(3 May 2005)
Moscow - recent and file
1. Various black and white FILE footage of Moscow's underground train system in the 1930s
2. Various promotional images of new game by Russian production company, Buka Entertainment
3. Mid shot Buka producer, Ivan Bunakov playing "Stalin Subway" on his computer at the company's head office in Moscow
4. TILT from a poster of game to Bunakov at the computer
5. Images from computer game
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Ivan Bunakov, producer: "This particular one ..."
7. Cutaway of computer video card
8. Mid shot Buka employees at work
9. Various shots of staff in Buka offices
10. Mid shot games in boxes in a display cabinet
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Julia Gribonosova, Buka Entertainment PR and Marketing Manager: "Stalin's era is ..."
12. Various scenes from Stalin Subway game
SUGGESTED LEAD-IN
One of Russia's leading computer game companies is putting final touches to a game its creators hope will be a hit both in Russia and the West, thanks to renewed interest in Josef Stalin and his historical role as the world public celebrates the 60th anniversary of the end of World War Two.
The game, Stalin Subway, features an imaginary conspiracy against the Soviet dictator, led by his top lieutenant and head of the secret police, Lavrenty Beria.
The game's developers and producers from the Moscow-based Buka Entertainment company opted for more fun than historical truth, but hope the name of Stalin will help sell the game on domestic and international markets.
VOICE-OVER
Moscow in the 1930s -- Stalin is in power, and the newly opened Moscow Metro is celebrated as a triumph of Soviet society.
Dubbed the "Peoples Palaces," the subway train stations are extravagantly ornamented with marble, mosaics, sculptures and chandeliers.
The Metro was a showcase for the best of Soviet architecture and design of the time.
Over the years the underground stations have also served as bomb shelters and wartime headquarters.
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And now they feature in a new computer game, "The Stalin Subway," being developed in Moscow.
The ornate underground halls and tunnels have been recreated -- along with other city landmarks of the Stalin Era -- as a virtual, three-dimensional theatre of intrigue.
The game developers have mixed historical detail with dramatic fiction to make the game.
Set in the 1950s, near the end of Stalin's reign, the player takes the role of a KGB officer who uncovers a plot to kill the dictator -- but also thousands of innocent people.
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Using distinctive Russian weapons of the time, the player battles the plotters to prevent the explosion of a nuclear weapon under the Russian capital.
SOUNDBITE (English)
"This particular one is not historical. There was no plot against Stalin with the use of a nuclear bomb, like in our game, but there were many others. But when you make a game you must well balance the historical facts and some interest, some fun for players. We decided that we must do more fun and invented this nuclear bomb."
SUPER CAPTION: Ivan Bunakov, game producer
Until the collapse of the Soviet Union, western governments banned the export of computer hardware to Russia.
Now Russian developers are masters of the technology, and sell games all over the world.
The company hopes the setting of "The Stalin Subway" will help drive sales.
SOUNDBITE (English)
"Stalin's era is one of the most memorable periods in the European and world history that is why we going to use this brand of the Stalinist image as the most recognisable image of Russia of that period."
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