What makes S.T.A.L.K.E.R. so good?

I have my own thoughts on the game as you may find.

The atmosphere is quite excellent particularly in the underground levels.

You have to have some admiration for what the developers tried to achieve.

Well. So far every peson has either really liked STALKER or really hated it. However, i think you'll be in for a bit of a shocker if you are expecting an FPS game of the Crysis/HL2 variety. Its not. Not at all. If anything i'd venture to say the actual gun play of STALKER isnt very good at all.

While STALKER is closer to an FPS, it has enough RPG elements to it that really makes it standout above most FPS games. It also has incredible atmosphere. Few games actually make you believe like you are there, and STALKER does this very well. Levels arent unrealistically designed like in HL2 nor are they simply sandbox regions of vegetation like Crysis. Something in between the two.

Combat isnt run and gun - you'll die in 5 seconds if you do that. But at the same time its not so tactical as some of the Rainbow 6 games. Its scary, but not so horror focused as FEAR.

I guess the best thing about STALKER is... that theres aboslutely nothing like STALKER. Its a big hybrid of a game that actually manages to work isntead of make a mess of things.

I like Crysis, I like Half-Life2, I like UT3...

but while STALKER isn't bad, to me it just isnt really that good. But play a demo first if you can. It seems that many like this game, why I don't know, but hey to each their own.

Well. So far every peson has either really liked STALKER or really hated it. However, i think you'll be in for a bit of a shocker if you are expecting an FPS game of the Crysis/HL2 variety. Its not. Not at all. If anything i'd venture to say the actual gun play of STALKER isnt very good at all.

While STALKER is closer to an FPS, it has enough RPG elements to it that really makes it standout above most FPS games. It also has incredible atmosphere. Few games actually make you believe like you are there, and STALKER does this very well. Levels arent unrealistically designed like in HL2 nor are they simply sandbox regions of vegetation like Crysis. Something in between the two.

Combat isnt run and gun - you'll die in 5 seconds if you do that. But at the same time its not so tactical as some of the Rainbow 6 games. Its scary, but not so horror focused as FEAR.

I guess the best thing about STALKER is... that theres aboslutely nothing like STALKER. Its a big hybrid of a game that actually manages to work isntead of make a mess of things.

XaosII

lol, what exactly is "unrealistic" about the design of HL2's levels?

I played the game for a few hours yesterday( just got it) and it's mostly the atmosphere. You've probably heard that about the game, before but it's true. Something about the game just gives you a feeling like you're really there. It could be the graphic style and the sound and the wind blowing, idk but it's good.

The gunfights are also fun and the AI does a good job of boxing you in.

In the early stages of the game, there's a strong sense of isolation and desperation, and every firefight is real kill or be killed stuff. You'kk have to scavenge resources, but every time you do so, you're risking your life. There's a great atmosphere and the AI is second only to F.E.A.R's. The enemies also feel pretty organic - in most other games, they feel likeartificial contrivances deliberately placed by the developers, while in S.T.A.L.K.E.R they feel far more like dynamic parts of the world.

What makes S.T.A.L.K.E.R not so good is that once you get a decent scope, and once you have resources enough, the gunplay becomes a little trivial. From around the half way point, I think the game goes way downhill. Its atmosphere carries it comfortably to the finish line, but it's more than a little shaky, and it's very rough around the edges.

The game also imposes tedious and artificial aiming restrictions by making your crosshair pixel-hop, making accurate aiming almost impossible at long range. Now, I'm fine with accurate aiming being hard/very hard at long range, but it should be thanks to wind and gravity after the shot has been fired, not by forcing stupid artificial restrictions before making the shot.

That most of the dialogue in the game is written rather than voiced, and that the English translation is awful doesn't exactly help the game, either.

I like to call S.T.A.L.K.E.R a seriously flawed masterpiece. It gets more right than it gets wrong, but I found the game was often no fun to play at all - especially after the half way point.

I haven't tried them, but I hear mods vastly improve the game.

