playing S.T.A.L.K.E.R for the first time..

which one should i play first, do i need to play all of them to understand the story?

Play Shadow of Chernobyl first, skip Clear Sky and then Call of Pripyat

Yah I read all the background story for the first 2 games and tried to play Call of Pipyat and I was owned hard.

They just start the game off in the middle of no where with no clear objectives.

I also modded the game to make it more realistic which made it even harder.

Play Shadow of Chernobyl first, skip Clear Sky and then Call of Pripyat

coreybg

get soc, wait til night, close the door, turn off all the lights, speakers up, and prepare for one of the great atmospheric gaming experiences :D

there's a fair degree of thinkin for yourself involved though, it doesn't hold your hand and its not easy at first, so be prepared

get soc, wait til night, close the door, turn off all the lights, speakers up, and prepare for one of the great atmospheric gaming experiences :D

there's a fair degree of thinkin for yourself involved though, it doesn't hold your hand and its not easy at first, so be prepared

Macutchi

Yah I read all the background story for the first 2 games and tried to play Call of Pipyat and I was owned hard.

They just start the game off in the middle of no where with no clear objectives.

I also modded the game to make it more realistic which made it even harder.

Hakkai007

[QUOTE="coreybg"]

Play Shadow of Chernobyl first, skip Clear Sky and then Call of Pripyat

Crimsader

No. Don't skip Clear Sky. Get the Complete mod for it and it fixes a lot of the issues with it.

[QUOTE="Macutchi"]

get soc, wait til night, close the door, turn off all the lights, speakers up, and prepare for one of the great atmospheric gaming experiences :D

there's a fair degree of thinkin for yourself involved though, it doesn't hold your hand and its not easy at first, so be prepared

zahyr

no don't think like that! its nothing like dead space. different sort of atmosphere entirely, its much, much more immersive. its an open world game not a heavily scripted linear corridor game like ds. the atmosphere is all about you being alone and having to survive in this bleak, desolate world. trust me, try it! :D

I would play all 3, in order. Each has their own pros and cons, with pros enough that it would be bad to miss playing it.

[QUOTE="Hakkai007"]

Yah I read all the background story for the first 2 games and tried to play Call of Pipyat and I was owned hard.

They just start the game off in the middle of no where with no clear objectives.

I also modded the game to make it more realistic which made it even harder.

Threesixtyci

Nah I remember the first stalker you get start off at camp or something and the guy who saves you gives you some jobs to do.

The second one also had some objective at the beginning, I remember be told to help some guys who were being attacked.

I never really played the first two but I did play the beginning of each.

The third one just sets you out in the middle of no where.

Everyone seems to attack you so I guess you have no affiliation even if you are sneaking in as a stalker.

Play all of them in order. Clear sky is brilliant!-Feath-

Now that I have a new computer, I was thinking of playing also but, could you guys answer a quick qustion for me? Is this game like morrowind? One of my freinds who used to have itsaid it was sort of like morrowind with guns, is this true?

Try playing it in cronological order:

First "Clear sky" (with "Sky Reclamation" and "Faction Commander" mod)

Second "Shadow of Chernobil"

Then "Call of Prypiat"

Now that I have a new computer, I was thinking of playing also but, could you guys answer a quick qustion for me? Is this game like morrowind? One of my freinds who used to have itsaid it was sort of like morrowind with guns, is this true?

gamer1396

Shadow of Chernobyl is the best way to start both gameplay-wise and story-wise.

Call of Pripyat is more complicated gameplay-wise, but you'll master it way more easily with some SoC experience. Clear Sky is the hardest game of the series by a considerable margin, and by no means the best introduction to what the series has to offer (as the difference between storyline missions and the faction wars tends to confuse and put off people a lot). Also, starting with Clear Sky and its story will give you a HUGE spoiler for SoC's story if you make it to the end, making it a lot less interesting.

So I'd say: play Shadow of Chernobyl (preferably with the complete mod), then Call of Pripyat (good out of the box), and if you really like both games and are interested in the story, give Clear Sky a shot, though you will absolutely need to have the latest patch (1.5.10) installed and/or maybe a good bugfixing mod.

