The third time's a charm as Call of Pripyat is the most stable and the most engaging STALKER experience to date.
But Ukrainian developers GSC Gameworld knew that this series was too special to just throw away, and it was one that they wanted to fulfill. Call of Pripyat shows how much they care about the future of this series. It not only improves on its two main drawbacks, but with the Zone being a smaller place this time, greater emphasis has been put on everything, from the side-quests to the mechanics. It's still not without flaws, as a few of the same issues still remain, the story and dialog in general are weak, and it has an overall dated feel. But this is not only the most stable STALKER game, but it's easily the most engaging and least frustrating.
Call of Pripyat takes place shortly after the events of the first game, Shadow of Chernobyl. It shows an opening introduction of how the Zone came into form and eventually what led to the destruction of five military helicopters scouting the Zone. The military sends in Alexander Degtyarev, a Ukrainian Secret Service agent who has had experience in the Zone, to investigate why and how the helicopters were destroyed.
A decent amount of effort seemed to have been put into the story, as small cutscenes are used at times and the dialog is generally straightforward. But because of how the main quest is structured, the story doesn't become particularly interesting until it comes around trying to get to the city of Pripyat, and even then you're more than likely going to spend most of the time in the other two areas outside of Pripyat. The dialog is also pretty poor for the most part, as most of the NPCs in the game speak like foreign exchange students trying to fit in a North American society. You eventually learn to tolerate it.
Besides, with the way the game starts, the side-quests feel more like the heart of the game, as it revolves around more interesting locations and scenarios than the main-quest, although that's not to say that the main-quest is uninteresting. The beginning of the game just places you right in the Zone with no set of instructions aside from the business with the helicopters. Immediately, you're on your own, several clicks away from a rusted ship that acts as a camp for free stalkers. It's also a place that finally gives you an option to sleep, and it's also an integral part of most of the side quests in that whole section. It is also like this for the other two sections.
You soon learn your way around, and there may be an overwhelming amount of side quests at first but take them slowly one at a time, and they provide refreshing experiences. You'll rarely be doing the same thing twice as they're also well varied, and you can solve side quests through genuine interest towards certain locations.
Exploration plays a great part in the game, as a decent amount of side quests don't give you any co-ordinates. One example would be getting tools for technicians, so that you can unlock new options for weapon and armor modifications. Another would be to find a couple of keys that unlock a chest carrying a canister that can eliminate a Bloodsucker layer. Some side-quests connect to others, and they are quests that help your character gain a reputation in the Zone as well as some useful benefits. Exploration can also be dangerous when radioactive emissions occur throughout the game, which come at a fair occasional rate, and improves upon its former broken self when it was in Clear Sky.
Money plays as a greater importance as well, and everything is a lot easier to afford compared to Clear Sky. You gain cash through the majority of quests independent artifact hunting, or just some good old fashioned looting.
There are also some basic improvements to the interface and mechanics. The interface now has four hotkeys available for quick and convenient item usage using the first four F keys. The mechanics are also slightly simplified for a less frustrating experience around the areas, particularly during gunfights. The AI is also great for the most part, but there have been a couple occasions where a couple of NPCs were oblivious during gunfights, and the AI still manages to be unfairly accurate at times, but the game never seems to have an unbalanced challenge like its predecessor, even with these niggling issues.
But what may be the biggest mechanical improvement is the gunplay. In previous games, it was frustrating. Now there's greater confidence in the gunplay now, because shots reasonably connect now, while staying among the grounds of believability.
The big drawback to the gameplay is that it feels dated. Despite STALKER still being a very unique experience, the X-Ray engine is now one without legs, and that is hopefully scrapped for the next STALKER game. A slightly clunky feel is brought onto the gameplay, but it reflects upon the audio and video much more drastically.
Call of Pripyat is not much for technical prowess, and it's one that suffers through occasional frame-rate dips. The texture resolution isn't that high anymore, the animations are stiff, and the post-processing effects aren't that remarkable. The lighting is really the only visual aspect that remains intact, and given the setting it's the most important. The audio remains unchanged from previous games for the most part. The voice acting has taken a toll for the worse, however.
But despite all of this, and despite it being the shortest STALKER game, it's arguably also the most worthwhile STALKER experience. The side quests are very engaging, and you'll care more about how side quest characters are effected than the ones involved in the main quest, but the setpieces in the main quest is what makes its own experience memorable. Overall, Call of Pripyat is a very refreshing return to the Zone, despite it coming a little too late.