I'll give you a fun bonus: Akhmet's wife is considered an essential NPC and can't be killed. Akhmet can get unlimited hand to hand combat experience by beating his wife in between missions.
There actually is a similar concept in Polish. The phrase "To wszystko pierdolnie" which is used to describe societal collapse, and it literally translates to "It will all fuck up".
The fact that Ahmet derisively calls soldiers "Rambos" despite the fact that he is ex-military, maligned by prejudiced law enforcement and has to use his military experience to fight against overwhelming odds shows the degree of media literacy we are working with.
Here we get into a bit of a cultural gap, so it kind of goes like this. In the ex-USSR John Rambo's image was shaped not by First Blood but First Blood Part 2 and Rambo 3 which made quite an impact because of well... understandable reasons. So Rambo in modern Russia is mainly associated not with PTSD but with an archetype of a one-man army supersoldier who spray shoots a belt-fed machinegun with one hand and embraces a vietnamese chick with another. Rambo is a bit of a common noun for an übermacho and is often used ironically.
@@MrSomebodyStrange Thanks for the lecture Commissar, I always was fascinated with how 80's action films shaped the minds of other countries. I only learned about the first film when I grew older and realize how Hollywood created a cultural narrative for foreigners
As a Pole, I feel a stronger bond with your work than with any other creator on UA-cam, the breath of Slavism in your work is wonderfully powerful. Thank you for being here.
@@Warlockracy and please, tell me, did Dmitry Puchkov have anything to do with the books this game was based on? I noticed a picture of him holding books in your video, and I can feel the slight Planet Alcatraz vibe here.
Absolutely correct. But it's not entirely baseless. Russian liberals discredited themselves so much, when they were in power in 90's. I. Hakamada (in)famously advised workers, who complained that factories closed and they don't have work, to go to the forest and pick mushrooms and berries for to sell. A. Chubays was second most hated man in Russia for decades. Since first most hated man died this year, he moved to the first position.
@@antonlavrentiev5249 Doesn't translate well across the Atlantic. Everywhere else "liberals" are economic liberals but can be socially conservative, in America "liberals" are less economically liberal and the joke hinges on a perceived excess of social progressivism. Basically if Russia is beat by America the liberals will send blacks and gays and do nothing like 90s Russian politicians.
@@WTFisTingispingis Honestly, the slavers probably just came out of hiding once laws stopped applying. Modern day slavery is very much a thing, after all. As for cannibalism... Come on, were you never curious?
"Akhmet realized his friend is about to betray him based on how he parked his vehicle" Damn, you weren't kidding about this being a Mary Sue character. That's some grade A plot power! Not to mention he then figures the spetsnaz guy will try to off him and of course is right about it and one step ahead of them. lol You'd think such a grizzled, experienced, cool and capable character as this would be living a self-sufficient lifestyle out in the wilderness Commando/Solid Snake style, not holed up in a shitty apartment, and trying to turn a city block into some weird, ill-conceived fortress. Also I like how our hero is villainous af and it does not appear to be an intentional attempt at making a morally gray character by the writer. He's just bizarrely written.
@@cdru515 He can't feed himself there. And all the game would be hunted down in a week, there are like 1000 russians per deer at this point. He could find a functioning farm and kill/cooperate with the owners, but then he'd still need to turn it into an ill-conceived fortress so all he accomplishes is a much further trip to the market
"The government had collapsed. No firemen, no police, no food in stores. Electricity shortages. Gang wars. The society was falling apart." Wait, are you talking about a video game, or Eastern Europe in the 90s?
@@Warlockracy one of my first memories from growing up in the 90s Poland is constantly playing in this abandoned hospital in the middle of my neighbourhood, which was just a bunch of grey commie blocks with said abandoned hospital in the middle. The hospital was overrun by heroin addicts, so each time we would go there we'd ask the first junkie we encountered if its okay for us to play here, and they'd always be so nodded our they'd just, well, nod in agreement, and so we'd run around in this ruin with dirty used needles everywhere, jumping over unconscious heroin addicts, drinking stolen beers and smoking cigarettes (at the age of like 7 to 9). I thought nothing of it until I moved to UK and realised, my childhood was basically a western post apocalyptic movie but in real life
I have the same first name as the protagonist and I'm also of the same religion. On top of those, the story sounds like something I'd write back when I was 16, so the entire video had another layer of hilarity for me. Thank you for providing such entertainment uncle Warlock.
Me: This game: LOL! Actually there is an American book reminds me of this. It’s calked The Turner Diaries and yes it’s equally awful. TL;DR: the KKK takes over the world by nuking Israel.
So.... his power fantasy was literally just him being a dick to his neighbors? Like I know he used Americans as an excuse, but like he honestly kicked out and threated his neighbors and took their shit. Like this is the evil Raider option in Fallout.
@@Demicleas Bethesda's brotherhood of steel. Though at this point Brotherhood of Steel can mean like 20 things cause they just like using it for marketing
No, his neighbors decided to rob him of the loot he had collected from bandits over the time, because they had nothing left to eat but didn't do anything about it either until that moment of agitation.
@@ЕвгенийПетров-в5п I mean yes and no. Story wise you are correct, but the writer didn't need to make it so. Its a difference between someone who hates there neighbors and some one who likes them. The writer is doing a weird revenge fantasy where his cruelty to his neighbors is justified. Could easily have made like half shit heads and the other half ones that care about him. It tells you about the person, and honestly feels like a Russian edgy teen story. Which is refreshing knowing that is still a thing no matter were you go.
The part where they forced the homeless man to go into the vault with mines was dark but it was amusing how right after the guy got blown up Ahmet decided to go in and defuse the mines himself. It's like why even bother with the cannon fodder in the first place? lol
IIRC Ahmet calculated that they would set some traps that would be really risky to defuse. But they would not set too many due to possibly having to defuse them themselves later
@@marley7868 I read whole book, when I was young. Ahmet is experienced sapper with decent knowledge about NATO's munitions. He said, that americans could use sophisticaded devices to detect exactly human being (thermal vision, photosensor and another things he doesnt think about).
"The Big Fucking," reminds me of Irish/UK naming conventions. For example, a 30 year gorilla war ending in the 90's, with tens of thousands injured and hundreds killed, they called this period "The Troubles". World War 2 was similarly dubbed, "the Emergency".
I like how Akhmet is married but doesn't seem to think about his wife at all nor even harbours any affection for her as a person and the only times she shows up in the game its because she has bothered him about something and he always prefers that she just goes away as swiftly as possible. I mean, Akhmet shows more concern and affection for his dog than he does his wife! Ehem, to clarify... I don't "like" this but it does seem depressively true to character, you know?
I mean, considering that Akhmet is the embodyment of russian vatnik's power fantasy, that part of his personality feels oddly realistic (aside from all the Gary Stu cringe nonsense) which is kinda depressing
@@Myuutsuu85 Eh, Tatar Muslims are VERY different from Arabic ones. In fact, I think a lot of what people think of as "muslim" culture is just arab culture. I think Russian muslims used to be more traditional but Soviet secularization removed a lot of this. Plus Ahmet isn't a religious nutjob. In short, no, religion isn't a big part of this.
@@Myuutsuu85 nah, I've met russians that are orthodox christians and they still have a lot in common with Ahmed character. That's a very specific mindset which it's not a religious, but more of a cultural thing. Them being ultra conservative reactionaries and ex-military and all that.
You know what I love about your content the absolute most? That I'm getting an education on the aspects of Russian culture that I never would have here in America.
The line about the values of the ethnic is very debatable. The mayor of Moscow is a russian equivalent of aleut, the defence minister is from northern chinese small ethnic group, the most possible next president is caucasian. It is always about money and connections. Always is and always was.
@@komb1nat while it is true that individuals can purchase status within a social hierarchy, the statement about how the majority of people applies to general experiences, not exceptional narratives of individuals who have escaped these boundaries. barack obama was the president of the united states; the average black man kind of isn't
Speaking of black US Troops, there is a black volunteer in Ukraine, an older gentleman. When his picture was posted, a number of Russian telegram channels insisted he was some variety of NATO super soldier. I can personally assure you, black soldiers are not better than the white or hispanic soldiers. No, it's the islanders you need to look out for. For some reason, many of them are fanatical about the US. Also an interesting choice to portray the Americans as arrogant enough to send in a couple squads and a Stryker to subdue a dense urban area when US Doctrine dictates overwhelming force in such a situation.
