Russian Subway Dogs announced for PS4 and Vita

You know, I’ve been to Russia a few times. I was an exchange student in the late 80’s (when it was still the Soviet Union) and again in the early 90’s (when it was the wild west). My point is, I’ve spent a fair amount of time on the Moscow Metro. I used it several times a day for months. The stations are beautiful, ornate and extremely well-kept. They are like underground jewels.

They are also sometimes filled with strange things. Russia can be a weird place, particularly to western eyes. And Moscow being a big city in Eastern Europe, there a lot of odd, Eastern European things going on down in those tunnels. I’ve got stories. But some of the more mundane things one encounters on the Moscow Metro are the animals. There are stray cats and dog (and pigeons and rats) that hang out down there to escape the cold. The critters beg, harass and cajole daily commuters for food and attention. Army dudes and cops shoe them out, and they come right back in again.

So I am aware of the Russian subway creatures. But never, ever, in all my times seeing animals in the Moscow Metro did I think “You know, someone should make a video game about these subway animals.” But some brilliant soul did have that thought, and here we are today with a strange, strange game.

Evolve announced today that they are porting their PC arcade game Russian Subway Dogs to the PS4 and Vita. Russian Subway Dogs is a pixel-art arcade game that challenges players to play as a variety of animals trying to survive in the Metro by interacting with a variety of elements and causing chaos for commuters. Take a look at the trailer above.  This thing looks nuts.

According to the official press release, players can “Fatten bears with pelmeni! Feed pigeons hot sauce so they’ll rain hot fire from the sky. Sit back and enjoy the resulting BearBQ! Experimentation will lead to success!” 

A variety of playable characters will be available, starting with the default characters “Proletaricat” and “Subway Dog”. There will also be a selection of bizarre-o guest characters from other games including Question Hound from KC Green's Gunshow, Ratcoon from Ruin of the Reckless or Nacho & Rad Shiba from VA-11 HALL-A.

No official release date has been announced, but the game will be available to try at next month’s PlayStation Experience in Anaheim. I wonder if Evolve are going to bring vodka for everyone. Nas darovia!