Last week we had the opportunity to talk with Dreamlore Games top dog, lead designer of Stalin vs. Martians and all around good guy Alexander Shcherbakov. We discussed many things, from the sweet smell of tulips in the springtime sunshine to our favorite Yul Brynner movie.

Eventually we got around to talking about their upcoming Stalin vs. Martians. Slated to be released yesterday, the game was delayed by just a few days. We were reminded by Mezmer Games Executive Producer Tom Söderlund that “a dictator is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to“. We were told, however, that the minor rescheduling was not the fault of the dictator himself — take from that what you will.

So, while we still wait for Stalin vs. Martians to be unleashed to the public, here’s our interview with Alexander Shcherbakov. Enjoy.

BG: It’s been explained in other interviews that the initial idea came about after talking with the CEO of Black Wing Foundation over Christmas holiday. What was that initial idea and how did it differ from the final product?

Alexander: Oh, I won’t tell you! Who knows, maybe someday we’ll release another VS title and revisit the idea. But I can reveal you that it included Putin as one of the opposing forces. You know, we even wanted to include the Putin unit in Stalin vs. Martians, but had to abandon the idea due to the panic it caused among our co-developers N-Game. They’re kinda superparanoid and though that the inclusion of Putin would result in KGB (now FSB) agents coming to their sweet little office in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, and punishing them badly. So that’s how we sacrificed Putin to make the development process more comfortable. But Putin is like Jesus, you know, once sacrificed he will surely return.

BG: Aside from the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see a 30-foot tall Joseph Stalin crush extra-terrestrials with his boot, what sets Stalin vs. Martians apart from other Real-Tine Strategy games?

Alexander: We prefer to think of Stalin vs. Martians as a platformer title, like Mario. With some RTS influences.

I think that answers your question!

BG: A platformer like Mario? I can see it with the coins and the crushing of enemies with a large, moustache-toting man. But how else is Stalin vs. Martians like Nintendo’s legendary video game icon?

Alexander: Yeah, I see you’ve noticed that Stalin looks like Mario’s cousin. If Mario was a real life person, I think he’d be the Italian version of Stalin. But I must tell you that Stalin and Mario kinda share the same profession. I mean, Mario is a plumber and Stalin is… well, he’s fixing things too!

Speaking of Stalin vs. Martian’s gameplay, there is a certain platformer feel there. You must play the game to understand. You feel like you’re moving through the obstacles, jumping here and there to get to the end of the level. I think that’s quite an experience for a… well… strategy game.

At least nominally.

BG: We’ve been told repeatedly that Stalin vs. Martians does away with conventional aspects of RTS games. We’ve been promised that city building and tech trees have been tossed aside. But if that’s the case, how then does the player increase the size of his… army? It’s been mentioned that money will rain down from the skies and you’ll be able to buy more units, but how exactly will it work?

Alexander: We have power-ups. You know, this old tradition that dead enemies should leave coins or stuff like that when they die. In Soviet Russia it happens all the time. So you can earn money, I mean real money, not you paper dollars, but gold rubles, when your mighty tanks kill the alien. You grab your coins, collect them, and then buy reinforcements.

BG: ANJ’s “Gorbachev” is featured in the game. How did that come to be? Are members of the design team friends with the band? Did the band see the Dancing Stalin trailer and say “…we must be part of this…”? How did they get involved?

Alexander: A few months after the Stalin vs. Martians announcement, one of our fellows introduced me to the “Gorbachev” music video. Just to show me that guys from ANJ had produced something even more trashy and kitschy than we did. It was like a shock to me. I felt like ANJ kicked me in the balls. They were playing on the Soviet kitsch field and were better than us! The only way to save face and self-esteem was to ask the band to participate in Stalin vs. Martians. I contacted their manager and voila!

BG: While on the subject of music, what made you decide to go in a dance/techno pop style?

Alexander: Have you ever seen the gay parade? They’re dancing all the time! Our aliens look super-gay, so it was quite obvious that we should make them dance.

BG: Did you guys (and gals) intentionally make the martians look like the claw machine aliens from Toy Story and Max Rebo, or was that just a happy accident?

Alexander: In Russia, we still don’t know what “property” means and steal everything we want.

Yes, we have a number of direct references to certain characters/creatures. Toy Story guys, Cacodemons from Doom, little guys form Pikmin, some kind of Hypnotoad. Basically we always had a feeling that Martians must have a certain Pokemon-feel.

BG: Alright, let’s not beat around the bush. You know as well as we do that somebody is going to take offense to a video game about Joseph Stalin. Anything you care to say to those folks?

Trust us, everything here is as offensive as Monty Python. Nothing more. Relax. We’re Russians, we know the subject better.

BG: Furthermore, while we’re on the subject how do you feel Stalin vs. Martians will impact the ongoing “games as art” debate?

Alexander: God only know. And since gods don’t exist (that’s what they taught us in school), nobody knows. Stalin vs. Martians itself is a work of art, I think, and it goes well beyond games, it is more than that.

BG: If Stalin vs. Martians does well on the PC, could we possibly see it come to consoles through either XBL/PSN or retail?

Alexander: We’d love to port the game to the consoles. Unfortunately, the Blitzkrieg 2 engine we use is not portable to, well, anywhere. If we want the console version, we’ll have to start development almost from scratch.

BG: Let’s assume for a moment that Stalin vs. Martians becomes a worldwide phenomenon. Could we see a sequel or expansions starring other world leaders? Also, would you be willing to expand on the concept? We normally wouldn’t ask but JW has been wanting to see a FDR-themed kart racer for years.

Alexander: I don’t really know. Another VS title may become a joke told twice. We have some really good ideas for stand-alone VS projects and for the Stalin vs. Martians expansion packs, but everything depends on the demand of the audience and our greed. I’m sure we’re greedy enough to make the expansion pack and sell you the same game twice. But I’m not sure we’re into making the VS-lineup of titles.

BG: You mention the possibility of another VS title. What would you like to see done next if given the opportunity to make another VS title?

Alexander: Well, as I said, we’re a little bit scared of making another VS game, ’cause it could become a joke told twice, a bad anecdote. Despite the fact that, well, VS-game is a superb formula which can spawn lots of interesting random stuff. But what more random and weird can you expect than Stalin vs. Martians? Perhaps nothing. Except “Stalin vs. Stain”. A psychological Dostoyevsky-influenced thriller. Or a spiritual successor to Spy vs. Spy, where you must control Stalin opposing his evil clone.

BG: What other projects can we expect from the developers of Stalin vs. Martians in the future?

Alexander: In short, you can expect ANYTHING from the developers of Stalin vs Martians.

To be more precise, right now BWF and Dreamlore have some really cool stuff in pre-production. Some alternate history stuff. Then, we have a hyper-violent cyberpunk action/strategy title in development. Reminds you of the classic Syndicate a bit, but with some unusual twists. We hope to unveil the project in the next couple of months and to release it this year. Also, you must note that BWF is working on their “Salvation” (work-in-progress title) project and they will have some huge updates really soon.

BG: Finally, in a gameplay trailer we hear “You have been Stalinated“. Can we get that on a t-shirt?

Alexander: Well, I guess it’s about time to thing about selling t-shirts online.

BG: Thanks a ton for your time and we all at Binge Gamer wish you the best of luck with Stalin vs. Martians.

Alexander: Thanks! We wish ourselves luck too! We want to become rich and famous so desperately that we even made Stalin dance! Stalin!

Stalin vs. Martians is being developed by Black Wing Foundation, Dreamlore Games and N-Game and is published by Mezmer Games… or at least, it will be. Soon.

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