S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl

Played with Autumn Aurora 2 but you can still feel the brilliance of the base game shine underneath, Great atmosphere, difficult and can't wait to quicksave quickload in future games

Иди ко мне, Иди ко мне my ass
I'am just trying to find the wishgranter, while fighting the monolith with a half broken gun and armor

now seriously, this game is beautiful. The gameplay and everything is just pure stalker game, which is perfect

Before I begin, don't get me wrong- this game's atmosphere and world is absolutely amazing and I love it to pieces. I get why it has such a thriving, active community. Props to the developers for making such a desolate and beautiful world so long ago!

...The gunplay though, accuracy specifically, makes me want to punch something. I don't think that it's fun at all and completely devastates the experience for me personally. It feels like the worst parts of Payday 2 in terms of bullets going wherever they feel randomly. It's not fun- it's stress inducing.

Shots that I've dead-eyed on a scope shouldn't whizz by an enemy like it's a comedy bit where they draw the outline of the enemy- but that's just how it feels half the time. I can excuse it a tad since it's very RPG-like from what i hear? but eh,, I guess it's a bit of a hit and miss for some people :(

Will give the other games a go though and hope that they aren't as agonising in that department.. :)

Frustrating early game, even more frustrating end game. But pretty enjoyable overall. Most notably, it has amazing atmosphere and a pretty fascinating world and lore to explore. This is my first stalker game and i plan on playing the rest 7/10

Stability

Like any STALKER game, it tends to be unstable (although some people never have problems, lucky them).
Of course, on my end it crashed after about 2 hours, so I decided to installed ZRP, a well known vanilla like mod that fixes most crashes/bugs, and it works really well, now I only crash every 6-8 hours, and I could even finish the game while doing most of the side quests, yay!
ZRP allows you to create a new save with ESCAPE + S, just for that you should install it because you'll probably have to load an older save from time to time. If you keep crashing, your best bet is to load a save before entering your current area, otherwise, 0 game breaking bug on my end


Story

The story is great, if you don't spoil yourself it's honestly pretty good

Atmosphere

The atmosphere is excellent (although nostalgia may be a factor). It's "light horror", there are places that have many explicit materials (like dismembered corpses and such), some jumpscares (if you're not careful), which contrasts with a cozy fire where a stalker is playing guitar. As you progress through the story and go further toward the center, the areas will feel less safe, have better geared enemies, nasty mutants, less safe zones etc.
But the areas that you already visited will also change depending on your progress in the story, what you did in this area, if a group of stalkers traveled here or not, so you may be surprised from time to time even in those area.
Well, TLDR, it's a strong point of the game.


Gunplay

The gunplay is awful, they made this weird decision of bullets doing whatever the f they want when you shoot. You pinpoint your enemy's head, pray, and after about 10 shot 1 will probably hit his head, it's that bad. And you also have to account for bullet drop if you shoot from far enough.
So you either have to be somewhat close to your enemy, or always go for the highest accuracy weapon you can get so you can reliably headshot (but still stay somewhat close to your enemy to ease your pain)
Example: the Vintar BC, which I used for most of the mid to end game with Master difficulty, is pretty f*cking good, because it's so accurate that it tends to shoot where you're aiming, which just feels magical in this game. Like, you aim for the head at mid range, shoot, the guy is dead with the first shot, and you just wonder "wow, wtf happened, am I still playing SOC??"
Oh, and bodyshot don't do much, maybe 10% damages? It's awful. You really have to go for the head, even for mutants.

Balance

But wait, if the gunplay is awful, then the balance can't be good no? No, not at all. On Master difficulty, the balance is fine. The early game might be a bit rough (a shotgun with slugs is decent!), but past that, if you remember to crouch at your lowest (with the 2 keys), aim for the head, use a somewhat high caliber, a scope, and be at a reasonable distance, it's not so bad.
And if your aim is bad, nothing is stopping you to always bring hundreds of ammo for each trip, they are not that heavy. A shotgun with buckshot for mutants works wonders. A scoped rifle/sniper for NPCs, and you're set.
Making tons of money is really easy (mainly grab all artifacts you can and stockpile them for quests, selling those that are not used for quests), so you can always have top notch gear, at least as good as your enemies.
Some artifacts are very powerful (eg: 2 moonlights and 2 crystals give you unlimited sprint and nullify radiations for most of the game), it just takes some thought to combine them.
Some mutants are kind of "tough" (bullet sponges), but they won't 1 hit you, and they die reasonably fast especially if you aim for the head (did I tell you to always aim for the head?), so they feel fair to fight. Also, once you realize almost all mutants don't have range attack, and a shotgun with buckshot will shred any of them... (you get the idea).
There's a great stealth system too. I won't make this review too long, but crouching and taking potshots with a silenced weapon in the dark with nightvision works as it should, meaning enemies will have trouble seeing you/hitting you, so playing safe and being silent is rewarding.
TLDR: early game is the worst, don't let it discourage you


Conclusion

I recommend this game for the superb atmosphere, great story, good balance, fun game loop, despite the strange but manageable gunplay

i cry when i play this but like in a good way also it makes me feel like there is nothing left for me and i like the pain cause i..... yea sin faction is pretty cool

Coming from an OG jewel case owner of STALKER, I can most definitely say with the utmost confidence that this game pioneered that idea of a wasteland in an open 3D world with high fidelity graphics. Most could say Fallout 3 did that but it wasn't out until 2008 and STALKER came out originally in 2007. I had gotten an 8800GT because of STALKER and in turn had one of the BEST gaming experiences I had ever had as a young adult. Regardless of the age of this game, it is worth owning and playing. I recently played it again because of STALKER 2 and found myself playing it again. I am going to be coming back to this after I complete STALKER 2.