In the early stages of the game, there's a strong sense of isolation and desperation, and every firefight is real kill or be killed stuff. You'kk have to scavenge resources, but every time you do so, you're risking your life. There's a great atmosphere and the AI is second only to F.E.A.R's. The enemies also feel pretty organic - in most other games, they feel likeartificial contrivances deliberately placed by the developers, while in S.T.A.L.K.E.R they feel far more like dynamic parts of the world.

What makes S.T.A.L.K.E.R not so good is that once you get a decent scope, and once you have resources enough, the gunplay becomes a little trivial. From around the half way point, I think the game goes way downhill. Its atmosphere carries it comfortably to the finish line, but it's more than a little shaky, and it's very rough around the edges.

That most of the dialogue in the game is written rather than voiced, and that the English translation is awful doesn't exactly help the game, either.

I like to call S.T.A.L.K.E.R a seriously flawed masterpiece. It gets more right than it gets wrong, but the game is often no fun to play at all.

I haven't tried them, but I hear mods vastly improve the game.

fatshodan

Very good points you've made here, especially about the second half of the game. That finale (with the real ending) was more equivalent to FEAR or some other shooter.

I thought the AI was quite patchy in places, though it did have its merits at times.

lol, what exactly is "unrealistic" about the design of HL2's levels?biggest_loser

Err.... How often things are conveniently placed to make the game linear? The entire game is a large corridor with very detailed walls.

[QUOTE="biggest_loser"]lol, what exactly is "unrealistic" about the design of HL2's levels?XaosII

Err.... How often things are conveniently placed to make the game linear? The entire game is a large corridor with very detailed walls.

Hmm, not a fan I take it? Each to his own I suppose.

I don't mind it being linear. At least you get some nicely scripted sequences with that. There is never an urge in Half-Life 2 to ever want to go out and explore the environment as one might with STALKE.

I have my own thoughts on the game as you may find.

The atmosphere is quite excellent particularly in the underground levels.

You have to have some admiration for what the developers tried to achieve.

biggest_loser

If I'd have to show admiration for everything all the game developers TRY to achieve, I would end up loving a lot of crappy games that are not worthy of anyone's love. You love a game for things that are there and exist, and not for ideas that only exist in the developer's head, thus don't really exist at all. STALKER has many things that are there and exist, that's why it's loved by so many people.

[QUOTE="biggest_loser"]lol, what exactly is "unrealistic" about the design of HL2's levels?XaosII

Err.... How often things are conveniently placed to make the game linear? The entire game is a large corridor with very detailed walls.

[QUOTE="biggest_loser"]

I have my own thoughts on the game as you may find.

The atmosphere is quite excellent particularly in the underground levels.

You have to have some admiration for what the developers tried to achieve.

BlackAlpha666

If I'd have to show admiration for everything all the game developers TRY to achieve, I would end up loving a lot of crappy games that are not worthy of anyone's love. You love a game for things that are there and exist, and not for ideas that only exist in the developer's head, thus don't really exist at all. STALKER has many things that are there and exist, that's why it's loved by so many people.

I meant their efforts to create this huge world.

I don't think they quite got it right but its still an interesting misfire IMO.

[QUOTE="XaosII"]

[QUOTE="biggest_loser"]lol, what exactly is "unrealistic" about the design of HL2's levels?biggest_loser

Err.... How often things are conveniently placed to make the game linear? The entire game is a large corridor with very detailed walls.

Hmm, not a fan I take it? Each to his own I suppose.

I don't mind it being linear. At least you get some nicely scripted sequences with that. There is never an urge in Half-Life 2 to ever want to go out and explore the environment as one might with STALKE.

No, i am a fan. I've got HL 2, Ep 1, and TOB. They are good and polished games. What HL2 does works for HL2. Its just obvious that HL2 attempted to create the kind of linear shooting experience without trying to feel too similar to other shooters, and they definitely succeeded. I dont think the point of HL2 was to be realistic in its environment, just simply believable.I think they achieved that rather nicely.

