PS5

Published on March 17th, 2025 | by Daniel

Chernobyl Liquidators PS5 Review!

Ever wonder what it would be like to experience the disaster that was Chernobyl, personally? What would it be like to be a first responder, attending the site to try and control the fires from spreading, containing the destructive radiation from corrupting and contaminating everything within miles surrounding ground zero? Well wonder no more, Chernobyl Liquidators is finally on Playstation 5, so strap on your lead suits, grab your scrubbers and decontamination tanks and get in there soldier. It’s time to stop the radiation from spreading, clean up local towns and investigate how this disaster even started.

Chernobyl Liquidators opens up with a devastating first level, you’re arriving as a first responder and are tasked with putting the fires out. But before you know it, you succumb to the radiation and that’s it. You’re done. Only for the game to load you in where you left off, except you’re in another liquidator’s shoes and need to press on. As you proceed deeper into the facility, you succumb to yet more radiation and are once again in the shoes of another. This is a very hard hitting first mission, going from liquidator to liquidator as the previous one dies. It really goes to show the devastating effect of the failed reactor, that even with all their protective gear, they can’t last more than minutes before that radiation is too much. These men knew the risks, yet the job had to be done and they would sacrifice their own lives if it meant even the smallest possibility that their loved ones would be spared such a fate.

From there you’re placed in the shoes of Seryozha Buriatov, a former soldier called in to help clean up areas of exposure. During your tasks, you’re conscripted by a KGB major to destroy evidence that could be detrimental to the USSR. Or, you could help the scientists who intend to expose the truth for all to see. Yes, that’s right. Not only does this game send you to clean up disasters, it gives you moral choices. Do you cover up the USSR’s failures and secure you and your family’s future? Or do you expose these secrets to undermine the USSR, who cut corners and failed to provide the correct measures to ensure the safe running of these critical reactors?

Gameplay

Gameplay is relatively simple, in fact, the whole game is. With standard movement controls, an inventory for all your equipment and consumables and a radial menu for all of your equipped items. The game is pleasantly simple, the early missions see you extinguishing fires, scrubbing floors of radioactive dust and spraying decontamination fluids to eliminate airborne radiation. With other missions having you shovel bits of graphite away. The story and gameplay is very linear, having you take on one task at a time, whether that be cleaning up radiation, accessing computers full of incriminating files. Or going from building to building restoring or disabling power or devices as required.

The only mission that was sort of different from the rest was a surprise sneaking mission in the middle of the game. Where you were tasked with disabling some sort of radar in a base, this itself might not seem all that different from the list above. The catch is that it’s a base that you’re not authorised to access, so you need to sneak around. While the sneaking itself is easy, doing it while dodging areas of radiation and dealing their ability to spot you in less than a second, can be tricky. Once you get the hang of things thought, the game is relatively easy to complete.

The biggest challenge actually comes from the port itself not being made to the same quality as the PC version. I know we’re not supposed to compare versions, but having seen the sheer difference in quality between the two versions. It’s really hard to ignore. I’ll expand more on this below on the visuals of this game later. But for gameplay, there are textures that you cannot simply walk over, you have to jump over, for example, stepping over debris isn’t possible, like it would be in other games. There are areas marked in orange to signify the direction you need to go and any vertical surfaces that you can latch onto. Some of these marked surfaces are easy to reach, despite being miles apart, others fail to latch onto despite being right in front of you. It’s inconsistencies like this that breaks the immersion into the game and the story it’s trying to tell.

Outside of this, some missions feel incredibly short and others, like the sneaking mission overstays it’s welcome, very quickly dragging on. But overall, the game is perilously short and fails to conclude in a satisfying manner. It’s obviously meant to be left open ended as the crisis continues even after the events of the game. But not a single one of the men that we step into the shoes of has a proper conclusion. Even our main man, Buriatov is hinted at dying before the end of his mission and then abruptly brought up in the ending cutscene that he died several days later in hospital. Very little beyond what is necessary is told, I don’t think the moral choices really change much in the end either. I chose to leak the incriminating evidence and the men responsible didn’t even get a slap on the wrist, and the only consequence was that it saved his son from ending up in the military. Which I think is actually a win. I understand the main premise was to dedicate the game to all the men who gave their lives to try and help save their families from this terrible disaster, one that, to this day, I still have a great interest in learning about. But I don’t think the game quite accomplishes this with such a lackluster and poor quality port.

