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Incredible, an amazing accomplishment.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 74 / 81
Date: April 01, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This is one heck of a piece of software. Don't think I've seen anything like this before. Nope, not perfect, but pretty incredible. First off, it takes a while to get used to the whole concept. Folks who wrote a review after playing it for only an hour didn't see enough as usual.

Second, looks like you can play this thing for months, and almost never repeat yourself. It is totally open ended, a huge landscape to play in, almost boundless (in the spirit of FarCry, but much much more)

The whole thing takes getting used to. The weapons, the weight system, the health approach, the copious amount of bad guys who just never stop coming. LOTS of subtleties. This is not an overt shooter like HL2, Doom etc. This is a whole world in which to live, breath and survive.

Yep, its a little buggy. But the devs seem on it as the first patch showed up within weeks of release and definitely made a difference. For such an ambitious piece of software, I can see why it took so long to finish and test, and why there would be bugs first time out. There is so much interwoven complexity, I'm blown away. The dynamic interaction between all the elements in the game world are almost real.

The "AI" are pretty awesome, with each one having a strategy it seems. Some are dumb, and just do repetitive things, but others sneak up behind you and blow you away. Really cool!! They also can whack you when you're eating, reloading, or other tasks that most shooters protect you from while mid task.

The people who built this colossus deserve tons of credit, both technical and artistic. This game is no small feat.

It's a masterpiece!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 71 / 81
Date: March 27, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Not only are the graphics top-notch, (better than Oblivions graphics) but the gameplay, AI, and atmosphere are all top-notch. It's also the creepiest and scariest fps I've ever played since Condemned, Half-Life 2 and Doom 3.

It's not Oblivion with guns. Nor is it a Doom 3 or Halo type game. It is open-ended and free-roaming,.. but instead of one HUGE map you have about 10 or so Battlefield 2 map size areas linked together, with loading screens inbetween. It has day & night cycles,.. rain,.. strong winds (complete with leaves and dust blowing around. The grass even reacts to the wind realisticly. It's got full dynamic lighting(if your videocard can support that) where everything,.. including the grass casts shadows from any and all lightg sources.)

The atmosphere reminds me of the run-down and abandoned areas of Half-Life 2,.. complete with weird monsters and enemy humans with very very good AI.
There are two separate factions you can choose between to join,.. or you can ignore them and stick to the main quest,.. and there are also many side quests. "Stashes" are hidden supplies tucked away in containers in hidden areas all over the game, hidden by other NPCs for you to raid and then deposit your own extra supplies you may need later.

Guns can get worn out with excessive use and jam. Scopes can be attached to rifles. There are different types of ammo for each gun that will penetrate different materials. There is food, and after a while your character will get hungry. There is vodka to help reduce the effects of radiation poisoning just in case you don't have any anti-radiation meds on you. There are even energy drinks that will instantly refill your fatigue meter from sprinting a lot.

When you are shot, you bleed. So not only are there medkits, but there are also bandages to put on your wounds. Each gun has it's own stats such as damage, accuracy, handling, and range. The gun accuracy is semi-realistic. Sort of like Battlefield 2,.. but better. There is reagular FPS view with the gun to the right of the screen,.. and there is "ironsights" view activated when you right-click for better aiming.

Dead bodies remain for an extremely long time. You can even drag them around. Some creatures will even eat and drag the bodies around. When you've gone through a map and killed everything,.. more enemies will return when or if you come back so that an area is never empty and boring.

There are hundreds of anomolies (hazard spots) scattered all over the game that can shock you, cause you to implode, irradiate you, or burn you alive. There are also artifacts with different powers and side effects you can eqip for some extra help. (some will reduce your damage from bullets or creatures, shock, increase your sprinting time, or reduce radiation in your body.

The story is mainly told through text entries in you PDA and character conversations. So it's up to you to keep up with the story. Often side missions will respawn,.. but it's up to you if you want to do them anyway. It's really easy to earn lots of money,.. and most of the guns, ammo, and supplies you need can be scavanged off of the dead bodies of your enemies (or friends),.. so there's not a lot to use money for.

This isn't a linear game where you always know what to do and you always have the upper-hand. It's up to you to connect the dots and figure out how to survive. It's a game for people who like to explore,..and want combat that is more serious. You can't go around like in GTA blowing everything up. You have to actually develop the skill to handle the guns and to take cover, as well as knowing when to avoid combat or retreat.

