Cold War

Inaccuracies

In reality, there was never a KGB director named Georgi Barinsky, supposed to have been its leader in 1986. Vadim Viktorovich Bakatin (11/06/1937 - ) was the real last director of the KGB, he came into office in early 1991.

Though Bakatin was a major player in a coup attempt that aimed at a return to traditional hard-line Soviet policies, he was not trying to overthrow Gorbachev, but rather Yeltsin who came after Gorbachev. As in the game, a fake radio message WAS broadcast to try to obscure the coup attempt, by making the weak claim that the president had resigned. But this broadcast was certainly not made by any such person as "Barinsky," and there is certainly no known evidence of any blackmail threat to set off small nuclear bombs, as there was in the game.

In the game, Carter is portrayed as actually tracking down these small, crude nuclear devices with no protective gear, only a Geiger counter. When Carter is right next to one of these bombs, the counter is shown registering 100 RADS. That emission level is likely reasonable for hideously unsafe devices made from nuclear waste, as in the game. Carter not only picks the bomb up and carries it with him, but furthermore he finds a second such bomb which emits the same amount, and carries that also. In real life, somebody exposed to even 100 rads would collapse very soon, and would need serious medical aid. Carter is a fugitive desperately sought by the KGB. Their officers are on nationwide alert to shoot him on sight. Even if Carter somehow escaped the irradiated area and immediately got help from a very good Soviet hospital, that sort of hospital would be available only to high Party officials. In that ludicrously unlikely situation, Carter would be likely to survive, but with serious permanent injuries. In an ordinary Soviet hospital, Carter would be doomed. Yet in the game Carter keeps functioning normally, despite so much radiation exposure.

Even a small nuclear bomb -- whether using plutonium, uranium, or both -- is very heavy. Yet Carter can easily carry two such bombs, and also many other things. If such bombs were production-quality, they would each need a medium-sized suitcase; if crudely fashioned, then the size of a tea chest or larger. How can he carry two of them when he has only a vest, plus something like a satchel or messenger bag?