Full Product, PC - MPN: 752919491645
Strengths: Awesome graphics. Open-ended gameplay. Great job of creating a eerie setting.
Weakness: Very difficult gameplay. Not as exciting as some games. I had some stability issues.
This is a good game, but I found it hard to play. It has great graphics, and an interesting story line. The problem I had is that it is very hard to play. The enemies are quickly alerted to your presence. Then your weapons are fairly ineffective and hard to aim, but the enemy has no problem tearing you up. I had to set the game on the easiest difficulty level and save a lot just to make it through. This made it not as much fun to play as other games. Also I had random crashes every once in awhile.
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TopStrengths: Cool Armor, Guns, Exploration is rewarding, Graphics are amazing, Multiple Endings
Weakness: Some AI Issues, Bugs
You get to play in an alternate reality in Chernobyl with strange atmosphere of mutation and nuclear fallout. This is a unique game with great graphics, the plot is fantastic and the setting allows you to explore, all the time allowing you to find fun new armors and guns (one of the largest). It's a little bit of a First Person Shooter and a Role Playing Game that takes about 30 minutes to figure out. Even the soundtrack is very good. I really liked the game.
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jayger
- Jul 2, 2008
Strengths: Immersed environments, graphics, storyline.
Weakness: A bit buggy.
I've played dozens of FPS type games, and this has to be by far the most diverse one I've ever played. The storyline is great and very intelligent, the environments are rich and interesting and the graphics are excellent. In this game you become the stalker in the Chernobyl Zone. The bugs in the software were unbearable at first and the developer was slow to deliver updates. Past that, this game is an amazing achievement in this genre and I highly recommend you experience it if you're into first person shooter games. Highly recommended.
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TopStrengths: Not the typical FPS
Weakness: Not the typical FPS
Was pleasantly surprised by this game from a relatively unknown developer. Even without the brand name, this game has proved to be a great spin on the typical FPS genre. Clive Barker's Jericho should have been more like this game. The horror genre has been revived.
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TopStrengths: 1. Spooky and immersive atmosphere surrounds the player in a world that is far from normal. 2. Open ended gameplay allows for lots of exploration. 3. Weapons control and physics feel very realistic.
Weakness: 1. A decent gaming PC is needed for high or maximum settings with playable framerates. 2. Minor bugs and glitches hinder gameplay. 3. Can be difficult to progress early on, without some patience.
Before playing this game, I highly recommend updating Stalker with at minimum, the v1.0004 patch. This patch fixes a large number of in-game bugs and errors, increases game performance, and resolves many problems in the multiplayer game.
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When trying to compare Stalker to previously played PC games, the first one that comes to my mind is the original Deus Ex. While Stalker doesn't come close to the storyline or player customization available in Deus Ex, it's a fairly decent mix of first person shooter and role playing elements. Because of this, Stalker isn't your typical run-of-the-mill linear shooter, as the player is allowed lots of leeway in progressing through the game world.
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Speaking of the game world, Stalker is set in the post-apocalyptic area around the Chernobyl nuclear reactor disaster site. Referred to as "The Zone", this huge area is where you'll spend all your time, fighting, hiding, trading and exploring. The Zone is comprised of many different smaller zones you'll traverse through while completing the main storyline. Additional sub-quests are available to complete which will have you checking out every nook and cranny, rewarding you with cash, weapons, and ammo. These aren't necessary to do, but add to the experience and further the replay value.
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When I first started out, I was amazed at immersiveness of the game. The sights, sounds, and overall feeling of being alone and inconsequential, in a place so run down and desolate. The graphics are fantastic, and while they don't compare to visual-fests like Crysis or Call Of Duty 4, they certainly don't detract from the experience. Special effects like HDR lighting adds a great quality to the surroundings, with shadows cast at different angles depending on where the light source is emanating from. Ambient sounds are present throughout, even while you're alone. The whisper of the wind, gunfire from afar, ticking from your Geiger counter, and howls from some mutated animal, keep you on your toes, expecting the worst. While all this is happening, you really aren't alone. The Zone is populated with other stalkers just like you, who are also trying to survive. Add to that the weird animals, human and not-so-human NPC's, anomalies, and mutants; all of which are roaming around, interacting with each other, and possibly you, if you cross their path.
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Your player, known as "The Marked One", starts out with a handgun and a knife. These are really quite useless and ineffective. This makes the game somewhat difficult to start, as your aim is inaccurate and you are void of any decent armor. You have to play smart and be very patientonce you find an assault rifle. Of which there are many different ones which can be found and/or looted while making your way through the Zone. Each has minor characteristic differences, use many different types of ammo, and have different weights. Some of the assault rifles come with or can use attachments like scopes, grenade launchers and a silencer. Ammo for the different assault rifles can be found looting dead bodies of human NPC's you kill or encounter, bought from other friendly stalkers or from vendors in the Zone. Many of the assault rifles have different modes that allow for single-shots and semi-automatic operation, which helps increase accuracy. There are also sniper rifles, but they aren't available until the latter parts of the game, and ammo for them isn't easy to find. All weapons have different conditions, and can wear out during use. Better condition weapons sell for more, and don't jam as much when firing.