DO you guys think I would be able to play stalker with the complete mod on and ATI radeon HD3200 and 3 GB of ram...?Same_Jeans_On

DO you guys think I would be able to play stalker with the complete mod on and ATI radeon HD3200 and 3 GB of ram...?Same_Jeans_On

[QUOTE="Same_Jeans_On"]DO you guys think I would be able to play stalker with the complete mod on and ATI radeon HD3200 and 3 GB of ram...?ferret-gamer

[QUOTE="ferret-gamer"][QUOTE="Same_Jeans_On"]DO you guys think I would be able to play stalker with the complete mod on and ATI radeon HD3200 and 3 GB of ram...?Same_Jeans_On

Is Clear Sky really that bad?

Is Clear Sky really that bad?

73X

I wonder if anyone can tell me this - is there as much boring travelling in CoP as in SoC and CS? In SoC there was plenty, but at least close to the start of the game there was the 'lightning/speed rune' that gave you virtually infinite sprint.

In CS, there was so much travelling that I got tired and never got far (the difficulty and the bad performance also had an effect). So how does CoP compare? Also, how many hours of gameplay does CoP offer?

Yah I read all the background story for the first 2 games and tried to play Call of Pipyat and I was owned hard.

They just start the game off in the middle of no where with no clear objectives.

Hakkai007

I wonder if anyone can tell me this - is there as much boring travelling in CoP as in SoC and CS? In SoC there was plenty, but at least close to the start of the game there was the 'lightning/speed rune' that gave you virtually infinite sprint.

In CS, there was so much travelling that I got tired and never got far (the difficulty and the bad performance also had an effect). So how does CoP compare? Also, how many hours of gameplay does CoP offer?giant11

CoP is much more compact in this sense. The game is divided into 3 large areas, and you can only travel between areas by paying a guide. The Stalker bar kind of areas are all pretty central, so odds are you'll never have to travel for more than 5 minutes to get anywhere, unless if your location is underground or in a building or something. In CoP, you can also ask any Stalker you run into where they are going, and if they are heading in the same direction as you, you can choose to go along with them for free, with the travel itself being skipped. You can also request them to get you to any point of interestwithin the area for a fee. This is kind of like the guides in CS, although in CoP they ask less money (usually between 300-800ru depending on the distance), and Stalkers are of courseway more plentiful.

In terms of gameplay hours. Story-wise it's by far the shortest of the 3, but it compensates by offering the best, longestand most worthwhile side quests in the series yet, up to a point where I'd say they're actually the game's main attraction. The entireside quest involving the mystery of the missingStalkersis simply fantastic, and then there's the side quests with Snag, the psi-levels in the tunnel in Jupiter, and the mutant hunting. Better yet, this is the only unmodded Stalker game that features a free play mode, meaning that you can keep playing the game after finishing the storyline. So even though it has the shortest and possibly least interesting story, I think it's by far my most-played Stalker game thus far.

Difficulty-wise CoP is pretty much on par with SoC, even though money and useful items are easier to come by in CoP. It's also the best performance-wise. GSC Game World spent half a million dollars on external testing, and it shows. Not to mention that the retail version automatically has the latest patch installed, making it very playable right out of the box. I've been playing the game for a few weeks now, and I've encountered no mentionworthy bugs, except that one person won't talk to me for a sidequest.

[QUOTE="Same_Jeans_On"]DO you guys think I would be able to play stalker with the complete mod on and ATI radeon HD3200 and 3 GB of ram...?ProudLarry

You'll probably be able to play SoC just fine.

I played it on my Radeon 9550 and a crappy 1.7GHz semprom

SoTC then CoP Only play Clear Sky if you HAVE to, it really isn't very good.skrat_01

Shadow Of The Colossus??? :? I'm joking, I'm joking

So, most say that Clear Sky is bad. I disagree, it is a solid game. Not as atmospheric as SoC, but it was quite hard and I liked it. I also liked the level in the forest/park (a level which, I reckon, needed to be in CoP). I think it's the one that has most story.
On a side note: SoC scared me even with lights on, I tried Silent Hill and Dead Space but didn't scare me as much as SoC. Especially the undergroud labs.

[QUOTE="skrat_01"]SoTC then CoP Only play Clear Sky if you HAVE to, it really isn't very good.yourmajesty90

Shadow Of The Colossus??? :? I'm joking, I'm joking

So, most say that Clear Sky is bad. I disagree, it is a solid game. Not as atmospheric as SoC, but it was quite hard and I liked it. I also liked the level in the forest/park (a level which, I reckon, needed to be in CoP). I think it's the one that has most story.
On a side note: SoC scared me even with lights on, I tried Silent Hill and Dead Space but didn't scare me as much as SoC. Especially the undergroud labs.

