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The real-time strategy game Last Train Home by the Czech developer Ashborne Games was released for PC on November 28th last year. Shortly afterwards, GG user SupArai made a game review in which he describes the title as quite successful. Last Train Home is set in the historical scenario of the Russian Civil War after the First World War and the October Revolution, when various neighboring and third countries fought for their independence from the crumbling monarchies of Europe.
The game focuses on the struggle of the newly founded Czechoslovakia and its national interests against the Habsburg monarchy and the Russian Empire. Czech troops also had to fight against the Red Army of the communist Bolsheviks after negotiations on cooperation failed. In this setting, the player controls a fictional train full of Czech legionary veterans through the Russian territories to the east towards Siberia, as the Soviets have cut off the route to the west. The control of the tracks and trains as well as the escape of soldiers and legionaries from Russian/Soviet territory is historically documented.
According to a recent report from the Russian press service of the St. Petersburg courts, the St. Petersburg prosecutor’s office has filed a lawsuit demanding to ban the distribution of the video game “Last Train Home” in Russia. The lawsuit states:
The game is capable of contradicting the traditional values of Russian society and making children feel that the information provided from various sources is false. It also encourages them to engage in violent gaming actions. In addition, the game incites hatred and hostility towards the authorities of the Russian Federation and the soldiers of the Red Army during the Civil War. Last Train Home contains false information about the activities of government agencies and officials during the Civil War in Russia. It creates a negative attitude towards these bodies and denies historical facts. In addition, it glorifies representatives of the Czechoslovak Corps. This can harm the mental and social health and development of children.
The St. Petersburg prosecutor’s office has now also requested a ban on the game via the Steam reporting service. The lawsuit has been registered with the Oktyabrsky District Court in St. Petersburg. It has not yet been determined when the matter will be considered.
Petr Kolar from the developer studio Ashborne Games, which sees the matter quite calmly, comments as follows:
In the game we tell the story of a single, fictional train. In reality, the legionaries managed to gain control of the entire Trans-Siberian Railway. It is claimed that we are stirring up hatred against the Russian government and the Red Army, which is exactly what we did not want to do. We believe that nothing in war is black and white. War is grey. War itself is the bad thing. There is good and evil on both sides.
In the game, for example, you meet a Red Army soldier who asks if the player can take the family on the train to the next town to see a doctor. It is up to the player to make this decision. Whether he refuses because he is basically an enemy, or whether he stands up for the family and lets the Red Army soldier go. It is interesting that the Russian prosecutor’s office can deal with history. If they have time for such things, perhaps they will also find time to deal with human rights violations in Russia.
Michal Rak from the Czechoslovak Legionnaires’ Association, which had historically advised the studio, said:
Of course, there are simplifications in the game, such as the shorter time span of six months instead of four years in reality when 60,000 men made their way home via Siberia, also against the resistance of the Red Army. But at its core, the game corresponds to reality. The Bolsheviks had set themselves the goal of destroying the legions. At first they wanted to win them over, then they wanted to destroy them. It is clear that today’s Russian government does not like to remember this because it contradicts the narrative of the hardened, strong, invincible Red Army, which ultimately got a beating from a small force.
I think the game also shows things like the legionaries liberating Russians from the Bolsheviks. Maybe these scenes are a bit exaggerated and the Bolsheviks seem worse than in real life. I think the current Kremlin regime doesn’t want to be reminded that there was a foreign power in Russia that behaved well.
