him.
Man. Your grandfather was a legend that help save the lives of the entirety of a Europe. And saved the world from an economical disaster that would've destroyed the entire world.
May his soul forever rest in peace for his bravery.
Your grandfather was a hero. All my respect to him
That’s unbelievable. What a hero ❤️
praying for his soul, for all those beyond brave heroes that doesn t deserve our world
What a beautiful man for such a honorable person he should have lived longer
props to lixian for being an incredibly great and respectful editor!!! i love the way he does his warnings when he says when it’s safe to look again.
When does this happen?
Interesting radiation story:
During the nuclear bomb testing, they would often bring soldiers so they can “get used to” the bombs, they would be around a mile away from the bomb when it would detonate, in which they were instructed to cover their eyes as best they can to not be blinded by the blast.
Some covered their face with their arms, but ones using there hands claimed they could see the bone. They were then instructed to keep covering their face to wait for the heatwave, which they claim felt like opening a hot oven, but for 20 seconds.
After that they were told to uncover themself and watch the mushroom cloud form. Some were shell shocked while others were scared, and some even genuinely enjoyed it.
As expected many of them died the following years due to cancer, and some had fertility issues with their children. Of the 20-30 people there only in the 20-30’s, only 3 lived 20 years after the event.
"If that didn't kill you right away, there is no problem" was the mentality of the time...
They knew barely anything radiation and its long term effect.
This is why they put radioactive things in all king of stuff for a while...
Gum, watch, beauty products etc...
"We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried. Most people were silent."
@@bobbobber4810 yeah ikr, such as the radium girls story, which is about how they put radium on almost anything, even their face, to the point where their jaw literally fell off..
Look into it its crazy
Radiation isn't really something that can be built up as a "tolerance" same as spice and alcohol huh
I remember watching a video on Facebook about this story. Interviews with the 3 that survived it. Shit was absolutely insane. To think you could see your own bones covering your eyes. That is hauntingly terrifying.
The realization that **that** mass was the elephants foot is so terrifying considering it’s literally just a lump, that is so well done and terrifying
It called corium ( if I spelled it right). Kyle Hill did a peice on the elephant foot.
Even more horrifying to think about is that this was right at it’s birth, so the radioactivity was at its peak(probably).
GET THIS GAME TO MATPAT!!!!!!!!!!
@@TheBlankOneIsMe why?
@@ohno6528 WE MUST SERVE OUR CONTENT LORD.
The elephant's foot is the most terrfying thing about it imo. Radioactive molten steel and water pouring through the entire facility in minutes and settling down to the floor and hardening as it cooled and spewing invisible death is something i'd never want to see.
Yeah, the scary thing with the elephants foot other than the crap ton of runken it gives off is that the substance, corium, can only be made by man. You can look up scientists having fun making it in a CONTROLLED environment. And in terms of rads this thing is giving off is about 1,000 chest x-rays. Pretty cool and scary to look at, from afar of course.
@@EmeisterKav Oh yeah, I completely forgot about that stuff, shits terrifying on it's own.
dont forget that it was so lethal that getting near it at the time of the incidents first few mins wouldve irradiated you so badly youd literally drop dead. i think they had to take a picture from down a hall and around a corner with a mirror to avoid the radiation and a camera any closer wouldve had its internals fried. that foot and the plant itself is the closest humanity has to an irl eldritch horror.
isn't it called corium
@@mickyflint the interesting thing about the first photo of the elephant's foot is that an American scientist got his hands on the photo and it said on the photo itself or so: "that one man pushed a kart around a corner to take this one photo and immediately come back out again, this man is now dead." Super chilling all around
The fact that these three men literally saved all of europe from catastrophe needs to be talked about more
Best part is that all of them survived the ordeal and grew quite old! Sadly one of the guys died not too long ago
They didn't save the entirety of europe
Alexei Ananenko, Valeri Bespalov, and Boris Baranov are the actual names of the 3 men who went into the tunnels flooded with radioactive water from the firefighting efforts, to drain the tanks that could have lead to a steam explosion. It's no exaggeration to say they saved millions of lives.
it wasn't just a "steam" explosion threat but a hydrogen (or thermonuclear) explosion threat (as far as I know and if I can translate words into English correctly)
@@kryvyi_juan Not quite, the Chernobyl TV show show claimed it could superheat and instantly vaporize, the explosion equivalent to 2-4 megatons of TNT. Modern calculations have estimated that it would be more like 1-2 kilotons, but that's still a disastrous explosion spreading fallout over eastern and northern Europe. It would also have been enough to destroy the other reactor units, multiplying the disaster.
Edit: To give a more recent example of the explosive force even just 2-4 kilotons can deliver, they estimate the 2020 Beirut ammonium nitrate explosion was about 0.5 to 1.12 kiloton.
