How do you like STALKER?

I want to know if west-country people like it and what things in game they like most of all
And please try to compare STALKER with other well-known modern games
itten

STALKER is a very cool game.  Its got the open world of Oblivion, graphics that are comparable to most modern shooters, a decent plot, and perhaps best of all an amazing atmosphere.

I really enjoy how its more of a "thinking man's" shooter as well; while you can run and gun later on in the game, for most of it you really need to assess your battles prior to going in.  It reminds me a bit of of Operation Flashpoint in terms of weapons handling (accuracy and range is a HUGE issue to consider) only you dont have to worry about retarded squadmates.

Graphically, it has its ups and down.  Interiors are simply beautiful.  They have a lot of detail, and the quality of the textures rival those in Halflife 2 imo.  Outside, however, the game doesnt look so hot.  Everything seems to be a bit grainy and it really turns into  a system hog no matter where your settings are.  Inside it looks like a new game engine, while outside I think its looks atleast four years old.

STALKER performs well if you leave one key option off: dynamic range lighting.  I think this is a bug in the game because I Played the game at all resolutions and STALKER always slowed down with HDR lighting on.  With it off, it ran like a champ though.  Its a shame, too, because the game really loses a lot of atmosphere with the HDR off.  Fortunately there is a mod community out there that has tried to remedy this problem, but it didnt work for me.

Gameplay is good, though I wish the controls were smoother since they are pretty jerky at times.  Running, aiming, shooting all seems to be done incrementally (i.e. lets say you need to move your hand a sixteenth of an inch to the right, you cant because the increments are only quarter inch...does that make any sense?) but its not an issue after an hour or so.  The game is interesting as well, and there are side missions that are pointless but none the less fun...I mean, thats what games are for right?  Having fun!  The end game, imo, really slows down since you get good armor and weapons and essentially turn into a superpowered soldier.

Overall, its an awesome game and anyone with a mild to excessive interest in FPSs should own this sweet sweet gem of a game.

Stalker is a great game! Very realistic unfreakingbelievable atmosphere (maybe the best ever). The game is hard as hell in the begginning and takes much patience.

The game has a rpg feel it is like oblivion with assault rifles. Warning the game is scary as hell! Pick it up for sure. 

Well since im a westerner :P.

 I enjoyed Stalker very much. I finally beat it after much toil and hardship. I probably rushed through it without running around and doing alot of the side missions but I did alot of them. The weapons were just spectacular. Jamming when they aren't taking care of and the like. Armor was cool. I liked the powersuit I was a walking tank for a bit. I didn't like that you couldn't repair suits of armor that would of been really cool.

The sounds were well done. The Russian was done really good and I am only a 1st year and it sounds awesome. The graphics could of been improved some but hey they were good for a game that had a very open ended atmosphere and the like. I liked the fact that the AI was very intelligent. It gave me a challenge I haven't seen in most video games because developers are lazy to date except for Half Life 2 and that was a great game too.

 I am glad GSC Game World is continuing to make more games along the Stalker series. I give them high praise for what they accomplished! Its glad to know Russians can make video games :D

I think Stalker is a very good game, but the difficulty is sometimes extremely high. The graphics are beautiful also the sound and the detailed old condemned buildings are great. I love this game.

For all who need an working healt mod I will put a link to the file if I have time this afternoon. Otherwiese please email me. Or send me a message.

Craven

Thanks for your replies. I think that the best STALKER's thing is his atmosphere. There are old broken cars, worn brick walls, concrete plates, a lot of tunnels filled with garbage.

The train station is so detail and amazing. I felt myself like i really was there. Even HL2 didn't get me such fellings. Every small thing was familiar to me. Not only to me - but to all people from former USSR. Do you like this level of game?

I liked undeground laboratory level as well.There were some moments where I started in my seat. So unexpected sounds and voices there were. By the way, it is very hard to find entrance to this laboratory. I spent about 20 minutes for this.

And i'm interested if there are unprintable words in American/English version of game? 