@@DinoPimp Poorest part of the country having the most military recruits honestly makes sense. It’s also why the US has dragged its heals or outright refused to grant citizenship to people born there. It’s a tantalizing carrot on the end of the recruitment stick b
I would actually like to see it in Badcomedian review (russian Nostalgia Critic). Too bad the "famous" russian actor Aleksander Nevsky leaved RF. He would be perfect in that
What was it Warlock said during his Planet Alcatraz vid? "This is a rare example of bratva art being made because they hate art and basically tricked themselves into making art." Or something along those lines.
@@djobnoxious6407 Nah, that concept couldn't be the same during his relatively lenient times. It was born on Soviet grounds, now Russian, out of sheer brutality. Basically, silovik as we know him was summoned by mass human sacrifices bolsheviks made, particularly Stalin (and what do you know, Puchkov of Planet Alcatraz' fame is a big fan). If you want to know how brutal it could be, I recommend Varlam Shalamov's "Kolyma Tales". A black pill of all black pills, non-fiction. Silovik is mostly Stalin's achievement, he fed the apparatus with millions of bodies to grind through, not exactly giving birth but undprecedentally thickening a fat layer of puffed-up representatives of Federal Penitentiary Service, military, FSB, and everything Ministry of Internal Affairs, empowering them with near-unlimited rights. Silovik is the one who dictates Russian culture of the last 20 years (that's why it's pure hell), silovik is the one even the boldest gopniks won't ever mess with. Every prisoner they guard, fuck, and torture secretly wants to be as merciless and relentlessly manly (and it leaks, oh it leaks on the naton's mentality, getiing soaked in). They are the incapable government's golden crutches, they are a buffer between the powerful and the powerless, so their well-being is defended at all costs. You can't insult them, hell, you can't even look like you're about to hurt their feelings. Suffice to say that Putin, being one and the same with that rotten crowd, kept the feeding processes going. This crowd never went away, they were the true rulers for decades. After being weakened in the 90s, they came back at full force and took over everything. Grasped it tighter than in the USSR, having better tools of mass-delusion. The results of this ignorant, dumb swine feeling extra confident because of their exploits we can all see in the world today.
Honestly if i've gotten a peny everytime that you covered a weird russian game with an author self insert inspired by a book he wrote with stranger racial undertone... well i would have two penny. And that's too much for me. Ps : This game can be the official /pol/ russian edition fanfiction
I always remember Russian games (mostly 1C ones) in the bargain bin part of the Polish games market in the late '00s, sold along with some of the low-effort local products (like City Interactive shooters). They were sold in newsagents, to take advantage of lower VAT on press releases. They mostly cost ~20 PLN, so just a bit more than a cinema ticket or a small pizza. While you were better off getting a budget release of a classic, it was not the worst way to get an expendable game for a few hours' worth of enjoyment - if you could stand the jank. I wondered why their RPG's almost never appeared here, because they were sometimes mentioned by the press. It turns out that what I missed is pure madness, stuff like Stalin Subway, Death to Spies or You Are Empty is not only competent but very tame compared to those games. Are there vatnik FPS, RTS and tactical games? Or - God forbid - vatnik graphic adventures?
There was a RTS franchise named Sudden Strike, particulary a game called Sudden Strike 2 which was widely sucessful at Russian market and had a modding community. At one point Red Ice Software, a Russian game developer bought rights for the games engine and developed a series of true vatnik RTS games about 2008 war in Georgia and hypothetical NATO invasion of Russia in 2015. No idea how they were called in English but in Russian they were Противостояние Принуждение к миру and Противостояние Европа 2015.
YAE is from Ukraine, DTS IIRC has actually good story inspired by actually good WWII books and Stalin Subway has the most original setting i ever saw - 1953 powerplay around Stalin's death. Shame that Stalin Subway 3 never got made, it was going to be set in 60s or 70s and some footage of it exists. >Are there vatnik FPS, RTS and tactical games? Or - God forbid - vatnik graphic adventures? FPS: Instinct, Paragraph 78 and SOBR Warrior. RTS and tactics: Syrian Warfare, Принуждение к миру (a Sudden Strike II mod with shadowy license, there were heaps of them here in the 00s). Graphic adventures - not to my knowledge but there were many really trashy point'n'click adventures, some with corresponding themes. Styrlitz comes to mind. There was even a vatnik mech arcade, 2025: Battle for Fatherland.
Since you mentioned 1C, I've been very interested in this one ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%96%D0%B5%D1%81%D1%82%D1%8C_(%D0%B8%D0%B3%D1%80%D0%B0) It's the Silent Storm engine, but otherwise wholly impenetrable for someone not speaking the language.
I'm kinda fascinated by the surreal quality of the "setting". Like the USA invaded/occupied Russia and apparently decided to just kinda...let it rot instead of doing something with it. And they apparently engineer a plague to destroy western russia, because they want to kill russian and risk it spreading into the rest of Europe for some reason. And also want to clean a little village in the oural and need complexe scheme to make the citizen kill each other instead of like, bombing it. They also only run around with infantry and non-lethal crow control vehicule. It's just...bizzare.
why did you bomb this village?"oh they were forming a violitile raiding state one guy evicted an appartment block by gun point and turned it into his own private fortress" and that's assuming anyone at all actually cared
Defeating Russia then leaving it to rot is probably a reinterpretation of the USA's triumph in the Cold War. Everyone just relives the last big crisis.
I kinda hope at some point you would review one of those Russian popadantsy/isekai/accidental travel books. World needs to know what kind of peril one must go through in order of finding decent sci-fi/fantasy in this country.
@@ЭрикКартман-ч4ю Ah, fellow Rybachenko's fan! But isn't an awful LitRPG stuff more preferrable than a 100 similiar stories of "X against Hitler"? The System came to your world!
@@ЭрикКартман-ч4ю "Bratva I Koltzo" - Agh!, The numbers! I hear the numbers! What do they mean!? Where's Reznov!? Seriously though. That thing existing on top of the movie "translations" is something I really hoped I had forgotten.
Gonna be honest, you deserve way more views. Your content is really unique blend of RPG commentary and Eastern European history and culture explained to Westerners.
@@Alexander_Kaa If the GFA hadn't happened and The Troubles had lasted another decade there'd maybe be weird Northern Ireland sectarianism videogames and mods romanticising groups like the IRA on the republican side or the UDF on the loyalist side. Strange to think our fucked up timeline didn't get all the possible jank.
You're easily becoming one of my favorite UA-camrs (if you're not already). I get excited seeing new releases from you. Even obscure games or "jank games" as you put it are entertaining to watch you play through! Another great vid as always man, keep it up! Also interested to see any shorts you might put out, diversifying content is a good thing imo.
Never played Marauder... but i truly recommend it precedensors : - Brigade E5 (with mod Immortal Badass) - and 7.62: High Calibre (with Mercapocalypse/Give Everybody Guns) Very similar in gameplay. Mercapocalypse mod fixes a lot of game shortcomings and add enormous amount types of guns :D
Even though I knew "The Housewives" was just a translation of some vatnik term, this video kept making me imagine all of our shitty reality TV housewives turned into an elite military force.
You know, that reminded my of Polish joke allegedly back from Polish People Republic days. How to improve living standard in Poland ? Declare war with U.S and surrender.
Another great video, thank you for making them. This game made me think of The Jeffersons meets The Turner Diaries but from a Russian perspective, and that while totally bizarre, is absolutely mesmerizing.
They've forced you to sign a statement that you'll refrain from your sly foreign agent ways? Good on them, we know how it ended last time. In Poland it was a 'declaration of loyalty' (lojalka), some paper you had to sign to be given passport or other benefits. Many signed and later joined opposition movement. How the time's going full circle...
There's just something about, what I can only describe as "propaganda", that's produced nowadays that I find oddly interesting to look at. It's like a morbid curiosity. Stuff like this gives us a brief glimpse of what some people believe about how others think or act.
In my experience, machine-gunners are almost never sentimental about machine guns. At least not if they are ex infantry who had to carry their machine guns while on foot. The extra weight of the gun and the ammo, along with all the cleaning of the weapon involved quickly makes the average machine-gunner fed up and longing for shore leave.
@@Narko-manka That's sad, he was a late joiner to the party, if he was worth his weight he would have had the far superior MG34. But with supplies dwindling only quality infantry were assigned the quality LMG, thanks for sharing about your weak bloodline though.
You’re my favorite UA-camr. Keep it up. Always look forward to your videos and watch them over and over. Love the obscure games and insight into Soviet civil life and explaining alien Russian cultural elements. Big love from Tulsa Oklahoma!