What makes STALKER so good? The ending. Because it ends.The_Review

Which ending though? :P

[QUOTE="The_Review"]What makes STALKER so good? The ending. Because it ends.biggest_loser

Which ending though? :P

[QUOTE="biggest_loser"]

[QUOTE="The_Review"]What makes STALKER so good? The ending. Because it ends.The_Review

Which ending though? :P

you could try being helpful and point out what about it you dont like instead of just blurting out that its just crap.

well im starting to understand that stalker is a decent game that could have been amazing. ill definitely get the demo before buying it to see if i think ill enjoy it. too bad that it doesnt live up to its full potential, cause by all outward appearances it seems like a pretty cool game.chesterocks7

There is no demo.

Read this: http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=74255

Early on in the story I was trying to find my way past a group of well-armed bandits. As night fell I circled their position. I could not get too close, since I was low on ammo, and my weapon was only a sawn-off shotgun anyway. It began to rain, and then thunder and lightning opened up, doing a haywire strobe light on the landscape. As I moved through the dark heaps of wasted masonry I saw movement: large things ahead of me in the valley. In the rain and dark I would not have seen them, except for the lightning. I sat there in the rain, terrified, watching these things move through dead scrubland. Should I just wait for morning? Could I just sit here in the rain, hiding behind some smashed concrete? At least that would be less terrifying that going onwards. I waited for a long time, paralysed with indecision. Finally the things made the decision for me: they closed, attacked, and ended the moment with a brutal close-range fight. I stumbled backwards into a nearby anomaly - my gravity-fluked corpse danced around in a tree.

The game takes place in a kind of radiation-warped ramshackle apocalypse. It's a world that constantly exudes feelings of gloom and dread. This particular experience is practically unparalleled in gaming. If you thought Half-Life 2's derelict environments were evocative then this is like a Ukrainian mind-bomb.

I held out on buying STALKER for almost a year because of the mixed reviews, finally bought it a couple months ago, and don't regret it. I enjoyed it a lot more than I did the overrated, overhyped, Bioshock. I won't deny that STALKER is rough around the edges, but as a previous poster wrote, you can appreciate what the developers were trying to attempt even if they didn't always succeed.

The biggest plus is indeed the atmosphere and setting. You can't really go wrong with post-accident Chernobyl, and the fact that most of the NPCs chattered in Russian or Ukrainian only added to the feeling that you were The Other in a foreign land. Not that that was part of the actual plot, but it lent to the unsettled feeling you could never quite put your finger on while exploring countryside and abandoned towns that bespoke the failed communist and nuclear programs; spooky, eerie, good stuff that worked its mojo way better than Rapture and Bioshock ever did.

I'd even go so far to say that with a good script and director, STALKER is one video-game-to-movie-adaptation that I'd actually want to watch. :-)

[QUOTE="The_Review"]What makes STALKER so good? The ending. Because it ends.biggest_loser

Which ending though? :P

I always liked the rich ending the most. It's just so ironic.

[QUOTE="The_Review"][QUOTE="biggest_loser"]

[QUOTE="The_Review"]What makes STALKER so good? The ending. Because it ends.chesterocks7

Which ending though? :P

you could try being helpful and point out what about it you dont like instead of just blurting out that its just crap.

Though, trying to find something good about STALKER would be like trying to find a peanut in your vomit, to be quite honest.

[QUOTE="chesterocks7"][QUOTE="The_Review"][QUOTE="biggest_loser"]

[QUOTE="The_Review"]What makes STALKER so good? The ending. Because it ends.The_Review

Which ending though? :P

you could try being helpful and point out what about it you dont like instead of just blurting out that its just crap.

Though, trying to find something good about STALKER would be like trying to find a peanut in your vomit, to be quite honest.

I love the ending of your review:lol:

What makes S.T.A.L.K.E.R. so good?chesterocks7

Atmosphere, story (which isn't that great but it's enhanced by the atmosphere), & the unique gunplay. I think this game is down to $20. Sadly, there is no demo but $20 isn't that much. Good luck, mang.

