"A superbly excellent FPS that has very slight flaws"

You know what's great about a game that takes around 6 years to make? Not only is it very polished but it gives that feeling that modern games don't seem to have any more. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is a perfect example of this. Although there are some faults throughout the game they are severely outweighed by the rest.

Graphics 8/10
The graphics in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. are very flattering, there is so much to like about them. The dynamic lighting is very nice, the models are detailed, the environments are super detailed, for example houses with holes in the side where there are individual bricks jutting out. When it rains the lightning lights up the whole area and you can see things for a split second, which looks very cool.

So why give it an 8? Performance. The one problem I have with S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s graphics is the performance, cards that should be running it aren't cards that shouldn't be able to are running it just as good as the ones that should. After you do some tweaking you can get just enough performance to play the game but you shouldn't have to after it's been developed for so long.

Sound 10/10
I'm not very good at distinguishing sound quality, normally one game sounds pretty much just as good as the other, sometimes I'll notice particularly good or bad things about the sound in a game but I am never as focused on it as much as visuals. After playing this game that opinion has changed, this game has some of the most wonderful sounds I've ever heard. You can hear gunshots from the other side of the map and go over to see a battle that actually took place, you hear mutants and animals chasing you and roaring. The voice acting is excellent, most of the people in the game will speak russian which ads to the atmosphere a lot, but important characters will speak english with a russian accent (which I liked). Overall the sound is superb.

AI 9/10
Lots was promised with the new A-Life system implemented into S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and the best way I could think of describing it was a story of one of my experiences with it.

I was walking through the forest when I heard gunshots in the distance (which was cool) so naturally I went to see what happened. I arrived a minute later to find a friendly stalker fighting a bandit, so I assisted him in fighting the bandit, I was behind a tree popping out every once in a while to fire, I eventually lost sight of my AI teammate. A few moments later I saw him again going way around the enemy bandit to flank him. He ran up and shot the bandit in the back. Thinking the battle was over I went to search the bandits corpse. As I went to it I heard lots of growling and barking slowly getting closer, I looked up to see 6 dogs on each side of me coming for the corpse to take away and eat. I immediately started firing on them, when I finished off about 2 of them I realized that I hadn't been guarding my flank from the rest of the dogs. But my AI partner had finished them already, so I turned back around to finish mine off, 2 off the dogs grabbed the bandits carcass and ran off with it before I could shoot them and then the other two ran at me, I shot 3-4 times and missed and realizing they were out numbered both ran away.

The story really doesn't do the experience justice and you need to play firsthand with the impressive A-Life system to appreciate it fully.

Gameplay 10/10
Remember the great shooters off the 90's? The games that were memorable and people based their expectations for future FPS's off? Well if you then you know that modern FPS's have not lived up to the set expectations. They don't give off the same feel that they used to. Thankfully S.T.A.L.K.E.R. has been in development since the greater era of shooters, and it is a fine representation of that era. There is really no way to describe the gameplay of S.T.A.L.K.E.R., it is just great. I've played it for over 50 hours and I still love it. The story, the combat, the atmosphere it's so surreal. I honestly don't know how to describe it so I will pretty much leave you to imagine and look at the score.

Well overall S.T.A.L.K.E.R. has surpassed my expectations not only for the game itself but the entire genre. I didn't think shooters would be able to pull back to their roots and save themselves, but S.T.A.L.K.E.R. makes me hope games can still be good and worthwhile. If you have a PC that can run it, and you love videogames I definately suggest buying S.T.A.L.K.E.R., if you are thinking about buying a game and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. wasn't one of the choices you were considering, don't buy that other game, buy S.T.A.L.K.E.R. I promise you will be impressed.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 04/02/07