The idea of like a reverse Red Dawn seems very appealing. As an American myself I have no issues seeing us portrayed as the villains in other media (sometimes its very refreshing) too bad the execution here is jank asf.
haha maybe i haven’t seen or read or played enough but i can’t think of anything good i’ve ever consumed that portrays the U.S in a very morally questionable or downright villainous light that also isn’t from the perspective of the U.S itself
I mean the Americans end up looking like the good guys in this game. Like when they invaded they didn't fire a single shot supposedly and when they show up at a city that is objectively a hell hole with massacres happening like once a month they even bothered to bring along a non-lethal weapon. Like they could have just leveled the city with airstrikes but instead they tried to peacefully pacify it. The only objectively bad thing the Americans do in this game is alledgedly engineering a plague but given that it's been proven over and over again that Akhmet is an unreliable narrator there's not really any reason to believe that. Of course the reason why the Americans come off as objectively the best group in this story is because seemingly the author doesn't have any problems with murder, apparantly the author just thinks that it's unfair that the Americans have better tech.
@@hedgehog3180 true but The plage thing probably isnt even american its probably from The state of disrepair that The ex russian state had, that makes more sense that having The americans making a virus only to deploy It in a destroyed country
I can't believe this engine was used for several games that I instantly recognized the character models due to several copious hours of playing 7.62 High Calibre/ Hard Life Mod alongside learning of E5 Brigade. Anyways, thanks for being an absolute gem of insight into RU culture since I have never heard of the Siloviki/Intelligentsia divide and even having the chance to learn about Russian/Ukrainian made games that have an unbelievable amount of charm contrasting their pure jank. Are you planning to cover more games that have used this engine like 7.62HC or will you cover more love letter games to Fallout like Atom RPG?
I see another man of culture, an enoyoooor of 7.62 HC. I'm still waiting for my Russian friends to translate the full HLA mod into English so I can finally play it...been waiting for 10+ years...
I have learner more about Russian and eastern euro culture from this and your other videos than the last 30 years of my life. Honestly, thanks a tonne for demystifying Russia a little.
Thank you for being such a AAA grade slavic cultural media interpreter. You're easily one of the best gaming channels on YT because your work is every bit as educational as it is intriguing and entertaining. Don't let the turkeys get you down and keep it up
Somehow this reminds me of "The Fall: Last days of gaia" or something. A german take on post apocalypse squad roleplaying game. Well. not really a german take since there's little "german" in the game, but developed by germans. Darkseed, a german metal band wrote the OST (or at least some songs). Some of those songs they released on their album. It's janky, but it's fine. Very slow paced, if not boring between locals (big maps with a lot of walking/driving) I'd say check it out, it sounds like something you would enjoy - If you get a copy
The Fall is something I'm keen to check out, the devs also made "Soldiers of Anarchy" another Post-Apocalypse game but an RTS with more of a focus on combat including vehicle combat.
I look forward to seeing you talk more in-depth about New Vegas. It's my favorite video game of all time but the modding community is still very "moddy" as you put it in your Tamriel Rebuilt video, as a result the quality of the actual quest mods and everything leaves a lot to be desired IMO.
Supporting this channel on Pateron is the best investment I've made in 2022. Is that sad? No it's not and you should too probably. Why? Well so Warlockracy can move to a better country (Canada lamo) where police don't "ask politely" that you sign documents that say they wont speak your mind. :) As for this game, it's so totally crazy and I kind of love it. It's so crazy it comes off as parody. I think this game might be real art, and that's super weird considering how absurd it is. Then again Americans have been making "the US gets invaded by Russians" games for like 40 years so it's actually not that strange. When people believe in totally janky easily disproven political theories and then go make art about them it's often looks like a surreal parody to anyone who isn't jank-pilled. The funny thing is all of these types of art are full of commonalities with one another. Like they always see them selves as victims and every one else as utterly hostile, refusing to recognize their humanity in order to widen the separation between the groups. What makes this game interesting is that the main character is part of a real minority group that people are really racist too. Every thing gets really fuzzy with this one which is another reason it's so interesting. A fantastic video, thanks!
UA-cam didn't give me a notif so when this randomly came on I was amazed like "WHAT, WHEN DID THIS POP UP" -- fantastic work as always, always been super curious at Marauder since the broken state of the game made it a bit hard to get into (though after some fixes I may have to give it another shake.)
So when I saw this at the end of your previous review I was super hyped for this. What a neat setup for a game, the Cold War ending not in war but through bribing the Party. And the drawn cutscene bits looked really cool. I figured this would be an interesting political visual novel. I uh, I was rather crestfallen when you explicitly said that wasn't the case near the start of this video! This certainly was not what I expected. Still a very enjoyable view, but yeah I was expecting something like The Last Express.
@5:19 I haven't laughed as much in a long time. Those are literally the exact same words my late grandfather used for my cousin Ahmet during his university graduation ceremony. God bless his soul. :D
Watching you as a Ukrainian is just so much fun) You trying to explain all the fucked up and whacky world view of vatnic's is just gold) Love your video's man.
14:02 IMO you are missing T0 in where you are from graph - Moscow. It always was in its own league even compared to the Russian core of Tver and St. Petersburg and whatever.
@@someguy4512 Not necessarily. Muslims in former Russian empire were very secularized even pre USSR, especially in european part of the Russian empire For example, during 1917 All-Muslim Congress from ~900 deputees, around 100 were women, and the question of equality between men and women, and women rights were important topics of discusion.
@@Poctyk nah false Russian Empire literally massacered Muslims in Caucasus and forced them to be that way. "For example, during 1917 All-Muslim Congress from ~900 deputees, around 100 were women" ???? how the hell is that secular? Islam isnt against women Lmfao literally among first universities in arab world in Fes was made by a Woman. "and the question of equality between men and women, and women rights were important topics of discusion." you speak as if Islam doesnt provide that what the hell.
hey warlockracy, just came here to comment that you're one of my favorite youtubers, love everything you've done and have been watching since the beginning, keep covering these bizzare games its amazing
What gets me the most about this type of Russian jingoism is that even in 2004-2005 there was never a serious reason to fear "Russia being sold out to the West". There was never a real "liberal turn" - even Yeltsin had plenty of warmongering and authoritarian moments (such as literally appointing a successor rather than having one elected).
Liberalism is mostly right-wing bullshit man. Even in Western liberal-democracies, liberal parties usually are closer to NSDAP than any kind of social-democracy behind closed doors. You havent lived until you hear liberals start with "racial realism"
Or when russia invaded in 2008 The state of Georgia Because they wanted to join The EU and NATO or when they made two chechen wars to destroy this minority
Another great video. Its legit fascinating to learn about all that deep Russian lore conveyed through the lens of janky crackpot games. I can't wait for the Fallout Frontier video. That mod is just something else, even without getting into drama dumpster fire that followed its release.
Thank you for your efforts, man. Well, unfortunately in these trying times we have to live our lives being surrounded by people, whose role model is Ahmet, and who have never ever talked to a foreigner in their entire lives. And yes, The Frontier is absolutely bonkers from what I know, and I’m most eager to see the definitive review. Keep up the good work and stay safe!✊🏻
Frontier is also used by overhyped morons who are waiting for that game back in 2017-2021 as a bullet to spite Bethesda made Fallout titles. Little they know that these guys who made that mod are unironically Bethedrones themselves
Author makes for explaining russian and slavic culture more than whole ministry of culture in Russian government. Thank you for this, we'll need it after this trouble times will be over.
The fact that the author and game maker think they can predict Americans, when we Americans cannot predict Americans, shows that these lads have never been around Americans. To simulate this feeling, ask yourself why something is wrong, and either answer you don't know, or insist it isn't a problem, and you got us down pat.
that is unironically our battle stratedgy to paraphase a soviet "americans are infuriating to predict as there battle doctrine is to disregard the battle doctrine if you feel like it"
I can't explain how satisfying the fighting gameplay is here. It's like a combination between the Classic Fallouts and New Gen Fallouts but also with the Superhot time stopping thing. Now I want to play the game, but I don't speak Russian nor Tatar so...
If you're really curious, the Steam version has an English translation. (There's also Brigade E5 and 7.62mm on the same engine, basically real time Jagged Alliance)
@@Warlockracy It's one of those "Understandable but not exactly good" translations, I guess akin to Cuban Missile Crisis, where it's not unintelligable but the dialogue is clearly translated from not english. Still it is mostly understandable for an english player.
I have had this game 10 years and could not for the life of me get past the jank in the first couple levels. So safe to say I am so thankful you made it through the game thank you for your dedication!
