Question about S.T.A.L.K.E.R

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theshadow1212

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#1 theshadow1212
Member since 2004 • 490 Posts

I was thinking about buy mass effect from d2d when i saw S.T.A.L.K.E.R was on sale for 15 bucks. I was wondering how is it and RPG i dont see how it can be and RPG without skills or levels or something. Everything Ive found about it makes it sound like a shooter wtih upgradable weapons. How deep is the customization I love games like bioshock but I wanted something a little deeper. ANy help?

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manic111

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#2 manic111
Member since 2005 • 1280 Posts
It's not really RPG-you generally upgrade yourself using artifacts which you can attach to your belt, and the guns have a good amount of customisability. However, it is a fantastic game-in my opinion far, far better than Bioshock. At 15 bucks you can't go wrong-best game of the last few years. Except Portal!
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giantraddish

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#3 giantraddish
Member since 2002 • 307 Posts
It's not an RPG. There is no experience point system. Your characters base abilities never improve. You can equip different gear including various artifacts that improve your ability and/or survivability in various ways. You can switch out these artifacts whenever you want. You get loot off dead bodies which you can use or sell and buy different gear. It is not an RPG, it's still a good fun game.
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Colonel_Cool

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#4 Colonel_Cool
Member since 2006 • 1335 Posts
I wouldn't call Stalker an RPG, since you don't develop your character in any particular way. It does have some rpg elements however, like an inventory system, a quest log, etc. If you are looking for something deeper than Bioshock, look no further than Stalker.
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levi895

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#5 levi895
Member since 2005 • 1235 Posts
Its not a RPG (although like posted above it shares many qualities) but I think you should go with STALKER over Mass Effect. I have had allot more fun with STALKER...but then again if you want a straight up RPG then Mass Effect is what your looking for.
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theshadow1212

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#6 theshadow1212
Member since 2004 • 490 Posts
Wow thx for all the quick responses. I have a couple other questions Would you recommend this game? How long is it since its summer I have alot of freetime. How much content is there weapons attachments etc. Is it deeper than your normal shooter. I bought prey in a similar sale and was so bored with it I couldnt finish. THX
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Larrymon2000

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#7 Larrymon2000
Member since 2003 • 2969 Posts
For 15 bucks it's a great deal. I didn't think Prey was anything to write home about. Playing Quake 4 and Doom 3 were much more enjoyable, and those games seemed to have very similar feels in general (with Doom having more horror elements).
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Xxgood-timesXx

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#8 Xxgood-timesXx
Member since 2008 • 726 Posts
All you need to know its on a deal, and its a great game, now go pick it up.
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manic111

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#9 manic111
Member since 2005 • 1280 Posts
It's fantastic, will take you a very decent amount of time to finish-longer than most games around at the moment.It's far deeper than your average shooter, with more ways of doing things. Admittedly it takes a couple of hours to get into, but once you do it is excellent.
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biggest_loser

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#10 biggest_loser
Member since 2007 • 24508 Posts

Buy Mass Effect first:

It is both a better action game and RPG than STALKER.

(Sorry Strelok!)

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adrake4183

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#11 adrake4183
Member since 2006 • 668 Posts

Wow thx for all the quick responses. I have a couple other questions Would you recommend this game? How long is it since its summer I have alot of freetime. How much content is there weapons attachments etc. Is it deeper than your normal shooter. I bought prey in a similar sale and was so bored with it I couldnt finish. THXtheshadow1212

The saying gets used too mcuh but for stalker you either love it or hate it. Personally I didn't like it at all. Mass effect is certainly a safer bet since almost everyone has been complementary about it. But for $15 stalker may be worth the risk since a lot of people think its the greatest thing ever.

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giantraddish

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#12 giantraddish
Member since 2002 • 307 Posts

Way better than Prey. Better story, better game world, wide open levels, fairly scary in places. Time spent will vary a lot based on whether you are the type to try an explore every nook and cranny or bee line to the main objectives. It doesn't have a ton of replayability. I did play it a second time, just cause I enjoyed it a lot, but it's pretty much the same experience over again. Despite the quest system it plays pretty linearly.