It isn't compatible with Vista yet. (but a patch may soon fix that.)

You really need a PC that meets the recommended specs so you can turn all the graphics up and enjoy it to it's fullest. (duh. True for any PC game.)

I currently have an AMD dual core 4200, Geforce 7950 with 512 mb ram, 2 gb of DDR ram, and XP sp2 and I can play the game with graphics on maximum and have perfect performance.

Stalker: Chernobyl...A good FPS with some RPG upgrades.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 39 / 52
Date: April 27, 2007
Author: Amazon User

A well done FPS!.

This game is set in the future, with a plot that begins around the time of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. It is a game of intense action, atmosphere and involves some strategy and choices.

As with any game there are positives and negatives...let me explain

The Pros:

1.)A great selection of weapons and ammo (with the better ones becoming available as you proceed in the game). Some are better than others and some are quite heavy (you have a limit to how much you can carry).

2.)Different armor is also available at different points in the game.

3.)Realistic "fog of war" occurrences; weapons jam (with increasing frequency as they become worn); your player tires and gets hungry affecting his ability to perform.

4.)Great atmosphere; spooky ambient lighting in dark halls and tunnels, in the outdoors you have rain, lightening and night time; and then there are always the unexpected attacks (anywhere) by an assortment of men, animals and mutants.

5.)Enemy AI that is realistic: their guns need reloading and occasionally jam; they hide behind objects when shot at; they sneak up from the unseen side; animals attack in packs and from behind while one or two distract you from the front. All in all an enemy that appears to "think" about what it's doing instead of just standing there and blasting away at you.

6.)Although the game requires you to the complete main missions to proceed in the game, you can roam around the country side unrestricted. As a bonus, however, there are several side missions that you can do (these are optional and not required to finish the game but may give you substantial rewards in money or items)

7.)Easy save and load feature.

8.)3 different endings, depending on the choices you make near the end of the game.

9.)Some re-playability; you may want to try different endings, side missions and other weapons and armor.

10.)Many hours of intense, hectic game play.

Cons:

1.)You'll need fairly good hardware and lots of RAM to run this game as it was meant to be played.

2.)No vehicles to ride for battle or transportation purposes. (and annoyingly, towards the end, you must walk back almost to the starting point to get an important piece of info) or you can't get into the last 2 endings.

3.)Maybe, just maybe a little too hard even on novice (especially towards the latter part of the game).

4.)You'll need at least 9GB of disc space to load this game.

5.)I found there were occasional crashes or freeze ups after long periods of play.

Suggestions; (SPOILER)

1.)Early on, go to "Dark Valley"; this will give you a chance to
a.)obtain a sniper scope (useful a little later) and
b.)while here, do a side mission that requires you to "rescue a fighter's friend" (here you'll find, in the same building as the "friend" (but in another room), a piece of great armor and many useful and powerful "artifacts".

2.)Take every bandage you find; medkits will heal wounds but do not stop bleeding (and if you don't stop bleeding, well...you bleed to death).

Conclusion:
This was a game that I really enjoyed (even though the novice level could be a real challenge at times); it featured my favorite type of game, that being, a FPS with some RPG upgrades. If you liked such games as Deus Ex, System Shock or Dark Messiah, I'm sure you'll pleased with this game. 5 Stars.

R. Nicholson

A BEAUTIFUL INNOVATIVE GAME FOR...THE NEXT GENERATION OF PCs

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 13 / 13
Date: October 22, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This is the poster-game for innovative ideas, good intentions, and even better vision, that got somewhat lost in the way of development.

The original concept, the crossing-over of game genres, the beautiful graphics, the distant horizon, the RPG feeling (missions, NTCs, journal, etc) of this beautiful FPS game, get mostly ruined by endless glitches of laggings, freezings and overall unfinished development. Luckily, all of the above shortcomings can be fixed by a serious patch.

STALKER introduces a number of very smart gaming ideas, features beautiful environments and manages to create a realistic atmosphere in our room. Nevertheless, this still being an FPS after all, the gameplay is so unbalanced that it feels like swimming in thick syrup: a lot of effort adds up to only little progress.
Nice new weapons that jam all the time. When they don't, it's almost impossible to replenish their ammo. Enemies that seem to absorb bullets like cartoon characters: they go down only after repeated shots!
Your character gets tired and hungry, sure, adds to the realism of the experience - but isn't radiation suppose to cause fatigue as well? None of your enemies seem slowed down one iota...No, I am complaining about the difficulty of the game - it's the unleveled fields that got to me.

