You Are Empty

The USSR has gradually become the world leader in science and technology, and the government has researched the creation of genetically engineered humans to serve a perfect totalitarian communist society. The experiment fails, and the city where it was tested becomes a dead zone. The protagonist wakes up in the city, having somehow managed to avoid the effects of the mutation. He has to explore the ruins, escape, and figure out how this tragedy could happen and why he is not affected by it.

You are Empty is a 3D first-person shooter set in the end of the 1950s in an alternate Soviet history. During the search, the player can collect notes that tell more about the background of the game. The entire city is in decay, with dark environments and a constant atmosphere of isolation. The mutated opponents include giant hens and rats, mutilated dogs and nurses, watchmen, soldiers and workers. There are also a few characters that provide help. The available weapons include a wrench, Mauser, shotgun, nail gun, PPSh, rifle, electric gun and molotov cocktails. Most weapons have a secondary function to zoom in or for close combat. Ammo is scattered around and health can be replenished through water stations or canisters. The gameplay is mainly action-based, with a few minor puzzles that involve switches and keys. The level path is entirely linear.

The game uses the in-house developed DS2 engine, reminiscent of Valve's 3D Engine: Source, with a similar graphical style, and an interactive and physics-based environment for both items and characters. There are both indoor and outdoor environments, with villages, factories, large cities, underground passages, a subway, a canyon, an opera house, and a level entirely on the rooftops. In the beginning of the game and between certain levels, rendered cut-scenes are shown. These are entirely in black and white, with a few hints of red, and tell the events that lead up to the Great Transformation.