My grandfather was a Chernobyl liquidator, I'm going to go see him in a week. I don't have any stories from him during the time he was there but he has to go to some sort of appointment every year to have himself checked for any radiation in his body. Seeing this video, I think it's about time I ask him about everything that he saw and did.
Wow your grandfather must be a great man to risk his life like that
There were 3 Liquidators, which one was he? Boris? Alexei?
which one
@@zeta-o4z There were far more than 3, dude. I’m certain they aren’t related to the MAIN three liquidators that stopped the meltdown ASAP. But there were thousands afterward, they’re probably talking about the volunteers that later joined to help the recovery process.
@@zeta-o4z those weren’t the only three, they just made up the “suicide squad”.
The music that plays when the elephants foot damages you is so disturbing in my opinion. It really captures the subtle horror that an abomination of radiation like the elephants foot contains. It’s like as if the music plays signaling as if it sees you and is attacking you. That is genuinely horrifying considering this thing literally exists in our world and this game is pretty accurate on how it works. One of the photos taken of it irl literally killed the photographer shortly after.
Sadly in real life you cant tell if the radiation is killing you or not and theres no blurred screen and music to tell that your dying i mean the radiation detector thing might not work all the time near the elephants foot (i think)
@@coolepic626 yeah the radiation is literally off the charts for a geiger couter, but the visual effect of eye blurriness is apparently accurate for the "recieving lethal doses of radiation"
This is a myth.
As far as we're aware, the Elephant's Foot has not killed anyone.
At the time of the incident, it was dangerous. It could deliver an LD50 dose of radiation (The threshold at which the dosage has a 50% death rate on exposed subjects, or in other words, 50% chance you survive, 50% chance you die) within 5 minutes. But even with that danger, it would be hard pressed to kill you. Radiation is not nearly as dangerous as movies and TV make it out to be (though, don't underestimate it, it is still dangerous, it's just not how movies portray it). The man who took the photo of the Elephant's Foot is still very much alive and in good health. When the photo was taken in 1996, the radioactivity of it has gone down quite a bit.
If you were within sight of it you would die in 10 seconds and I believe 10 minutes behind a corner near it so they tried to use a rolling camera which broke due to the high amount of radiation as such they used a mirror to view the elephants foot then photograph it.
some say the photographer died few years later, still the level of radiation broke cameras
"I just wanted to hear your breathing... one last time.."
That sentence gave me goosebumps, I feel so bad for wives with husbands in situations like this.
They were true heros..
@@bird8847 yknow i think its possible to feel bad for both the men and their families at the same time. but idk
@bird8847 What an odd stance to take in an argument, people will truly argue over anything.
I did some research on the Chernobyl accident and the “elephants foot” and its a weird type of horrifying that I’ve never felt before, that a mound of Corium could give you a 50% of death if your near it for 5 minutes. the fact that there’s nothing like it at all and it’s still just, sitting there in an abandoned plant because it’s unsafe to remove is crazy to me. It’s almost like an Alien and you can just imagine the fear of those who came across it. Theres something so terrifying about this accident lol
When the elephants foot was first found one of the workers poked his head around a hall way to take a picture he spent less than a few seconds in direct line of site of it, he died later that day it truly is terrifing
Fun fact Corium is the most radioactive element on earth and that goop ( what used to be goop after it hardened) was the fuel for the reactor that melted and then melted the chamber and settled where we now find it.
its 2.5 minutes because your body starts to hemorrhage and your dead by 5 minutes.
A real and true cursed object
When first discovered death was guarenteed in 30 seconds. Today it's probably less, but any time interval that low just being NEAR an object guaranteeing death is incredibly frightening.
Knowing that in a literal ghost town in Ukraine, lying in the sublevels of a ruined nuclear power plant, abandoned, not monitored, in the middle of the floor in some room is some unnatural, monstrous lump of material that will kill you in two days through basically liquifying your organs just for standing next to it for 300 seconds is, to me, one of the most terrifying realities to live with.
The area of Chernobyl is guarded and monitored and there's quite a lot of workers ensuring the place's safety. At least in peace time, I'm not sure how is it right now.
@@R421Excelsior it’s back to being guarded and monitored, but since they lost a lot of equipment they’re slowly trying to get it back to normal
Wasn't there a scare about the emergency generators keeping the place cooled down, cus of the russian occupation
It has a strong SCP vibe to it, doesn't it?
Lol what? THAT is terrifying to you?? That there is a small lump of danger somewhere? I'm guessing you probably don't even live in the same country.
You're never going to be affected by that.
Fun fact: The elephant's foot was never officially discovered until weeks after the explosion. It's unlikely any of the three men would have encountered it as it was most likely still forming and melting though the floors at the time.
