S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl (2007)

This title is a gritty, atmospheric FPS that blends survival horror, RPG elements, and open-world exploration in a hauntingly detailed post-apocalyptic version of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Its standout feature is its immersive world, where danger lurks around every corner, from mutated creatures to deadly anomalies and hostile factions. Despite technical rough edges, it delivers a uniquely tense and memorable experience that has earned cult classic status among fans of immersive shooters.

The game’s AI-driven world feels alive and unpredictable, though it's marred by bugs and clunky mechanics, though still to this day it is very praised as one of the most innovative gaming mechanics, being able to make the world more believable since it'll also continue to "live" it's life even though the game is not actually open and running. This makes up for a very unique gameplay in which there is not a chance that one run will be similar to the next, it'll be vastly different every time you try a different tactic.

This video-game also started one of the biggest modding scenes, which is still amazing and growing up until today, to a point where mods become whole standalone games, similar to what the Fallout community did with New Vegas for example. I highly recommend STALKER SoC is played at least with the Gunslinger mod, so that the gunplay doesn't feel as dated as it is, and as it already was, back when it was first released, but regardless of how you play this title, it'll be a very good experience.

I must say, returning to the Zone after ten years, the game stands solid. I must recommend the original vanilla version, as it was ment to be played like that. The gurgoling sounds at night, dogs barking as they are about to attack or scare you, the wind bringing distant shots with terrible screams, pure and raw loneliness 24/7 as you navigate inside the Zone.

The game repeats itself here and there but you are kind of choosing what kind of stalker are you. I won't even mention the things they could have put in the game and they never saw the light of day.

The universe feels like it has its own hard truth there. I still got the chills inside the underground lab, or any other dangerous place like i did 10 years ago. You may not like the outdated graphics but your imagination is more valuable than any unreal 5 realistic game.

i've been playing stalker anomaly and am so hooked. For me, this is the sweet spot. It feels very fallout-i-fieid with the janky repair stuff, village repeating quest givers, companions (with command wheels), multiple factions and starting locations for your playthrough, and a vastly increased variety of loot. the hardcore mode in it is really great too. a lot of attention to detail went into things allowing you to tweak endless options and balance quite a few things to your liking (such as economy, which also seems nice to make jobs worthwhile to pay for supplies and cost of repairs)

all in all it's seeming like an excellent survival sim open world-FPS so far and surprisingly relaxing to play at a somewhat slow pace.

the bad thing? the game is still crazy hard. maybe even harder than i remember it. the AI can hear and see you as if they were xenomorphs, at times not just shooting at you not through the grass you try to hide in, but through the walls you might choose to take cover behind!

stalker is such a great series of games. despite some of it's jankiness and grievances, It's one of the greats like half-life 2, thief, deus ex or doom (at least in terms of ongoing community content by fans)

Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl is a mix of genres - it has First-Person Shooter mechanics, RPG-like builds and statistics, Horror-inspired enemies and encounters, Survival Horror-inspired inventory/item management and several other characteristics. All of that is delivered within an open world that focuses on atmosphere and realism. The result is something incredible, but also quite clunky at times.

Given that it is a hardcore survival simulator, you wouldn't expect a game like this to hold your hand during playthrough. But it does a terrible job of even telling you the important bits. If you do play, expect moments of confusion - what to do, where to go, and so forth. Thankfully, there are enough resources online to be helpful (like a couple of Walkthroughs on GameFAQs), and if that fails, there are always mods to get you out of a tight spot.

A special note/rant about the ending - I was never a fan of the 'do obscure crap to earn the true ending' approach, but this one takes the 'obscure' part to ridiculous levels. I am incredibly thankful to the ZRP mod for getting me out of this mess.

Shadow of Chernobyl seems rough, but for a game from 2007, it oozes a narrative and world unlike any other, especially for a FPS. Taking place a few years after an alien Zone appears, you play as a scavenger for alien artifacts, a Stalker. The zone is filled with harsh radiation, strange anomalies, and mutants and enemy humans alike. All of this seems imposing but the game balances well across difficulties, going from heavy survivalist tactics to breezingly throwing whatever resources you can fit in your pack.

As for the gameplay, combat can be up in the air, due to systems bent on simulating complex and realistic shots that usually ends up in random firing. It doesn't work as well as you'd think on paper, but Chernobyl makes up for this with a solid progression curve of weapons and armor, making sure that as long as you keep your wits about what resources you're using, you'll be powerful enough to proceed. The game is also very gracious about its loading times, which helps for what seems like a very quick save/load type of game in case a shot just happens to hit you in the head.

The world itself is rich and cryptic - there's a main quest you can follow so that you can never get lost, but Stalker hides its rewards behind a wide world of quests and journeys. For someone who hadn't checked the guide before proceeding, I was disappointed at how cruel the game's ending was to those who strictly followed directions, but the player never loses the sense of a journey and mystery of the Zone, the artifacts, the wish granter, and the true purpose behind all this strangeness.