Use cheats. The game is too bugged to finish. All the games 1C made are impossible to enjoy playing. I am unlucky and played only those as they're cheaper than many other pirated games in the store :D
Amazing to see you brought this one up. I actually played this one waaaay back. And it's funny because a few videos ago I suggested you do a retrospect dive into 7.62 High Calibre, still my favourite tactical merc sim besides JA2 and I think it uses the same engine as Marauder. Cool video again, love it!
hey man i love the content! keep it up! put your vids in the back while im cutting up onions (making food) so i cry everytime i see a eurojank mechanic in an obscure forgotten game your playing lol
This is one of those games that's been sitting on my shelf for so long but I never actually had the balls to try and play it. I do wonder if we're ever going to see you do a 7.62 High Calibre or Brigade E5 video. That would be pretty amazing.
I still find it weird that old owner of JA IP messed up with Apeiron since they made best Jagged Alliance games since JA2 - worth playing (with unofficial patches) despite the jank
They should have named this game Mankurt instead of Marauder. I mean this guy's a Tatar and he has a chance to avenge the 1992 Tatarstan Independence Referendum that was arbitrarily cancelled by Moscow, but instead he decides to beef with the Americans, who would probably be more than happy to recognize some kind of resurrected Idel-Ural Union state.* *In the game world, at least. In real life, State Department slugs would s**t themselves at the prospect of any part of the russian federation breaking off.
Its Not Every Day That Muh Local Tribal Confederation Works Duh The Federation Is The Only Exiestance That Makes The European States Under The Thumb Of The States It Will Be Really Bad If They Ever Fell Since The Subjects Might Try To Ask To Many Questions
I'll be doing shorts (mini-reviews of weird games that don't deserve a real video, comment responses, jokes etc). Do not be afraid of shorts.
Legit the only shorts I've ever found enjoyable, doing great work!
Dad, I'm scared... the shorts are coming...
Any chance of ever seeing a review of King of Dragon Pass or Six Ages?
I'll watch them whenever I see them come up.
I hate shorts
I'll give you a fun bonus: Akhmet's wife is considered an essential NPC and can't be killed. Akhmet can get unlimited hand to hand combat experience by beating his wife in between missions.
oh no so they've just been powerleveling
based
That's how Akhmet has become so powerful warrior
based beyond belief
Avarage russian be like
"The Big Fucking" Is without a doubt my favorite term for societal collapse.
There actually is a similar concept in Polish. The phrase "To wszystko pierdolnie" which is used to describe societal collapse, and it literally translates to "It will all fuck up".
Has similar energy to "the great fuck-up"
@@cienkitv2854 like "La gran cagada"
"The Great Fuckening"
@@cienkitv2854 Kinda like the North American "Shit hits the fan"
These videos on untranslateable Russian games with cultural context are my new favorite thing. Work was terrible, but this made my day.
It's on Steam. The translation..... could be better, but it's playable enough to get through.
The translation is aweful in reality but is so comedic I would reccomend it to anybody.
>he still won't shut up about the Arcanum suit
Getting the point of view of a 30ish slavic man on obscure eastern games and the political history behind them is invaluable to me.
HE is Slavic?
@@МаксимАсеев1 откуда он?
@@АндрейНеугодников-м6е Он сам говорил что живёт в Москве, плюс это заметно по публичным полит взглядам автора.
@@АндрейНеугодников-м6е Some speculation on my part, but he pinned it so maybe im right? lol
I'm a mix of 3 or 4 different Slav tribes, I'm Kwisatz Haderach of Slavs
"Ahmet can't figure out how to shoot an RPG - The fakest muslim"
CHRIST THAT GOT ME
...
yeah that was in poor taste I was genuinely surprised warlockracy said that
@@birdfromirl8467 It was good taste
Oh, come on.
If Muslim viewers find this sort of stuff distasteful, I apologize.
The fact that Ahmet derisively calls soldiers "Rambos" despite the fact that he is ex-military, maligned by prejudiced law enforcement and has to use his military experience to fight against overwhelming odds shows the degree of media literacy we are working with.
And with no guns either. Just reenacting a non lethal version of the most dangerous game
Here we get into a bit of a cultural gap, so it kind of goes like this. In the ex-USSR John Rambo's image was shaped not by First Blood but First Blood Part 2 and Rambo 3 which made quite an impact because of well... understandable reasons. So Rambo in modern Russia is mainly associated not with PTSD but with an archetype of a one-man army supersoldier who spray shoots a belt-fed machinegun with one hand and embraces a vietnamese chick with another. Rambo is a bit of a common noun for an übermacho and is often used ironically.
@@MrSomebodyStrange Thanks for the lecture Commissar, I always was fascinated with how 80's action films shaped the minds of other countries. I only learned about the first film when I grew older and realize how Hollywood created a cultural narrative for foreigners
@@MrSomebodyStrange interesting but still maybe don't rocks in that direction given how close akhmed is to being a rambo ripoff in this game
Well, it's only 1 film. In 2,3,4, films he is a member of US army, so Akhmet is right
As a Pole, I feel a stronger bond with your work than with any other creator on UA-cam, the breath of Slavism in your work is wonderfully powerful. Thank you for being here.
Hell yeah
@@Warlockracy and please, tell me, did Dmitry Puchkov have anything to do with the books this game was based on? I noticed a picture of him holding books in your video, and I can feel the slight Planet Alcatraz vibe here.
He was the one who "discovered" the author, but he didn't write them.
@@Warlockracy thank you very much, have a nice, cozy saturday evening, Warlock.
Slavism, russian narodism
This is the most "this is future the liberals want" from ru nationalist POV game i've ever seen
Absolutely correct. But it's not entirely baseless. Russian liberals discredited themselves so much, when they were in power in 90's. I. Hakamada (in)famously advised workers, who complained that factories closed and they don't have work, to go to the forest and pick mushrooms and berries for to sell. A. Chubays was second most hated man in Russia for decades. Since first most hated man died this year, he moved to the first position.
insanely based and fascinating
@@antonlavrentiev5249 Doesn't translate well across the Atlantic. Everywhere else "liberals" are economic liberals but can be socially conservative, in America "liberals" are less economically liberal and the joke hinges on a perceived excess of social progressivism. Basically if Russia is beat by America the liberals will send blacks and gays and do nothing like 90s Russian politicians.
Blind nationalism cultivates such fascinating narratives.
the author of this better have that sick tatoo of nicky and stalin. fucking wild
>A good country collapsed that started an apocalypse
>Cannibals
>Slavers
>Caravans
>Gang wars
>Game made by a russian
Sounds like modern era Kenshi
What the hell happened to cause slavers and cannibals that fast?
@@WTFisTingispingisVodka was bad
@@WTFisTingispingis Honestly, the slavers probably just came out of hiding once laws stopped applying. Modern day slavery is very much a thing, after all.
As for cannibalism... Come on, were you never curious?
@@toolatetothestory and probably The slavers where russian army personnel remnants Because they had camuflage uniforms
"good country"
HUUUH??
"Akhmet realized his friend is about to betray him based on how he parked his vehicle"
Damn, you weren't kidding about this being a Mary Sue character. That's some grade A plot power! Not to mention he then figures the spetsnaz guy will try to off him and of course is right about it and one step ahead of them. lol
You'd think such a grizzled, experienced, cool and capable character as this would be living a self-sufficient lifestyle out in the wilderness Commando/Solid Snake style, not holed up in a shitty apartment, and trying to turn a city block into some weird, ill-conceived fortress. Also I like how our hero is villainous af and it does not appear to be an intentional attempt at making a morally gray character by the writer. He's just bizarrely written.
@@cdru515 He can't feed himself there. And all the game would be hunted down in a week, there are like 1000 russians per deer at this point. He could find a functioning farm and kill/cooperate with the owners, but then he'd still need to turn it into an ill-conceived fortress so all he accomplishes is a much further trip to the market
Akhmet sounds like he has schizophrenia.
@@danshabash Forgetting most Russians wouldn't have Akhmet's sick survival skills.
You dont survive russian winter in the wild
@@Max-ke3ty Most don't, but enough do to where its stupid to try and survive in the forest. There's simply nothing to eat
"The government had collapsed. No firemen, no police, no food in stores. Electricity shortages. Gang wars. The society was falling apart."
Wait, are you talking about a video game, or Eastern Europe in the 90s?
Yes.