Correction, the Elephant's Foot formed in April, it was discovered in December that same year. At least, that is what the wiki says.
Sometimes a little fudging is needed to really tell the story. I'm glad they added it, even if it is somewhat untrue. For me, that is the scariest part of the game.
Fun fact: it's a game
@@itsgonnabeanaurfromme Congratulations, you were promoted to the rank of Captain Obvious.
@@Alxium True.
My heart goes out to all those men especially the 3 that went in knowing if they didnt do what they were told millions and billions of people would die and they did that knowing that they might not survive from this
Fortunately all 3 survived a long life
Massive respect to Mark for doing basic research and not treating this game like a joke, it's the biggest,worst, deadliest disaster ever made by man
"every second is autosaved, so every decision is permanent"
also mark in the first 10 minutes : drowned himself
In the first 5 minutes he walked right up against the elephant's foot so kind of easy to anticipate that at the 10m mark.
These people are legitimate heroes, they sacrificed their lives for the sake of others when nobody else would've. All we can do is honor them for the selfless act they committed.
Oh look, it’s the guy that comments for attention.
@@twitteruser2056 Your name suits you 💀
@@twitteruser2056 at least he is not of those bots that copy comments
Didn't watch the whole video. You really do unironically just comment random bs to be a Justin y. They didn't die in the event
Bruh, they came out just fine.
A great stylistic choice on the game's part, intentional or otherwise, is the pixelation and graniness of the game's graphics. Pictures taken inside the reactor and of the elephants foot were massively grainy and low quality due to all the radiation.
I think it actually gets worse the more radiation damage you've taken. Near the start, it's not too bad, but when he's running around near the foot in his second run at 77/78 damage, he's nearly blind.
The men who took the pictures of the Elephants Foot died not too long after taking the pictures
@@timelysnail8656 pretty sure they didnt? I think the photos we see of it were taken in 1996, long after the disaster. I might be wrong tho if im even looking at the right images.
Edit:
"The pictures were taken in 1996. The man, Artur Korneyev, was interviewed by, I believe, the New York Times after his retirement in 2014.
In the pic, Artur has entered the room with his automatic shutter camera. The only light in the room is his flashlight, so he has the shutter time up to 2-3 seconds. Like the old-time flash pics, he has to stay still the entire 2-3 seconds to get a solid image. The camera takes a few before he’s ready. That is why he looks ghostly in the most-used pic. The ones where he is stable aren’t as popular, and I’ll let you guess why.
The EF itself looks like concrete poured out on the floor; it has no intrinsic light of its own. The specular flashing comes from the only light in the room - Kornyev’s flash. In the middle of setting up, he drops it and it lights up and overexposes the Foot."
My parents always told about this day as we are Finns and they remember the government's "psa" about staying inside houses since the rain was coming and the radioactive cloud was blown straigt above western and eastern Finland, scary stuff.
I “visited” Chernobyl 9 times, and every time I couldn’t not imagine how many people died there without even knowing why, and how many animals got shot to not spread more radiation while dying slowy for it, they only thing that would be worse than what happened, would be a nuclear war
A bad thing that would probably have happened if it wasn't for the ''suicide squad'' is the contact with the elephant's foot and the water which would have caused a catastrophic explosion. The whole continent of Europe probably wouldn't have even been inhabitable
The animals actually have it a lot easier, when it comes to "radiation resistance". Humans are actually way worse than animals like deers, or other animals in nature, when it comes to radiation. That's why you see nature flourishing around the Chernobyl power plant
@@magenusa6070 I know, but when it happened they killed a lot of them anyway
Around 30 people died from the initial explosions itself.
Over a hundred people got radiation poisoning, but most of them recovered and lived for decades.
All in all, it is estimated that only around 50 people died from it. It's still really fucking bad, but not really that unimaginable.
Also no mass cullings of animals were done. It happened in a city of people, and of the hundred thousand people there only a handful were affected. Although a lot of pets and livestock were abandoned, most of them weren't put down. If you've actually visited Chernobyl, you would know it's basically a thriving nature sanctuary now.
@@shrekscrusader1139I'm sure it wasn't common knowledge that animals are more resistant to radiation at the time. And even still, the threat of contaminating surrounding areas was a real enough concern to warrant elimination, as cruel and heartbreaking as it was.
Fun Fact: The names of the men in this game are the names of the ACTUAL 3 people who went into the site to drain the tanks before they exploded. Everyone was expecting them to die within a week, but they lived for years!
Edit: I know they state it at the end, but I also know that not everyone is going to watch it until the end and I want them to be recognized.
Real Heroes
2 of them are still alive today! Baranov died in 2005 of a heart attack.
