S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl - Limited Edition Tin

When I first heard of this game it was from one of my classmates (who's also a gaming freak). He told me about it, I researched a bit and when I compared the game's levels on the map to satellite images in Google Earth I was truely amazed. Never before had I seen a game based so much on real events (somewhat) and actual environments. I purchased the tin edition on PLAY.com and played a bit. The game crashed all the time, until I installed some more RAM (from 1 to 2 GB). Then I saw a patch on the official website. Finally I could actually play the game on my semi-crappy PC.

I was a bit disappointed, because even though my graphics card is a Radeon X1300, which can actually render Half-Life 2 in extremely good quality, the quality of STALKER was not as gorgeous as HL2. STALKER also lagged a lot more than HL2 (or Far Cry). Despite of the second patch, the game kept crashing every now and then.

The gameplay in STALKER is non-linear, unlike Half-Life 2. Its like Oblivion, except this is on planet Earth in actual environments (though they obviously have altered it "a bit"). It can be somewhat difficult to figure out exactly which missions you're going to next, and the game's ending all depends on how you play the game. If you become friends with one group, it has one ending, if you become friends with another, or misses some of the missions, you get different endings, and so on.

The creatures in the game is also pretty cool. My favourites are the pseudo dogs. All the creatures, as well as the anomalies, in the game is a direct result of the radio activity in the Zone. I wonder why the creators didn't put Blinky in the game as well :D (if you don't watch The Simpsons, search for "blinky" using Google images).

It has been months since I completed the game, but I can recommend it to anyone who likes post-apocalyptic first-person shooters (or plain FPS for that matter). At least TRY the game. Borrow it from a friend, on the library, or buy it online. It's worth every penny (and the tin box is cool).

Now I can't wait until S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky comes out in 2008.

Installation is where this game falls down - be prepared to install it more than once before it works properly due to a custom and pretty rubbish installation system. You really must patch it to get the best from it but after that... M$ made a mistake - the Wow doesn't start with Vista, it starts with S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

System-wise, I'm running an unclocked Athlon 3800 single core with 2GB DDR and a lot of swap (2-4GB is gonna get used so make allowances). Graphics are great but require a VGA card with plenty of muscle (I've got an ATI X1950XT, also unclocked) if you want to see the best quality scenery and fx. Sound is mostly spot on, the odd misplaced voice or effect doesn't detract from gameplay.

Day & night cycles coupled with some fairly nasty locals (human or otherwise) can make life in the Zone harder than trying to make a soufflé in the middle of a riot. Be prepared for a fair bit of run & gun, sneak & stab, trading, conning & blagging your way through this nightmarish take on the Chernobyl saga.

If you get claustrophobic you might not like some of the underground areas - but if you want to survive in this irradiated mutant filled region of the world you'd better get over that real quick. Then again, being underground means you don't get caught out in a storm - and stay dry.

The game contains some of the most complex interactions between player and NPCs I've ever seen, side missions can span days of playtime (1 minute in-game = 3 seconds realtime) and earn you enough to buy better weapons, body armour and ammo. Or you could simply arrange for enemies to donate them to you. They don't like to, but in the Zone - that's life.

Doing favours for other Stalkers can earn you cut price deals, jobs or at least a reduced risk of being shot out-of-hand if you are dumb enough to point a gun at someone you don't intend to kill.

As I've mentioned, the Zone has a little problem with radiation; step into the wrong place and you can fry fairly qucikly - buy better shielding and you'll get on just fine. Usually. The anomolies can take their toll on the unwary and artifacts found can either help or hinder. You'll learn. Or not.

One thing I've found (having played the game to one of it's multiple endings for about the fourth time) - it changes. One run through it can be easy, another hard - your interactions with, say, the local military can have a bearing on how many bandits you meet later on. You learn to balance anger with a healthy aversion to lead poisoning, usually of the 9 or 7.62mm variety.

Overall, the only thing that caused me trouble was that ruddy installer - I've posted enough about it on the game's forum (along with many other people with major issues) and for this I give it 4 stars, but I'm glad to say that once I got my problems sorted out I've had a great experience with it and will probably be playing it for at least a couple more years (and by the time my hardware is the latest 2008 spec, at high rez with everything turned full on - it's 800x600 with all on as of May 2007)

I haven't even started playing multiplayer yet although I have looked around the supplied maps. For the online gamers out there - this will be *fun*. Beats seven shades out of Prey, Doom 3, Quake 4, any UT up to 2004 and even the previously untouchable quality of Half-Life 2 (after the bugs were worked out of it).

And no, if you were wondering, I have no connection with anyone connected with the game even though I may sound like a shill. I pre-ordered this game from Play in 2004 and now I'm playing it, I'm happy. Not bad for someone in his mid-forties. If you've read this far without going nuts, thanks - and I hope you enjoy this game as much as I have done.

I just read the previous two reviews and Couldn't believe what I was reading...
This game is excellent, in graphics, gameplay, storyline, level of detail, historical accuracy and just an example of what hard working game developers come up with.
The only way to appreciate it would be to have a state-of-the-art pc like myself, with at least a dual-core processor, I highly recommend this game, especially if you need a thrilling first person shooter experience.

Stalker is an excellent game. It has beautiful graphics and most importantly can run fine on the minimum specifications however its truly rewarding with a good gaming pc. The game manages to create an excellent atmosphere drawing you into it and quite possibly making even the less jumpy players jump at good moments.

It may not offer many new elements of game play to your average FPS but it certainly proves a challenge while i liked this element this may put some people off the game relies on you to use a bit of tactics and cover rather than just run and gun.

Prehaps the most annoying part of the game is the travel times of having to run back to collect quest rewards. The game doesn't have the clearest of story lines as it progresses but if you get the best ending of the game it does give you a very good storyline.

I have completed this now 4 times, and have seen all 7 endings. This game is outstanding, my all time favourite FPS.

If you stick to solely the main game quests, you're looking at 15 hours easily. I tend to do a lot of side missions, and arena matches, and I easily spend around 40 hours each time start to finish.

AlexCanFly, you must not be playing the game right if you keep dying so easily. It's not a run and gun style shooter like Quake etc, you need to be tactical and precise. Good weapon/ammo/armour management is essential.

Add a few mods such as Kanyhalos's Oblivion Lost 2.0 and Atrocious's Faction Change And Reset for OL2 and it just gets even better.

It isn't all about just blowing up mutants and zombies. There is so much to the story and characters. In my opinion, it's as good a story as Half Life 2. Interacting with NPCs is rewarding - trade, receive quests and gain knowledge of the zone.

Try this game. Its only a fiver in many places (the normal version).

This deserves far more than 3 and a half stars.