As a gamer dad, I plan on introducing classics like these to my son for the appreciation of gaming and the progress game development has made. I can only hope he takes interest as much as I did.

The story was super interesting and the atmosphere was astounding !
#fuckthemonolith

everytime i drink vodka, the screen goes black and the game crashes. very realistic. love it

Я вже раніше проходив цю гру. У 2018, здається, коли у мене з'явився власний ноутбук. Був він геть слабким, пентіум без дискретної графіки, лише інтегрована інтел HD 405. То ж тягнув він мало ігор, і мушу сказати, як же мені пощастило, що сталкер був однією з них.
Пам'ятаю, як вперше пішов з хлопцями на АТП мочити бандосів, пам'ятаю першу зустріч із кровососом і контроллером у підземеллі Агропрома. Пам'ятаю, як я тоді пересрав і як, замість того що б із контроллером битися, драпав з усіх ніг назовні. Пам'ятаю, як після усіх цих жахіть прийшов до бару і з полегшенням зітхнув, заспокоївся, послухав чудової музики.

Потім я пройшов і Чисте небо із Покликом Прип'яті. Почав грати в моди, мало які проходив до кінця (здається взагалі жодного не пройшов, окрім ПП з ганслінгером).
Кілька разів пробував перепройти ТЧ, але мені ставало нудно через кілька годин і я забивав на те болт.

І ось вийшов сталкер 2. Хоч з часом в мене й з'явився набагато потужніший ноут за той що був, у сталкер 2 на ньому все одно пограти не вийде. Переважно через нестачу відеопам'яті, у мене 4гб.
А сталкера все одно хочеться. Спочатку скачав ганслінгер на ПП. Але через пів години мені стало нудно і я запустив ванільний ТЧ (лише пофіксив тіні і таке інше).

І о чудо! Мене просто з головою затягнуло, немов у перший раз. Певно щось у мені змінилося, але я був просто в ахуї від атмосфери. Ніколи ще так її не відчував, завжди казав, що ті оди, які їй співають, перебільшені. А тепер все здавалося таким справжнім, таким натуральним, що я навіть починав співпереживати іншим персонажам і простим сталкерам. Коли дійшов до підземелля Агропрома, хоч і знав де буде контроллер із кровососом та бандити з вояками, мені все одно було лячно. Це оточення, тьма, якийсь скрегіт металу, заржавіла скрипуча лампа, якийсь незрозумілий шум, вони не дозволяли мені розслабити булки. Навіть коли усіх ворогів я перебив, все одно був насторожі. Це просто фантастика! Усьому цьому допомагає ще й графіка, котра незважаючи на свій вік виглядає дуже гарно. Набагато красивіше багатьох ігор навіть з 2010 - 2012.

Звісно ж гра не безпроблемна, але це не заважає їй бути шедевром в моїх очах.
Якщо ви не грали - грайте негайно, жодна інша гра вам не дасть таких емоцій.

Even now the game from 2007 is fun to play.
AI of enemies is quite impressive, atmosphere is really nice. The idea of the world living it's own life while you play and missions can fail, almost any NPC can die and you won't complete their quests is also really cool.
Even on difficulty 2 it's quite a challenge.
It does have some bugs and weird things from time to time, but the game is still a masterpiece for its time and I'm a little sad that I didn't listen to my classmate back in 7th grade that this game is great and I should play it.
This playthrough was for you, my old forgotten friend.

Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl is a deeply flawed yet deeply compelling game. I doesn't fully achieve everything it sets out to do, but it is enjoyable in its own right and sets up an extremely solid basis for the rest of the trilogy.


Pros:
- If there is one thing Stalker is famous for, it's the atmosphere. The Zone is an incredible setting, and GSC Game World did a great job at making feel detailed, lived in, and abandoned all at once. It is hostile, but little pockets of friendship and reprieve show up at just the right moment. A lone stalker playing guitar while waiting out a storm in a crumbling bus stop makes everything you just went through feel worthwhile.
- The graphics and particularly the lighting are unreasonably good for 2007 - sunrise and sunset in The Zone is a sight to behold, and the dynamic weather system does wonders for visual differentiation.
- The survival/realism mechanics can be a bit dodgy at times, but generally are great for immersion. Bandages are needed to stop bleeding, food is needed to combat hunger, guns need to be in good shape to avoid jamming, etc.
- The AI, while also being questionable at times, was for the most part very impressive. Your enemies will strategize at how best to flank you or pin you down, and will react to their surroundings convincingly. This makes firefights far more dynamic and interesting than they otherwise would have been (and is a big part of redeeming the gunplay, as I will discuss further down).
- The main story missions are, for the most part, well-designed and varied. Though most are presented in the form of fetch quests, they bring you to the most interesting locations and encounters in the Zone, and even involve setpieces at times.
- While the game is not as narratively-driven as I'd imagined, the story is quite interesting. Its abstract and eerie cutscenes are great, and the large variety of endings feel true to the unpredictability of the setting.


