This article was published on November 19, 2011

This declassified USSR bunker is straight out of your nightmares


This declassified USSR bunker is straight out of your nightmares

If you are a gamer, of any stripe, there is a more than decent chance that you have played a ‘first person shooter’ style title. And if you have, then you have likely found yourself wandering down a dark hallway, waiting to blast your foes against the wall.

The environment that you are playing in, dank, dark, and full of terror, is a crucial component of any good game; after all, it is tasked with setting the mood, and you on edge. But most people view that sort of situation as fantastical; a video game level is hardly realistic, right? Well, sort of.

In some places, real life and the video games that you have played are all but perfectly similar. To demonstrate that, we are going to head underground into a Soviet-era bunker complex. Someone call Valve, we have found the next Half Life location.

We begin with the building exterior. It looks normal enough, right?

But once you get inside, there is a surprise: a door that leads to a descending, wide spiral staircase which heads down, down, down. At this point in the level, the lights are bright, and you have full ammo clips and a working flashlight. Let’s keep going.

Once you reach the first level of the bunker complex, dozens of meters down, it’s time to check in. Just like in Doom, a flunky has been awaiting your arrival.

The level map: A look at just where you are heading. You fool. Turn around now. Go home!

This hallway should scare you. What are those squares for, and it appears to have been built to withstand a grip of thermonuclear bombs.

In any video game there are useful ‘non-player characters’ that populate levels. I bet that this guy wouldn’t make it through the full game. He looks far to expendable.

Stairs. Narrow stairs. You know that it is a trap, don’t you.

This terrifying door either contains a best from the belly of Hell itself, or opens to the subway system. In our fantasy, it’s the demon. In the USSR’s bunker, the subway is just on the other side.

The final level. Lights and ammunition are low. Your torch is long dead. The leaky ceiling creaks and moans. And then, you see it.

That bunker is awesome. Who else wants to move in?

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