An Incredibly Immersive FPS/RPG But Is Lacking In Many Areas.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is a FPS/RPG set in post apocalyptic Ukraine, it is mostly a First Person Shooter but it also has RPG elements, such as equipment managing.
Stalker is a very realistic game and introduced some of the most realistic gun fights and ballistics that you will ever see in a game.
This game has one of the most incredible stories I have ever seen in a game, if not the most incredible.
Exploration is great, and even though the game seems stiff, it has splashes of humor here and there for people who slow down and look for them.
The environment is richly detailed and rain feels incredibly realistic, this is most prominent when fighting big battles in the dead of the night while it's raining.
This game has the best atmosphere I have ever seen in a game, the dark post-apocalyptic nature of the zone truly shows, especially when going through the underground
areas.
Among other things, the zone is littered with mutants that will try to kill you and eat you. These are very smart also (most are that is, the gas mask things are SUPPOSED to be stupid so don't complain when they run into anomalies) and some operate like a pack does and when they start to lose numbers will retreat.
People coming from a game like Fallout 3 or New Vegas will find this to be a very hard transition, as STALKER is very desolate and very depressing, you will find nothing happy here. Unlike the Fallout games, Stalker has little to no humor and gives a true grisly image of what an apocalypse would be. The game sucks you in, but while you play it you will feel somewhat depressed by the haunting environments and the extremely unforgiving nature of the zone (this is a plus)
The music is very impressive and haunting, this is some of the best audio you will hear in a game.
The AI is very impressive, and will cover each other and seek cover during a fight, but at times it seems too smart, as they seem to be psychic, spotting you from yards away in the dead of the night without even having your flashlight on.
Keep in mind that this is a game designed for HARDCORE gamers, the mouse/keyboard combination will always beat a controller at any game and people coming from easier games or console games may find a hard transition.
The graphics aren't bad, but they aren't the best. Unlike Modern Warfare 2 worshipers, I don't decide what game is good or bad just by it's graphics. The game was supposed to be released around 2003 but was pushed back all the way to 2007, so the engine is somewhat outdated (tell that to Bethesda and their 10 year old unstable engine) but what really shines is the incredible detail and the lighting, as it seems that with each game in the Stalker series, the developers improve greatly on the lighting effects and are some of the best you will ever see.
But the incredibly detail of the areas will take your eyes away from the poor graphics.
Unfortunately we get to some of the bad...
The game has a few RPG elements, but not enough. I don't like the fact that you can walk into an area and interact with maybe 1 or 2 objects. Although Fallout 3 and New Vegas are competly different games than Stalker with competly different settings, one thing they did get right was the scavenging. As scavenging in Stalker feels very limited, now this wouldn't be too big of a hindrance, but what I really don't like is how most areas don't have storage, I can't count how many camps or locations that would have been great places to store my equipment but didn't have the ONE box that you can open.
And on top of that, you can't sleep. I still don't understand what was going through the developers heads...you need to eat to survive, but yet your character seems to be immune to sleep deprivation.
While I do like the voice acting, the lip syncing is terrible, and you only see some guy with his jaw moving up and down (animae anyone?)
This is more of a borderline bad/good thing, weapons and armor can't be repaired, now this adds to the fight for survival, but in some cases you may become attached to a certain weapon or obtain a awesome armor peice, and may have a hard time tossing it away for a replacement.
The game has one of the most intense head bobbing effects I have ever seen, in a bad way. It isn't even in sync with the sound of your feet and just looks awkward, and gets very annoying when traveling long distances.
But the good news is that with a tad bit of config editing you can competly remove it.
Aside from the main quest, the side quests are extremely repetitive and seem to be just fillers for the game.
And worst of all, there was SO much content cut from the game, such as being able to drive vehicles, join factions, call people on your pda, and countless weapons and mutants.
But strangely, all the files for these are still in the game files, and with a little modding (or a trip to the excellent mod database on Moddb.com) they can be restored.
The game has bugs, and I mean LOTS of bugs (is it earthly possible to make a post apocalyptic themed game and it not have bugs? Just look at Fallout 3). Most have been removed by the patch, but many still linger (but thankfully have been removed by certain mods). One major annoyance is that the npcs have a very strange...aura i'd say (can't think of it right now) to put into words, you can't get very close to the npcs as they have some kind of invisible barrier around them and in many instances may push you against the wall or away from your cover while your shooting, but the major annoyance is that they can trap you easily in certain areas.
Ammo for high end weapons is scarce but food can be found almost anywhere, lowering spawn rates of food and health kits would be nice (fixed by mods).
The game also has a lot of stutter, this is most prominent while dashing through areas, you will freeze for a few seconds and keep running again, this will happen repeatedly.
Most of the reviews here that give this game low scores probably never got outside of the first area, as the game gives a very bad first impression. The first area is boring, you have crap equipment and you will die a lot, but keep playing and it will get much much better.
Over all, the game is lacking in immersion areas, but what the game does well (combat) it does extremely well.
Despite the relatively low score, this is one of the best games I have played (with mods, of course) and would suggest to anyone that likes post apocalyptic video games.
Good:
Atmosphere
Incredible Story
Exploration
Realistic Combat
Immersive
Incredible Detail
Quite Scary
Bad:
Outdated engine
Lots of stutter
Unbalanced scavenging
Tons of cut content
Repetitive side quests
Lack of RPG elements
Annoying head bob
Overall:
Unmodded 8.0
Modded 9.0