GDC09: Stalin vs. Martians hands-on
by Justin McElroy 
{ Mar 27th 2009 at 5:00PM }
It's a silly idea, but there's a real game underneath it all. As publisher Paradox Interactive notes, it's an "action RTS," which, in practice, is somewhere between an RTS and a shooter, pitting waves of colorful aliens against your bright green tanks.
Gallery: Stalin vs. Martians
The Martians will keep throwing forces at you as continue your majestic march to their bases in the hopes of wiping them off the face of Mother Russia. It's hyper-colorful and hyper-frenetic, with bonuses and money being added to your coffers faster than you can even read the notification. Oh, you can also utilize a 30-foot-tall Stalin to save the day.
One of the other great little touches: During load screens you're asked to test your "amazing powers of observation" by finding the differences between two black and white pictures of Russian armies.
To match the insanity of the gameplay and visuals, the whole thing is underscored by some really tragic Russian guitar pop. Awesome.
It should be clear by now, but if you've shied away from RTS games in the past for being too dry, this may be the one that ropes you in. It's funny and mindless fun, and we're told that when it launches on several PC downloadable platforms in April, it won't be more than $20.
There will be more polished and richer games this year. Lots of them. But we'll be stunned if one pushes the envelope of sanity further than Stalin vs. Martians.
One of the other great little touches: During load screens you're asked to test your "amazing powers of observation" by finding the differences between two black and white pictures of Russian armies.
To match the insanity of the gameplay and visuals, the whole thing is underscored by some really tragic Russian guitar pop. Awesome.
It should be clear by now, but if you've shied away from RTS games in the past for being too dry, this may be the one that ropes you in. It's funny and mindless fun, and we're told that when it launches on several PC downloadable platforms in April, it won't be more than $20.
There will be more polished and richer games this year. Lots of them. But we'll be stunned if one pushes the envelope of sanity further than Stalin vs. Martians.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
The Dark Wayne @ Mar 27th 2009 5:16PM
So that's their counter to Dr. Manhattan!
nomadic0ne @ Mar 27th 2009 5:27PM
Yep! ...except he's considerably more...clothed.
J-Link @ Mar 27th 2009 5:30PM
Oh God... Im getting Flashbacks....its sooo blue...
Mister Bogus (Mr. ESC) @ Mar 27th 2009 5:35PM
I wonder if Dr. Manhattan is steril.
speaking of which...
http://www.liquidgeneration.com/Media/Player/player.swf?shortUrl=04b4b9b7
Mark C @ Mar 27th 2009 5:48PM
Speaking of Doc Manhattan...I'll just leave this here-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdFstm_kJzU
Mark C @ Mar 27th 2009 5:50PM
Oh son of a....
that'll teach me not to read other people's comments.
F.E.F Red Fury @ Mar 27th 2009 5:30PM
(Waits for Russian reversal jokes)
Mister Bogus (Mr. ESC) @ Mar 27th 2009 5:37PM
In Soviet Russia unfunny jokes tell YOU!
Killiam XXIII @ Mar 27th 2009 5:42PM
In Soviet Russia, foo' pities YOU!
Cena @ Mar 27th 2009 5:33PM
Russians v. Aliens? Sign me up.
David @ Mar 27th 2009 5:33PM
I don't think that's funny, Stalin murdered millions of people just half a century ago.
Mister Bogus (Mr. ESC) @ Mar 27th 2009 5:39PM
So did Mao and he still holds the all time high score.
AtomicPlayboy @ Mar 27th 2009 5:39PM
And aliens have slaughtered incalculable numbers of beings throughout the galaxy in their quest to dominate the universe. What's a few tens of millions of innocent Russians/Germans/Poles/Latvians/Lithuanains/etc. compared to that? A little perspective here, please.
chispito @ Mar 27th 2009 5:42PM
Yeah I was trying to figure out how I feel about it. It's hard to agree with a slapstick depiction of someone who forcibly starved millions of his own countrymen.
Thanks to HUAC and McCarthy, people are entirely too sympathetic with communism these days, without realizing the damage it has done over the last century, in human lives and human rights.
Courtney @ Mar 27th 2009 5:47PM
How is this different from authors, game creators or Hollywood milking WWII to death for a wide variety of content?
Charlie_Six @ Mar 27th 2009 5:56PM
@ Mister Bogus, actually if you read the BBC's biography of Mao, you'll find Stalin far, far surpasses Mao. Most of the people who died under Mao's rule died due to negligence, not due to malevolence.
justshovejayohbe @ Mar 27th 2009 6:01PM
So let me get this straight, it's okay for Mel Brooks to spoof Nazis and Hitler in just about every single movie he's made and it's okay -- and even comedic legend -- for Charlie Chaplain to spoof Hitler WHILE Hitler was slaughtering Europeans left and right, but it's not okay to spoof Stalin?
Charlie_Six @ Mar 27th 2009 6:02PM
Chispito, it's not just HUAC and McCarthy that created those sympathies though. Famous Americans like Albert Einstein and Martin Luther King, Jr. were Marxists, too. Einstein won multiple "Person of the Century" awards from American news magazines, even.
Popfrogs @ Mar 27th 2009 9:15PM
Don't worry, the next chapter of this saga will have Pol Pot vs. Aliens. Hilarity ensues!
chispito @ Mar 28th 2009 12:06AM
To answer all of the questions about moral equivalence:
Writing a book about world war 2 or a game is not the same thing as making Josef Stalin the hero, a playable character. I assume most of you wouldn't appreciate a game in which you played as Pol Pot.
chispito @ Mar 28th 2009 12:07AM
I swear I didn't see the Pol Pot reference immediately above me... Anyhow.
CHE6yp @ Mar 28th 2009 3:00AM
\\\Stalin murdered millions of people just half a century ago.
Kill one person and u will be a murderer...
Kill millions of people and u will be a hero...
СТАЛИН РИАЛЬНЫЙ ЧУВАК!!!!!!!111!!!11!1
Astrixzero @ Mar 29th 2009 12:15AM
Don't forget the mass killings committed by Pinochet and other murderous right-wing dictators set up by the US in South America and elsewhere. But I guess mass murder is acceptable as long as the US benefits is it?
DiL @ Mar 27th 2009 5:41PM
so it'll be like red alert vs scrin from tiberium wars?
steinjake11 @ Mar 27th 2009 5:51PM
In Soviet Russia, busty Japanese model goes on website of YOU!
SoxFan13 @ Mar 27th 2009 9:11PM
When I saw the screenshot, I thought it was literally a giant Stalin vs. the aliens.
t_m @ Mar 28th 2009 1:16AM
It has Pikmin AND Cacodemons???? Awesome.
RankHypocrisy @ Mar 28th 2009 8:55AM
I'm waiting for Hitler vs the CHUDs, which comes out next year.
Hardcore @ Mar 28th 2009 10:26PM
They should put a giant vodka bottle instead of stalin
n3wday @ Mar 28th 2009 11:10PM
"Chispito, it's not just HUAC and McCarthy that created those sympathies though. Famous Americans like Albert Einstein and Martin Luther King, Jr. were Marxists, too. Einstein won multiple "Person of the Century" awards from American news magazines, even."
The answer? Easy. Discredit all intellectuals and civil rights leaders. Then communism will finally be gone for good!