"Was S.T.A.L.K.E.R Worth the wait? I'd have to say Yes."

After many years of waiting, S.T.A.L.K.E.R has finally been released, and I have to say, it's the best, and most enjoyable FPS I've ever played. I will attempt to break the different parts of the gameplay into specific categories.

Story 7/10.
The story is quite cryptic, you're fed little bits of information, via PDA's, Stashes, and communication with other Stalkers. Without spoiling any of the story, I think it's well told, and keeps you guessing right up to the last revelations in Chernobyl - the final end product of the story, does feel somewhat strange, and out of place, but it fits well with what happens throughout the game.

Gameplay 10/10.
The atmosphere throughout the game is superior to any game I've previously played, it portrays the post-apocalyptic feel extremely well throughout the outdoor areas, with the ambient sounds, howls, and distant gunshots of stalkers. The in-door areas of the game, are impressive aswel, and if your PC is powerful enough to power the game with full Dynamic Lighting, it will increase the atmosphere and feel of the game, even more, whilst other games have delivered on good atmosphere, they tend to lose sight of it as it progresses, thankfully this is not the case in S.T.A.L.K.E.R, which is a very good thing.

The AI 8/10.
When in the great-outdoors, the AI truely comes to life, they lay down cover fire, they flank, and their movement is tactical, aswel as their ability to move from cover to cover, all is executed with as much precision as seen in F.E.A.R, however, when inside buildings, and underground areas the AI can be a bit clumsy, they still act and react like they do above-ground, but without the freedom to move as much, so sometimes they aren't as fast, or precise in their actions.

Weapons & Upgrades 8/10.
The weapons in S.T.A.L.K.E.R are some of the best I've ever used in a FPS before, whilst the others are the worst. They are all realistic, in usage, accuracy, and looks, in combat - keeping low to the ground is a must, and they react much in the same way as you would expect, they are fun to use.

Unfortunately, the shotguns SUCK, I don't remember using any of them for more then 10 minutes, which is a shame, cuz they react, and sound very cool, on the other hand, the RPG is the best I've used in any game, aswel as the grenades, and using them is very satisfying.

The upgrades are few and far between, you can find silencers, scopes, and grenade launchers, there are two different types of scopes, and they fit the majority of weapons, however the Grenade launcher parts are restricted to specific weapons, inefficient, and annoying weapons, but it does balance the guns well.

Combat 10/10.
The combat is a strong mix of tactics, and ferocious action, when behind cover, you feel wary to venture out and advance into the action (especially on harder difficulty settings) not beacause death is quick from bullet impact damage, but beacause the AI is relentless in their efforts.

It's frantic and highly enjoyable, I haven't enjoyed this intensity of combat since F.E.A.R and Call of Duty.

Sounds 9/10.
The ambience and effects are all used in the right places, whilst I believe the creature sounds could have been more virulent, and freaky, they did a fine job with what they had, the guns sound just right, as do the explosions, other then that not much to say, great sounds.

Enemies 8/10.
Whilst some of the enemies from the original 2004 release didn't make it into the full game, the ones that did are great, the Soldiers, Stalkers, and Bandits are just as you would expect, they work together, and look great, whilst the creatures are ultimately quite creepy, especially the controllers, the sound effects used with their attacks are awesome, and really brought some tension to fighting them, and the relentless advance of the bloodsuckers brought some tension to their encounters aswel, whilst the enemies of the game didn't reach the game's original potential, GSC made the very best of what they chose, there are no faults, and no dissapointments as far as I'm concerned.

The Faults (Every game has them).
And now the bad sides to the game, and thankfully the bad parts of stalker don't really inhibit the gameplay experience, but they make an otherwise flawless game somewhat flawed, and it's a shame.

Two of the best and most enjoyable guns in the game, are only usable in the last level (Chernobyl NPP) and once you enter, you can't leave, there are some bugs such as clipping (being shot by enemies that are half in and out of walls) and weird lines covering the screen when it rains (can be fixed by rebooting the game), S.T.A.L.K.E.R does support Widescreen Resolutions, such as 1440x900 for 19" WS monitors, and 1680x1050 Resolution for 22", but it doesn't seem to have the Aspect Ratio sorted. I suggest Googgling Widescreen Wiki for the AR hack, and one other thing, which I hope will be given some consideration in future patches, their should be an option in the controls, to speed up mouse sensitivity within the UI, as most of the Inventory and Trade screens are done via the mouse, but the movement is very slow, when your in your inventory, the game doesn't pause, and having to move your mouse accross the table twice, to sort something out, is quite annoying, and fatal if your being shot at.

Overall, I give S.T.A.L.K.E.R Shadow of Chernobyl a solid, and well deserved 9, it introduces the open-endedness of Farcry, whilst maintaining a healthy sense of forboding tension especially when exploring an area for the first time, the combat is similar to the entrenched feeling you get from MoH: Pacific Assault, with the strength and ferocity of Call of Duty and F.E.A.R. I enjoyed it much more then Half Life 2, it might not have been everything I was hoping for from S.T.A.L.K.E.R's initial hype, but it is, however, everything I was hoping for from an FPS game.

If you don't own this game, you most definitely should!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/27/07