It's basically a more dramatic version of the 90s, yes
@@Warlockracy one of my first memories from growing up in the 90s Poland is constantly playing in this abandoned hospital in the middle of my neighbourhood, which was just a bunch of grey commie blocks with said abandoned hospital in the middle. The hospital was overrun by heroin addicts, so each time we would go there we'd ask the first junkie we encountered if its okay for us to play here, and they'd always be so nodded our they'd just, well, nod in agreement, and so we'd run around in this ruin with dirty used needles everywhere, jumping over unconscious heroin addicts, drinking stolen beers and smoking cigarettes (at the age of like 7 to 9).
I thought nothing of it until I moved to UK and realised, my childhood was basically a western post apocalyptic movie but in real life
California 2023.
@@LarryKingUndead The Bay Area is already like this.
I have the same first name as the protagonist and I'm also of the same religion. On top of those, the story sounds like something I'd write back when I was 16, so the entire video had another layer of hilarity for me. Thank you for providing such entertainment uncle Warlock.
Me:
This game: LOL!
Actually there is an American book reminds me of this. It’s calked The Turner Diaries and yes it’s equally awful. TL;DR: the KKK takes over the world by nuking Israel.
Tatarlardan -rusyaya en fazla entegre olan hristiyan olamayan grup olabilir- bı tarz bir eser görmek ilginç aslında.
@@Mortablunt Dod you miss whole "Russia's doing warcrimes" lately?
@@Mortablunt Where tf do the turner diaries come in bruh
@@Mortablunt I was also reminded of The Turner Diaries. That shit is vile.
So.... his power fantasy was literally just him being a dick to his neighbors? Like I know he used Americans as an excuse, but like he honestly kicked out and threated his neighbors and took their shit.
Like this is the evil Raider option in Fallout.
fucking owe neigbours is russian tradition, just look what they did to poles, ukrainans, fins, czechs etc
He's bassicly a brotherhood of steel member.
@@Demicleas Bethesda's brotherhood of steel. Though at this point Brotherhood of Steel can mean like 20 things cause they just like using it for marketing
No, his neighbors decided to rob him of the loot he had collected from bandits over the time, because they had nothing left to eat but didn't do anything about it either until that moment of agitation.
@@ЕвгенийПетров-в5п I mean yes and no.
Story wise you are correct, but the writer didn't need to make it so.
Its a difference between someone who hates there neighbors and some one who likes them.
The writer is doing a weird revenge fantasy where his cruelty to his neighbors is justified. Could easily have made like half shit heads and the other half ones that care about him.
It tells you about the person, and honestly feels like a Russian edgy teen story. Which is refreshing knowing that is still a thing no matter were you go.
Can it really be described as post apocylpitic when the scenery just looks like a standard provincial Russian town
Well, it is where local apocalypse truly happened
There are areas of Ozersk that look like Fallout 1
The part where they forced the homeless man to go into the vault with mines was dark but it was amusing how right after the guy got blown up Ahmet decided to go in and defuse the mines himself. It's like why even bother with the cannon fodder in the first place? lol
IIRC Ahmet calculated that they would set some traps that would be really risky to defuse. But they would not set too many due to possibly having to defuse them themselves later
I think it was a creepy attempt at making Akhmet seem cool.
defusing mines with homeless is obviously brutal but also very realistic. the game felt very cartoony, but that moment was dark
Shades of Khmer Rogue, there.
Not very uh patriotic if this is what you're fighting for.
@@tomorbataar5922 especially when bricks exist I don't really see why you should use humans when yunno bricks are pretty plentiful
@@atomicspartan131 it's a concrete bunker filled with claymores not mines
@@marley7868 I read whole book, when I was young. Ahmet is experienced sapper with decent knowledge about NATO's munitions. He said, that americans could use sophisticaded devices to detect exactly human being (thermal vision, photosensor and another things he doesnt think about).
"The Big Fucking," reminds me of Irish/UK naming conventions. For example, a 30 year gorilla war ending in the 90's, with tens of thousands injured and hundreds killed, they called this period "The Troubles".
World War 2 was similarly dubbed, "the Emergency".
Did the british defeat the gorillas?
@@misterpotato427don't think they did
I like how Akhmet is married but doesn't seem to think about his wife at all nor even harbours any affection for her as a person and the only times she shows up in the game its because she has bothered him about something and he always prefers that she just goes away as swiftly as possible. I mean, Akhmet shows more concern and affection for his dog than he does his wife!
Ehem, to clarify... I don't "like" this but it does seem depressively true to character, you know?
Think he treats his wife like a car. Necessary, good, but not more important than himself
I mean, considering that Akhmet is the embodyment of russian vatnik's power fantasy, that part of his personality feels oddly realistic (aside from all the Gary Stu cringe nonsense) which is kinda depressing
And no one thinks him being musslim is in any form related to this?
@@Myuutsuu85 Eh, Tatar Muslims are VERY different from Arabic ones. In fact, I think a lot of what people think of as "muslim" culture is just arab culture.
I think Russian muslims used to be more traditional but Soviet secularization removed a lot of this. Plus Ahmet isn't a religious nutjob. In short, no, religion isn't a big part of this.
@@Myuutsuu85 nah, I've met russians that are orthodox christians and they still have a lot in common with Ahmed character. That's a very specific mindset which it's not a religious, but more of a cultural thing. Them being ultra conservative reactionaries and ex-military and all that.
You know what I love about your content the absolute most?
That I'm getting an education on the aspects of Russian culture that I never would have here in America.
not from america but it's the same for me,
I came for obscure rpgs title but stayed for the rich anecdotes on eastern cultures and history
russian? yes. culture? I'd say that's debatable. Unless you count wish-fulfilment wet dreams as a part of culture.
The line about the values of the ethnic is very debatable. The mayor of Moscow is a russian equivalent of aleut, the defence minister is from northern chinese small ethnic group, the most possible next president is caucasian.
It is always about money and connections. Always is and always was.
@@komb1nat ah yes, the "good russian" trying to distance from "russians"
@@komb1nat while it is true that individuals can purchase status within a social hierarchy, the statement about how the majority of people applies to general experiences, not exceptional narratives of individuals who have escaped these boundaries. barack obama was the president of the united states; the average black man kind of isn't
Speaking of black US Troops, there is a black volunteer in Ukraine, an older gentleman. When his picture was posted, a number of Russian telegram channels insisted he was some variety of NATO super soldier. I can personally assure you, black soldiers are not better than the white or hispanic soldiers. No, it's the islanders you need to look out for. For some reason, many of them are fanatical about the US.
Also an interesting choice to portray the Americans as arrogant enough to send in a couple squads and a Stryker to subdue a dense urban area when US Doctrine dictates overwhelming force in such a situation.
@@cdru515 where is the lie?
American Samoa has the highest military recruitment rate per capita than anywhere else in the US.
Weird that Russia would use skin colour as proof of something since their own Wagner group has a lot of mercs from african countries in Ukraine.
@@DinoPimp Poorest part of the country having the most military recruits honestly makes sense. It’s also why the US has dragged its heals or outright refused to grant citizenship to people born there. It’s a tantalizing carrot on the end of the recruitment stick b
They could vote for stateship at any time they just dont because they prefer the benefits of being territories instead
Babe wake up it's time for another hour-long Warlockracy video about a Russian game I've never heard of before
Later this will be turned into a Russian state sponsored movie.
Starring Steven Seagal.
I would actually like to see it in Badcomedian review (russian Nostalgia Critic). Too bad the "famous" russian actor Aleksander Nevsky leaved RF. He would be perfect in that
Love it when you cover games I hadn't heard of before and Stalker games.
It is amzing how a niche gaming channel can convey and inform about the "russian soul".
And people say games are not art and a waste of time 😂
What was it Warlock said during his Planet Alcatraz vid? "This is a rare example of bratva art being made because they hate art and basically tricked themselves into making art."
Or something along those lines.
@@TheAdmantArchvile He accurately called it "Silovik Art". Almost too accurately.
Fuck, didn’t Dostoievski coin that concept? Can you explain it to me?
@@djobnoxious6407 Nah, that concept couldn't be the same during his relatively lenient times. It was born on Soviet grounds, now Russian, out of sheer brutality. Basically, silovik as we know him was summoned by mass human sacrifices bolsheviks made, particularly Stalin (and what do you know, Puchkov of Planet Alcatraz' fame is a big fan). If you want to know how brutal it could be, I recommend Varlam Shalamov's "Kolyma Tales". A black pill of all black pills, non-fiction. Silovik is mostly Stalin's achievement, he fed the apparatus with millions of bodies to grind through, not exactly giving birth but undprecedentally thickening a fat layer of puffed-up representatives of Federal Penitentiary Service, military, FSB, and everything Ministry of Internal Affairs, empowering them with near-unlimited rights. Silovik is the one who dictates Russian culture of the last 20 years (that's why it's pure hell), silovik is the one even the boldest gopniks won't ever mess with.
