Stalker - Call of Pripyat [review]

[bad_brain]

wohoo....finally a new Stalker game...and wohoo again, it doesn't suck this time!
the game has been released 3 days ago here, for the US it's announced for the 1st quarter in 2010.

"Stalker- Shadow of Chernobyl" is still one of the greatest games ever imo, but the following "Stalker - Clear Sky" was catastrophic, many people (including me) were really disappointed because of the LOADS of bugs...even the game developers said it was released much too soon.

since today I am playing the brand new "Stalker - Call of Pripyat", I've played it for a couple of hours now and no bugs yet. the graphics are not spectacular and not really state of the art, but still nice. and well, that makes it also playable on older system, the min. requirements are very low:
* Intel Pentium 4 2.0 Ghz / AMD XP 2200+
* 512 MB RAM
* 128 MB DirectX® 8.0 compatible card / nVIDIA® GeForce™ 5700 / ATI Radeon® 9600


the gameplay itself is as usual, what I really like is the new character interface which is a mix of the first 2 games, you can upgrade and repair your equipment again for example but the job/map overview is like in the 1st game again. the weapons and equipment is mostly the same as in the earlier Stalker games, but there are new artefacts and the other characters also behave different...in the other Stalker games the characters were either good or bad, but now some act nice but rip you off (I found an artefact as part of a job, then a guy came and asked me if I can give it to him because his buddy is sick and he needs it to heal him. I gave it to him and followed him, that fucker sold it ).
the difficulty is a little harder than in the earlier games, simply because making money is a problem (well, it always was)...the shop owners only buy repaired stuff, and repairs are really expensive (in the earlier games you could sell anything, damaged items simply made less money).

from what I have seen yet I can really recommend it, people that liked SoC but hated Clear Sky will enjoy it...of course it's also a nice game for people that haven't played the earlier Stalker games but like FPS games with an extensive weapon/equipment management....but of course "Shadow of Chernobyl" is still the #1 in this sector.

[n3rd]

vids or screens?

[IceDane]

I played the original stalker game, and I was appalled by the fact that so many praised it. It is absofuckinglutely terrible. It is *shit*. Its graphics are terrible, and it's boring as fuck. Shooting the weapons is unsatisfying and so is about every other aspect of the game.

[bad_brain]

will post screens soon n3rd...

I feel sorry for you IceDane, because imo Stalker - SoC has the best atmosphere of all FPS I've ever played, the only competitors are maybe Doom3 and Quake4...but of course those games are a little different because they have a straight forward storyline and no RPG elements. of course it's a matter of taste, but saying the graphics sucked is simply wrong. at the time SoC came out the graphics were pretty up to date, of course you can't expect colorful Far Cry-like graphics when the game is set in a radioactive wasteland.
I am curious, have you finished it? and what is a good FPS in your opinion?
and about "shooting weapons", well, for me it was realistic, and I've fired a few in real life already (for example the GP37 that appears in the game too).

[Stavros]

IceDane, I too hated the game the first couple of times I played it, but once I got through Cordon and Garbage and the Agroprom the game really picked up. Right now I'm at Chernobyl and fighting off the army (I have no rocket launcher )

If you're wililng to try it agin there's a great mod called L.U.R.K. It's got a lot more weapon variety. More realistic shooting, etc. Might want to wait for 1.1 to come out. There's several glitches like sleeping 9 hours makes it stay dark so you have to sleep in sets of 3 hours.

[bad_brain]

oh, you mean next to the reactor where the helicopters show up, Stav? if you go a little back to the beginning of Pripyat there was a guy with a rocket launcher shooting at you, he's standing on a big oil/gas tank...

a very important thing is to have the key from the doctor's apartment with you when you enter the reactor....you have to jump down once you get in, and this is a point of no return, without the key you will not be able to REALLY finish the game because you can't open a door and your only option left is to visit the wishgranter then (which you should also do, after saving in the room with the door)....

wait until you are under the reactor and the russian begins to talk, it really messes with your mind...pretty my favorite spot down there besides the brain scorcher....

[bad_brain]

ok, here a few screenshots:


your friendly barkeeper:


the sky is really impressing, very atmospheric:


visiting the modification guy/inventory:

[IceDane]

No matter how you put it, these games have *nothing* on Fallout 3.

[bad_brain]

well, Fallout3 is definitely a really great game, and neither Clear Sky nor Call of Pripyat can compete with it, but Shadow of Chernobyl can.
SoC might be a little drab at the start until you can dare to cross the train bridge barricade, but the subway stations on Fallout3 are also pretty drab.

[Big-E]

Not going to lie, Battlefield: Bad Company 2 looks sick.

http://badcompany2.ea.com/#/videos/id/1

[Stavros]

Resurrecting a dead thread. Just beat Shadow of Chernobyl. Foolishly deleted my old save. I was at the point where I could have either gone to the wish granter or gone up ladder to the C-Conciousness.

Managed to snag SoC and CoP both for $10 on a Steam sale the weekend of Aug 21. I enjoyed it. Might install LURK since it's supposed to be pretty good. Will eventually work on Call of Pripyat if I can find time.

They recently announced S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 (more like S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 4) set for release sometime in 2012 http://www.joystiq.com/2010/08/13/stalk ... 12-launch/

[bad_brain]

I hope you refused to join the C-Conciousness project or best saved the game there to see both ends...

and enjoy Call of Pripyat, I am playing it too at the moment (for the 2nd time), trying to finish all side jobs and not just the main story...

I'm really looking forward to Stalker2 already, but no matter how good it will be, nothing can beat SoC imo. there is nothing more intense than the atmosphere at the brain scorcher or below the reactor core (with the russian voice in the background) for example...

[Stavros]

No, I didn't join the C-Conciousness project. I had already spoiled it for myself a while back, but that was after I had stopped playing. I've actually played a little bit Call of Pripyat. I'm actually downloading it here to my work computer. It's fun being a student worker. I think the thing that scared me the most out of Shadow of Chernobyl was the Controller. I know first time I encountered him under the Agroprom. I think I shat myself. Scared me again at the end of the Brainscorcher. Everything else was just target practice.

[bad_brain]

yeah, I remember pressing the keys randomly in panic when I met the controller the first time...

you will maybe see him again in Call of Pripyat, who knows....