gamefreak94
August 19th, 2008, 14:42
Intro
This game by GSC Game World was made to be a successor to S.T.A.L.K.E.R Clear Skies and had caught a lot of attention by selling over 1 million copies (according to Wikipedia). Gamespot says that it does for the genre what GTA San Andreas does for the game.
System tested on
PC; specs are as follows:
Intel Pentium dual-core E2160 @ 2.2 GHz
Kingston DDR2 1 GB RAM
HIS ATI HD 2400 Pro @ 550/680 (memory clock/core clock)
Gameplay 8.25/10
This game is a classic first person action game and I simply love these! Gameplay revolves around the ultimate goal of reaching the strikken down Chernobyl nuclear power plant and exterminating all the monoliths (a group pf people) living in it. The game map features a large area of 30 sq.km called "The Zone" with various areas in it, namely:
1) The Cordon
2) The Garbage
3) Agropom Research Institute/sewers
4) The Bar
5) X18
6) Yantar
7) X16
8) Army Warehouses
9) The Red Forest
10) Chernobyl Exterior
11) Chernobyl Interior.
Players are required to show exceptional control over their surroundings i.e. handling enemies, dealing with mutants and radio-active zones, anomalies and zombies even with easier difficulty levels. To proceed to the next area, players are required to complete a variety of obligatory (and also some optional) tasks given to them by various traders.
The game does not feature the use of any vehicles, all traveling must be done on foot which is a bit of a set-back really just because it can get boring walking through the wilderness. The game engine however, does contain the instructions for vehicle use but have been disabled, though tweaks can easily be found to enable them.
Graphics 10/10
The graphics engine of the game is superb in my opinion. The wild scenery of the desolate Chernobyl zone is very life-like and often gets your heart going. The shooting in the game is very realistic, with your gun's aim and affectiveness being affected by a host of factors such as wind direction, gun type, weather etc etc.
Sound
I can't say much regarding sound because..............I rarely have it on, gameplay becomes a bit too real with it. The only down-side with the game I can aware you of is that most of the casual talk in the game is going to be in Russian! The other sounds like FFX are like any other good game, realistic gun shots, natural stuff like rustling of leaves and the sound of approaching enemies.
Replay value
Sadly, I don't play games online (due to its profound addiction). But as far as the endings go, there are 3 possible ones. The first one is the Wishgranter ending, which will be pretty negative and will result in the destruction of The Zone. However, if you venture on ignoring the Wishgranter and enter a wierd room in the power plant, you will find yourselves in a cinematic cut-scene ending. As for the last one, you need to be a real pro and exterminate all the threats that exist in the backyard of Chernobyl, this ends in a cut-scene which is supposedly the best possible ending to the game
Overall
I'd only recommend this game to people who like first person action/shooter games like MTS4, GTA-SA, Mafia, Bully etc. I would also like point out (again) at this point, that this game is extremely tough. I had a hard time completing it on "novice" let alone "pro" or "stalker" and believe me, this is the first time this is happening to me.
Edit: Have added a screenshot
This game by GSC Game World was made to be a successor to S.T.A.L.K.E.R Clear Skies and had caught a lot of attention by selling over 1 million copies (according to Wikipedia). Gamespot says that it does for the genre what GTA San Andreas does for the game.
System tested on
PC; specs are as follows:
Intel Pentium dual-core E2160 @ 2.2 GHz
Kingston DDR2 1 GB RAM
HIS ATI HD 2400 Pro @ 550/680 (memory clock/core clock)
Gameplay 8.25/10
This game is a classic first person action game and I simply love these! Gameplay revolves around the ultimate goal of reaching the strikken down Chernobyl nuclear power plant and exterminating all the monoliths (a group pf people) living in it. The game map features a large area of 30 sq.km called "The Zone" with various areas in it, namely:
1) The Cordon
2) The Garbage
3) Agropom Research Institute/sewers
4) The Bar
5) X18
6) Yantar
7) X16
8) Army Warehouses
9) The Red Forest
10) Chernobyl Exterior
11) Chernobyl Interior.
Players are required to show exceptional control over their surroundings i.e. handling enemies, dealing with mutants and radio-active zones, anomalies and zombies even with easier difficulty levels. To proceed to the next area, players are required to complete a variety of obligatory (and also some optional) tasks given to them by various traders.
The game does not feature the use of any vehicles, all traveling must be done on foot which is a bit of a set-back really just because it can get boring walking through the wilderness. The game engine however, does contain the instructions for vehicle use but have been disabled, though tweaks can easily be found to enable them.
Graphics 10/10
The graphics engine of the game is superb in my opinion. The wild scenery of the desolate Chernobyl zone is very life-like and often gets your heart going. The shooting in the game is very realistic, with your gun's aim and affectiveness being affected by a host of factors such as wind direction, gun type, weather etc etc.
Sound
I can't say much regarding sound because..............I rarely have it on, gameplay becomes a bit too real with it. The only down-side with the game I can aware you of is that most of the casual talk in the game is going to be in Russian! The other sounds like FFX are like any other good game, realistic gun shots, natural stuff like rustling of leaves and the sound of approaching enemies.
Replay value
Sadly, I don't play games online (due to its profound addiction). But as far as the endings go, there are 3 possible ones. The first one is the Wishgranter ending, which will be pretty negative and will result in the destruction of The Zone. However, if you venture on ignoring the Wishgranter and enter a wierd room in the power plant, you will find yourselves in a cinematic cut-scene ending. As for the last one, you need to be a real pro and exterminate all the threats that exist in the backyard of Chernobyl, this ends in a cut-scene which is supposedly the best possible ending to the game
Overall
I'd only recommend this game to people who like first person action/shooter games like MTS4, GTA-SA, Mafia, Bully etc. I would also like point out (again) at this point, that this game is extremely tough. I had a hard time completing it on "novice" let alone "pro" or "stalker" and believe me, this is the first time this is happening to me.
Edit: Have added a screenshot