Every prisoner they guard, fuck, and torture secretly wants to be as merciless and relentlessly manly (and it leaks, oh it leaks on the naton's mentality, getiing soaked in). They are the incapable government's golden crutches, they are a buffer between the powerful and the powerless, so their well-being is defended at all costs. You can't insult them, hell, you can't even look like you're about to hurt their feelings. Suffice to say that Putin, being one and the same with that rotten crowd, kept the feeding processes going. This crowd never went away, they were the true rulers for decades. After being weakened in the 90s, they came back at full force and took over everything. Grasped it tighter than in the USSR, having better tools of mass-delusion. The results of this ignorant, dumb swine feeling extra confident because of their exploits we can all see in the world today.
@@TheAdmantArchvile That's funny.
I love thse distinctly Slavic games, completly cut off to me by language and cultural barriers.
It's a Tatar game!!!
@@Warlockracy My mistake, and definitive proof of how much I stand to learn!
Honestly if i've gotten a peny everytime that you covered a weird russian game with an author self insert inspired by a book he wrote with stranger racial undertone... well i would have two penny. And that's too much for me.
Ps : This game can be the official /pol/ russian edition fanfiction
/pol/ Russian edition is just regular /pol/. That place is troll farm central.
@@Пальцерезка Comming from my own version of /pol/ it kind of is
@@Пальцерезка pls go back to /pol/, bot
Wait til you see /k/. Opposite problem. Ukr bots shit it up with muh ukr war shit.
@@RainbowRenegadewhat did “user” say?
I love this game in a sick silent sadistic way. Much like when the neighbors throw rocks that stun me for 30 minutes
"de-kulakization procedure" killed me
De-fisting, lol
It basically had the same meaning as it did back then, an excuse to murder and steal.
I always remember Russian games (mostly 1C ones) in the bargain bin part of the Polish games market in the late '00s, sold along with some of the low-effort local products (like City Interactive shooters). They were sold in newsagents, to take advantage of lower VAT on press releases. They mostly cost ~20 PLN, so just a bit more than a cinema ticket or a small pizza. While you were better off getting a budget release of a classic, it was not the worst way to get an expendable game for a few hours' worth of enjoyment - if you could stand the jank. I wondered why their RPG's almost never appeared here, because they were sometimes mentioned by the press.
It turns out that what I missed is pure madness, stuff like Stalin Subway, Death to Spies or You Are Empty is not only competent but very tame compared to those games. Are there vatnik FPS, RTS and tactical games? Or - God forbid - vatnik graphic adventures?
You can call "Syrian Warfare" a vatnik RTS in some way.
There was a RTS franchise named Sudden Strike, particulary a game called Sudden Strike 2 which was widely sucessful at Russian market and had a modding community. At one point Red Ice Software, a Russian game developer bought rights for the games engine and developed a series of true vatnik RTS games about 2008 war in Georgia and hypothetical NATO invasion of Russia in 2015. No idea how they were called in English but in Russian they were Противостояние Принуждение к миру and Противостояние Европа 2015.
YAE is from Ukraine, DTS IIRC has actually good story inspired by actually good WWII books and Stalin Subway has the most original setting i ever saw - 1953 powerplay around Stalin's death. Shame that Stalin Subway 3 never got made, it was going to be set in 60s or 70s and some footage of it exists.
>Are there vatnik FPS, RTS and tactical games? Or - God forbid - vatnik graphic adventures?
FPS: Instinct, Paragraph 78 and SOBR Warrior. RTS and tactics: Syrian Warfare, Принуждение к миру (a Sudden Strike II mod with shadowy license, there were heaps of them here in the 00s). Graphic adventures - not to my knowledge but there were many really trashy point'n'click adventures, some with corresponding themes. Styrlitz comes to mind. There was even a vatnik mech arcade, 2025: Battle for Fatherland.
Since you mentioned 1C, I've been very interested in this one ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%96%D0%B5%D1%81%D1%82%D1%8C_(%D0%B8%D0%B3%D1%80%D0%B0) It's the Silent Storm engine, but otherwise wholly impenetrable for someone not speaking the language.
I remember about games from the east being a gamble thanks to StarForce DRM which can work like a virus, no joke
I'm kinda fascinated by the surreal quality of the "setting". Like the USA invaded/occupied Russia and apparently decided to just kinda...let it rot instead of doing something with it. And they apparently engineer a plague to destroy western russia, because they want to kill russian and risk it spreading into the rest of Europe for some reason. And also want to clean a little village in the oural and need complexe scheme to make the citizen kill each other instead of like, bombing it. They also only run around with infantry and non-lethal crow control vehicule. It's just...bizzare.
why did you bomb this village?"oh they were forming a violitile raiding state one guy evicted an appartment block by gun point and turned it into his own private fortress"
and that's assuming anyone at all actually cared
The U.S. invaded iraq irl and let it rot afterwards. Get your head out of your ass.
Defeating Russia then leaving it to rot is probably a reinterpretation of the USA's triumph in the Cold War. Everyone just relives the last big crisis.
They realised that there was little of value there.
Most of the important Russians are located on the western side. There's literally nothing valuable on the eastern side.
I kinda hope at some point you would review one of those Russian popadantsy/isekai/accidental travel books. World needs to know what kind of peril one must go through in order of finding decent sci-fi/fantasy in this country.
I vote for Bee-isekai.
@@ЭрикКартман-ч4ю Ah, fellow Rybachenko's fan! But isn't an awful LitRPG stuff more preferrable than a 100 similiar stories of "X against Hitler"?
The System came to your world!
@@СергейМалышев-ю8щ это в любом случае перспектива на очень далекое будущее. Ему пока есть что обозревать. Та же братва и кольцо как-минимум.
@@ЭрикКартман-ч4ю помню был обзор бэбэя в английском на братву и кольцо
@@ЭрикКартман-ч4ю "Bratva I Koltzo" - Agh!, The numbers! I hear the numbers! What do they mean!? Where's Reznov!?
Seriously though. That thing existing on top of the movie "translations" is something I really hoped I had forgotten.
This truly is the Dantes Inferno of Russian Isekai-style Novels! I cannot wait for the next entry in Russian fringe politik exposes inbetween gameplay
I love these vatnik RPG videos, it's like looking into the mind of an alien
Gonna be honest, you deserve way more views. Your content is really unique blend of RPG commentary and Eastern European history and culture explained to Westerners.
Am I.... Am I partly responsible for this? Haven't had the time to watch the full review but I hope you didn't suffer much
Definitely getting my semințe (sunflower seeds) out for this one
Yes u r and it turned out to be not as bad as Planet Alcatraz
@@Warlockracy well that's just weird
@@Warlockracy Planet Alcatraz, lmao.
Semechki*
Commentator gave me an education on Russian slurs and rated the character on an ethnic hierarchy 11/10 review
I can assure you many cities in the Uk look like this though the 90s, similar levels of decay.
Well, Northern Ireland even had civil war around these times
@@Alexander_Kaa If the GFA hadn't happened and The Troubles had lasted another decade there'd maybe be weird Northern Ireland sectarianism videogames and mods romanticising groups like the IRA on the republican side or the UDF on the loyalist side.
Strange to think our fucked up timeline didn't get all the possible jank.
@@afivey there is no games or movies with IRA as protagonists? Thought there has to be something like that
@@Alexander_Kaa theres that one episode of captain planet lol
Thatcher moment
You're easily becoming one of my favorite UA-camrs (if you're not already). I get excited seeing new releases from you. Even obscure games or "jank games" as you put it are entertaining to watch you play through! Another great vid as always man, keep it up! Also interested to see any shorts you might put out, diversifying content is a good thing imo.
Never played Marauder...
but i truly recommend it precedensors :
- Brigade E5 (with mod Immortal Badass)
- and 7.62: High Calibre (with Mercapocalypse/Give Everybody Guns)
Very similar in gameplay. Mercapocalypse mod fixes a lot of game shortcomings and add enormous amount types of guns :D
and the mod 7.62 hard life just to suffer.
Even though I knew "The Housewives" was just a translation of some vatnik term, this video kept making me imagine all of our shitty reality TV housewives turned into an elite military force.
I'm not sure if the term "housewife" is a correct translation, tbf. Probably the word "owner" (as female property owner) would be more suitable.
as a Yank that is a hoot to picture. good joke
The original word is a feminine version of the word "master."
