"Fallout Meets Oblivion?"

Oblivion Meets Fallout?

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. (that's the first and only time I'm going to type it out like that) is a post-apocalyptic first person shooter with some well-implemented roleplaying elements. The game is set in Chernobyl 2012, six years after a second nuclear disaster drastically reshapes the landscape. The people who came to capitalize on this disaster are known as stalkers (a mix of treasure hunters, mercenaries, explorers, and soldiers). You play as an amnesiac stalker who wakes up on the edge of the zone of alienation with only clue to your past: a note in your PDA that simply states “Kill Strelok.”

GAMEPLAY:

There's no current single game you can compare Stalker to. It's a FPS in a large, dynamic, post-apocalyptic world. Your character doesn't become stronger as the game progresses, but you do collect progressively better weapons and armor, much like any other FPS. The difference is how your actions affect the world, in both the long and short term. For example: you might be tasked to help a group of stalkers defend their warehouse from encroaching bandits. If you let the stalkers get bulldozed by the bandits, the next time you're there, it's likely that the bandits will have infested the place, and will have a larger presence in the entire region. You gain money, gear, and fame through the missions you perform, via a main storyline and plenty of sidequests.

Stalker's combat is a chore initially, because starting with an inaccurate pea-shooter is never fun. However, it improves once you get accustomed to always being behind cover, shooting slowly and precisely, leaning around corners, etc. It's the antithesis of Quake style run-and-gun combat.

The AI is fairly clever for the most part. They'll make an effort to take cover, ambush you, flank you, and evade combat altogether if necessary. However there's still a couple moments where it's flat out dumb. Say your enemy is preparing to defend their camp from an onslaught of mutants. While they're scripted, waiting for the mutants to show, you can dance all over them and they won't fire a shot back.

CONTROLS:

Pretty standard fare for a tactical first person shooter. You can only bind the first three buttons on the mouse, which is kind of frustrating if you're used to having common FPS functions like crouch as a mouse button.

GRAPHICS:

Graphically it's not earth-shattering, but a medium to high-end PC is recommended. My PC is nearing 3 years old and Stalker runs well on medium graphics settings. I haven't run into any major bugs after about 30 hours of play time. Graphic performance aside, what amazed me is how the art direction in this game mimics the real world Chernobyl alienation zone.

SOUND:

Almost all of the non-plot voice acting is in Russian. Which I guess is just enemies yelling and NPC chatter, so this isn't really a huge deal. Ambient sounds are realistic and are add to the gameplay (I refuse to clear a deserted town of mutants during a thunderstorm on the grounds I might die). There are a few minor sound bugs though, such as being able to hear some NPC chatter from 500 feet away, while other times your gun will flat out not make a bang noise when you fire it.

OTHER:

The game has been out for 3 weeks, and fan mods are already fixing/tweaking/changing nearly every aspect of Stalker. Things like added realism, stronger guns, better selling prices, or more durable armor are just the beginning

OVERALL

Pros: Fresh, fun gameplay; the dynamic world is good looking and fun to explore; the game is challenging enough to keep you coming back, but not overly difficult
Cons: A few sound bugs, timed quests can be irritating.

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