The graphics have a little too much detail/bump/normal mapping in places, but overall it looks nice, especially with the graphical settings maxed out. The sound is great, too, with the howling of the wind at night, the boom of thunder, and the whimper of dogs in the distance. Also, the gameplay--the most important part of the game, of course--isn't bad, either. It's very fun, and can even be a bit scary at parts when you're underground in a dimly lit, unkempt, and abandoned laboratory or when you're traversing the Zone in the dead of night.

I'd recommend this game to anybody who has a decent enough rig and the patience to play a game like this. Many fans of games like Halo and Quake probably won't enjoy this game much, as it's far more tactical and slower paced. 

i really enjoyed the first half of s.t.a.l.k.e.r - i was very vulnerable, my enemies were every bit as lethal as i, usually better equipped and almost always in greater numbers

in most other games, the purpose of fighting enemies is to kill them, to progress - but with stalker, it felt much more like i was killing them to survive - every fight was a fight for my life, and i never really got the impression that i was fighting enemies that a level designer looked at and thought, hey, it would be cool to have a fight here

the world felt organic, and real - and dangerous

plus, there's a really great, dirty sense of futility and despair - not in the characters (who seem to portray typical soldierly pragmatism rather than wallowing in self-pity) so much as the world itself, everything is broken and filthy... and that, coupled with the fact that i hoarded my wealth rather than spent it (i play too many rpgs) meant that i had very low supplies

i felt oppressed in every way possible - and i've never really had such an experience with a game

but in the second half of the game, by the time i had a scoped rifle and some duty armour - and started spending my money - i had pretty much unlimited supplies, and firefights were an exercise in scoped headshotting at relatively safe distances, or simply running up to the enemy and shotgunning them, popping a bandage to cure bleed and heeling naturally... the game also took on a horror slant that did not work... and it really just felt like it was falling apart - the whole mutant/zombie side of the game could be removed or toned down

i'm sure it was lost in translation, but the english writing is pidgin at best, too - given the choice, i would rather it be the native tongue and subtitled than listen to a guy with a half-baked accent say things i have to interpret... sound on the whole, though, is great quality - but some of the effects could've used a few alternatives that cycle - some are too repetitive, especially animal sounds

the main mission arc isn't very good either, i pretty much ignored it... and most of the sidemissions are pretty bad go fetch boy! things that aren't much fun to do and yield unrewarding... rewards

if i were to change stalker, i would:

• remove all money, make all trade item based so every trade is a sacrifice of something
• make all supplies rarer
• make aiming a little more fluid (this is in part to offset the supply change, but also because it's frustrating having my crosshair jumping pixels around the screen at the slightest mouse movement when i have a 2000dpi mouse)
• develop the character development side of things, adding slightly deeper - but not distractingly so - roleplaying elements
• bring in a professional english writer and quality voice talent, or just subtitle everything and use the native language
• develop all the missions a little more, adding a sense of purpose and desire for the player, by making them involving and interesting and diverse, and also by making the rewards a little more worthwhile

besides that, i wouldn't change a single thing in s.t.a.l.k.e.r - i call it a flawed masterpiece, the first half i found phenomenal - the second half literally got worse the further in i went (though most people tend to think the opposite, from what i've seen)

great game on the whole, and i hope the next s.t.a.l.k.e.r games improve on what is already a very solid foundation

i thought it was pretty lame

 im a counterstrike man and i just thought that the shooting on stalker let it down big time the guns dont feel like proper guns like with right amounts of recoil and stuff and there seemed to be no difference in amount of damage done when you shot someone in the leg compared to the head.

 bad game imo especially because it took like 10 years to make

how do i figure out which version i am running as far as it being us version or world wide version and which one is 1.00000 or 1.0001 or 1.0003

STALKER is a good and let's say disspointment too.

STALKER uses the new technology so u should have a perfect PC to play on High detail.

