get a powerfulEliminatorshotgun,a
first-aid kit,andothersurvivalgear.
Other factionsincludebandits,
mercs, governmentsoldiers,and
Monolithcultists.It’sa greatsystem,
because itgivesCallofChernobyla lot
of added role-playingpotential.If
you’ve everwantedtoexperiencethe
Zone as oneoftheSTALKERseries’
many factions,thisis yourchance.
And it’s morethanjusta superficial
choice: yourchoiceoffactiondictates
how friendly,ornot,otherswillbe.
Play asa bandit,forexample,and
the Ukrainiangovernmentwon’ttake
too kindlytoyourpresence.Some
factions youencounterwillbe
friendly, somewillbeneutral,and
some willsimplyshootyouonsight.
It makes thewastelandfeel
wonderfullydynamicandalive.And,
naturally,youcanalterthese
relationships.Ifonefactionis friendly
and you starttakingouttheirsoldiers,
that alliancewillshatter.
HELPINGHAND
One of myfavouritefeaturesinCall
of Chernobylis beingabletoapproach
fellow factionmembersandgetthem
to join you.Someofthemwon’tbe
interested,butthosethatarecanbe
issued a seriesofsurprisingly
complex commands.Bydefault
they’ll justfollowyouaround,
shooting atanythingyouaggro.But
you can givethemmorecomplex
orders includingpatrollingor
defendinganareaofyourchoosingor
looting fallenenemiesforsupplies.I
found myselfgrowingquiteattached
to these companions,especiallyafter
they savedmyskinina firefight.You
can chat tothemtooandthey’lldish
out little nuggetsofadviceaboutthe
Zone andhowtosurviveinit.
Other NPCswillgiveyousimple,
seeminglyrandomlygenerated
objectives,suchasbringingthema
certain typeoffoodorammunition.
This givesa littlebitofstructureto
Call of Chernobyl, butif it’sa pathto
follow youwant,thereis a storytoo.I
didn’t makeit veryfarthroughthat
but it is impressivethat,aswellasthe
sandbox, there’sa morestructured
game in heretoo.NowI understand
why it wasvotedModDB’sModof
the Year in2016.
It’s a curiousfeeling,choosinga
role and steppingoutintotheZone
with no particulargoalinmind.At
first I foundit quitedauntingand
aimless, notsurehowtoproceed.But
like all goodsandboxes,toenjoyCall
of Chernobylyouhavetomakeyour
own objectives.Someplayersmight
want to scavengeandtoolthemselves
up with thebestgear.Somemight
want to clearoutcampsand
settlements.Me?I justwantedto
explore.There’ssomething
fascinatingabouttheovercast,
understatedbleaknessoftheZone,
andthechancetoexploreallitskey
locationswithoutswitchinggames
washardtoresist.
ButI quicklydiscoveredthat
explorationis easiersaidthandone
intheZone.CallofChernobylis
extremelyhardcore– evenmoreso
thanthevanillagame.Ifyouwade
intoa firefightlikeDukeNukem,
you’reprobablygonnadie.Ifyouget
surroundedbymutants,yep,you’re
dead.Youhavetomovecarefully
throughtheZone,constantlyaware
ofyoursurroundings,andthatmakes
themodalmostperpetuallygruelling- evenonrookiedifficulty.Buthey,
that’swhattheZoneis supposedto
belike.Itfitsthefictionandforces
youtodevelopa respectforyour
surroundings.Whetherit’sbandits,
radiation,anomalies,ormutants,the
Zonewantstokillyou,andkeeping
thatfirmlyinmindasyouwanderis
keytoyoursurvival.
I didgetsomeenjoymentoutof
exploring,though.There’ssome
stunninglyatmosphericworld-
buildingintheSTALKERgames,
particularlytheghostly,ruinedcityof
Pripyat.Thisplaceis eerieenoughin
reallife(well,atleastbasedonallthe
ChernobyldocumentariesI’ve
watched),butinthegameit’seven
morehaunting– anddangerous
thankstotherovingmutantsand
aggressivebanditgangs.Thisis a
greatworldtogoforanaimlesswalk
in, but I did find myself wishing for a
little more quiet time to myself.
The time of day also affects how
dangerous the Zone is. At night,
predators such as Chimeras and
Snorks will roam the wasteland.
Faction bases will also randomly be
attacked by waves of mutants, and
you can get involved, helping your
fellow stalkers hold the line – or just
stand back and loot the bodies of
anyone the mutants manage to kill.
As you explore you’ll often see battles
between creatures and stalkers break
out, and between rival factions,
which is an example of the game’s
emergent AI. Everything you love
about STALKER is in Call of
Chernobyl, but now it’s all in one
place, and you can enjoy it without
the pressure of pursuing an objective.Youalsohavefinecontroloverthe
weather and environment. You can
adjust sliders for individual maps, or
choose from presets that affect them
all: including my favourite, ‘mostly
bad’, if you want frequent rain and
lightning storms. This is the option I
chose, because the weather effects in
STALKER are so atmospheric.STORM WARNING
Random psi-emissions are another
interesting hazard. When these
sweep in they turn any stalkers
unfortunate enough to be in their
way into zombies. I learned this the
hard way when I was hanging out in
a camp, only for the psi-storm to roll
in and turn the people around me
into shambling ghouls.
Call of Chernobyl is about as good
as mods get, really. It takes everything
that’s great about the base game and
presents it in a new and exciting way.
Being able to role-play in the Zone,
choosing your faction and deciding
how you’ll spend your time there,
breathes new life into the game. And
it should tide us over until STALKER
2 , which is supposedly due for release
in 2021. Call of Chernobyl hasn’t been
updated since 2017, but a stable,
polished, and pretty much feature
complete beta version is available on
Mod DB. Hopefully we’ll see more
updates in the future, but for now
this is one of my favourite ways to
experience the Zone and all the
unpleasantness in it.MAJORMODS,ANALYSED
MOD SPOTLIGHT
JUST STAND
BACK AND LOOT
THE BODIES OF
ANYONE THE MUTANTS
MANAGE TO KILLGROUP CHAT Some of the factions to join
MERCENARIES
Starting gear:
HPSS-1m pistol,
anti-radiation kit,
F1 grenade
Their reason for
being in The Zone
is a mystery.ECOLOGISTS
Starting gear:
Eliminator
shotgun, first aid
kit, knife
A well-equipped
faction funded by
the government.LONERS
Starting gear:
SG-I5k assault rifle,
butterfly mine,
binoculars
Free agents
commonly known
as stalkers.CLEAR SKY
Starting gear:
Tunder S14 assault
rifle, vodka, bread
An independent
scientific and
military
organisation.MONOLITH
Starting gear:
Walker P9m
pistol, flashlight,
leather jacket
A fanatical
religious cult
hostile to everyone.GOVERNMENT
Starting gear:
Fora-12 pistol,
anti-radiation kit,
binoculars
Ukrainian soldiers
protecting the
Zone’s perimeter.