[QUOTE="chesterocks7"][QUOTE="The_Review"][QUOTE="biggest_loser"]

[QUOTE="The_Review"]What makes STALKER so good? The ending. Because it ends.The_Review

Which ending though? :P

you could try being helpful and point out what about it you dont like instead of just blurting out that its just crap.

Though, trying to find something good about STALKER would be like trying to find a peanut in your vomit, to be quite honest.

Seeing that you gave STALKER 2/10, Call of Duty 4 1/10, Final Fantasy 7 1/10 and all the GTAs 4/10, it's impossible to trust your opinion. Is there a game that you actually like? And your review of STALKER starts with the legendary line ''The main problem with STALKER is that it has an identity crisis''. The whole identity crisis thing in reviews general is one big joke.

[QUOTE="The_Review"][QUOTE="chesterocks7"][QUOTE="The_Review"][QUOTE="biggest_loser"]

[QUOTE="The_Review"]What makes STALKER so good? The ending. Because it ends.RK-Mara

Which ending though? :P

you could try being helpful and point out what about it you dont like instead of just blurting out that its just crap.

Though, trying to find something good about STALKER would be like trying to find a peanut in your vomit, to be quite honest.

Seeing that you gave STALKER 2/10, Call of Duty 4 1/10, Final Fantasy 7 1/10 and all the GTAs 4/10, it's impossible to trust your opinion. Is there a game that you actually like? And your review of STALKER starts with the legendary line ''The main problem with STALKER is that it has an identity crisis''. The whole identity crisis thing in reviews general is one big joke.

Unfortunately the games are garbage.

My reviews are unbiased and review the games for what they are.

Unfortunately the games are garbage.

The_Review

So I ask again, is there a game that you actually like?

[QUOTE="The_Review"]My reviews are unbiased and review the games for what they are.

Unfortunately the games are garbage.

RK-Mara

So I ask again, is there a game that you actually like?

I also like Duke Nukem.

If you want my entire opinion on the game, then read my review.

The_Review

I tried and it's impossible to read even a full paragraph of your reviews. I'm going to get banned for this but I'll still say it: ****ing racist.

[QUOTE="The_Review"]

If you want my entire opinion on the game, then read my review.

RK-Mara

I tried and it's impossible to read even a full paragraph of your reviews. I'm going to get banned for this but I'll still say it: *

Also, maybe you should have read the warning if you're not man enough to handle my (amazing) reviews.

[QUOTE="biggest_loser"]

[QUOTE="The_Review"]What makes STALKER so good? The ending. Because it ends.The_Review

Which ending though? :P

Review.... you're just a stalker hater, your opinions don't count here because all you do is flame stalker. You fail to notice that this game is an absolute masterpiece made by developers that aren't part a huge company like EA. They made probably one of the top 5 best games in 2007.

[QUOTE="RK-Mara"][QUOTE="The_Review"][QUOTE="chesterocks7"][QUOTE="The_Review"][QUOTE="biggest_loser"]

[QUOTE="The_Review"]What makes STALKER so good? The ending. Because it ends.The_Review

Which ending though? :P

you could try being helpful and point out what about it you dont like instead of just blurting out that its just crap.

Though, trying to find something good about STALKER would be like trying to find a peanut in your vomit, to be quite honest.

Seeing that you gave STALKER 2/10, Call of Duty 4 1/10, Final Fantasy 7 1/10 and all the GTAs 4/10, it's impossible to trust your opinion. Is there a game that you actually like? And your review of STALKER starts with the legendary line ''The main problem with STALKER is that it has an identity crisis''. The whole identity crisis thing in reviews general is one big joke.

Unfortunately the games are garbage.

There's no such thing as an unbiased review - all reviews are pure opinion, and all opinions are inherently biased.

Your reviews, if they can be called that, are awful. And your grading curve makes absolutely no sense, either.

As for the review, you are the dumbest piece of bile I've had the displeasure of reading. Not only are you a racist, you're the worst kind, a totally ignorant one. Your vocabulary is horrid, might want to try and get you G.E.D sometime. A kindergarten education just isn't enough, as you are proof. Your reviews are straight from the white supremacy trash can and need to be flushed down the white supremacy toilet, after all, that's where your reviews belong.

