STALKER: Call of Pripyat is, at its core, a rather clunky affair. The inventory screen is ancient in design. The map completely sucks and is hard to use. Most of the often vague information from the largely unmemorable NPCs is imparted in blocks of text, and what isn’t is presented through incredibly poor voicework. The models and animation look terribly dated compared to most other games in the past few years. The cut-scenes are shoddy bits of dull exposition.
It’s a harsh, punishing experience as well. A well-placed shot from a single enemy with a decent gun will drop you stone dead. A mutant charging suddenly out of the undergrowth will spill your innards faster than you can draw your weapon. Invisible anomalies will roast you, shock you, even turn you inside out if you get too close. Good weapons are hard to come by, and once found they will quickly degrade from use, making them less accurate and subject to jamming. Wounds, if untreated, will cause you to bleed out and die quickly. Radiation, if untreated, will cause you to die quickly. Most things in the game will cause you to die quickly, and most of the game is spent thinking, “Oh shit, I’m going to die. Quickly.”
Gosh, I love it. I really, really love it.
If you’ve played any of the prior two STALKER games, Shadow of Chernobyl or Clear Sky, none of the above should sound surprising. You know how rough around the edges these games are, how glitchy and buggy and crude they can be. How brutal and unforgiving the combat is. And at the same time, how engrossing, engaging, and terrifying they really are.
This time around, we’re sent into the Zone as a Ukrainian soldier, Major Alexander Degtyarev, disguised as a common Stalker and tasked with investigating the crashes of a number of military helicopters. I liked having some immediate, solid tasks before me: while I enjoyed that Shadow of Chernobyl didn’t really shove you in a definitive direction, my wanderings could feel a little aimless from time to time. On the other hand, with orders to check out the mystery of the downed choppers, I wondered why I would ever bother with side-quests. I’m on an important military mission: would I really want to take the time to help other Stalkers hunt mutants or find artifacts?
Why is a Stalker with a guitar one of my favorite things in any game, ever? I can't answer that. But it is. Play it again, George Beancounter!
Luckily, the need for better gear, more information, and access to other game areas quickly leads to picking up side missions and generally exploring the Zone to earn some dough. Technicians, located in safe Stalker hubs, can repair your weapons and armor, but it’s not cheap, meaning you’ll need to venture out to hunt for valuable artifacts to sell. The techs can also upgrade your kit, but they’ll need special tools for the better enhancements, which means you’ll have to act on rumors as to where these tools might be and hunt around for them. Scientists studying the Zone can give you helpful information on where to look for the most valuable artifacts, but first you’ll have to help them with their experiments. It’s not long before the mystery of the choppers has become second fiddle to your other ramblings and roamings in pursuit of more money and better equipment.
I hate these things because they're fast and turn invisible and growl and slash you and suck blood out of the back of your head I hate them I HATE THEM
Running into friendly or neutral Stalkers in the wild now has more benefits than just trading diet sausages and weapons: many of them, for a price, will escort you to various locations in the area. This acts as sort of an expensive fast-travel, but when its getting late, or you’re in rough shape and can’t afford the risk of traveling alone, or you just don’t feel like making the trek, it’s well-worth it, and a great solution to the too-heavy-to-sprint blues we’ve all encountered out there. You will also encounter Stalkers who are on their way somewhere with a specific task, such to hunt zombies or search for artifacts, and you can go along with them.
Other Stalkers don't just hang around waiting for you to talk to them: some go hunting or exploring. Others, like this fellow, search for artifacts. It all gives you the feeling, very rare and important in open-world games, that things are constantly happening even if you're not around.
You can also sleep in the safe hubs, letting you avoid the night cycle and explore during the day (or vice-versa, if you feel like tromping around at night and getting the shit scared out of you before being horribly slain). You can select the number of hours you’d like to sleep if you just want to fast-forward to a particular time — sometimes a quest-bearer will tell you to report back to him in a few hours for an update, and this definitely beats hanging around twiddling your thumbs. If you’re looting for artifacts but not finding many, you can sleep until an Emission passes through and repopulates them.