Otherwise, really?

The starting area was an absolute abomination of game design (while the environment looked great the actual forced faction war bit was horrible running between A and B), the faction war system in general was broken, areas were recycled with few changes, items were far too expensive, the campaign pushed the player into very scripted linear missions with friendlies, the atmosphere was tarnished (also hurt by the large population of other stalkers), the story really wasn't that engaging and the focus on combat just didn't work very well (some of the set piece firefights were terrible (the town or the familiar "intruder detected OPEN FIRE").

That and on release it was terribly broken.

It wasn't a bad game, it just wasn't good and GSC seemed to completely forget what made SoC great. That and expectations were pretty high, there was the general opinion that GSC would fix SoC problems and release an expansion improving on the last... rather than something worse. It DID have fantastic visuals though... next to that horrible voice acting ("Eat THIS you Nazi" taunt - seriously, and the freedom barman are a few worthy mentions)

CoP however absolutely amazing and surprising, its only let down being the low production values, dull central story and terrible conclusion to the narrative.

Yeeeah I really have it in for Clear Sky.
Well the Red Forest was pretty damn cool and atmospheric, even if it was so restrictive.

Guys I have a small question regarding Call of Pripyat. I thought of posting right here in this thread instead of creating a new one.

I've played both SOC & Clear Sky.. and I really enjoyed both of them! (except the numerous bugs). I recently got Call of Pripyat played for about 3-4 hours or more. TBH I found the first few hours to be boring & dull. Still great Atmosphere tho. Doing few dull side missions and Investigating 4 of the 5 helicopter crash sites takes a long time & I didn't have anything to shoot but few mutants. It wasn't enough to keep me going further & I quit it alr. Didn't think it was worth my time at all. But I wonder why it recieved good reviews. So what makes COP a great game ? I didn't think it had even a decent start.

Clear Sky Isn't That bad it offers Zone capture and good faction war but sadly its bugged duno if Complete patch Fixed that. I recommend that you play all STALKER games.

It wasn't a bad game, it just wasn't good and GSC seemed to completely forget what made SoC great. That and expectations were pretty high, there was the general opinion that GSC would fix SoC problems and release an expansion improving on the last... rather than something worse. It DID have fantastic visuals though... next to that horrible voice acting ("Eat THIS you Nazi" taunt - seriously, and the freedom barman are a few worthy mentions)

To be honest, I never really understand the complaints about Stalker's voice acting. Sure, it's over-the-top at times, but I don't find it annoying at all, and at least it's something different from the standard US Marine blabbering you hear in every game from Crysis to MW2. The jokes often border on cheesiness, but in CS I really lol'd yesterday when a Duty soldier on his way toa Freedom encampment said 'it's time to answer the call of Duty!' Maybe it's because I have a wrong sense of humour or because English isn't my native language (which drastically changes one's perspective ona language), but I truly never saw a problem with it except for Hawaiian's 'ALOOOOOOOHA' shout in CoP.

"Guys I have a small question regarding Call of Pripyat. I thought of posting right here in this thread instead of creating a new one.

I've played both SOC & Clear Sky.. and I really enjoyed both of them! (except the numerous bugs). I recently got Call of Pripyat played for about 3-4 hours or more. TBH I found the first few hours to be boring & dull. Still great Atmosphere tho. Doing few dull side missions and Investigating 4 of the 5 helicopter crash sites takes a long time & I didn't have anything to shoot but few mutants. It wasn't enough to keep me going further & I quit it alr. Didn't think it was worth my time at all. But I wonder why it recieved good reviews. So what makes COP a great game ? I didn't think it had even a decent start."

CoP has by far the best and most rewarding side missions in the entire series, and as I said before they turned into this game's main attraction. It's the first game that does the sandbox concept 100% right as the main reason to do story missions, apart from uncovering the plot, is to get to the new areas. For the rest it's just a freeforall and you'll stumble across new interesting things every time you explore an area. Today I accidentally found a crashedAmerican espionage plane, for example, which in turn gave me some stash coordinates of a few pretty interesting people. ;)

But yeah, side missions. Have you already done the Bloodsucker mission in Zaton for example? Or any missions for the scientists in the bunker at Yanov? Or the missions for Sultan? Or the sniper mission in Pripyat? All of these are excellent missions, but they are optional. Better yet, many missions truly offer you a choice this time, forcing you to pick sides, which, in turn, may have an effect on events that occur later in the game, right up until the ending itself. In fact, the RPG element is really, really worthwhile this time around. NPCs actually have something to say, your actions and behaviour have consequences, and the upgrading system for weapons and armour is really polished.