Good:

Graphics look awesome ( on high detail), all near u look so real from the incident in Chernobil in the past andu got side quests and all that stuff. can't explain more of some good stuff cause i don't like to type much.

Bad:

1)Bad in stalker is THE STORYLINE, it's so messed up and u don't understand that much.

2)In STALKER rains to death (hell yeah like a tsunami) and where are the rein spots on ground and the river......u know what i mean.

3)Hmmm, wonder the sky is so funny today ?????, because the sky doesn't move and so much wind, geeez 

4) All is not so smart like FEAR, they run into u like stupid flyes and they don't cooperate and... just one time that they soround me.  Dogs are smarter, if u shot in the sky they run.:lol:

5)Can anyone play STALKER???....no, because in this world people have some nasty pc's so STALKER needs a monster PC. 

AND WE WAITED SO MANY YEARS FOR THIS, THEY COULD MAKE HIM BETTER.

And yeah Graphics and sound are 10. 

i really enjoyed the first half of s.t.a.l.k.e.r - i was very vulnerable, my enemies were every bit as lethal as i, usually better equipped and almost always in greater numbers

in most other games, the purpose of fighting enemies is to kill them, to progress - but with stalker, it felt much more like i was killing them to survive - every fight was a fight for my life, and i never really got the impression that i was fighting enemies that a level designer looked at and thought, hey, it would be cool to have a fight here

the world felt organic, and real - and dangerous

plus, there's a really great, dirty sense of futility and despair - not in the characters (who seem to portray typical soldierly pragmatism rather than wallowing in self-pity) so much as the world itself, everything is broken and filthy... and that, coupled with the fact that i hoarded my wealth rather than spent it (i play too many rpgs) meant that i had very low supplies

i felt oppressed in every way possible - and i've never really had such an experience with a game

but in the second half of the game, by the time i had a scoped rifle and some duty armour - and started spending my money - i had pretty much unlimited supplies, and firefights were an exercise in scoped headshotting at relatively safe distances, or simply running up to the enemy and shotgunning them, popping a bandage to cure bleed and heeling naturally... the game also took on a horror slant that did not work... and it really just felt like it was falling apart - the whole mutant/zombie side of the game could be removed or toned down

i'm sure it was lost in translation, but the english writing is pidgin at best, too - given the choice, i would rather it be the native tongue and subtitled than listen to a guy with a half-baked accent say things i have to interpret... sound on the whole, though, is great quality - but some of the effects could've used a few alternatives that cycle - some are too repetitive, especially animal sounds

the main mission arc isn't very good either, i pretty much ignored it... and most of the sidemissions are pretty bad go fetch boy! things that aren't much fun to do and yield unrewarding... rewards

if i were to change stalker, i would:

• remove all money, make all trade item based so every trade is a sacrifice of something
• make all supplies rarer
• make aiming a little more fluid (this is in part to offset the supply change, but also because it's frustrating having my crosshair jumping pixels around the screen at the slightest mouse movement when i have a 2000dpi mouse)
• develop the character development side of things, adding slightly deeper - but not distractingly so - roleplaying elements
• bring in a professional english writer and quality voice talent, or just subtitle everything and use the native language
• develop all the missions a little more, adding a sense of purpose and desire for the player, by making them involving and interesting and diverse, and also by making the rewards a little more worthwhile

besides that, i wouldn't change a single thing in s.t.a.l.k.e.r - i call it a flawed masterpiece, the first half i found phenomenal - the second half literally got worse the further in i went (though most people tend to think the opposite, from what i've seen)

great game on the whole, and i hope the next s.t.a.l.k.e.r games improve on what is already a very solid foundation

A-S_FM

Wow, that experiance sounds fun Il probably try it on a harder setting (Was on normal) next time, but damn all I did was constantly murder everyone over and over again, was filthy rich and armed to the teeth (Gotta love the Duty Soldier's weapons) ^^

There was no real penalty for being a murder as far as I was aware O_o, that was the only downside to the game, that and im sick of fighting mutants .. but that would naturally go with this games story so no beef there.