It's also a hard game, especially early with the weak weapons. I play most fps's on medium or hard difficulty settings. This one I ended up putting on easy (first time through).

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biggest_loser

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#13 biggest_loser
Member since 2007 • 24508 Posts

Way better than Prey. Better story, better game world, wide open levels, fairly scary in places. Time spent will vary a lot based on whether you are the type to try an explore every nook and cranny or bee line to the main objectives. It doesn't have a ton of replayability. I did play it a second time, just cause I enjoyed it a lot, but it's pretty much the same experience over again. Despite the quest system it plays pretty linearly.

It's also a hard game, especially early with the weak weapons. I play most fps's on medium or hard difficulty settings. This one I ended up putting on easy (first time through).

giantraddish

The story in Prey must be absolutely awful then...

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theshadow1212

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#14 theshadow1212
Member since 2004 • 490 Posts
well i got mass effect from d2d hoping itll have more replayability. So in a short 13 hours ill be able to play... Didnt think it would download at a crawling 115 kb/s. Comon d2d step up!
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death5ter

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#15 death5ter
Member since 2005 • 1001 Posts

I was thinking about buy mass effect from d2d when i saw S.T.A.L.K.E.R was on sale for 15 bucks. I was wondering how is it and RPG i dont see how it can be and RPG without skills or levels or something. Everything Ive found about it makes it sound like a shooter wtih upgradable weapons. How deep is the customization I love games like bioshock but I wanted something a little deeper. ANy help?

theshadow1212

Like everyeone said, its not an RPG per se, the only thing that adds some RPG elements is how you gonna mix up artifacts which you will discover throughout the environs to counter harmful effects to your character. It has no leveling system on your character. Yes its a pure shooter like throwing you off through apocalyptic Kiev. Customization are not too deep ur just digging just the right weapons and artifacts at the right situation.

But, purely STALKER is a great game in my experience, second game after Oblivion which let you through travel vast wilderness without following the trail story, though its very ambitious it could been greater somehow.

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jfsebastianII

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#16 jfsebastianII
Member since 2007 • 1084 Posts

Stalker is great, very atmospheric, allows a lot of freedom, and has a storyline which becomes increasingly gripping as the game goes on

$15 is a real bargain - go for it

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Poshkidney

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#17 Poshkidney
Member since 2006 • 3803 Posts
I think its better than mass effect great atmosphere you get used to the targeting after a while if you take notice as its suppose to be realistic.
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halBU

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#19 halBU
Member since 2002 • 436 Posts

I thought I was the only one, but apparently adrake4183 agrees. STALKER just hasn't appealed to me yet. I bought it a few weeks ago when GoGamer was selling it for $9.90. I had really high expectations based upon all of the gushing I'd heard from everyone over the last year or so.

I'm a huge FPS fan - though my tastes probably lean more towards action - and being forced to read the huge WALLS of text in STALKER was a big turn-off. Yes, that's right, the spoken dialogue is minimal (except for all the NPC chatter which is not in English) and you're forced to read. And read. And read. Sorry - but I just wanted to shoot and explore.

Also, the shooting felt really sloppy to me.

I keep loading it up, hoping that I'll finally get what it is about the game that people like so much and that I'll be able to overcome the design decisions and gameplay that I dislike. Until then, I guess I'm in the minority here.

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KillOBKilled

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#20 KillOBKilled
Member since 2008 • 231 Posts

I thought I was the only one, but apparently adrake4183 agrees. STALKER just hasn't appealed to me yet. I bought it a few weeks ago when GoGamer was selling it for $9.90. I had really high expectations based upon all of the gushing I'd heard from everyone over the last year or so.

I'm a huge FPS fan - though my tastes probably lean more towards action - and being forced to read the huge WALLS of text in STALKER was a big turn-off. Yes, that's right, the spoken dialogue is minimal (except for all the NPC chatter which is not in English) and you're forced to read. And read. And read. Sorry - but I just wanted to shoot and explore.

Also, the shooting felt really sloppy to me.