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Since you can only carry a certain amount of weight, your weapon inventory, ammo and suppy stocks are not infinite. This forces you to be picky about what rifle you choose to use and which ammo to stock up on for it, based on what area of the Zone you are working through. Carrying a lighter load allows you to sprint further as your endurance meter empties at a slower rate. This is important as you will be doing alot of traveling back and forth (and back and forth) through the diverse Zone area. Other items you can carry in your inventory are various foods, which you consume to stave off hunger; bandages and medkits which heal your injuries from enemies and radiation; and artifacts which can be sold for cash or equipped, enhancing your player in various ways with many also having negative effects.
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UPDATE - I had much more written for this review, but it seems I've run out of space! Argh! If there is any way I can put everything in please let me know, Pricegrabber. I'm a bit disappointed, but I will just leave my review as it is...unfinished.
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Reply by member: Tomoyochan
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Strengths: Scary enemy models. Some includes bouns DVD.
Weakness: High requirement for smooth gaming.
Stalker is another one of those FPS games that tries the scary story approach. The main story is Stalker, the player, is trying to uncover some unknown story about the Chernobyl meltdown. The weapons are fairly close to the real live weapons and there are some more advance weapons as with other FPS game. The gadgets, armors, and accessories are also mix of realistic and futuristic fantasy ones. The enemy character models in this game are quite scary and intimidating and the graphics looks very good. Some Stalker includes a bonus DVD, not all have it. The DVD shows some special making of the game and other behind the scene stuffs.
To run Stalker smoothly, higher end of hardware might be required, otherwise, the player might have to tone down the graphic effects a little to make the game run smoothly. It also seems to be a hard drive space hog, but that seems to be a trend these day.
Overall, Stalker is no different than the FPS games out there, except with slight original storyline. The graphics is good, but new/additional hardware might be required to make it run more smoothly, patches might be required as well.
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TopStrengths: Unique setting. Open ended. Lots to do.
Weakness: Not very revolutionary.
Stalker is a good geam that falls short of greatness. It has an original concept for a setting, which occurs in a virtual recreation of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. The radiation there has created all sorts opf nasties, but there's also treasures to be had, and as a mercenary you need to survive and find what you're looking for.
The gameplay is good, but typical. It has a nice open world to play in. There graphics are okay but aren't exceptional. All in all it's a good game but doesn't rise above the genre. But for $10-$20 bucks it's worth playing.
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TopStrengths: A superb mix of RPG and FPS, nice graphics, great open world
Weakness: Needs a monster computer rig to run well, inventory management is horrible
STALKER is a game that has been in development for quite some time. And apparently the time was well spent.
STALKER is a superb mix of FPS, RPG and open world genres and creates a game that you can really get into.
The graphics are good and the gameplay is action packed and getting new weapons for your character can be addicting.
The only problem is you need a really good computer to run this game well.
Also, the inventory management in this game is awful. You will be spending a lot of your time lugging your gear from one checkpoint to another.
But in the end, this is a game you will definitely want to check out.
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TopStrengths: great graphics, creepy noises, free roam-ish. lots of cool guns and different ammo types.
Weakness: after the game ends you can't roam around and beat side quests and stuff, it just ends and you have to start a new game or reload to an earlier time.
make sure you get the 1.3 patch or whatever, i got it before i even started to play and i never had it crash or anything like that. but just an awesome game, you will play it until you beat the last mission and thats a lot of game play.
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TopStrengths: Good FPS.
Weakness: Sometimes difficult. Dated graphics.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is a good first-person shooter. It is very explorable like Oblivion. Go anywhere you want! This game took a long time for the developer's to make. That is why the graphics look a few years old. Not a bad game, but you can do better.
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Testseek.com has collected 43 expert reviews for S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl and the average expert rating is 79 of 100. The average score reflects the expert community’s view on this product. Click below and use Testseek.com to see all ratings, product awards and conclusions.
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S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl receives an overall TopTenREVIEWS rating of 3.34 out of 4.00. It is ranked the #1,075 game of all time and #279 PC game of all time. The rating and ranking is based on an average of 24 critic scores, awards and other criteria. To see a breakdown of the game ranking, read individual critic reviews, or see how other games ranked, click on the link below.
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excellent first-person shooter
Strengths: excellent game play; awesome graphics; realism; open-air levels
Weakness: game instability; characters' faces look a bit outdated; characters' voices sometimes disappear
this is a great first-person shooter. i would say it can be associated with a mixture of HL2 and Fear. if you like very realistic games with open-air plans, like BF2 or FC or some levels in HL2, you will like this game. the game can get pretty scary, sometimes worse than Fear. you will see very realistic Soviet surroundings and monsters like in HL2 or Doom. the characters you interact with can become speechless, but you still see their lines on the screen. if you like wandering around in the scariest place on earth (and in the virtual reality), you have many side quests to complete. to get it over with, follow the main line. install the patch (v. 1.3 is available at the time of writing this) to minimize the number of crushes. save it often. personally i love an open-air plans (like in FC or BF2) and dislike the dark corridors of Doom-like games and the narrow streets of CoD series. i love realism. i love challenge. STALKER has it all.
overall, this is an excellent first-shooter game with lots of realism and lots of smart and scary monsters. good luck--you'll need it.
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