Call of Pripyat has significantly fewer bugs and glitches than Shadow of Chernobyl initially did, but there are still some things that don’t quite work, mainly having to do with AI. Enemies sometimes don’t react when taking fire, especially from a distance. Brainfarts by friendly Stalkers while they’re under fire are common. Once or twice my mission marker refused to point to the mission I had selected, and at least one side mission never seemed to work at all. Dropped weapons sometimes cannot be picked up again, the occasional Stalker will simply sink into the ground or float through a bed with his head on backwards… a lot of little issues, but nothing that seriously breaks the game, thankfully.
AI misfire: these mutant rodents are so set on ambushing me they don't even react when I come in the wrong door, even when I start shooting. Silly mutant rodents! What, did you mutate from a bag of hammers?
The main mission storyline will take you through all three Zones, which are extremely large compared to the multiple smaller areas of Shadow of Chernobyl. Moving between areas eventually becomes a snap due to NPC guides you can pay to escort you in a fast-travel fashion, though establishing the routes the first time through will not be easy. The conclusion of the main story itself isn’t terribly satisfying, but once you’ve completed it you can choose to remain in the Zone to continue side-missions and hunting artifacts.
I think you can probably take off the gas mask now. And maybe ask for a refund.
Ultimately, the most important thing I can tell you about Call of Pripyat is that the mood, the atmosphere, and the tension that filled every corner of Shadow of Chernobyl is completely intact. The pervading sense of dread still accompanies each and every excursion out into the radioactive wasteland. Every blip from your HUD, indicating another Stalker is nearby, will cause you to immediately stop what you’re doing and get our your binoculars. Every distant bark of a mutated dog and every low, way-too-fucking-close-for-comfort growl of some unseen creature in the trees will having you spinning around in a panic and frantically readying your weapon. Every trip down some stairs into a darkened, decaying building will set your nerves jangling and your heart pounding.
And every safe return will fill you with immense relief from having survived another trip into the deadly, unforgiving Zone, and leave you anxious, somehow, to get back out there yet again.
58 Comments
February 24, 2010
This is the first stalker game that I really played (I failed to get into Shadow of Chernobyl), and I utterly loved it. Despite the clumsiness and bugs, something about the harshness and atmosphere just gripped me. I tried to capture the atmosphere I felt by describing an encounter I had fairly early on—click my name for the link.
The only serious bug I encountered was a side mission—One Shot, apparently—that didn’t work. I thought the ending made great gameplay, but it was extremely disappointing in terms of story.
February 24, 2010
Nice, another post. That makes, what, at least two in one month. Keep it up, you’re on a roll!
February 24, 2010
Get out of here stalker.
February 24, 2010
I was wondering what had been keeping you playing stalker. Good Review. I would have thought the bugs turned off most people.
February 24, 2010
GET OUT OF HERE STALKER.
February 24, 2010
I said come in, don’t stand there.
February 24, 2010
I said come in, don’t stand there.
February 24, 2010
Yeah, seriously. Despite some lack of polish issues this is still the most atmospheric game ever made. I’m sort of speaking of all three Stalker games, here. Even Valve, as good as they are, have never created a game that captures this kind of authenticity of experiencing a world. Half-Life 2, as spectacular as it is, just can’t do it.
I think a big part of it is, like you said, the fact that it feels like the NPC’s in Stalker would be going on about their day even if you weren’t around. Especially in Call of Pripyat, because now they’ll not only engage in combat with each other, but they’ll also loot each other’s bodies, just like you will. With HL2, everything is scripted, so no matter how great it is, it’s all gonna happen exactly the same way the next time you play it too.
Yeah, I’m a big fan. There’s just something very special about these Stalker games.
February 24, 2010
It’s such a fresh, new take on the FPS. I don’t see how a game like this coulda been made in any of the big American studios, honestly.
“Let’s make it punishingly hard, painfully unforgiving, and set it Russia.”
Yeah, no.
February 24, 2010
My information might well be of use to you, stalker.