I keep loading it up, hoping that I'll finally get what it is about the game that people like so much and that I'll be able to overcome the design decisions and gameplay that I dislike. Until then, I guess I'm in the minority here.

halBU

Yeah, it's really Russian... I like it because it's so close to Fallout. As far as the gun play, it's most likely because you haven't gotten the really good weapons yet. Of course in the beginning most of the weapons are horribly inacurate, but that changes as you progress. I like it overall, but it can certainly be very frustrating. The one thing that does make this game more like an RPG is the open world. There are objectives and things like that, but basically you can go wherever you want and kill almost anything you want to, provided you can survive of course.

Not my favorite game, but it's fairly unique. I'd recomend it.

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GodLovesDead

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#21 GodLovesDead
Member since 2007 • 9755 Posts

I thought I was the only one, but apparently adrake4183 agrees. STALKER just hasn't appealed to me yet. I bought it a few weeks ago when GoGamer was selling it for $9.90. I had really high expectations based upon all of the gushing I'd heard from everyone over the last year or so.

I'm a huge FPS fan - though my tastes probably lean more towards action - and being forced to read the huge WALLS of text in STALKER was a big turn-off. Yes, that's right, the spoken dialogue is minimal (except for all the NPC chatter which is not in English) and you're forced to read. And read. And read. Sorry - but I just wanted to shoot and explore.

Also, the shooting felt really sloppy to me.

I keep loading it up, hoping that I'll finally get what it is about the game that people like so much and that I'll be able to overcome the design decisions and gameplay that I dislike. Until then, I guess I'm in the minority here.

halBU

I feel sorry for people who can't read a few brief paragraphs. I wonder what would have happened if you play Morrowind. And the shooting in the game was great. But I guess the game isn't for everyone. It's probably for people who can appreciate a living world to explore in and uncover.

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halBU

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#22 halBU
Member since 2002 • 436 Posts

Well, I can read a few paragraphs. I'm also a big fan of RPG games and even mixes of action/RPG like Obilivion. I'm 39 years old and of course games have only relatively recently begun going to spoken dialogue. There are instances however where you're presented with a half page of text. It'd be okay if something gripping was going on around you, but so far, it's not in my opinion.

Perhaps my expectations were too high. Perhaps I just haven't been in the right mood. Perhaps I don't like the quirky feel of the game. For whatever reason I just haven't enjoyed it much so far.

Feel free to like it all you want, No need to feel sorry for me. I'm just stating my opinion and I'm very clearly in the minority.

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Baranga

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#23 Baranga
Member since 2005 • 14217 Posts
If it is an action/RPG, why will you be unable to improve your character's skills then?

This is a role-playing game without growing experience of your character, without changing characteristics and levels. We'd like the player to work out his personal mastery, moreover S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is an action/RPG, where much is dependent on skills of the player himself.

To our mind, the changing characteristics, levels and character experience destroy realism we try to create in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. With the rest, it is virtually a normal RPG - players travel the Zone, collect artefacts, weapons, reveal anomalous zones, communicate and trade with each other. The player develops economically, just as in "Elite". He earns money, buys new equipment, weapons. Owing to that, new parts of the Zone are revealed to him. I.e. those, which you won't initially reach with a pistol and simple detector.

That is why, unlike other games, the player, for instance, does not start playing as a character whose submachine-gun-holding hands tremble or who cannot hit a rat with his sword 9 out of 10 times, and within the next 10 years of the game time he becomes a demigod hitting a bird in the sky with his eyes closed and evading machinegun volleys.

Classic system of skills is justified in third-person-view games, when nothing depends on the player's actions, like in Diablo, for instance. The player can only click on opponent - then dice are cast and, basing on skills, mathematical calculations are done.

In S.T.A.L.K.E.R. this is the player's mastery which grows, and not abstract skills of a model on the screen. If the player has mastered weapon peculiarities, knows weak spots of the enemies, knows equipment and Zone anomalies, has an excellent reaction and accuracy etc - he gets an appropriate result. The hero of the game is the very player - everything depends on him solely.