@@Efreeti may he rest in peace.
So you watched the video, too?
@@TrishaRyan Nice job getting those internet sarcasm points. I'm only stating it because I know a lot of people aren't going to watch it to the end and I feel like the real people should be recognized.
Why is this game, with no monsters and no moving threats, the most terrifying game I've watched Mark play in a very, very long time. Like it's not even just terrifying conceptually (with the threat of invisible radiation and whatever), the game itself is just genuinely horrifying. Being trapped within a cramped industrial facility with only a geiger counter to measure how dangerous an area is, all alone and with the scary messages you receive on the radio. And then you get to the Elephant's Foot, where your trusty radiation-measuring tool BREAKS and the sounds of the damned start screaming louder as you get closer. Seriously just a fantastically terrifying game.
Reality is often far more terrifying than fiction.
If it was like, 100% realistic, the geiger counter would only say… 3.6 rontgen ;).
Which is the max reading it can give, but it’s technically not lethal, so it’s fine!
(Reference to HBO Chernobyl, laugh please)
and also if it was realistic there would be no cat sound and no radiation damage meter.
Radiation is the ultimate monster.
Because monsters (atleast the ones usually depicted in fiction) aren't real, but radiation is and its terrifying to think how close we were to an entire continent being deemed uninhabitable for longer than we all will live to see.
The Elephant's Foot is easily the creepiest thing in the game.
That shrieking sound that plays nails it, but also at how eldritch it is
The fact that you die simply from *looking* at it is absolutely fucking nightmare fuel, and I love it
Incredible way of telling the story of the Chernobyl Liquidators, as well as good game design, intense, scary and not caving into the trope of a monster created from the radioactive waste. Very well designed and simple game.
Well, if you define a monster as a huge, ugly, powerful object that can kill through horrible means, the Elephant’s Foot is technically - and unfortunately a very real - monster made of radioactive waste.
Pp
Props to the creator for making a Chernobyl game that doesn't include any, like, "radioactive zombies" or a "Chernobyl was actually a secret superweapon testing area" or anything dumb and unnecessary like that
I checked out the Steam page. The devs chose to remain completely anonymous, and the game costs nothing. They made it precisely to show the dangers the liquidators were in. Big props to the creators indeed. Wish I could know who they are, the design of this game shows they have incredible potential for some great games
Agreed. Sci fy totally has it's place in horror, but anything based in even pseudo realism (let alone based very heavily in real events) sometimes has a larger capacity for extending a feeling of dread that is very hard to match or imitate with just monsters, no matter how scary they are.
I like this kind of horror, no lame jumpscares, just the scenario and the disturbing, tense background. And good job with "the monster". It cannot chase you, but just looking at it can be fatal, that's interesting.
what makes it even scarier is that this is almost exactly what happened on chernobyl- those three men, which are real people, literally saved the entire world.
@@vinnieley1205 Slight correction- not the entire world, just the Europe-Asia area.
But yes, they are absolutely heroes.
@@Funnyjoke12348you mean a rather LARGE chunk of it
@@Funnyjoke12348I mean, the entirety of Europe becoming uninhabitable would undoubtedly affect most if not all of the world in some way.
It wouldnt make the entirety of Europe uninhabitable lol
When the light bulb broke and the error message read out I instantly knew what we were dealing with. Oh God, the Elephant Foot is still one of the scariest things on this planet.
Not-so-fun fun fact.
The actual spaces they entered were only about five feet tall, and were separated into two identical floors. Dozens of steam suppression pipes filled the flooded rooms, making the pitch-black conditions even harder to navigate. While the "bubbler tanks" (emergency core cooling system component) were filled halfway during normal operation, fire water and ruptured circulation lines filled them up almost completely. These three men navigated a flooded, sprawling pipe maze, with molten nuclear fuel literally feet above their heads.
Even worse, the steam explosion theory was later proven to be false. The fuel reached the remaining layers of water (some remained after draining), and cooled harmlessly. They didn't need to be sent in there after all.
We should never forget their bravery, nor the sacrifice of those sent to much more dangerous areas of Unit 4. They helped contain a catastrophe, and, thanks to their efforts, helped make nuclear power safer for all of us. The efforts of the liquidators, scientists, and engineers have guaranteed us that another RBMK explosion can never happen.
Firefighters even drained most of the water for them.
RBMK reactors don't explode.
@@hugobelafonte5020 Umm. Patently false. Chernobyl was a RBMK reactor and it blew its concrete lid, estimated to be half a million or more pounds, clear off through the roof. They are dangerous and Russia is the only country that still uses them for some reason. Can’t imagine why everyone else stop using them. 🧐 because they aren’t safe
@@wolfiemuse an RBMK reactor, outside of the dangerous conditions that lead up to the disaster, is one of the most economical and efficient (for its time) energy producers, able to use lower quality/concentrations of uranium fuel compared to peers. Besides, those have been upgraded.