February 25, 2010
This is the first stalker game that I played properly (I didn’t get far into the first one), and I was thoroughly gripped by it. Sure, it had bugs, and the storyline was disappointing, but the game has such an amazing atmosphere and sense of place. I tried to capture that by writing about an something that happened to me fairly early in the game: you can read it here.
February 25, 2010
I was playing Call of Pripyat yesterday evening. My task was to hunt down a Chimera that some stalker had a grudge against, so I first set out to the target location during the day. The mutant only hunted during the night, so I had some time to explore the area before returning to a safe area to sleep.
That night I approached the area with caution, and I quickly noticed a fairly large shadow moving about the area. My first target was to climb up a ladder nearby so I would be out of reach and able to snipe the damn thing. Well, once I started sprinting shit hit the fan, I was hammered the F1 button (medkits) about 3 times before I reached the ladder.
Once on top, the bloody creature had suddenly disappeared. I sometimes spotted it in the distance, but an assault rifle with a scope only has so much accuracy. I ended up swallowing my fear and moving down the ladder with my shotgun equipped. Didn’t took long for the Chimera to find me (luckily, the visibility meter even responds when you didn’t notice your foe yet), and I ended up side stepping his every leap, pumping out hot lead with the shotgun till it dropped (with the occasional F1 hammering).
This game is a game of personal stories. I like it very much :)
February 25, 2010
If I was going to start playing stalker games which one should I start with?
February 25, 2010
Hmm, this game sounds like something I could enjoy playing. I mean, I don’t mind bugs, several years ago I could enjoy Lego Rock Raiders, which is one of the most bug-riddled games of all time (though if I see one more Rock Raider take a shortcut through a river of lava I’m gonna throw my keyboard out of my window).
February 25, 2010
Sam … Start with No.1, Shadow of Chernobyl. Make sure you grab the Stalker Complete 2009 community patch / hack / upgrade and play it with that. SoC will set the scene, scare you to bits, and change your gaming life forever. Then, really try to play Clear Sky, hack it with texture upgrades etc and the “no faction re-spawn” fix, as it does become really good after you get out of the swamps. THEN play the CoP. You’ll truly be a S.T.A.L.K.E.R by then!!
February 25, 2010
hello? hello!
February 25, 2010
Sam, agree with Badman — I’d start with Shadow of Chernobyl and make sure you mod it. It’s a great game and the player-made patches fix a lot of the bugs and issues.
February 25, 2010
@Sam: play Shadow of Chernobyl first, but WITHOUT mods. Save very often and play carefully and bugs shouldn’t really bother you much. When you finish it, go crazy with the mods. I suggest either STALKER Complete 2009 for graphics or Oblivion Lost 2.2 for gameplay (this mod is awesome). The reason for this is that you’ll be able to appreciate the mods a lot more if you know exactly what they change. After that, play Clear Sky and Call of Pripyat. You can skip Clear Sky, it’s not as good as the others.
@Niteowl: STALKER is set in Ukraine.
February 25, 2010
Yeah, definitely start with SoC. But ignore the mods. Or at least LURK and OL, both of which ruin the game.
Clear Sky… it’s interesting, and has guides and weapon maintenance/upgrades, though it is, naturally, buggy as hell. I stopped playing when, in a faction warfare mission, I took a point in Agropom and no Freedom squad moved up from the garbage to reinforce the position. Ever. After sitting scanning the horizon with a dragunov/watching troop movements on the PDA for half an hour I just stopped. >:|
Fun story though: I once got a defense mission from a bandit controlled point. Who were they under attack from? Me. :D
February 25, 2010
@ Sam, compared to some of the shit we have to put up with in terms of mainstream games deleting saves and profiles youve worked on for hours, I’m looking at you Sims3 and COD4, you pricks. A few graphical and AI glitches are nothing, they happen rarely enough that their funny rather than annoying anyway.
February 25, 2010
@Chris’ Twitter
Funny you should ask, I only know A WHOLE FREAKING LOT OF THEM. Why seeks you such a thing? It is nought but a common mechanism.