Though not quite horrific, Shadow of Chernobyl paints a bleak and gorgeous world with an engaging system that might encourage a replay or two, just to see what answers lie in wait for its many mysteries.

A first person shooter with amazing setting and elements making it feel like an RPG.

Played it with the complete mod after previous attempts to give it a go without any mods I did not get into it. Played on normal difficulty despite reading that you should play on highest - as it's supposedly the same - just that damage is a lot higher. It's not true though as it causes a lot more bandits walking around causing a lot more fire fights and decided to restart after an hour or so.

The game is not without flaws and the age shows in places but it's still a very good game. You play as a "marked one" - you body was dumped but somehow you turned out to be alive. You lost your memory though and the only thing you know is that you were supposed to kill a guy called Strelok. For whatever reason you decide to complete the mission - but since you don't have anything and don't remember much as well you start by picking a mission from your rescuer.

So the biggest strength of this game is its setting and atmosphere. Placed near Chernobyl the zone is not like anything you've seen in other post apocalyptic games. It has a strong eastern European feel to it which is quite distinct when comparing to any western games dealing with the similar subject. And the game is just soaked with atmosphere and great ambiance.

The biggest problem with the game is that it has a problem with properly describing things. None of the artifact mechanics are ever explained for example - and I king of understand that back in the day we had to figure those stuff out - but I guess I'm too old to be bothered.

The story itself is lacking some kind of exposition as well. The cut scenes are short and not telling much. The artifact creation is never explained and a second Chernobyl explosion is never mentioned in the game - while being referenced on external sources. Because of that I think I kind of lost the track of the story at some point and the closer I was getting to the end the more clueless I felt. I really loved the first half of the game where everything felt fresh and new and it was fun discovering the world. Next quarter was OK but I was loosing the focus of what I was doing. In the final quarter I actually had no idea why I'm going the way I'm going and what I'm trying to achieve. It also added way more combat which combined with anomalies did not feel especially great.

And the ending... Ugh the ending I got was just dreadful - disconnected and disappointing. The ending depends on a lot of things - that the game never tells you and thus making the ending completely outside of player choice. And it's not about the actions you took in the game but how much reputation and money you have and some other conditions - not choices. It even matters what faction you joined - and while I was asked to join to factions I did not join either as the lack of exposition to what those factions represent made me choose to stay without a one.

However despite the flaws the game feels great as a whole. I had a lot of fun playing - especially the first half and can recommend it without hesitation to people who like the setting or Fallout kind of games. Will be playing the sequel for sure.

Iam astounished, that nobody reviewed Stalker yet. The game is quit popoular for beeing a bug-fest. Thats why i played it with Stalker complete mod, that tooked care of a huge amount of bugs but even with that, bugs occur here and there.

The interessting thing in Stalker is the localisation. We didnt start the game in the western hemisphere rather in post-soviet ukraina. Everything in this world reminds us of cold war russia. Many characters wear gasmasks , its possible to equip your character with many versions of the famous AK-47, we hear ukrainian pop songs from the radio and we are able to drink wodka with our Stalker-fellows.

But this trip to ukraina is not for holidays. Our stalker, named the marked one, has the mission, to travel to the nuclear reactor of chernobyl, which is immured in a huge sarcophacous of cement and discover the unbelievable that awaits there (and when i write unbelievable i mean it). The game does a very good job to rise the tension on the way to the reactor. The so called "Zone" gets more and more terrifying. First we make our way to abandoned farm land, later we arrive in a militarized zone full of dangers, finally we try to survive in the nightmarish area around the sarcophacous. Stalkers strongest element is the authentic world, full of mutants, loners, radioactivity, anormalias and rival factions.

Speaking of the factions. They are all very unique and its fun the explore there agendas but to join a factions is quit hard and the reward for it is non-existent. Rival factions attack you instantly, when you joined, that leads to mass shootings you never intended. So i had to shoot anyone in the base of the Duty-faction to continue the main-story.

Stalker is a hard game in any ways. To understand the mechanics of the game is quite challenging from the natur of the artifacts to radiation-levels and anomalias. Furthermore you encounter a huge number of enemies. At the end of the game i killed over 400 enemies, what made the hole progress kind of ridiculous. Exspecially the amount of radiated maniacs in the sarcophacus was insane.

Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl is a must-play for every fan of What-the-fuck-Stories and for every Survival-freak. Because that is, what you do mostly in this game - surviving. If you get frustrated easiley, get your hands off stalker. You die often, you encounter bugs and your mostly on your own. I had a lot of fun exploring the zone on the same hand i ask myself the same question over and over again "How iam supposed to do that?". For now its enough radiation for me but i will return to the zone in Stalker: Call of pripyat