@@wolfiemuse The RBMK was retrofitted extensively post-accident, and is now considered to be up to modern safety standards. They are being decommissioned slowly due to old age.
Odd fact about the liquidators which only makes them more heroic: Back then it was not known that water would actually protect them from radiation, and it was though that the irradiated water that they were about to enter contact with (as some sections of the power plant were flooded) would kill them in a matter of days. They still volonteered to go in and prevent the disaster from getting much worse. These people (as far as I know) are still to this day alive and have not had too many serious sequels, as it turns out the water actually kept the radiation for itself and protected them.
It's cool that things some times just turn like that for such honorable people.
Someone was looking down on them that day
Not only that, their rubber suits that were skin tight kept them safe
@@thegreenberretwearingbrony9678 Well yes, of course, but it was thought even with the suits they wouldn't live past a couple days or weeks at most.
Unfortunately, only two remain...boris passed in 2005 😔
@@jamie151-d9j heroes to be remembered
I cannot believe they didn't include the mop that was randomly standing up beside the elephant's foot. That mop is legendary
I like to think someone brought the mop in order to poke at the foot. Humans be like that
@@CaptNikolia That human would be dead within the minute.
@@CaptNikolia that guy was a mad lad if he existed, but he most likely died of a cancer from the radiation
@@panoraxe oh he would've most likely have gotten accute radiation sickness which is much, MUCH more terrifying than cancer
@@stinks7065 doesnt that stuff slowly disassemble your own dna while you dont even know?
Never been so emotional at a horror game as when they showed the real people behind the characters at the end
I find it funny that Mark kept saying, "I was expecting a Monster throughout this game even though there wasn't one."
There was a monster, and it was blood thirsty, it was called, "The Elephant's Foot".
my man ima steal that quote from you
What about the cat? The cat straight up kills you.
to the editor- you are an amazing human being.
i dont have epilepsy, but my brother does, and by a simple warning, you are basically saving a life.
i lost a friend to a seizure a long time ago.
thank you again
based
That's either Lixian, Marcus, or Rachel I believe are their names❤❤they're great ppl
tbh if i was epileptic i simply wouldn't watch youtube, because why risk death just for watching a video?
@@noot3778because not all videos have flashing lights? And some have warnings? And people like entertainment?
@@xXFeralPyr0pteraXx maybe you didnt read my comment? i said that *I* wouldn't watch youtube because there's tons of videos on yt with flashing lights and no warning so in *my* opinion it wouldnt be a smart thing to risk death
The Elephant's Foot is a two ton mass of Corium, or molten uranium oxide, that actually ate its way through the Chernobyl reactor core and through 2 meters of solid concrete into the basement of the power plant. It is still there today, and is still radioactive enough to give a lethal dose of radiation within a few hours of exposure.
Correction, in approximately 5 minutes or 300 seconds of exposure.
@@DawnLu I think that also depends entirely on the distance of the elephants foot as well. But yeah it's still can kill you quickly regardless.
It didnt eat through the core
It IS the core.
@@DawnLu you read that from another comment didn't you. Nowadays if you are in the same room with it, it takes around 40 minutes till you will 99% surely die. But if you go and like.. Lay on top of it. Then yes its around 300-500 seconds till you die.
@@theq4602 no, they were right. It ate through 8~ish feet of concrete shielding, metal plumbing pipes in the floors, ceilings, - it ate through everything in its path until it cooled down enough finally in the basement of Reactor 4. Corium isn’t technically just molten uranium oxide - that’s one of the smaller components of it, but the reason why it’s so dangerous. Much more of it is concrete and other building materials. For a period of time, it was hotter than the surface of the sun. So yeah it ate through everything
so if your wondering what those stalagmites are, thats is molten slag from the damaged core able to melt through LITERALLY ANYTHING. thats why the radation spikes everytime you go near them.
As the person who's city was built because of Chernobyl catastrophe, i was happy to see this notif and that you did the research first. Thanks, Mark!
Chornobyl
Slavutych
Where?
@@eemeli7093 Ukraine
what city?
As a former lead nuclear tech and chemical operator, just note Chernobyl was a disaster waiting to happen and a terrible representation of what nuclear energy can be. Safety protocols and safe guards were cast aside and was a sketchy design even for Russian standards. Interesting game, just don’t fear nuclear power or radiation; respect it and all that it’s capable of…good and bad.
do you think that the chernobyl incident would have still happened if they didn’t ignore the safety protocols? like if they had done everything right
@@rowan. No, it wouldnt have. The whole incident happened because multiple people just decided they knew better than their manuals and machines.