To name one recent good FPS game that features such charging maneuvers, Pirates Vikings and Knights have charge attacks. Yes, more than just one! It has, in fact, currently, TWO charge attacks! Three if you count Skirmisher’s specail, which isn’t a classic charge becaues it includes a jump. And the Man of War probobly gets one once it gets added to the game, I guess. And other classes probably will. Which makes it a better game, with more charging!
Play this game, people. It’s fantastic.
February 25, 2010
What I love about STALKER is that you don’t feel that much different from the random NPCs. They do everything you do - explore, scavenge, shoot things, and die in many horrible ways. Unlike in most games, where NPCs are little more than talking statues, or soulless robots (use whichever one you like), STALKER NPCs actually feel alive.
Plus, they can play a mean guitar.
February 26, 2010
Alrighty then, I’ll buy those at somepoint in the summer.
February 26, 2010
Mass Effect 2’s Vanguard class has this sweet Biotic Charge ability…
February 26, 2010
Now that this review is finished, OBLIVION!?
February 27, 2010
@Nonomu198
I think you mean Men-at-arms. The Man O’ War is the name for a warship. And also a species of jellyfish.
February 27, 2010
Um, has anybody else noticed that on steam, there are a load of half-life 2 acheivements, in the new beta. the links broken, but you can see the icons. and there are acheivement icon textures in the source sdk.
February 27, 2010
@1337oranges
Yah. You’re right, I was wrong. Excpet you got it wrong as well seeing it’s “Man-at-Arms” and not “Men-at-arms”. Let us conclude that this is a troublesome name.
@TheLaggingSniper
Yes, but everyone finished HL2 at least once here I’m sure (I have 3 times, not including the bajillion times in Synergy), so nobody cares. Really, it’s just achievements.
February 27, 2010
It’d be cool to have a STALKER site just for sharing stories from the Zone. Call it “The Bar”, or something. Since there isnt’ one, and you guys are sweet, here’s one from SoC (I haven’t nabbed CoP yet):
I’m exiting the Bar area to the North towards the Warehouses. Broad daylight, Bar area, nothing scary at all, as usual. Pass the Duty guards, head up the road. Hum de dum de doo, almost to the load point… Oh! Three very large Pseudodogs have abruptly appeared in front of me! THERE ARE NEVER PSUEDODOGS BY THE BAR!!! Like a deer in headlights, I stare drooling at them as they slowly arrange themselves for maximum clotheslining. I wake up and lob a grenade at them, overshooting them a bit because they are all three now leaping at my face. I backpedal like crazy and handbrake around to sprint back to the guards, my heels shredded the entire way there. The guards open up on the dogs before I’m through the roadblock but aren’t able to take any down, and instantly the whole cramped alley is a frenzied mess of spastic gunfire and leaping demoniac grey things slaying while the guards and I try really hard to not kill ourselves with friendly fire. I’m still firing wildly after the last dog falls, just to make sure, and when it’s all over two of the guards are goners, too. The alley is doused in red; the Dutyer instantly resumes his pacing watch, and I’ve survived not only the dogs but a real-life heart attack. Not only did I survive, but the dead guards present me with a couple of free Tunders for the effort! The fight was so unexpected, and the AI so responsive to the situation, I really felt like I was part of a real-world experience; just fightin’ it out for survival with a few fellow humans against the mutant hordes you’re never quiet far enough away from.
Those, and other moments like them, have made me a permanent Stalker. I’m pumped for CoP. Oh, and thanks for the chance to reminisce, Chris!
February 27, 2010
By the way, I fully realize there are plenty of Psuedodogs South of the Bar. But at the Warehouse load? Quite surprising.
March 1, 2010
Chris, new Portal update.
Wait… what? An update… for Portal? Adding a cryptic new achievement, no less? And the radios now can give off morse code? What in the world?
