Joined: Sat Dec 20 2003 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 2646
S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl
The graphics are v.good - although most of the time its seems like its raining. AI is good - maybe too good. Its real easy to get shot in the back if your not really careful.
The whole premise is the area around Chernobyl, quite some time after the meltdown a few decades ago. They mapped the entire area for the game, and use actual 3d images of the buildings in the area - kinda cool. The game play is sorta like a first-person-shooter and mission completion and problem solving and and and - you get the picture. You get some fire fights from time to time, with soldiers, occasional good guys (if you shoot them they shoot back) and mutants. There are some pretty weird anomalies that will fry you if you get to close.
You carry a backpack where you stow stuff you find or take off guys you killed. There are a S**T load of different weapons you can find - there are at least 9 pistols, 4 shotguns, and dozens of rifles - but you can only use one main gun (shotgun/rifle) with the pistol at a time. And you can carry only so much as it will stop you dead in your tracks if you grab too much - not good in the middle of a fire fight when you want to grab up some ammo. You can trade some of this stuff off to get other stuff - but you have to make your way back to the trader - a long ways if your on the other side of the map - which is HUGE. The concept behind it was to have a totally open map where you can wander anywhere - and you pretty much can - you aren't lead down a path like some other games.
Of course all this size can become frustrating - since you have to keep mind of where you are and where your going. There are missions you can take on which lead you all over the place. You have a PDA that gives you ingame messages, maps and contacts. Interactions with the AI is ok, but a little cumbersome. You walk up to them and "chat" - as in asking preset questions and getting answers - a lot of reading. And you have to remember what they say since it could affect what you do later. You can find stuff anywhere as well - if there is a box, you should really check it to make sure there isnt some goody in it.
The keys are pretty standard for control, but some are a little weird, and you really have to watch your inventory to make sure you have enough bandages and medkits.
I've only just begun the game, but so far I'm still only so-so on the gaming. Its totally different than JO where you can rush in a blast everything in site - or go slow and careful if thats your style. This game NEEDS you to go slow, take your time and be v.careful - did I mention do a lot of READING?. Definitely the type of game when you have a lot of time to set aside. They claim that for you to complete all missions and to do everything the gameplay can be 80 hours or more - thats a lot compared to a 30-60 minute JO map. Oh, and like most games - the manual is horrible at giving you more than even the basic gameplay info - there are icons on the screen I still dont really know what they do.
Joined: Sat Dec 20 2003 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 2646
Oh - highly recommended note - if you get this game - GET THE PATCH from the website.
Not that it really makes a difference, but after you spend hours doing things, getting weapons and solving puzzles, you might find some buggy graphics occurring. So you figure, I'll go check for a patch. You find one, install it it, and BOOM - all those saved games are USELESS. For some stupid reason the patch won't let you run old saved places - very frustrating.