“1953 – KGB Unleashed” is based on real projects conducted by the Ministry of State Security of the USSR (the former KGB). During that time they pushed the limits of human endurance, testing for the possibility of telepathy, as well as researching the psychological impact of fear on the human brain. The photo-realistic visual style of “1953 – KGB Unleashed” recreates the USSR of the fifties: the underground shelter’s interior is constructed using real Soviet military plans, and the materials found there are based on historically valid documents. Explore a hidden laboratory where such experiments were conducted in order to learn the truth behind the terrifying events that led to the closure of the project and the liquidation of its staff. An atmosphere of isolation and suspense pervades throughout, bringing you face to face with your own fears, while the voice of invisible “observer” broadcasts over the internal communications system. Is this observer a friend, or an enemy? Your exploration of this perfectly-preserved complex may uncover what these experiments unlocked deep within the human psyche — but will you survive these revelations intact?
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The game's greatest quality is its setting and atmosphere. You're a soviet electrician trapped in a claustrophobic bunker where the KGB did weird experiments to please the great leader, until (surprise) things went horribly wrong. You find a bunch of documents during your escape, learning more about the story and getting clues for various puzzles. Of course the farther you go, the creepier it gets. It's quite neat to have a game in a "realistic" USSR setting, without too much cold war schlock.
Puzzles are adequate: not too easy, or too hard. Setting up machines and contraptions can get old in the end, and don't expect nice puzzle feedback (it won't tell you if you're right immediately, you need to go out of your way to open doors and pull levers to see if you got it right). It's not an issue if you're not an idiot like me, I guess. Seasoned adventure players will enjoy the challenge.
There's a part where you get poisoned and it's annoying as hell. You start coughing and your vision gets troubled until you leave the section or find an antidote. There's also a part in the complete dark where you need to use the cursor as a lamp torch, and you'd better look very slowly if you don't want to miss an important object. It's obvious the devs tried to spice their game with that stuff, and it was a complete mistake! What a pain in the ass.
I didn't hate 1953 - KGB Unleashed but it clearly is a b-tier adventure game. It also ends on a sour note with a lackluster and anticlimactic ending. But thinking about it, the experience wasn't that bad. I've played worse. The quintessential meh/10 game.