March 1, 2010
I can’t imagine Valve releasing an Episode-2 looking game at this point in time. Valve doesn’t release stuff that isn’t top quality, and tacking on an Episode 3 just wouldn’t cut the mustard these days. Besides, it would have been done by now. Half Life 3 is a very serious possibility.
Well, let’s hope it’s good. What really won me over in Half Life 2 was the goddamn impossible-not-to-like characters. Mass Effect 2 is really giving it one hell of a run for its money.
March 2, 2010
Valve is totally releaseing an Episode 2 looking episode 3. They are so darn lazy. I bet they will try to cover it up by realising Portal 2 at the same time or something.
March 2, 2010
Are you sure you actually deleted your ME1 save?
You might not have the folder you have the save in specified.
March 3, 2010
Thinking of 1fort while seeing this disgusting theme (just like in ol’ 1fort), I surfed over there to check out the funny old posts. And found out it’s dead. Why, Chris, WHY?!
March 3, 2010
Don’t worry, I have all the content from 1fort downloaded, I just need to import it into here (somehow).
March 3, 2010
Hey Chris, it’s the 10 anniversary of NotMyDesk. Are we going to see a new Henchman, or maybe a VotF?
March 3, 2010
jzimbet - No, but I have been working on something NMD related for the past few days, actually. I should have a post about it sometime soon.
March 3, 2010
Also, this comment set-up is really weird and hard to follow.
March 3, 2010
Actually Chris, i kinda like this comment style - makes it seem more like a message board.
As for the actual post, i’ve never played any of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games, mainly due to a laptop that isn’t designed for gaming. They do look pretty entertaining though.
March 3, 2010
This layout reminds me of NotMyDesk!
March 3, 2010
Gah, what’s going on with the website!? I’m so confused!
March 3, 2010
…NO MORE 1FORT?!
http://www.nooooooooooooooo.com/
March 3, 2010
NEW LAYOUT
NOT WANT
AGH MY EYES
March 3, 2010
You may want to update the About page if you are keeping this theme.
March 3, 2010
Yeah, the comments are impossible to read right now. The set-up sucks. I know, you already said that. I just wanted something on-topic and then finish with this: I don’t know if you’ve noticed(you probably did), but Valve updated Portal with “Added valuable asset retrieval”, which is… a new(or extended, if you will) ending o_O! Also, word on the street is that Gabe will make some kind of announcement on March 11th. Why then? People are sayin’ that’s because GlaDOS runs on Windows 3.11 and Game Developers Conference starts on March 9th and ends on 13th. So 11th falls right in the middle nice and clean.
Wow, this comment was not supposed to be this long… That’s all then.
March 4, 2010
Woooooooooooah new layout! Weird the the max! Especially the comments, it’s kinda hard to follow what’s happening.
Also, why is 1Fort dead? I’m so sad.
March 4, 2010
I’m working on fixing the comments. All the 1fort content & comments have been incorporated into the archives of this site.
March 4, 2010
did you hear about the whole Portal 2 Puzzle? look it up at steamforums, and watch the new ending of portal on youtube! :D
March 4, 2010
i like it!
yet, it’s tpp scary.. yeah.
also what new is in this game, in comparison with the others games..?
or with othr title of s.t.a.l.k.e.r?
also, what happened with tha site? it’s TOO white, and huge
March 5, 2010
Chris, it appears half of the 1fort content isn’t around. What is going on? :(
March 5, 2010
this website is different to how i remember it and this scares me D:
March 6, 2010
Portal 2 is announced!
klick at my name to go to the steamsite
March 6, 2010
Just Cause 2 demo now on steam and Xbox Live! Rejoice!
March 7, 2010
Yo, Chrissie.
You can buy a Normandy medbay upgrade which heals your scars permanently.
Somehow Shepard never tells this to Garrus.
March 8, 2010
The website suck now i cant view it on my psp :(
March 9, 2010
Chris, half the 1fort content is still missing! :(
March 10, 2010
The site reminds me of a Mac computer, mixed with a yuppie coffee house/ winery.
Oh well, I guess the number of templates are severely lacking.
Did they stop supporting the 1fort layout?
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