Playing STALKER made me nostalgic of the original UNREAL (another game which revolutionized the atmospheric environments at its time). UNREAL however was exceptionally balanced: a head shot with a snipper's rifle would take off both your own head as well as any enemy's head.

Now, I have a pretty decent system (P4 at 3.2MHz with 2GB RAM and a 512MB nVidia 7600GT on an ASUS P4P800), well beyond recommended requirements, yet it was impossible to play STALKER longer than a couple of hours before either the lagging eventually got to me or the whole thing just crashed. The requirements for RAM alone are staggering...

My advice: wait until the next big Patch is available (mind you, patching does NOT support older saved games...)

Recommended only for the next generation of PC systems
(unfortunately, my copy is gathering dust as you are reading this, waiting for my next system).

Bleak. Radiation, devastation, isolation, degradation, exploitation, mass mutation.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: January 09, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I dont know why people have had problems running this game. I bought the game, installed the latest patch of course (1.004), and run the game just fine (1024x768, low graphics settings, max view distance) on a 2.4 ghz dell, 1gbRAM, with a lowly PCI GEFORCE 6200!! No crashes ever! Anyway, on to the review..

I've been an FPS junkie since Wolfenstein 3D. Not since System Shock 2 has an FPS had me this addicted. Anyone looking forward to Fallout III should pray that it turns out this good. It is a genuine open-ended FPS with RP elements, real-world weapons (although w/slightly changed names, they are easily identifiable), challenging AI, realistic physics, HL2-like graphics quality, and an overall immersive atmosphere that makes you feel as if you were really wandering through the bleak wasteland of the forbidden zone surrounding the Chernobyl reactor. (A real place, the zone)..I remember a dark night during a thunderstorm, happening upon a lone figure under a bridge, huddled by a campfire..the sad song he played on his guitar was cut short by my bullets..for he had on his back the first AK i had seen in the game..I remember the twinge of guilt i felt..but thus is life in the zone.

A REAL REVIEW FOR THIS GAME

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 12 / 16
Date: March 21, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game has been in production for the last 5 or 6 years and it shows on the graphics. While the graphics are a little dated the lighting effects show every shadow and who needs awsome graphics when you have the killer gameplay right.?

This game takes place in the near future when it is safe to return to CHernobyl (Nucular power site that had a melt down in 1987(Fact)) and you are a freelancer bringing back artaficts to sell to scintests or other "intrested "factions. The game is set-up as a FPS with the Elderscrolls RPG style missions you can talk to anyone, trade food for ammo or sell it to a hungry Merc for 200% profit Work with a faction for one mission then totaly stomp them out in the next mission. While I have not got to all the game features I am 10 Hrs in (game has only been out for a day) and I am still Trading shooting "zombies" Gathering artifacts and hunting other S.T.A.L.K.E.Rs. The only real downside is after 6 years in the oven and sevral push backs you you would think all the bugs (not able to finish side quests, or pick things up) would be fixed. That is why Gameplay is only 9 when they fix these errors It will become a 10

Graphics:7/10
Sound:8/10
Gameplay:9/10
Replay value:10/10
Overall:8.6/10

What SHOULD be the next big thing in FPS

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 7
Date: November 20, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Shadow of Chernobyl is the most phenomenal first person shooter I have played in nearly ten years. I have played single player FPS games since the original Wolfenstein 3d and can remember a few games that really did new things for the genre. Wolfenstein, then Doom and Quake I - II, Halflife, Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, Medal of Honor, Call of Duty I & II, and Far Cry, all pushed new ideas, new engines, and new game-play elements. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl is the next game to push a really new element of realism into the FPS mix.

Actually, there are three elements that really make the game stand out over its same-gen FPS competitors. One is the open world, where you can go anywhere you can survive, shoot at just about anything that bleeds, pick up side missions enough to fill up real-time days, and get into more hairy situations than you can shake a stick at. Some people have said that the world could be bigger. Sure, the world could be bigger, but it can already provide up to twenty hours of non-repetitive exploration. So, I'm personally content to wait for an expansion pack to give me more areas to check out.

