Open ended? your having a laugh me 'old mucker.
This game is neither Open ended. Nor worth the wait.
I completed this game, twice, because i heard rumours that it was open ended. its not, it plays one of 7 endings. and every time it gives you the end credits, then dumps you back to the main menu, with no option to carry on playing.
The web site boast of a open world to explore, yet the game channels you into following the main story line, to get the player to open up the rest of the game. Even if you do side quests, the need to do the main quest to open up some of the northern areas of the map, is a must if you wish to continue.
The main attraction, chernobyl. is just a end game item, and you don't even get the freedom to explore it properly. Same with some of the better weapons, they only appear at the end of the game, and thus are useless.
Some missions even request that you find certain, "experimental" items. (basically suits of amour or guns, that have been enhanced in some way) so you hand it over willingly to see if you get something good from completing the mission, only to realise that you would of been better off, just keeping the item and failing the mission.
The game has RPG elements that are not implemented properly. money you acquire is virtually useless, as every thing that is sold buy a trader, can be looted along the way, and takes less time than trying to get the money up to buy said item from stores. (if you use the new patch).
Player damage and accuracy is also a bit of a let down, using almost 30 rounds and some times more, to take down an enemy if you go for anything but the head. is rather frustrating and gets old quick.
Game economy is also just bolted on for aesthetic purposes. as the only thing most other stalkers sell is health and bandages. and the inability to sell other stalkers weapons and amour, leaves a bitter taste when you want to trade with a NPC.
The A-Life A.I system that stalker boasts, is also another let down. after the world was introduced to Oblivion's A.I wild life, Stalkers feels like a lost puppy that's not sure what is going on. Stalkers in the field doing every day things is something only the DEVS must have. as I've yet to see it in action in the game its self. Don't get me wrong, there are other stalkers there, but they are just NPC's found in designated areas, and they never wonder too far from the confines of a out post / base / campfire.
The game is a very big let down. if you read about the game from the Journalistic community, they make it sound like Oblivion with guns. yet what we get is a FPS with RPG elements nailed on, that left the game down.
The graphics are nice if you can get it running smooth. yet its a gamble, even with a mighty 8800GTX, Soon as you add full dynamic lighting, it chugs like a mule on vodka. yet turn the eye candy off to get a good frame rate, and you can tell its a 5 year old game. The game was sprung to gold statues with out much notice and really got peoples hopes up. me personally wish they had just taken more time and care. this could of been a right gem of a game, yet all its ended up being is a second rate shooter with some "creepy" feelings thrown in. a dash of RPG and a "hope you all like it" rush out of the door.
If you are after a shooter to pass you by till you get Crysis, then id say take a look, But be warned. there are bugs. and lots of them. its a frustrating game at times. with some quirky A.I and a bit of poor coding here and there.
How this got passed BETA stage is beyond me. Let me explain my scoring for this game.
The difficulty is hard. even on the easy setting, you can get nailed by a bandit waring worse amour than you firing a weaker weapon, that can take you out at a greater range with less shots than you can.
Time spent playing to date
20 to 40 hours, its probably more, i was hoping to find the "open ended" game play part, yet after seeing me and my friends get all 7 endings between us. and no open ended ending in site. things started to look bleak
Learning curve.
Its about 30 to 60 minutes. depending on how well you get on with the lack of accuracy from the starting weapons. (don't get me wrong, the inaccuracy carries on to the end game weapons too. but by that point you should have a sniper rifle which can make a bit of difference)
Classifications.
Don't believe the hype. this game is not "the next best thing to happen to PC gaming" Attributes
Game-play, rated as 4, this is because, the game is far more FPS than it is RPG. and starts to get very repetitive and quite fast. its also very frustrating early on, which is never a good sign.
Graphics, rated as 6. where is the point in having dynamic light setting, when all it does is make your system work double shifts. there are older games that do the same thing with lighting yet run fluid. there is no excuse for this lack of optimisation. even with the size of the levels. this still is not optimised enough to warrant anything above a 6. soon as you take it down to Static lighting, you can tell the game was originally designed for direct x 8 and not 9.
Sound. rated as 6, again, not perfect. its been found that a key dll file to do with EAX is shipped with the game, and the game ends up, unable to do 5.1 and 7.1 surround.
Value. rated as 4, the game feels too much like its still in BETA phase. and although its nice to have it finally here. id of still. prefer not to of payed to beta test a game.
My tilt. rated 4.
The game is a disappointment. its reasonable shooter, but more thought should have gone into the RPG elements. i just wish they would hurry up and release the SDK for it. and let the Mods roll.