The Hollow

The Hollow is set in the late 1960s at Zaslon, a secret Siberian Gulag that holds scientists and prisoners considered dangerous or disloyal to the Soviet regime. After the Gulag system was abolished under Khrushchev, the people held at Zaslon rebelled under former aviation engineer Mnogogrishny and gained illusory independence. You play as Morok, the son of a scientist who helped develop a secret weapon from tungsten, a mineral found only in Zaslon. Your investigation is to discover what the weapon is and who has it.

Zaslon and its people

Zaslon is the last Gulag on earth, now controlled by its former prisoners. Its population includes three nations that resisted communist rule, though one has come to see itself as superior to the other two. The regime kept the cream of the occupied nations there, and human labour was used because people cannot carry much metal into Zaslon.

The territory’s unusual conditions began when a meteorite fell there, altering the land and disrupting the usual laws of nature and physics. Magnets with different polarities formed in the rock, creating Petryks: flying stones that hover in the air and seem to whisper. One local people suffers from nightmares once known only in legend, and the territory holds the key to world domination, though no one yet knows how to use it.

Investigate the territory

As you pursue your goal, you encounter hostile people, mysterious entities described in legends, and different heroes, characters and cultures. In Zaslon, cultures once confined to descriptions and legends have become reality, and they hold clues to its central secret. You also uncover how the last Gulag on earth came to exist.

The surroundings and natural conditions change, with fog, rain and thunderstorms. Depending on the weather, you can wait out the dark night by a fire or approach people to find out whether they are human.

Fight for freedom

You eliminate enemies carrying out sabotage, sabotage them in turn and help your own people seek the key to true freedom, which cannot be obtained behind Zaslon. You can choose from five types of weapons made by the people living there; all but one are locally produced. The game also features encounters with historical figures who posed a threat to the communist regime.

The story is based on a popular adventure novel, with graphics in the style of the 2000s. It depicts a fight over the fate of peoples whose states have long since ceased to exist, amid the natural beauty and horror of Siberia.