So trust me when I say that the true value of Call of Pripyat will shine through once you spend enough time in the Zone.

i like clear sky.

actully it was my first STAKLER game. and that game is what made me fell in love with the other STALKER games.

i recomend to play all 3 games

also Call of Pypiant ( im to lazt to look it up to spell it right) is for me the best layed out STALKER game makes it easyer to play. like a big imporvement to the game

^ Lol, Pypiant. Just reading the title once while asleep should get you closer than that :p

i like clear sky.

actully it was my first STAKLER game. and that game is what made me fell in love with the other STALKER games.

i recomend to play all 3 games

also Call of Pypiant ( im to lazt to look it up to spell it right) is for me the best layed out STALKER game makes it easyer to play. like a big imporvement to the game

acsam12304

which one should i play first, do i need to play all of them to understand the story?zahyr

Just play all three in the order of their release, it just seems better that way. As for Clear Sky there is nothing at all wrong with it as it is as good as the others, and if you don't like Clear Sky then you are not a person who likes S.T.A.L.K.E.R.!

CoP is much more compact in this sense. The game is divided into 3 large areas, and you can only travel between areas by paying a guide. The Stalker bar kind of areas are all pretty central, so odds are you'll never have to travel for more than 5 minutes to get anywhere, unless if your location is underground or in a building or something. In CoP, you can also ask any Stalker you run into where they are going, and if they are heading in the same direction as you, you can choose to go along with them for free, with the travel itself being skipped. You can also request them to get you to any point of interestwithin the area for a fee. This is kind of like the guides in CS, although in CoP they ask less money (usually between 300-800ru depending on the distance), and Stalkers are of courseway more plentiful.

In terms of gameplay hours. Story-wise it's by far the shortest of the 3, but it compensates by offering the best, longestand most worthwhile side quests in the series yet, up to a point where I'd say they're actually the game's main attraction. The entireside quest involving the mystery of the missingStalkersis simply fantastic, and then there's the side quests with Snag, the psi-levels in the tunnel in Jupiter, and the mutant hunting. Better yet, this is the only unmodded Stalker game that features a free play mode, meaning that you can keep playing the game after finishing the storyline. So even though it has the shortest and possibly least interesting story, I think it's by far my most-played Stalker game thus far.

Difficulty-wise CoP is pretty much on par with SoC, even though money and useful items are easier to come by in CoP. It's also the best performance-wise. GSC Game World spent half a million dollars on external testing, and it shows. Not to mention that the retail version automatically has the latest patch installed, making it very playable right out of the box. I've been playing the game for a few weeks now, and I've encountered no mentionworthy bugs, except that one person won't talk to me for a sidequest.DraugenCP

Alright, I'm sold!! I'm definitely buying this when I see for a super low price. I could have gotten it for $20 off Steam since I have SoC on it, but I think I'll wait for $10 or less since I got a backlog of games to play.

Also, tell me, does CoP have a level like this, like a bad trip? That was one of my favorite parts.

Also, tell me, does CoP have a level like this, like a bad trip? That was one of my favorite parts.giant11

Not that I recall, although it vaguely reminds me of one of the scientist missions in which you have to explore a tunnel for psi levels. I won't tell you what happens. ;)

But CoP really has its own set of memorable moments. The part where you get to Pripyat is incredibly tense as well, and some of the side missions offer similarly disturbing scenes, such as another scientist mission near the Cooling Tower. You'll see what I mean eventually.

[QUOTE="giant11"]Also, tell me, does CoP have a level like this, like a bad trip? That was one of my favorite parts.DraugenCP

Not that I recall, although it vaguely reminds me of one of the scientist missions in which you have to explore a tunnel for psi levels. I won't tell you what happens. ;)

But CoP really has its own set of memorable moments. The part where you get to Pripyat is incredibly tense as well, and some of the side missions offer similarly disturbing scenes, such as another scientist mission near the Cooling Tower. You'll see what I mean eventually.

I'll take it CoP still has labs though?