@@Warlockracy Mistress? It's been degraded a lot to basically mean something else, but I'm pretty sure that would be the feminine version of master.
I don't like mistress because the name is supposed to be ironic/mocking.
The Goblin zoom out scene got me laughing way more than it should
What? Was I checking my phone when that scene happened? Can you give a timestamp?
@@EdShear_em 17:52 Dmitry Yuryevich Puchkov - his nickname is Goblin an he's like translator movie duber guy in Russia
That made me vomit in my mouth a little, but that's okay.
I love Goblin as much as I love myself. :333
@@nachalnik5738 if by "good" you mean "not a Z-fascist" then yeah, not terrible
You know, that reminded my of Polish joke allegedly back from Polish People Republic days.
How to improve living standard in Poland ?
Declare war with U.S and surrender.
Another great video, thank you for making them. This game made me think of The Jeffersons meets The Turner Diaries but from a Russian perspective, and that while totally bizarre, is absolutely mesmerizing.
What is the Jeffersons?
They've forced you to sign a statement that you'll refrain from your sly foreign agent ways? Good on them, we know how it ended last time. In Poland it was a 'declaration of loyalty' (lojalka), some paper you had to sign to be given passport or other benefits. Many signed and later joined opposition movement. How the time's going full circle...
There's just something about, what I can only describe as "propaganda", that's produced nowadays that I find oddly interesting to look at. It's like a morbid curiosity. Stuff like this gives us a brief glimpse of what some people believe about how others think or act.
In my experience, machine-gunners are almost never sentimental about machine guns. At least not if they are ex infantry who had to carry their machine guns while on foot.
The extra weight of the gun and the ammo, along with all the cleaning of the weapon involved quickly makes the average machine-gunner fed up and longing for shore leave.
My WWII grandfather hated the BAR, exactly for that reason.
@@_..--My grandfather remembered his MG42 fondly, and I really enjoyed the MG3
@@Narko-manka That's sad, he was a late joiner to the party, if he was worth his weight he would have had the far superior MG34. But with supplies dwindling only quality infantry were assigned the quality LMG, thanks for sharing about your weak bloodline though.
@@_..--"weak" says the side who lost 12 ships fighting an empty island.
@@sunshineskystar just wait till you see who lost everything 😉
You’re my favorite UA-camr. Keep it up. Always look forward to your videos and watch them over and over. Love the obscure games and insight into Soviet civil life and explaining alien Russian cultural elements. Big love from Tulsa Oklahoma!
"Conscripts who look like they haven't eaten in weeks"
-So, uh, accurate? :P
The idea of like a reverse Red Dawn seems very appealing. As an American myself I have no issues seeing us portrayed as the villains in other media (sometimes its very refreshing) too bad the execution here is jank asf.
It perfectly reflects the level of quality of such genre in Russia. Very low level cash grab on some kind of a post-soviet power fantasy
It doesn't help that Akhmet is a monumentally terrible person.
haha maybe i haven’t seen or read or played enough but i can’t think of anything good i’ve ever consumed that portrays the U.S in a very morally questionable or downright villainous light that also isn’t from the perspective of the U.S itself
I mean the Americans end up looking like the good guys in this game. Like when they invaded they didn't fire a single shot supposedly and when they show up at a city that is objectively a hell hole with massacres happening like once a month they even bothered to bring along a non-lethal weapon. Like they could have just leveled the city with airstrikes but instead they tried to peacefully pacify it. The only objectively bad thing the Americans do in this game is alledgedly engineering a plague but given that it's been proven over and over again that Akhmet is an unreliable narrator there's not really any reason to believe that.
Of course the reason why the Americans come off as objectively the best group in this story is because seemingly the author doesn't have any problems with murder, apparantly the author just thinks that it's unfair that the Americans have better tech.
@@hedgehog3180 true but The plage thing probably isnt even american its probably from The state of disrepair that The ex russian state had, that makes more sense that having The americans making a virus only to deploy It in a destroyed country
Normal viewers: Oh boy a new game covered by Warlock.
Me: Oh boy, another video to learn about history.
Me: Both is good
@UCwVBL6lsNFJ415_9315PwTg Nah, I rather listen to this guy over there.
I can't believe this engine was used for several games that I instantly recognized the character models due to several copious hours of playing 7.62 High Calibre/ Hard Life Mod alongside learning of E5 Brigade. Anyways, thanks for being an absolute gem of insight into RU culture since I have never heard of the Siloviki/Intelligentsia divide and even having the chance to learn about Russian/Ukrainian made games that have an unbelievable amount of charm contrasting their pure jank. Are you planning to cover more games that have used this engine like 7.62HC or will you cover more love letter games to Fallout like Atom RPG?
Yesss
I see another man of culture, an enoyoooor of 7.62 HC. I'm still waiting for my Russian friends to translate the full HLA mod into English so I can finally play it...been waiting for 10+ years...
Seeth Tzeentach played the game in one of his rare streams
i realized that when i heard the 'enemy detected" sound at 3:44
The amount of Russia specific references is incredibly high. I fear a lot is lost on English speakers
It’s lost even on us foreigners who learned Russian.
The weird russian lore is truly deep in this one.
I have learner more about Russian and eastern euro culture from this and your other videos than the last 30 years of my life. Honestly, thanks a tonne for demystifying Russia a little.
I remember reading this game's LP back about a decade ago. The extra cultural narrative is welcome. Context is important after all.
Thank you for being such a AAA grade slavic cultural media interpreter. You're easily one of the best gaming channels on YT because your work is every bit as educational as it is intriguing and entertaining. Don't let the turkeys get you down and keep it up
the sudden VTM LaCroix statement annihilated me, excellent video and incredibly insightful. Always love your work.
I love how you weave together references from other videos. Never stop expanding the cinematic universe!
Lmaooo you can’t make this shit up.
As always, I appreciate your taking the time to do these videos. They’re amazing.
Somehow this reminds me of "The Fall: Last days of gaia" or something. A german take on post apocalypse squad roleplaying game. Well. not really a german take since there's little "german" in the game, but developed by germans. Darkseed, a german metal band wrote the OST (or at least some songs). Some of those songs they released on their album.
It's janky, but it's fine. Very slow paced, if not boring between locals (big maps with a lot of walking/driving)
I'd say check it out, it sounds like something you would enjoy - If you get a copy
The Fall is something I'm keen to check out, the devs also made "Soldiers of Anarchy" another Post-Apocalypse game but an RTS with more of a focus on combat including vehicle combat.
I look forward to seeing you talk more in-depth about New Vegas. It's my favorite video game of all time but the modding community is still very "moddy" as you put it in your Tamriel Rebuilt video, as a result the quality of the actual quest mods and everything leaves a lot to be desired IMO.
When you showed that passport I laughed so hard.I didnt expect my country's passport to be shown. I wonder if its a random choice.
Supporting this channel on Pateron is the best investment I've made in 2022. Is that sad? No it's not and you should too probably. Why? Well so Warlockracy can move to a better country (Canada lamo) where police don't "ask politely" that you sign documents that say they wont speak your mind. :)
As for this game, it's so totally crazy and I kind of love it. It's so crazy it comes off as parody. I think this game might be real art, and that's super weird considering how absurd it is. Then again Americans have been making "the US gets invaded by Russians" games for like 40 years so it's actually not that strange.
When people believe in totally janky easily disproven political theories and then go make art about them it's often looks like a surreal parody to anyone who isn't jank-pilled. The funny thing is all of these types of art are full of commonalities with one another. Like they always see them selves as victims and every one else as utterly hostile, refusing to recognize their humanity in order to widen the separation between the groups. What makes this game interesting is that the main character is part of a real minority group that people are really racist too. Every thing gets really fuzzy with this one which is another reason it's so interesting.
A fantastic video, thanks!
UA-cam didn't give me a notif so when this randomly came on I was amazed like "WHAT, WHEN DID THIS POP UP" -- fantastic work as always, always been super curious at Marauder since the broken state of the game made it a bit hard to get into (though after some fixes I may have to give it another shake.)
He’s reviewing Fallout the Frontier, may god help his soul
So when I saw this at the end of your previous review I was super hyped for this. What a neat setup for a game, the Cold War ending not in war but through bribing the Party. And the drawn cutscene bits looked really cool. I figured this would be an interesting political visual novel.
I uh, I was rather crestfallen when you explicitly said that wasn't the case near the start of this video! This certainly was not what I expected. Still a very enjoyable view, but yeah I was expecting something like The Last Express.