Now that the garbage is behind me. It is beyond a shadow of a doubt for me, the atmosphere. I was just playing it last week and that kinda atmosphere is hard to find in any other game. It almost has the feel of a post nuclear Holocaust feel to it. Kinda like fallout, in fps format. That's why I'm looking forward to the new fallout game coming out.

[QUOTE="RK-Mara"][QUOTE="The_Review"]

If you want my entire opinion on the game, then read my review.

The_Review

I tried and it's impossible to read even a full paragraph of your reviews. I'm going to get banned for this but I'll still say it: *

Also, maybe you should have read the warning if you're not man enough to handle my (amazing) reviews.

"This series is ****ing horrible. The only positive is that there are plenty of ni**er death matches in GTA SA. You can even join in on the fun, if you want to."

And here's some of your Crysis "review"

"Why the hell is a ni**er leading an elite group of soldiers? No wonder half the team was killed. Good riddance. Maybe if the US Marines ever needs some cotton picked, then they would have a reason to hire some god ****ed black bastards."

Your reviews are seriously the worst things I've ever read in my life. If you actually think that these are credible then I feel really sorry for you because you're massively ignorant.

[QUOTE="chesterocks7"][QUOTE="The_Review"][QUOTE="biggest_loser"]

[QUOTE="The_Review"]What makes STALKER so good? The ending. Because it ends.The_Review

Which ending though? :P

you could try being helpful and point out what about it you dont like instead of just blurting out that its just crap.

Though, trying to find something good about STALKER would be like trying to find a peanut in your vomit, to be quite honest.

based on your reviews of those amazing games, and that the games you said you liked are mindless arcade shooters, i would say that anything you say about any video game is absolute garbage. im sorry, but you are not going to have any credibility on this board or any other board that has readers with any slightest bit of good taste regarding video games. perhaps you should give up games and take up something like painting, because you obviously wouldnt know a good game if it hit you in face with a sledgehammer.

*Edit* after reading your reviews in more detail, all i have to say is you better be real careful to never leave your mothers basement, cause if you do youre going to get the living **** beat out of you.

LOL, the guy with the DOOM avatar says S.T.A.L.K.E.R. sucks???? Doom is, IMO, a pile of s*** and everything Doom does, Duke Nukem, Quake, Unreal, Half-Life, and STALKER could all do MUCH BETTER.TheBigBadGRIM

I stopped reading right about there.

None of those games do what Doom does better because none of those games do what Doom does. Until you've played Doom on Ultraviolence or Nightmare, you haven't played Doom at all.

Doom is still the best at what it does. Its closest rivals are games like Painkiller and Serious Sam. Comparing Doom with Half Life, or even Duke Nukem, is like comparing an electric oven with a desk chair.

[QUOTE="TheBigBadGRIM"]LOL, the guy with the DOOM avatar says S.T.A.L.K.E.R. sucks???? Doom is, IMO, a pile of s*** and everything Doom does, Duke Nukem, Quake, Unreal, Half-Life, and STALKER could all do MUCH BETTER.fatshodan

I stopped reading right about there.

None of those games do what Doom does better because none of those games do what Doom does. Until you've played Doom on Ultraviolence or Nightmare, you haven't played Doom at all.

Doom is still the best at what it does. Its closest rivals are games like Painkiller and Serious Sam. Comparing Doom with Half Life, or even Duke Nukem, is like comparing an electric oven with a desk chair.

i think it would be more accurate to say that comparing doom to half-life and those games is like comparing a rock to the pantheon. doom is point and shoot with no story, characters, puzzles, or anything. at its best its a test to see how fast your reflexes are. good if want an quick adrenaline rush with the chance of getting spooked (doom 3 of course, not original doom). it may have pioneered the pc gaming industry, but that style of games has been outclassed by almost every other genre there is.

[QUOTE="The_Review"]

If you want my entire opinion on the game, then read my review.

RK-Mara

I tried and it's impossible to read even a full paragraph of your reviews. I'm going to get banned for this but I'll still say it: ****ing racist.