@@rowan. They could of done everything right but the design was flawed from the get-go, bad engineering and they knew it; Fukushima should of never happened either. Once we implement thorium/molten salt reactors on a grand scale, hopefully peoples perception of nuclear energy will change. Even that tech is dated but it's better than current fuel rod systems from the 40s and 50s which are way inefficient and a pain to maintain. Thorium reactors have been used in the majority of US naval ships since the late 70's with minimal incidents, all aircraft carriers and subs use them. The NRC (Nuclear regulatory committee) is just as much to blame for the fear of nuclear energy as much as the politicians.
@@BigPawTivald Its a bit misleading in of its self to frame it like nuclear energy on any kind of large scale doesn't have massive drawbacks, not to say it can never be used for anything, that's incredibly complex, but it's by no means without very real implications, risk, and drawbacks.
@@BigPawTivald I definitely agree with what you said. I think that dealing with any type of radiation and nuclear energy always has pros and cons. With that said, I think that nuclear energy/radiation should be talked about more. As we evolve technologically, we should ALL be educated about what energy sources we are using and the consequences of using them (granted that not all of it will result in a tragedy like Chernobyl). Many people don't even know how nuclear energy works, or how nuclear fusion (or fission) works. In reality, it's scarier to think that many people aren't educated on our current (or past) ways of "keeping the world running". Once we start being more educated on Nuclear Energy and Radiation, we will learn from past mistakes and from historical events like Chernobyl and Fukushima.
As someone who's of Ukranian origin, I think raising awareness to incidents like this is really important when understanding significant events in my own culture. My dad was going to go to Chernobyl the day before the incident happened. Had he done so, I wouldn't be here today. Слава ліквідаторам
It's mind blowing how much a single day's decision could have changed the lives of both your dad and you. It's stories like these that remind be to be thankful I'm alive.
if I may ask, what stopped him from going that day? i’m wildly curious
im Ukrainian as well! it’s crazy that half of my family could have died if those men hadn’t been so brave and saved millions of people.
Russian orcs really brought Chernobyl back to the forefront of folks’ minds when they irradiated themselves by digging trenches around it.
Kyle Hill also has a fantastic documentary on UA-cam about Chernobyl. I’d highly recommend it to absolutely everyone.
@@way2dead4u he was gonna go there for a school trip, but I believe the weather forecast or something was bad??
MAJOR props to the liquidators cause if I heard my little radioactivity detector machine goes off, *immediately I would empty the content of my bowels into my suit* like I would physically SHIT myself this is so terrifying
And you technically would already shit yourself, cause only 30 seconds near the elephants foot, you would undergo diarrhea
@@m33ps_and_s0cks damn and then your dna unravels like a zipper 😭 what a scary to go 😭😭
Markiplier made sure he did some basic research to avoid talking bogus. Instant respect
Whats bogus?
@@lyo6200 false information basically
@@lucif3r_op920 oh yeah forgot, ty man English isn’t my main language
@@lyo6200 bogus is a general term for bad, false, or unfair
still called the show the "netflix" show when it was an HBO show
I want more games like this. Stuff that leans into the real horrors of history and stuff like the phenomenal cosmic power of the universe. Like, radiation is the power of the stars.
I would enjoy one on the town of Centralia PA. While they still aren't 100% sure what caused the fire it is still uninhabitable as the fires that started back in 62 are still burning today. Estimated that the fires will go for at least 500 years.
@@dawnmidnightsun2521 yes!! & not one like silent hill with made up monsters & supernatural elements. just pure real life horror😳
Imagine a game about the Holocaust?
Either the perspective of the Germans, Jews or liberators would be horrifying far worse than even this imo
@@fireironthesecond2909 a game from the perspective of the Liberators would be heavy. It's a perspective you don't hear about too often either
@@powerviolence._.enjoyer819 all would horrific but from the perspective of the liberators would be easiest as you could portray it in a post apocalyptic way. And have the game end with your character shooting the unarmed SS guards as a way to finish the game
In most games, the phrase "my flashlight died" means that it has used up all of the chemical energy available in the battery and will not shine anymore.
In this game, it means the ambient conditions are so dangerous that _your flashlight exploded_
Oh wow, I forgot the actual setting due to immersion >.>)
…yeah, guess so…
holy shit
Man, that allufin foot room is no joke
Even scarier is that *actually happened* to the Liquidators, and they navigated their way to the valves in total darkness.
This game is so amazingly executed. Like, I can only imagine how scary and confusing it must've been to deal with when it actually happened. It also kinda blows my mind how if all the people who went in there to contain and deal with the situation hadn't made that sacrifice I would probably never have been born
This game is made so well, genuinely terrifying, and not in a suspenseful way. I like the “No saves” system. Really adds a ton of weight to a character being trapped unconscious where no one else can get them.