Well it basically happend irl, all former USSR citizens saw almost all of the shit portrayed in the game, without the nato and Ahmed part ofc
@5:19 I haven't laughed as much in a long time.
Those are literally the exact same words my late grandfather used for my cousin Ahmet during his university graduation ceremony. God bless his soul. :D
Sounds like something my
Turkish grandfather would say as a joke, he passed away two weeks ago, god bless his soul
I laughed so hard I had to pause the video when I heard the mercenary Warlock's signature catch phrase. Nice callback!
Watching you as a Ukrainian is just so much fun) You trying to explain all the fucked up and whacky world view of vatnic's is just gold)
Love your video's man.
Lol, same feeling.
14:02
IMO you are missing T0 in where you are from graph - Moscow. It always was in its own league even compared to the Russian core of Tver and St. Petersburg and whatever.
I am monumentally disappointed there was no "May Allah forgive me for uttering this" joke
GOD DAMN
I am tatar myself and we are not very religious people. My muslim grandparents liked to eat pork barbeque with cognac
@@adamdenton1543 that's because of USSR.
@@someguy4512 Not necessarily. Muslims in former Russian empire were very secularized even pre USSR, especially in european part of the Russian empire
For example, during 1917 All-Muslim Congress from ~900 deputees, around 100 were women, and the question of equality between men and women, and women rights were important topics of discusion.
@@Poctyk nah false Russian Empire literally massacered Muslims in Caucasus and forced them to be that way.
"For example, during 1917 All-Muslim Congress from ~900 deputees, around 100 were women"
???? how the hell is that secular? Islam isnt against women Lmfao literally among first universities in arab world in Fes was made by a Woman.
"and the question of equality between men and women, and women rights were important topics of discusion."
you speak as if Islam doesnt provide that what the hell.
hey warlockracy, just came here to comment that you're one of my favorite youtubers, love everything you've done and have been watching since the beginning, keep covering these bizzare games its amazing
What gets me the most about this type of Russian jingoism is that even in 2004-2005 there was never a serious reason to fear "Russia being sold out to the West". There was never a real "liberal turn" - even Yeltsin had plenty of warmongering and authoritarian moments (such as literally appointing a successor rather than having one elected).
@@bruhmieter5688 Definitely, absolutely, 100% favor of the West and not Yeltsin. But thanks for demonstrating the worldview I was talking about.
This is what liberalism is. Yeltsin is a right conservative liberal as well as Putn.
Liberalism is mostly right-wing bullshit man. Even in Western liberal-democracies, liberal parties usually are closer to NSDAP than any kind of social-democracy behind closed doors.
You havent lived until you hear liberals start with "racial realism"
Yeltsin is why russia was doomed from the start
Or when russia invaded in 2008 The state of Georgia Because they wanted to join The EU and NATO or when they made two chechen wars to destroy this minority
Another great video. Its legit fascinating to learn about all that deep Russian lore conveyed through the lens of janky crackpot games.
I can't wait for the Fallout Frontier video. That mod is just something else, even without getting into drama dumpster fire that followed its release.
Thank you for your efforts, man. Well, unfortunately in these trying times we have to live our lives being surrounded by people, whose role model is Ahmet, and who have never ever talked to a foreigner in their entire lives.
And yes, The Frontier is absolutely bonkers from what I know, and I’m most eager to see the definitive review. Keep up the good work and stay safe!✊🏻
Frontier is also used by overhyped morons who are waiting for that game back in 2017-2021 as a bullet to spite Bethesda made Fallout titles.
Little they know that these guys who made that mod are unironically Bethedrones themselves
Thank you for posting always such great videos, you are the best!
Author makes for explaining russian and slavic culture more than whole ministry of culture in Russian government. Thank you for this, we'll need it after this trouble times will be over.
Dude I would love a video where you just explain Russian and Eastern European culture it puts a lot into perspective
I think it's done best when said culture is put in practice as in the videogames he shows.
eastern european culture and russian culture are pretty differen thing tho
I can't explain why but your videos always make me feel a strange kind of nostalgia, like I'm watching an old documentary.
As someone who played the Frontier and knows just what it is, I'm scared of the next video. Great video!
The fact that the author and game maker think they can predict Americans, when we Americans cannot predict Americans, shows that these lads have never been around Americans.
To simulate this feeling, ask yourself why something is wrong, and either answer you don't know, or insist it isn't a problem, and you got us down pat.
that is unironically our battle stratedgy to paraphase a soviet
"americans are infuriating to predict as there battle doctrine is to disregard the battle doctrine if you feel like it"
@@marley7868 The Germans in WW2 also said the same thing about us, that we Americans practiced "Chaos".
@@arandompasserby7940 yup and to paraphrase westpoint's thoughts no this topic "if we don't know exactly what we're doing they enemy can't either"
Riding by the seat of our pants has been a tradition since before the British left us. The soul of Andrew "I AM THE LAW" Jackson lives on in us all.
I mean Americans can be predicted, as their low average intelligence makes their beliefs really predictable
"Russian man dreams of big muscular black men with massive explodsive guns blasting him in the face"
Or probably The russian man IS racist and he wants The black man as slaves IDKN 🤔
Thanks for being a widow into the wild world of the Russian far right
I can't explain how satisfying the fighting gameplay is here. It's like a combination between the Classic Fallouts and New Gen Fallouts but also with the Superhot time stopping thing. Now I want to play the game, but I don't speak Russian nor Tatar so...
If you're really curious, the Steam version has an English translation. (There's also Brigade E5 and 7.62mm on the same engine, basically real time Jagged Alliance)
I wasn't able to verify (sanctions), but there seem to be very mixed responses on the quality of the translation.
@@Warlockracy It's one of those "Understandable but not exactly good" translations, I guess akin to Cuban Missile Crisis, where it's not unintelligable but the dialogue is clearly translated from not english.
Still it is mostly understandable for an english player.
I recommend 7.62 High Calibre over this if the combat interests you. A bit uglier and janky as shit, but far more of a sandbox
I feel like I just saw Modern Warfare 2's story in reverse. Another absolute knock out man. You aren't ready for the Frontier, its uniquely terrible.
God, that voice acting is such a classic. No one could defeat Russia on the front of tackiness. Ever.
You literally never disappoint. Never stop doing these videos my dude.
I have had this game 10 years and could not for the life of me get past the jank in the first couple levels. So safe to say I am so thankful you made it through the game thank you for your dedication!
Use cheats. The game is too bugged to finish. All the games 1C made are impossible to enjoy playing.
I am unlucky and played only those as they're cheaper than many other pirated games in the store :D
Amazing to see you brought this one up. I actually played this one waaaay back. And it's funny because a few videos ago I suggested you do a retrospect dive into 7.62 High Calibre, still my favourite tactical merc sim besides JA2 and I think it uses the same engine as Marauder. Cool video again, love it!
"if only the CIA was that based" I've said this unironically
Oh no, he is gonna scare himself with Frontier, please someone stop him!
I love your cultural lessons about Russia in your videos, one of the things that keeps me coming back
Post apocalyptic? That just looks like Russia
My cat very intently watched this video until Akmet started shooting the Housewives. I guess she's too patriotic for this game.
hey man i love the content! keep it up!
put your vids in the back while im cutting up onions (making food) so i cry everytime i see a eurojank mechanic in an obscure forgotten game your playing lol
I like how they made a big deal about getting the nsv machine gun as someone realistically would in a apocalypse
This is one of those games that's been sitting on my shelf for so long but I never actually had the balls to try and play it. I do wonder if we're ever going to see you do a 7.62 High Calibre or Brigade E5 video. That would be pretty amazing.
I still find it weird that old owner of JA IP messed up with Apeiron since they made best Jagged Alliance games since JA2 - worth playing (with unofficial patches) despite the jank
They should have named this game Mankurt instead of Marauder. I mean this guy's a Tatar and he has a chance to avenge the 1992 Tatarstan Independence Referendum that was arbitrarily cancelled by Moscow, but instead he decides to beef with the Americans, who would probably be more than happy to recognize some kind of resurrected Idel-Ural Union state.*
*In the game world, at least. In real life, State Department slugs would s**t themselves at the prospect of any part of the russian federation breaking off.
Its Not Every Day That Muh Local Tribal Confederation Works
Duh The Federation Is The Only Exiestance That Makes The European States Under The Thumb Of The States It Will Be Really Bad If They Ever Fell Since The Subjects Might Try To Ask To Many Questions
I only discovered this channel last week and I've already watched/listened to this video two dozen times. Incredible.