Agreed.

it may have pioneered the pc gaming industry, but that style of games has been outclassed by almost every other genre there is.

chesterocks7

Outclassed? How so?

[QUOTE="chesterocks7"]

it may have pioneered the pc gaming industry, but that style of games has been outclassed by almost every other genre there is.

fatshodan

Outclassed? How so?

because the only thing doom is good at is sending a lot of enemies at you at once and giving you weapons that do lots of dmg and have fancy effects. there is absolutely no depth whatsoever. i own the entire doom series and ill admit that i do enjoy them from time to time when i want to sit back and relax with some completely mindless action. every other type of game requires you to think in some way, or engage some part of you that is more than hand-eye co-ordination. arcade shooters can be enjoyable, but as far as the depth and value of a game, doom and games like doom are on the bottom of the list imo.

Doom never does anything new in my opinion, I just see it as a run and gun FPS, there is never any good story, the characters suck, the multiplayer is an absolute JOKE, heck even the music is forgetable. My point is that while other great shooters are known for having something unique about them (64player battles, cover system, great maps and vehicles, new abilities, etc..) Doom never brings anything new and innovative to the gaming industry except graphics. What will I expect from Doom 4? Better graphics but the same old repetitive shooting over and over again. I'm not a BIG fan of Crysis, but even that game was more interesting that Doom just because you could chokehold enemies and toss them 50 feet in the air.TheBigBadGRIM

well, although im not a big fan either, it is all a matter of opinion. i can understand that someone would like that style of game, especially if doom is what they grew up with, but i just believe that the more depth and innovation a game or genre has, the better it is. and although crysis didnt come up with anything really new, other than the crysis suit, the technology in that game makes it amazing.

because the only thing doom is good at is sending a lot of enemies at you at once and giving you weapons that do lots of dmg and have fancy effects. there is absolutely no depth whatsoever.chesterocks7

If complicated gameplay mechanics were important, we'd all be playing Sim Accountant - most games most people play have very little in the way of depth. They're simple, and they're built around a few concepts which are repeted ad infinitum. It may be a little more obvious in Doom, but most games share the same basic concepts, especially amongst the FPS genre.

every other type of game requires you to think in some way, or engage some part of you that is more than hand-eye co-ordination.chesterocks7

Every? That's ridiculous. All pure blooded FPS games are more about hand-eye coordination and reflexes than they are thought. If you have to think about what you're doing in a firefight, you're dead. That'll never change. FPS games can have engaging stories, but let's be honest, 98% of FPS stories are no better than Doom's (Half Life's story is actually a copy of Doom's with a little extra fluff) and storytelling in FPS games is generally non-existant.

arcade shooters can be enjoyable, but as far as the depth and value of a game, doom and games like doom are on the bottom of the list imo.chesterocks7

Value? I've been religiously playing Doom for fourteen years. It one of the most perfect, most timeless games I've ever played - and its lack of depth is the cause. I expect I'll be playing it for the next decade, too.

Clearly it's not a genre you like, but making a statement like Doom has been outclassed by every other genre is very bold, not to mention wrong.

Well. So far every peson has either really liked STALKER or really hated it. However, i think you'll be in for a bit of a shocker if you are expecting an FPS game of the Crysis/HL2 variety. Its not. Not at all. If anything i'd venture to say the actual gun play of STALKER isnt very good at all.

XaosII

IMO that is one of the things it does much better than most other fps's, including HL2 and Crysis :P

It really does divide opinions, only way to find out if you like the game is try it out I guess.

[QUOTE="XaosII"]

Well. So far every peson has either really liked STALKER or really hated it. However, i think you'll be in for a bit of a shocker if you are expecting an FPS game of the Crysis/HL2 variety. Its not. Not at all. If anything i'd venture to say the actual gun play of STALKER isnt very good at all.

inoperativeRS

IMO that is one of the things it does much better than most other fps's, including HL2 and Crysis :P

It really does divide opinions, only way to find out if you like the game is try it out I guess.