The second element I really love, as a long time FPS gamer, is the element of realism they've added to the shooting game. Shooting from the hip is extremely inaccurate, and reeling off an entire assault rifle clip is about the best way to waste ammo in the game (kind of like in reality). Circle strafing is not going to work very well in this title. If you want to shoot and hit something, your playable character should be in a stable shooting position, firing down his aimed sights. Even doing this, you'll have a challenge learning to handle guns that fire rounds that fly in parabolic arcs (though the arc is not as extreme as the designers originally intended). An enormous amount of research went into the creation of the bullet physics for this game. Every gun fires rounds in a slightly different manner. Different types of ammo will result in a flatter trajectory out of the barrel. This game is the closest thing to a free-range shooter simulation I have ever seen, and I am grateful to have seen it, regardless of the negative reviews complaining about inaccuracy that I've noted online.

The third element is the AI, and the pure difficulty in overcoming AI driven opponents. Once again, the opponents difficulty has been toned down by developers under direct orders. I think that this is kind of sad. However, they are still the best AI driven opponents I've seen so far (and I include the ones I've seen in CoD4). They'll split up by armament, with rifles providing ACCURATE covering fire, shotguns rush to close using leapfrog tactics and available cover, and miscellaneous armaments circling wide to flank in an orbit of your last known location! This is HUGE. I can't tell you how bored I've become with the flanking maneuvers of other games that are almost purely formulaic. "I'm here so they'll send guys there, across either that open spot or that one over there..." just doesn't apply to this game. STALKER's AI cannon fodder actually use cover, and fire in an accurate fashion. I found I had to use cover in entirely new ways, and continually shift my location and point of fire to keep from getting swamped by a relatively small number of AI driven units with similar armor and weapons. I don't think I can describe how excited I was by this.

The technical aspects of this game blew me away. I loved them. Add on to these the fact that the designers gave me a non-linear game world, upgradeable equipment and weapons, and the ability to play the game in a non-linear fashion, and we have the biggest jump in FPS realism since Rainbow Six proved that some FPS gamers like realism in their FPS games' game-play mechanics. This game transcends the boundaries of traditional FPS games, and I will continue to play it over and over again... until the expansion pack or sequel is released.

Diamond in the rough

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: March 27, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Where to begin..., normally I don't write reviews but after reading some of the 1 and 2 star reviews, I decided to do my own since I feel the game deserves better, much better. For you Vista beta testers (that's what you'll be for the next 12 months or so) Read the recommendation on the box, at the developers web site or on a reputable game site such as IGN, Gamespot etc. All have said that the game does not support Vista but that a patch will be forthwith.. Also, for a direct x9 game, it can really tax even a high end system. I'm sporting a core2 duo 6600 oc'd to 3.5ghz, SLI 7900gtx's with 2 gigs of ram. Fortunately I can run the game with everything cranked, but judging from other comments, if you have anything less than a 7800 with a decent cpu, be prepared to ditch the high end resolutions and other eye candy.
And yes the graphics are a little dated. I remember thinking the same thing when I first loaded System Shock 2 only to emerge from my den 2 days later recovering from one of my most cherished game experiences. Note I said dated, ...not bad. Overall, the graphics are very good by today's standards. Let me tell you some areas where the graphics engine is superlative; dynamic lighting, weather effects, indoor locations and the weapons rendering/physics.
The gameplay and atmosphere is everything I could ask for in a game box. Lots of gritty gameplay, gunplay, looting, trading, collecting, hoarding, side missions as well as spending alot of time scratching my noodle as what to carry and what to drop due to weight limitations. As newer weapons became available, I had a tough time dropping to the ground a trusty weapon that just, got me through the last skirmish. Anyway, the gameplay from my perspective is fresh and innovative for a 1st person shooter. I'm appreciative of the effort and perseverance the developers
had in bringing us this game. If you're a person who has to have 'stellar graphics' in a shooter that funnels you unidirectionally through the game like crap through a goose, this game is probably not for you.
As for stability, in 20+ hours of play I've had one hard lock where I had to reboot and that could've been secondary to aggressive overclocking. I do notice an occaisional hitch in outdoor scenes as the cards try to catch up on rendering. In a nutshell, pretty stable on Win XP. I guess my biggest gripes so far is that the story line is a little hard to follow, especially using the pda as a reference. And the initial load times... last night I clicked on load game, then took a leak, went to the kitchen, got a couple of cookies, a glass of milk and then went to the office to sit down just as the game finished loading. Oh well, small potatoes for a satisfying game experience.
There are few bugs, but thats to be expected in a game of this size and scope. I never ran into anything that was other than a minor 'meh', the overall world is just too immersive to get snagged on some minor bugs.
In the end, I highly recommend this game if you'd love an open-ended, role-playing game dressed as a 1st person shooter. Hey, I liked it so much, I bought a copy for my friend, who by the way ... loves it too.