I agree this was genuinely one of the most terrifying and stressful games to watch Mark play. The lack of saving really did raise the stakes and make it feel more real and urgent. Not to mention this if based off true events not some fictional monster or killer.
It’s very eye opening to see just how terrifyingly close it really was to ruining SO much and knowing that a simple mistake can do so much damage and gives more credit to the people that were able to achieve these tasks and actually save so much.
While it would have had terrible effects, the steam explosion theory was proven false.
@@dbzenoluke I honestly haven’t done a lot of research on this incident so I did not know that thank you.
To add onto what Dbzeno said, the sheer magnitude of the disaster as presented here is based off of erroneous knowledge and estimates held at and around the time of the disaster; knowledge since gained about the potential for disaster in those conditions shows that it would have been serious, definitely, but would not have been anywhere near as dangerous to the entirety of Europe as it was made out to be. No blame to the estimators though; they did the best they could with what they had at the time.
@@KainYusanagi Please post this as it's own comment. A lot of people seem to think Chernobyl could have caused nuclear apocalypse for Europe.
and to add something else, it wasnt a simple mistake, it was many, untrained people messing with what shouldnt be messed, protocols and safety being ignored, faulty systems
i'd say it was at least 20 different mistakes, all pilled together caused it
if it hadnt been for that, it'd likely have shut down with no bad effects at all
for example, one that was partially human and partially the design's fault:
When a power level of 200 MW was reattained, preparation for the experiment continued, although the power level was much lower than the prescribed 700 MW. As part of the test program, two additional main circulating (coolant) pumps were activated at 01:05. The increased coolant flow lowered the overall core temperature and reduced the existing steam voids in the core. Because water absorbs neutrons better than steam, the neutron flux and reactivity decreased. The operators responded by removing more manual control rods to maintain power. It was around this time that the number of control rods inserted in the reactor fell below the required value of 15. This was not apparent to the operators because the RBMK did not have any instruments capable of calculating the inserted rod worth in real time.
The combined effect of these various actions was an extremely unstable reactor configuration. Nearly all of the 211 control rods had been extracted manually, and excessively high coolant flow rates through the core meant that the coolant was entering the reactor very close to the boiling point.
and this was all just a small part of the many errors
33:43 These small rollercoasters of emotions are why I still watch Mark.
Same tbh
Wierd thing is the person should have scuba gear including o2 tank
@@PrawnMuncher no. At the time it would be of much luck if you could get your hands on OZK, which is literally a rubber cloak, footgear and a simple gas mask. Most liquidators were just wearing simple respirators at most.
not sure if he mentioned this at all, but alexi ananenko, valeri bespalov, and boris baranov were three plant engineers who did indeed go into chernobyl on april 28th to drain the steam suppression pool in an effort to minimize potential damage. All three survived and were awarded the order for courage, but baranov was awarded posthumously as he died in 2005.
edit: ah its mentioned at the end!
People don't understand these days how absolutely terrifying this whole event was back in the 80's. If they had not succeeded in containing it, millions would have died and a lot of Europe and some parts of Asia would have turned into a radioactive wasteland unfit for life.
This wouldn't have been necessary if theydidn't use unsave technology and payed more attention beforehand.
@@ScoreMagnet safety precautions written with blood. Nuclear plants are safest source of energy today only because a lot was learned after Chernobyl.
@@asdbanz316 so, there was a silver lining?
@@ScoreMagnet or if the soviets didn’t try to hide the flaws of the RMBK design even though it caused two prior accidents.
Absolutely untrue, even if chernobyl would have been left burning for weeks all Europe and Asia had to fear was radiation contamination from the air, they Absolutely would recover very fast, even chernobyl nowadays is pretty "safe" with a lot of people living near it. The feared death toll was over exaggerated and based on knowledge that's now outdated
I love how scary they make the Elephant’s Foot, it genuinely feels like some otherworldly eldritch beast that you can’t be near when in reality it’s just radioactive material.
This game does the mounting terror so well
THE ELEPHANT’S FOOT
The spot where the corium solidified wouldn’t be discovered until December in 1986. To contain the fallout, a large concrete enclosure named the sarcophagus was built on the site. Access points were left in the sarcophagus for researchers.
During one such research trip, their equipment registered levels of radiation so high that it would kill anyone who got too close for more than a few second. -Wikipedia. Corium=Elephants foot
I mean like even being near it for a few seconds, when it was new, made you dizzy and fatigued. Within 5 minutes you’d received a lethal dosage of radiation.
I believe it’s less dangerous now, but still pretty damn dangerous.
