Alternative Games

Soviet Unterzögersdorf is a unique art game built in Adventure Game Studio, the popular shareware authoring system for point-and-click games in the classic mode of 1990s PC adventure titles: Think of classic LucasArts games like Full Throttle or Grim Fandango, except without the cutesy aesthetics. Soviet Unterzögersdorf is rendered in stark photography not at all like the high-gloss 3D renderings typically found in video games, and that is just the beginning of where this title differs from the typical “political adventure game.”

In many ways, Soviet Unterzögersdorf is not unlike F-Troop: There is a certain “TV-sitcom” vibe to the game that cannot be accidental. You play a soldier in the last remaining vestige of the Soviet Union, Soviet Unterzögersdorf. Obviously the fall of the Soviet Union has been hard for Unterzögersdorf, and it is up to you to help retain the glory of the nation by performing such illustrious tasks as cleaning up the courtyard and stamping out western heavy metal influences.

Featuring music by avant-garde sound sculptors like Jorg Piringer and Negativeland, Soviet Unterzögersdorf uses musical influence as a metaphor for cultural influence. Early on in the game you discover a heavy metal album and Slayer graffitti, which is a threat to the Soviet as it exists. Fans of the trip-tastic experimental electro acoustics will definitely want to check out Soviet Unterzögersdorf for the soundtrack alone.

For such a pointedly anti-game project, Soviet Unterzögersdorf is remarkably playable. There are moments of huge frustration as you try to figure out what to do next to progress, and at some points it seems as if you’re really just supposed to toss up your arms in surrender. It is difficult to tell how much of the frustration is with the design of the game and how much is on the agenda of the game creators. The aimless feeling of fulfilling random orders from nameless voices is certainly meant to enhance the meaning of the game, and it does so wonderfully.

Soviet Unterzögersdorf is a lonesome post. But if you’re the kind of stand-up comrade we think you are, you should probably check it out. Soviet Unterzögersdorf is available for a free download at:

http://www.monochrom.at/suz-game/index_en.htm