S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl Metascore 82 1.Introduction//2.Background//3.Setting//4.Gameplay and Story//5.Mods and Links 1.Introduction Stalker is a gritty, realistic FPS take on a part supernatural part modern post-apoc setting that takes place withing "The Zone", a Russian military quarantined zone patrolled and guarded by infantry soldiers. Many people out of rumors of miracles, treasure and wonder brave the perimeter and sneak in, acting as treasure hunters, explorers and guides though this area, which while serene is essentially deadly to human life. 2.Background The game is based off of a classic Russian sci-fi movie Ctaлkep, transliterated Stalker, (Cite). The game however takes the military enclosed concept and the raw natural treachery of the zone and does two major things; It fills it with hostile adventurers just like you who live inside the zone, and it places it in-line with the Chernobyl accident, this fits nearly perfect with the plot but the book yet these concepts were not included for multiple reasons, the most obvious being that the source material was created before the accident. 3.Setting In game you will find that the zone is basically what you would encounter IRL, the weapons are available in that area in Russia, including military issued weapons, and most guns are real with the names changed for reasons of royalties. The game is set in 2012 and was conceptualized in 2000, so there are slightly futuristic things that we know not to be viable, but it gives the game some charm regardless. Some nonsensical things like Vodka curing radiation (a folk myth), and bandages raising your HP as fast as you can use them are included, but this is simply for ease of gameplay, and trust me, stalker is brutal enough. 4.Gameplay and Story Due to the lack of ammunition, carry capacity, gun and armor durability and effectiveness, jams and lack of protection over use, Stalker is not a charge blindly into a situation and spray kind of game, even with a full auto rifle you'll be counting your shots, and even with the most effective armor in the game you'll be cringing at every hit. Enemies usually outmatch you in a one-on-one, and a lot of the time you might engage an entire platoon of soldiers or god knows who else, often without any backup. The difficulty level of the game is comparably very high compared to modern FPS games, master difficulty is recommended for experienced FPS players for the full experience, and rather than being frustrating it remains challenging. Most of the story is, as Dreamfall, better left unsaid. Spoiler The game begins with waking up after being on a truck piled with dead bodies, the truck was ran off the road due to natural circumstances and you were rescued by a scavenger wanting to sell your corpse, it appears you have a working PDA and have the word S.T.A.L.K.E.R. tattooed on your arm, from then on you are referred to as Marked one, though you do not remember who you are. The PDA has one message, KILL STRELOK. The game is fairly open ended, friendly fire is always on, so you can choose how you interact with the different denizens in the world by your actions. The story then goes to ClearSky which follows the game in a different perspective, and then a sequel in Call of Pripyat. 5.Mods and Links Highly recommended, the Complete Mod turns this 2007 game into a 2009 game, it upgrades nearly all aspects of the game, eliminates bugs, upgrades the graphics and engine to that of Stalker CoP, and changes some of the gameplay mechanics such as improving your base endurance, carry capacity and pistol accuracy which makes the game a tiny bit easier but far less frustrating and constricting. You do get more realistic lighting, which unlike unmodded you will be pretty much blind in the dark making night play extremely difficult. Complete mod allows foes to use their grenades (I didn't see one usage in plain), which changes the gameplay drastically. Zero Punctuation: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky The above is fairly valid, but ClearSky was buggier than Shadow of Chernobyl. Stalker SoC Complete Mod TBP ISO is compatable with the mod. MetaScore
I tried it a few times, but no matter how much I wanted to I couldn't get into it, it just always felt a bit clunky to me. Like Fallout and Metro 2033 had a retarded deformed child ):