Graphics & Audio

I’m lumping graphics and audio together again, as there’s not a great deal to be said about either.

I’ve seen what the game looks like running on PC and while it’s nothing that’ll win amazing rewards, it is somehow leagues above the Playstation 5 port. And while we’re told not to judge ports based on graphics, the PS5 is comparable to most average PC builds. And this game is not built to chug even the most basic of modern PC builds. So I find it odd that there is such a grand difference in quality in this port. Textures visibly pop in at certain distances, not just fade in, pop in. Other textures are broken or you can see the seam lines between. The general quality comes across as quite grainy and flat. Colour is lax and brightness is blinding in some areas. I remember the first mission had me blinded in some zones by fire sources from below despite being in an area where the light shouldn’t reach me. This caused a couple of unnecessary deaths as I couldn’t see my objective or where I was walking to and fell into some pits or out of bounds areas that ended in instant death.

Audio is.. equally as disappointing. There’s barely any music in the game and I’d be surprised if they weren’t free resources. The voice acting is okay, it comes across as a little flat but given it’s an indie game, I don’t take points away from them for that. What I do take points from, is how they balance and mix the audio. During moments of heavy dialogue, the spoken lines are almost dead quiet. I often had to turn up the volume whenever I had calls over the radio or interacted with other NPCs in each level. Only to be jumpscared by the incredibly loud sound effects and ambience immediately afterwards.

Final Thoughts?

The game is.. a functional port. I’d really like to know more about the developers, their budget and resources. Because that would go a long way to helping me understand why this game is such a mediocre one at best and a barely functional port at worst. I don’t like to give games, especially indie games, bad reviews if I can avoid it. Especially ones like this where they take on real world disasters and dedicate a game for those who gave their lives for it. I can overlook a lot of things if the heart is there, if the message they’re sending is easily understood and well presented. Chernobyl Liquidators unfortunately did none of these things. The first mission, which was designed to hit hard and show just how devastating the disaster was, by having you step into the shoes of many liquidators as they tried and died, to stop the spread of radiation. But the constant deaths, serves merely as an interruption and not as a dramatic and emotional death. Especially when the animations are all the same, unskippable, and repetitive.

If the game was made by a single individual or a team of maybe 6 or less, I’d cut them some slack and say the game is well made for such a small team with likely limited resources. But the developers employ over 80 people, even if they’re spread across multiple projects. There simply isn’t enough to excuse the poor quality of the game. I can’t excuse it. I appreciate the effort and to whom they dedicated their work to, but for a developer of their size. I cannot overlook it. I managed to complete this game thanks only to how easy and short it is and a determination to see how far I could get. I would not recommend this game to anyone, even for those wanting to experience the horror of Chernobyl, especially not for the cost of around thirty dollars. I’ve seen better games made by smaller developers sell for cheaper costs and they were worth far more.

Chernobyl Liquidators was a nice attempt, but perhaps their resources are better spent on other projects.

Game Details

Game Genre – Atmospheric, Simulation
Developers – Live Motion Games
Publishers – Frozen Way
Rating – MA
Year of Release – 2025
Platforms – Playstation 5, PC (Steam)
Mode(s) of Play – Single player

You can find links to my other reviews right here

About the Author

Daniel Hi I'm Dan! 33 and Non-Binary. When I'm not writing reviews. I like to get deeply immersed in the lore of an mmo or rpg, cruise the forest or coastal roads of Victoria, watch anime, read manga, build model kits and do a bit of sketching on the side.

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