S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl (PC DVD)

Well after reading the review for this game by the likes of "Ganfy" and "Scott" I thought I would have to step in to provide a more balanced look at the game.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is a first person shooter much like many other games you may have played, but it has quite a few things going for it that not many other games have. You play as a mysterious character known only as "The Marked One" who, along with many other people, is a "Stalker" out in Chernobyl (where things happened slightly differently in the game, the meltdown spreading radiation across the lands far and wide) looking for Artifacts which have been produced by the radioactive wash caused by the nuclear meltdown. These Stalkers are just regular joes trying to make some good money by hunting these artifacts down.

The game is very quest-oriented. Almost in RPG style, you will find many characters in the game who will offer you missions that could either be a huge part of the main story which you will have to play through to finish the game, or side quests which will earn you money and loot to do with as you please. You will travel around huge open areas as you please, either following quest markers or just mooching around to see what you can find. Exploring the virtual world of the chernobyl area is a fantastic experience and the mood created by the cumulative sound, looks and play all contribute to a great atmosphere.

You will be running around the lands of Chernobyl taking on many evils that cross your path, from dogs and boars that have been mutated by the radiation to creatures created purely out of the nuclear devastation, some of which can be quite creepy and disturbing to see. There will also be bandits running around the world, hoping to rob the Stalkers of their plunder, and they won't hesitate to attempt to kill you. You have a PDA which tracks all your quest logs, useful info and has a handy map which shows you the entire gameworld and marks all the useful locations on your map.

You also have an inventory which you must pay a little bit of attention to as if you just pick up every gun and all the ammo from every bandit and animal you defeat you will soon not be able to move. People have complained about this but it is merely a balancing act of the game, it keeps things interesting by not making the game super easy when you have 6 assault rifles to choose from and 2000 rounds or something stupid. You have to consider your weapons loadout, ammunition, health kits, artifacts and other useful items and make sure you have enough space to pick up some new stuff but you're not so light that you're going into the fray unprepared.

The shooting action in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is actually some of the most realistic and engaging shooting you will find in games. Fans of counter-strike can eat their cake as I would say that the shooting in this game is flat out far more realistic. The ballistics are fantastic, firing a low end assault rifle from any reasonable distance and you will see your bullets spread right out, your gun can jam mid-fire (which can be pretty harrowing) and there are different types of ammo to consider, and as you might expect, stopping and crouching to take a shot is key.

The visuals aren't mindblowing, the X-Ray engine provides some solid detail and some of the environments look stunning, but the character models feel a little bit behind the times. The game engine is also quite a system hog, which is a little strange as games that look a bit better will sometimes run smoother than this game, but it's really a minor detraction from what is otherwise a well worthwhile experience. The sound is really excellent, the ambient music and sound effects are fantastic, and some of the howling noises and strange sounds you will hear out in chernobyl sent shivers down my spine. Guns sound as they should, and all the Stalkers, bandits and other human folk in the game all speak russian which adds a great air of authenticity to the game.

There are a few bugs in the game, but at the time of this review they are releasing patches fairly regularly and a good amount of the bugs have been fixed. The game will require you to have a pretty recent computer if you intend to get the most out of the visuals, but it is perfectly possible to play the game on hardware a few years old.

The story is pretty good, as mentioned in some other reviews it can be a bit confusing but if you do as many quests as you can and piece them together you will get some rewarding plot lines coming out of the game. Overall the plot is a bit inconsistent but it's still good enough to keep you wondering and pushing for the goal.

Overall S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is a fantastic shooter. It's creepy, entrhalling atmosphere is something that most games strive to achieve but seldom succeed. Exploring the game world is just a fantastic experience in itself, being intrigued by the things you see and find is fun in itself. Add on to that great gunplay, some RPG like elements with the questing and loot gathering, a reasonably gripping plot and you've got yourself a good game. Sure, it does have a few bugs, but these are minor detractions from the overall experience, which if you know what you're in for, is a fantastic one.

This game initially took my breath away, it has good enough graphics to look modern (though not the best) a great soundtrack, loadsa weapons, creepy monster things and a massive freeroaming gaming area. I have played hundred of FPS's and this rated up there with halflife in its initial storyline and the way i was gripped. The planning and scripting of the storyline and some of the set pieces are fantastic, without giving too much away, there is a point where you go into underground tunnels from fighting through a base topside. an the contrast is incredible, from bright free running to claustrophobic dark tunnels (complete with squeeking spinning alert lights on the cieling). Then you come to a long tunnel, and just when your at the other end, your hear a blood curdling roar, turn around to see something that looks barely human, only to be hit by somekind of psy attack that blurs your vision, very scary and atmospheric. The initial release was not without its faults though, and more annoying was the fact that the update meant you had to start the game from the beggining again, (so i just played it straight through without updating it).
However from my initial amazement at this awesome game, i started to struggle to follow the storyline, and only when the game ended, which i wasnt expecting to happen, i have found out there are 7 other endings of which i do not know, 2 of which i have found out, involve some story in the game i never even touched upon.

It isnt a straight out shooter either like halo or quake, you have to plan your attacks.

1small issue for me was there were no vehicles at ALL (other than the enemy helicopters)

Overall - A must for anyone who like FPS's. Good graphics, a decent array of weapons (and yes u are limited fallout style in what you can carry, but that just adds a touch of realism and adds to your involvment), good enemy AI, and a massive massive game. i'd give it 8/10, its original, exciting, just let down by being buggy, occassionaly repetetive (u sometimes have to run abck an forth alot), and hard to follow.

Cant wait for the creators to bring an newer better game. Because if this is there first attempt, there second should be world class!!!

P.S. at £15 you cant go wrong. You get WAY more than your monies worth here. (an dont forget to UPDATE before you start playing it)

If you like first person shooters then this game may be for you. It's dark, gloomy and depressing with lots of atmos and you will need one behemoth of a pc to run it decently. The game runs very smoothly fully maxed out on my system which really and truly is a mid range system, here are my pc specs to give you some idea: AMD64 3700+ CPU running at 2.73ghz with arctic64 cooler, 2gb of pc3200 corsair ram and a geforce 7800gs bliss goes like hell 512mb graphics card, now, despite this being a very quick card in it's day and AGP it does struggle with some of the newer games such as Lost Planet but having said that it copes admirably with most of the games out at the mo and even better since I doubled my memory from 1gb to 2gb this made huge improvements to games . Stalker is a sod to run on anything less than the above spec so make sure your system is up to it before buying. All the settings maxed out makes for a very detailed game and its a visual treat, makes alot of difference to the level of detail so if your system is average and you cant run it on max settings then youre missing out. A good if not great addition to any FPS fan's collection. Not bad at all.