N
o review of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is com-
plete without a mention of the
game’s numerous delays and incred-
ibly long development period. Thankfully,
after a thorough inspection, we’ve found
that it holds its own quite well in the areas
that matter—gameplay and content.
Numerous bugs and stability issues plague
this ambitious shooter, but its thrilling action
and deep story are surprisingly fun—it’s
enough to win us over.
After Chernobyl suffers a second nuclear
meltdown, the government blocks off the
surrounding area, which is known as the
Zone. Scavengers and bandits search the
area for strange artifacts that emerge from
spatial anomalies, and bizarre animal and
human mutations roam the abandoned
landscape. As the Marked One, you (conve-
niently suffering from amnesia and trying to
uncover the mystery of your past) are one of
many mercenaries for hire.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. includes a number of
role-playing elements that mesh well with
its story. While the narrative is propelled by
a single string of core missions and assign-
ments, you can complete them at your own
pace. The game does an admirable job
of feigning open-endedness by offering a
ton of side missions. While assassination
assignments and retrieval requests made
up most of the tasks, many
times we had to help encamp-
ments defend against waves of
assaulting mutants or rescue
captured soldiers from fortified
housing complexes. The game
doesn’t become a full-fledged
role-playing experience, but it
was definitely meaty enough to
leave us satisfied.
It took us almost 15 hours to
reach S.T.A.L.K.E.R.’s explosive
climax. Formidable AI enemies
can’t be killed by running and
gunning—they constantly
search for cover and flank. The shooting
mechanics are geared toward realism, so
the combination of patience and steady aim
is the only way to get really effective head
shots. Firefights felt as though they lasted
forever, as we had to constantly reposition
ourselves to avoid flanks and slowly drain
down enemy forces one body at a time—the
combat here is easily some of the most
intense we’ve ever seen in a shooter.
What immersed us further was the
immaculate rendition of the postapocalyptic
Zone. Lush foliage swayed convincingly
against the backdrop of a purple sky, com-
plete with giant mutant flowers that adorned
the edges of polluted swamps. Dilapidated
warehouses and small towns reeked of eerie
despair and abandoned hope, while making
great locales for spooky encounters with
lurching mutants and firefights with rival fac-
tions. We were most dazzled by the weather
effects—convincing day and night cycles
were complemented by ear-splitting light-
ning storms and bone-chilling rain showers.
The environment gave us the creeps, and
we’re just talking about the surface levels.
When we dove underground into the secret
research laboratories and sewers in search
of hidden stashes and documents, we
entered a whole new world of fright.
Unfortunately, the game isn’t without its
faults. Numerous bugs plague the missions,
sometimes objectives won’t complete,and often the game will just crash to the
desktop. While occasionally annoying in
XP, the problems are even more severe in
Windows Vista, where the game inevitably
shuts down after several minutes of play. A
recent patch attempts to fix these problems,
but it destroys old save games and doesn’t
adequately resolve these issues.
Ultimately, you’re getting a deeply
involving single-player experience (the bland
multiplayer is a wash) that really separates
itself from the shooter pack. We’re thank-
ful that the game finally came out but even
more pleased that it exceeded our expecta-
tions. If you can bear the bugginess and dif-
ficulty, you should definitely try it out.
—NormaN ChaNS.T.A.L.K.E.R.:
Shadow of
Chernobyl
If the radiation and mutants don’t get you,
the bugs eventually will
Gas masks won’t save you from radiation poisoning—or a barrage of bullets.The Zone is split between two rival fac-
tions, and you’ll have to gain their favor to
get past their checkpoints.$40, http://www.stalker-game.com,
ESRB: Ms.t.a.l.k.e.r.: shadow of chernobylNu- Cle-ar
Single-player campaign
combines the best of action
and role-playing.Nu- Cu-lar8
Unforgivable bugs are annoying;
don’t bother if you’re running Vista.Soldiers work in teams to lay down a per-
sistent flow of fire.
june 2007 MAXIMUMPC 83