S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat (2009)

This is a gritty, atmospheric FPS with strong survival and RPG elements, set in the hauntingly immersive Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. As the third entry in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series, it refines the formula with improved AI, stability, and a more open-ended structure, though overall, this game is not a huge improvement uppon it's previous entries, it is rather just more content and more story, which is also a very good thing if you liked the previous ones.

I'd argue this is the best approach because this game's formula doesn't work really well if you drastically change it's mechanics upon a new entry. The game excels in creating tension through dynamic weather, day-night cycles, and unpredictable mutant encounters. Its quests and faction mechanics allow for non-linear exploration and player-driven outcomes. While the graphics show their age and the interface can feel clunky, the bleak realism and eerie world-building make it a cult classic for fans of immersive sims and post-apocalyptic games.

The STALKER series already has a steep starting point through all titles, but this one is a special case, just for you to be able to progress even a little in the main story, you need to form a party of people with specific skills in order to help you get to Pripyat. Just keep in mind I'm not complaining, this is part of the experience, this hardcore aspect is one of the many selling points of the STALKER series, so there is no excuse to skip this one, definitely a must-play if a fan. I would also recommend not going "vanilla" on it, play it with a couple of mods, at least the Gunslinger one so the gunplay doesn't feel so outdated.

To play this game is to inhabit a unique post-apocalyptic world. It is a brilliant adaptation of its source material that surprises in how perfectly it bridges between a 70s cinema masterpiece and a modest-budget first-person survival shooter.

The game is divided into three regions that are also narrative periods. For me, the second was the strongest. A tension developed between the death dealing weather cycles and the dangerous underground spaces where the player is forced to seek shelter. This was made stronger by the game's courage to let real time elapse in these weather cycles, and abandonment and emptiness feature in the underground spaces. I didn't feel that this was built upon by the third region.

I would love to see the game's ideas developed in a sequel.

I hope there are more systems driving the open world. The psionic weather and roving mutants generated some great game moments for me, but the conflict between humans was largely scripted and had very little impact on the player as they traversed the world. Despite the fact that your character is explicitly warned about the influx of mercenaries into the third region, they hardly feature.

I hope the differences between regions is better developed. The first region is largely about the surface world. The second region develops the threats and opportunities of the internal spaces. However, the third region could do so much more with the urban space. For example, if the buildings were open to internal traversal with the risk of encountering other groups.

With the release of some DLC, I decided to finally give Metro Exodus a go. Initially I was averse to playing it as I heard it deviates from Metro 2033/Last Light’’s more narrative driven, level based gameplay that I REALLY enjoyed. Not that it’s a bad thing, but I wasn’t really keen on playing another open world type of game at the time and didn’t want to let that taint my enjoyment of Metro Exodus. But this isn’t about Exodus, not yet anyway. While playing, I’m reminded of another strikingly similar series that Exodus is probably based off and one that I absolutely loved and hated at the same time; the S.T.A.L.K.E.R series. My experience with that series is one that has tons of ups and tons of downs for a variety of reasons, but one that has certainly left a deep impression of some sort. As with everything I talk about, this is more of me rambling about aspects of the game that I really enjoyed (and disliked) and why I think it deserves a look at or a second (or third or fourth) chance at playing, as I’m sure many have been turned off by its almost archaic and brutally difficult learning curve and nature.

STALKER is a series of open world games where your character, through one way or another, ends up in “The Zone”, an area around the Chernobyl Power Plant that was sealed off after the disaster that befell it. Following the disaster, the zone is practically a separate world, consisting of anomalies and mutants alike birthed from the radiation that afflicts the area. If you’re in the Zone by choice, you likely lost your place in the world and normal society, or you seek a dangerous thrill in this small otherworldly location. The world building is quite frankly incredible through its visuals alone but what sets this game apart from others is just how difficult and unfriendly it is to anyone not coming in prepared. You will receive no help, no tutorials, no explanation to its mechanics, and certainly no mercy. It’s this aspect that turns off a lot of people, myself included initially. My first playthrough of Call of Pripyat ended very quickly as I couldn’t get behind the idea of a game punishing its player so severely. After giving it more attempts over the course of some time, I was finally able to place a firm foot in the zone and realize why this series has a cult following. Atmosphere and narrative aside, there’s just something so beckoning about this almost beautiful wasteland filled with atrocities the game has created. The encounters are brutally difficult with foot soldiers able to kill you from a considerable distance in less than a second if you aren’t practically hiding or sneaking or sniping them yourself with a pistol. The mutants are an entirely different playing field and require a different approach to them. Generally the best approach is the one where you run away, but whether it be a bloodsucker, a controller, a poltergeist, or a snork of all things, all of them are certain to give you quite the scare and a very fast death the first time you encounter them. Not only that, but god forbid your attention wavers and you find yourself out in the open when an emission starts with no real shelter except that cave or sewer pipe that most likely leads to a bloodsucker lair, because those are certainly a doozy. I’d put the appeal of the game similar to a rouge-like where you will constantly die but at the same time learn from your deaths and eventually persevere. And once you manage to persevere is when the game begins to open up. Once you’re making progress, planning your encounters with potential mutants, exploring your first anomaly heavy area for artifacts, or exploring an abandoned underground military base where you’ll feel your sanity slowly slipping away, that’s when the game finally starts to shine. Once you’ve died for the umpteenth time to a controller from a mile away or a snork flying at you at mach speed, once you’ve been blasted by a helicopter off the map or below it or sniped off the map into oblivion, once your sanity has run thin and you accept that such is life in the zone, that’s when you’ll really start to appreciate the game.

While I do think STALKER’s world building is fantastic and intriguingly dreary and grim, I don’t think I’d put it above other open world games of similar nature like Fallout. I don’t think the dialogue or questline stories are particularly amazing, with only a few clearly standing out above the others. This however, can be potentially remedied with the addition of mods, as the STALKER series has or has had a very active modding community that adds tons more content to any of the games or, once you’ve finally lost your sanity to the Zone, make the game even harder. I won’t talk about those mods, as those are something you’ll naturally gravitate towards if you end up liking the base game, though many people will tell you to at least enhance the visuals with mods for your first playthrough, and if you manage to complete it, to do it over with further mods and a difficulty increase. Finally, Which game you should play is generally your own choice though most will tell you to stay away from Clear Sky as it’s a buggy mess on top of other issues. You definitely can’t go wrong with either Shadow of Chernobyl or Call of Pripyat, but my personal recommendation will be Call of Pripyat, as that’s the game I’ve sunk the most hours in.

While Clear Sky was a buggy, unplayable disappointment with questionable design decisions, Call of Pripyat doesn't quite reach the heights of Shadow of Chernobyl but is a refreshing return to the fun of the wasteland.

Starting as an investigator on a mysteriously failed helicopter operation, the player will be spending most of their time building rapport with denizens of the wasteland in and around Pripyat and gathering a team of individuals to break into Pripyat, much like Mass Effect 2.

Much hasn't changed too much about the wasteland's looks, though it looks a bit prettier than it did in Chernobyl. Stamina and other status effects are now easily visible, and artifacts are detected and picked up instead of just found, leading to fun hunts for artifacts across the wasteland.

The structure of Call of Pripyat is solid and the gameplay is fun when you dig into it, even if it's quite familiar to the original Shadow of Chernobyl.