S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl

"This is not your average, mindless fragfest with cheap scares. This is a game about surviving under the creepiest of conditions."

Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl is a semi-freeroaming FPS role-playing game in which the player, named the "Marked One", is exploring an area labelled "the Zone" after a second explosion near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Due to this explosion, there is now a wider zone of exclusion (as in, the radius in which people are told not to live due to hazardous conditions), and it is mysteriously filled with strange anomalies and odd mutations called "artifacts". Marked One must fend for himself in a world full of bandits, factions at war against each other, mutated animals, and even zombified and mutated people.

Gameplay: 9

The game revolves around both FPS skill (as in, you have to be good at taking cover, aiming, etc.) and resource management (how much ammo you can carry, weapons, etc.). Progression is based off missions given to you by traders and other Stalkers, with time limits on optional quests. For the most part, the player is going to be spending their time traveling from place to place, but not in a strictly "point A to point B" fashion. The player is allowed the freedom to go where he/she chooses, provided of course that they can hold their own against whatever strange beasts or hostile humans may attack. Also, due to the game's free-roam design, the player can go pretty much wherever they please, as in, on top of buildings, inside any opening they can squeeze through, crawl through pipes, etc. If you see a way to a place, more than likely, you CAN get there one way or another. Unlike a traditional RPG, there is no level or stat-boosting system; the player can increase certain types of protection levels by equiping better armor or artifacts, but most of the artifacts take away from other statistics as well as upgrade one or two, and the armor will degrade as the player is shot, clawed, caught on fire, etc. Unfortunately, the game itself does not have a repair function, so one must be downloaded in order for armor and weapons to be repaired after taking heavy damage. The player uses a PDA to keep track of completed/failed missions (you can't fail the story missions without dying, so don't worry about "breaking" the game), statistics regarding kills and a ranking among fellow Stalkers, and an encyclopedia/diary that helps to both progress the story and immerse the player further into the world they're trying to survive in.

Sound/Music: 10

The ambient noise and equally ambient music serve to make this game as completely creepy as can possibly be. The player can sometimes hear the cries of mutated animals in the distance, or the moaning of a nearly-incapacitated Stalker huddled in the distance. The music is as I said: Ambient. Whatever strange, discordant music you can associate with decrepit ruins of modern buildings and areas of body-shredding anomalies is probably in here in some form or another, and it all serves to create the feeling that you, the player, are in a familiar, yet completely alien environment; you see the modern world as too few real people have: rotting, destroyed, decaying masses of rubble and radioactive heaps of dangerous material.

Story: 10

For the most part, I can't tell you anything about the story because most of it is learned in the game. All you know from the beginning is that you, Marked One, are found next to an overturned truck full of dead bodies, and that another Stalker has brought you to a trader named Sidorovich, who proceeds to help you on your quest to figure out why you have a PDA that says "KILL STRELOK" on it. The story progresses much as a good Science Fiction novel does; I won't spoil the rest of it for you because, quite frankly, it's worth playing the entire game for even if you don't go for these types of games.

Overall: 9 (Rating based on lowest subscore)

Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl is one of the best FPS games money can buy, simply because it has a system that so many other FPS's lack; it's a game of true survival, where you, the player, must decide upon which weapons you can use based not only off of power, but off of your skill, what else you may need for the journey, and even how available each weapon's type of ammunition is. As the difficulty slider is raised, the amount of resources available drops, and the game forces you more and more to be diligent about what you have, what you can get, and how you're going to be using it in the days to come. This is an excellent game, both in gameplay and in style. Graphics are nearly, if not just as good, as most other PC games out there, but included are options for even the most casual gamer use so as to enjoy without ruining the atmosphere.

Buy/rent/replay: Yes, Yes, Very Much

Each trip through The Zone is different; just like the firefights in the game, you really never know when that next shot takes you out, or when your next shot is going to be a perfect one. Additionally, there are literally hundreds of mods out there that allow you to create an almost entirely different game if that's what you wish, and some that add in "cut" monsters, weapons, vehicles, and other items that make the game even more of an in-depth experience.

I highly recommend, both for those looking for a good shooter and a good role-playing experience, and even those that lean more towards survival-horror games, that you give this game a try. It is definitely worth the time, and the money.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 07/26/07