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Game Review
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Stalker Shadow of Chernobyl Review - Hands On
Problems/Description/Review/Preview/Cheats/Guides /
10.534 views
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2007-03-19
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We managed to get the game before the official release and thought to share it with you. So here goes.
You are probably familiar by now with the story of the game from my preview so ill go right in the action. You start near a small village in a tradesman room. After a short chat you take a mission from him and go out in the world to survive, make money, scavenge for guns, food, clothing, artifacts and many more.
The game is obviously taking place in the Soviet Union(thanks for the update) so, you'll hear guys talking a bad English, but most of the time Ukrainian. Te world is stunning , it looks like an apocalyptic planet with burned cars, mutants searching for food(usually they will try to make you their food), stalkers protecting their small villages from bandits and military soldiers protecting certain areas from stalkers and bandits.
Combat Description
The AI really does what the developers claimed they would do and that was nice to see. I approached for the kill on a bandit that was hiding behind a long damaged stone wall, exchanged some bullets, both retreated and then i went fast to kill him but surprise! the bandit changed it's location behind a tree, finally a smart opponent. Actually your enemies will change locations very often during a firefight, they will cover among them while moving, move while firing so you'll have smaller chances to hit them, they will even surround you, to cut your escape.
What i loved the most is the way the game resembles very much reality, why? While trying to clear a military base full of soldiers, i killed 2 of them and went for the kill to the third one from behind but instantly i was dead, of course i asked myself what happened? Let me put it this way, if you shoot an enemy and he drops down, be sure his dead because in Stalker Shadow of Chernobyl people can fall down unconscious if hit by bullets or get wounded very badly but they could still be alive. So why did i die? From the 2 soldiers i thought i killed, one was unconscious and wounded, when i went for the third, a soldiers came behind me healed him and then they both attacked me behind my back.
This game has some AI like I've never seen before, they all stay grouped while searching for the enemy and you'll say, ok drop a grenade on them and blow them to pieces, i did that, they alerted themselves there is a grenade near, jumped each in different directions and immediately after the grenade exploded they regrouped, so how about that ?
I tried to sneak on a guy from behind with a knife but on the way i touched a bush, he heard the noise and turned back shooting like mad after me, so be careful what you touch and where you step. The teamwork is very good, if you run from them and they can't see you anymore they won't stop, they'll search the base for you, i tell you, this is a new type of enemy, smarter, faster, stronger.
Inventory, Conditions and Items
Ok, your backpack has the biggest carrying capacity, followed by the belt slots and some other 3 slots for a primary weapon, secondary weapon and cloth inventory.
You have to keep in mind that you are a in a radioactive area so their will be times when your radiation bar will grow. When that happens your life will drop constantly or immediately, depending on the radiation level. What you can do about that? Well you can drink some Vodka, a great radiations cure, it will help lower the level of radiations from your body.
Another condition is the hunger, yes you heard me, you can get hungry and as result you will get tired faster so eat! You can eat some bread, cans, salami and then drink some energy soda to have a complete meal.
The conditions and the amour can be improved by wearing some artifacts that have a small radioactive emition, at your belt. For example some of them decrease the radiation level from your body, others create a invisible shields around you, that lowers the chance of internal organs to rupture when shot.
Another condition is the fatigue, run to much and you'll get tired and even be unable to move until you catch your breath. The fatigue is directly influenced by the weight of your backpack, if it's over the limit you'll get tired very fast, you'll barely be able to run 30 meters.
O, i forgot to tell you, when you drink Vodka to reduce the radiation level, be careful that you are not in a fight because the more vodka you drink the drunker you get and you'll be a little umm..dizzy everything moving around you kind of sensation. I tried to aim at an enemy after 3 bottles of vodka and i shot everything but the enemy.
Ballistics
So, we have small pistols, 2 or 3 types of Kalashnikov, automatic guns, grenades, shotguns and many more. But be careful, aiming in this game is not that easy and the distance takes it's tribute. While at 10 to 20 meters there aren't so much problems in shooting an enemy, after 40 meters it can become very hard. Each gun shoots in a different way due to different ammunition and build. You can instantly see that an upgraded Kalashnikov will be more precise then and older version.
Guns can become ineffective after long periods of use. What happens then? well they jam and believe me you don't want your weapon to jam when you are at 10 meters from your enemy, because the only way to un-jam it, is to reload and of course you'll be dead before you can do that.
Bullets can go trough walls, bushes, windows, they can hit with less effectiveness in some body areas like the torso where body armor can be used and with high effectiveness in the head and legs. A shot in the head is instant death while a leg hit results in immobilization for a certain time.
Environment, Graphics and and Bugs
The effects from this game are mind recking. When a storm starts everyone is invited, realistic lightning forking on the sky, wind taking in the air leaves, grass moving independently and NOT in a repetitive pattern, waves of light that cover the earth, changing shadows, drops of rain that change their direction according to the wind, stunning sounds, you can actually believe you are in a storm. Graphics is good, detailed, realistic.
Of course, a game like this one couldn't be without bugs. Along the game you'll encounter some small, medium or major bugs that in a normal game would be very annoying but, from my opinion is all forgiven because it gives so much more.
A major bug for example I've encountered while fighting with a group of 8 soldiers. They were all closely packed looking at the top of the building from where i had been shooting before. I got on their left side and shot 1 of them in the head but the others did not respond at all, they were still looking up. I shot them 1 by one without a single response.
Conclusion?
I'm sure you are curios by now, i recommend this game for any FPS fan and any gamer that loves innovations. A very good game made by a small company but with great potential. Enjoy!
written by Madalin D
We give it a 9.3 (10 for innovations)
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