theuerkorn's Full Review: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl for Windows
Chernobyl, 1986: The infamous accident, due to poor coordination during an attempted experiment by shutting down the reactor's power-regulating system and its emergency safety systems, turns in to the chain reaction that eventually went out of control releasing large amounts of radioactive material into the atmosphere. (This is as far as reality travels in this game.)
Chernobyl, 2012: A series of "strange events", like a very bright light and explosions, result in numerous deaths and an increasing number of anomalies like mutant animals. Amateur researchers, marauders and poachers, called stalkers, show up. You are one of them and on the hunt for artifacts you can sell. But you have company and between competing Stalkers and those anomalies you'll quickly find yourself in one tricky situation after another.
IN A NUTSHELL
So far so good, the story line doesn't exactly inspire outbursts of genius, but it was overdue to exploit the nuclear disaster from about 20 years ago. After all, mutation caused by excessive radiation has always been fascinating material for books, comics, movies and games -- be it in form of Hulk or Godzilla.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is an interesting blend of RPG (role playing game) and FPS (first person shooter). In a way it feels a lot like Elder Scrolls IV with the free roaming in large worlds. You pretty much choose if you want to fight or talk to a guy and the dialogs can be rather lengthy, of which most of it is in written form. At the same time, once the talk is over, Stalker is all about fighting as a normal FPS would let you expect.
There are many ways to die in Stalker, be it lead poisoning (via bullet), unfriendly anomalies or radiation decaying your health. Interesting depth is provided by wounds that continue to bleed until they're taken care of and of course the same for radiation. Further, it often pays off to search any dead body or even help the wounded to gain a friend. Some areas have artifacts hidden that directly affect your abilities or simply can be traded in later.
So if you liked Elder Scrolls IV, you might love to be a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. as it offers similar elements and more action. The added layer of interaction and decisions gives an unusual depth to the genre. However, reading isn't exactly an action that comes to mind when thinking shooter. That and an added trading system make for a different game and it depends on your preference if you like that. Beyond that, the interface and controls are a little rough around the edges. For instance, die and the only option is to return to the menu instead of spawning from the last save point. Reload times are long and the flow disruptive.
However, if you're expecting something along the lines of Quake 4 or Rainbow Six: Vegas this may not be for you since the pace and side activities may not stimulate the average FPS brain. Then again, with not too many shooters in the pipe line until later this year (starting in June) one might consider S.T.A.L.K.E.R. a great way to spend the time until Crysis, Unreal Tournament 3, HL2 - Epsiode 2, Bioshock, Infernal, and others are available. (Hardware requirements for those will be much less forgiving!)
DETAILS
Story: [****-] Same old story of mutants to the degree that of course radiation creates all kinds of weird looking hostiles and not surprisingly some force is seemingly behind their actions. Boring as this may sound to some seasoned gamers, it's a fresh take in the sense that you're now freely roaming and events are less scripted.
Game Play: [****-] Good attempt to give FPS more depth and add RPG elements. However, overall it requires a lot of talking (reading) which stifles the flow of the game. The more open game play due to unrestricted roaming and non-linear missions is positive and enjoyable -- if it wasn't for interface glitches and relatively underpowered weapons.
Graphics: [****-] The DX9-based graphics engine claims to support up to one million polygons (read: large environments). It also shows adaptive lighting technologies to simulated different times of the day. HDR lighting, weather effects and soft shadows suggest a pretty hefty system. This has been revised many times during the 3 year development, and makes use of current DX9 graphics boards, while DX10 is still largely a no-show (as one would expect only a few months into the release and developers would certainly need longer to embrace new technology).
Physics: [***--] PhysX lovers still won't get much to do for their dormant hardware, and overall physics are relatively average. No puzzles or any impact to the gameplay, but otherwise a few good effects for eye candy. As you may be waiting for the next PhysX game after Ghost Recon, keep an eye out for "Infernal" which is scheduled to release in May.
Controls: [***--] While generally a WASD/Mouse control scheme, a few assignments are a bit off normal conventions and it takes some time to get used to S.T.A.L.K.E.R., but the biggest issue is that there seems to be little interaction with the environment. Using Rainbow Six: Vegas as a reference, the leaning, crouching and jumping feels terribly outdated in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.. Body awareness is minimal due to the visible hands but otherwise rather strange when crouching and leaning is virtually instant. Further, aiming and sneaking are very hard to do (an you will need to do both).
Progress: [***--] Unlike popular console ports, this game at least allows to save anywhere you like and resume the game later. It also keeps a history so you can pick an older save in case you feel the last one doesn't work for you. A quick save is strangely absent. However, biggest issue is the disruptive re-spawn after you're killed and loading the previous save requires to go to the main menu. So in all, it's not the save mechanism that's bad, but the efficiency with which to use saved games.
Sound: [****-] The game supports EAX and generally speaking the positioning and sound quality is good. However, volume between different situations appears a little unbalanced. (Too quiet at times.) Gun sound feels a little like a tin can. With that in mind, weather effects and voice quality is unexpectedly good. So overall its good average and just in some cases a bit confusing. The cool part is that despite generally speaking English, normal chatter is in Russian and you may not understand much, but it gives the game that much needed edge.
Weapons: [***--] The basic gun and knife are rather inefficient and killing and enemy from a distance is tough. Get closer and single shots towards you can end the game. Realism is great, but without any feedback on where you hit your enemy, it's hard to get that specific spot not covered by armor. Aiming isn't very smooth and relatively inaccurate. (Sometimes you can see little dust clouds where you really hit, but to improve accuracy you have to get closer ... too close for comfort.) For instance, you can have the cross hair turn red (which typically mean that you should hit the enemy, but you will be surprised when your bullet only makes him angry ... instead of dead). The sniper rifle is much better in that regard, but also not immediately available. The shotgun has a natural diversion factor built in.
Artificial Intelligence: [****-] Aggressive and adaptive, these words guarantee that your trip to Chernobyl won't be a cake walk. Creatures charge at you with ferocious bite and enemy stalkers have excellent aim. They also take cover and get reinforcements when needed. So far I am playing Veteran (3/4) and difficulty sure is high in some spots (especially when encountering other marauders which seem to have much better aim). Enemy combatants are warning each other and coordinating their attack. Somehow your team (should you decide to go in a group) is rather invisible during an assault. Don't expect any help from there.
MultiPlayer: [***--] One free multiplayer map is included and the large scale area and game idea of competing stalkers lends itself greatly to online multiplay.
Fun fact: The city name Chernobyl basically consists of "chornyi" (black) and "byllia" (grass blades or stalks); which together means as much as black grass or black stalks. What an Omen for a dark place in recent history!
HARDWARE
Load times are relatively long and the large environment may run into a few hick-ups every now and then when loading sections. However, once loaded, the graphics was very (!) responsive at 1600x1200 and most options set to maximum. The good performance most likely comes from the 512 MByte graphics memory and the game's limited use of particle effects. Other than that it's a good showcase for optimized use of DX9 technology. (I am still using WindowsXP as the gaming platform of choice due to more optimized drivers -- despite having a parallel Vista installation available.)
[27-Mar-2007] - A patch has been released which addresses mostly multiplayer issues and a few problems in single player (non-functional trigger points etc.). The bad news is that saved games are not compatible with the new version and you will have to start over again. Depending on your progress, that can be rather annoying.
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