Fun fact, people found black mold growing on the Elephants Foot at some point. Anything living in Chernobyl is mutated beyond comprehension to live there with the radiation
@@CheshieD less than 5 mins.
It's about 200 seconds, or 3:20. Then your dead
@@CheshieD Only vaguely less dangerous now
I've tried this game for a bit and honestly pretty horrifying, couldn't finish it because I'm to stupid at finding directions and clues and have an attention span of a child so glad that mark played it
I'm guessing mathematics is also too challenging for you
@@DR-JOHN-DEJAVU-1984 sometimes yeah, like i mixed up the numbers and stuff. Its a challenge but a fun one
GET THIS GAME TO MATPAT!!!!!!!!!!
@@somedude1012 dw man everyone struggles with math. its more important that you find it fun! :)
Spending a minute next to the "Elephant Foot" can kill you.
Mark finds the "Elephant Foot"
Mark: walks straight towards it.
2:09 The scariest thing is that this was an actual thing which could have happened. They had to send 3 men into the basement of Reactor 4 to drain the water which flooded the basement. If the magma from the reactor core made contact with that water, the resulting explosion would likely wipe out the entire country and render Europe completely uninhabitable. There were hundreds of trains ready to fully evacuate Kiev (The Ukraine capital) if they could not drain the water.
The Corium never burned through enough floors to reach the water compartments, so it was actually fine; but the consequences if it had happened were so disastrous that they had to treat it as certainty. A lot of the containment measures were in that vein - things that *might* happen that they had to prevent, regardless of chance. The Soviets fucked up royally with the RMBK reactors, but they didn't half-ass the cleanup.
Something very similar happened with Fukushima in 2012. The plant was designed to use sea water to cool the reactors which was clever in theory but the unprecedented conditions of a combined earthquake and tsunami caused the water pump Room to flood rendering the pumps useless and flooding the majority of the plant. There were major concerns about radioactive material and possible fallout in the ocean following the explosions of I believe 2 reactors (1&3 if memory serves). I remember watching on the news and thinking how hauntingly similar it felt to footage I'd seen of Chernobyl. I believe Fukushima Daichi (sp?) accounted for 2 of the 5 unintentionally created Corium events? I could be wrong on that, it's a long time since I read about it. But yeah, legitimately terrifying stuff.
@@psychosocial6661 To my knowledge it's only 3 unintentional corium events, unless we're counting units 2 and 3 as separate at Fukishima.
Whats even scarier is that the elephants foot still exists and is still radioactive as shit and a couple year after the initial explosion it began to melt through the floor which just so happened to be above some sort of well or natural water source so they had to construct something under it just to stop it from exploding
@@psychosocial6661 I think it was 5 unintentionally created Corium, but out of all of them. Only one managed to escape the contaiment. And that was at the Chernobyl disaster.
christ just seeing the elephants foot sat there doing nothing, knowing what it is, is horrifying. It's way more scary than any monster sentinal. Just this giant warped block of death.
and still here today, and will be for who knows how long
Its even scarier that we. The player KNOW it.. but the ones we play as... DO NOT KNOW
Nowadays you'll just have to be near it for a couple of hours for it to kill you. Baby steps, Foot.
Scary bug facts: One of the people that went to take photos of Chernobyl took a photo almost touching the elephant and guess what he died 💀
@@ascendedbox612 well isn't it more like a pile of dust now?
The game really makes you realize that the liquidators kind of single-handedly saved humanity, if that entire area were to have been deemed uninhabitable, too many people would have to evacuate, and knowing that a lot of people would have just barely made it, there might have been left over radioactive material stuck on the items they bring, so even if we somehow survived with the low amount of food to go around, more people would have been affected by the radiation
If that's not alot of pressure for somebody, I don't know what is
Anyone evacuated, was forced to leave any possession behind. Houses to this say sit filled with love and memories lost to time, too remote for raiders. If you're lucky a bear might find your house a good place to tempor.
@@MOOGSTINE I have trouble believing a bear would survive that 😔
@@LaGrandeStinker bear with two heads and six legs probably
@@cunkjunk true
@@cunkjunk except that would be called a bebearrr
I dont think he counted as a Liquidator since they were the ones doing stuff next to the actual reactor but my grandmothers brother was one of the people there burying all the technology that was being brought out, computers and stuff - he was in shock himself that they had to bury all this new technology and stuff. Unfortunately his pinkies fused from the radiation but money wise he was set for life after doing that one job - and they still apparently kept paying him up until the point of where he passed away a few years ago.
Everyone involved in the clean up and function is a Liquidator. No matter how small the job, your grandmother’s brother had a part in protecting many from even worse exposure.
He was a hero, as was everyone else.
They still risked their lives into that death trap, so they count as liquidators.