Video Games As Art

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 6
Date: February 08, 2008
Author: Amazon User

I seldom give anything a perfect score in a review, and I should definitely qualify my rating here by making a few statements about the performance and the bug issues in Stalker.

This game is a hog. It doesn't have Crysis quality graphics, but it still wants a near Crysis-worthy machine to play smoothly. I played it, the first three times, on a computer that did not nearly approximate the requirements it actually needed, but despite the terrible performance, I was utterly enthralled.

It also has more bugs than any game I have ever played. I was very fortunate and did not experience nearly as many bugs as some, and most of what I encountered did not stop or ruin the game. I have heard people complain many times that they couldn't finish the game at all because of various bugs, and I believe that can be the case sometimes. There are now several patches and many issues have been fixed, but its still got troubles.

All of that said though, I still think this is among the most amazing video games experiences I have ever seen, if not the most amazing. I have never played a game with this much intensity, this much atmosphere, or this much imagination. The concept is a breath of fresh air in a very tired genre, and the execution of the idea is incredible.

While it is clearly a shooter, Stalker manages to be the very experience I have been looking for in an RPG for years. It lacks many of the elements I associate with that genre of gaming, but it makes up for them by simply feeling like a genuine experience. If Stalker appeals to you at all, it is almost certain to suck you in and make you feel like you are "there" in the Zone.

It is a huge, sprawling game with a mysterious story, and the play is very non-linear. For the most part, you can spend as much time exploring and surviving in the Zone as you like, and the dangerous "treasure hunt" that is life as a Stalker can be very appealing. Its the kind of game that has places in it that you want to revisit and look deeper into, and its also the kind of game where you can do exactly that.

Few games have ever given me as many scares and surprises either. When I finished playing Stalker the first time, I immediately started again, and the second and third times were all unique. The A-life system that gives the Zone its personality is not perfect, but it tends to be very aggressive and quite random, which means that the Zone is never the same twice.

Stalker introduced me to the original Russian sci-fi novel, "Roadside Picnic" upon which it is based, and the book is fantastic and highly artistic too. So is Andrei Tarkovsky's movie, also entitled Stalker, based on the same novel. And if you like good atmospheric ambient music, Robert Rich and B. Lustmord's tribute album, "Stalker," is also quite good.

This just seems to be a fantastic and ever expanding concept. If you are willing to take the rist that the bugs won't ruin it for you, if your computer can run it, and if you like to be challenged by a game that defies the conventions, then this is worth investigating.

And later this year, GSC is going to release a prequal, Clear Sky, which promises to be just as amazing!

An amazing adventure

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 8
Date: March 31, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I was skeptical when this game first came out because of the six year development process. Games in development for that long are usually cancelled. AS it turns out, those six years produced one of the finest games I have played since the original half-life or better yet, System Shock 2. The enemy variety is excellent. With zombies, mutants, animals and men, The game never seems to get old. I recently forgot to do an important sidequest I had forgotten in a military complex that I had once cleaned out. I returned to the base expecting the level to be empty. When I returned, bandits were roving the countryside and the underground parts of the base had become a mutant nest. Like doom, different enemies will interact with eachother. Nothing felt better in a gunfight I had with mercenaries than the time a Snork (froglike mutant) group attacked them from the side. This game had alot of detail and love coded into it and it shows. Bugs and loadtimes aside, it is more than playable. Each level feels fresh and the developers travelled into the Chernobyl zone to research their level design. Some people compain about the load times but if I have to wait 2 minutes for my computer to render a level (which are huge by the way), I can go to the fridge and grab a snack. You will not be unhappy with this game, especially with its lowered price.

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