Cons:
- The game was unexpectedly linear. That is not necessarily a bad thing, especially given that the main story quests are great. Nevertheless, the Zone begs for exploration... yet past the opening hours I never felt compelled to do so. The vast majority of the game's side quests are lackluster, and money is far too easy to get for them to be worth doing. Artifact hunting is also not a great system; the artifacts seem to just spawn around the world at random. So after the novelty of the setting wore off, I found myself just bee-lining the main missions.
- Speaking of the economy, it generally could be improved. While money is too easy to get, so is everything else. That includes ammo, guns, and healing items. Not only does this mean money becomes even less valuable if you scavenge after firefights, but an excess of resources means that the survival aspect of the game starts to become trivial rather than driving.
- The gunplay... is alright. I like the fact that bullets are affected by physics, and don't always go where you intend. This could be immersive, but instead it is overblown. I've stood two meters away from someone and still missed a headshot, which would simply never happen. It ends up being more frustrating than it's worth. As I said earlier, the impressive enemy AI does alleviate this issue somewhat, but it's still worth mentioning I feel.
- Nowhere is this issue more apparent than in the final mission of the game at the Chernobyl NPP. As war erupts around you and you duck into the dilapidated power plant, you are forced into a hallway shooter filled to the brim with dozens of the most overpowered enemies in the game. Stalker is absolutely not a mechanically tight hallway shooter, but this level thinks it is, to the game's great detriment. It is an obnoxious sequence, and leaves a bad taste in your mouth. It cannot be described in any way other than "poorly designed".
- The game is also pretty buggy. This ranges from inconsequential small visual glitches that can be funny, to full-blown crashes or game-breaking bugs. As if the final mission wasn't bad enough, my game absolutely refused to load the final area of the game for the true ending. My autosave and quicksave were overridden, and I was softlocked in limbo, essentially. You can imagine that this was disappointing.


Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl has a lot of issues. It can be obtuse, frustrating, and straight-up broken at times. Yet, I continued to push through, and got a good bit of enjoyment out of the game. This is a testament to just how good the world and atmosphere of this game is. Even if my rating is low, Shadow of Chernobyl is absolutely worth playing even today, offering an extremely strong foundation for the rest of the franchise to stand on and rise above.

6.5/10

Okay so I am only giving this game a negative review for new players. I love this game but it has a habit of crashing and corrupting saves past the Bandit camp at the construction site. I have used the fan made 2009 mod to fix most of the small issues but still have lost 2 full game playthroughs. If you get the game save constantly because you can counter act the save bug but it may still happen later on, just watch for abnormalities in your screen to tell when it might happen or if enemy behavior is "weird".

Don't mind my play hours, I used to own a physical disc and I've played through this game several times, plus I have untold hundreds (or thousands) of hours playing Anomaly.
This game is still just as captivating as it was when I played it in 2010, and few games pull you in the way this saga does. This is genuinely one of the most unforgettable games I've ever played and it holds up to this day. The game has extensive mod support if you don't have patience for slavjank.
If this game isn't enough for you, Stalker Anomaly is available for free and completely standalone on moddb.

Without exaggeration, this is one of the most immersive and atmospheric games I have ever played. It is from 2007, so the controls and character behaviors can be pretty rough at times. However, when you look past that, you find an incredibly fun and difficult survival open world game. This game does not fxck around and it is up to you to manage your inventory as best as possible. Ammo is weighted in this game, so you have to be really smart with which weapons you are willing to bring along with you. It can be frustrating at times, but it is rewarding at the same time once you learn the game. I have also never been more on edge while playing a game. The sound design in this game is phenomenal and extremely impressive for 2007. Not many games have matched it even today. It will be hard as hell, and the graphics and character models haven't aged the best, but you will be fully immersed in this world if you just give this game a chance.

This game is absolutely beautiful in its desolation and story, even decades later its impact on the industry is underestimated. I found myself wandering during downtime just taking in the atmosphere.

The game is really good. Old but great atmosphere gritty and depressing. You can see where Escape from Tarkov got it setting and feel from. Great survival mechanics and Horror.

This game is brutally difficult, badly translated, janky almost to the point of being broken, and one of the most immersive things I've played in years. Takes a few fights to get the hang of it but if you can push through the initial learning curve and don't mind the slav jank, I cannot recommend this game enough.

I may not have many hours in the stalker franchise as a whole but it is one of the best atmospheres and gunplay I've ever expereniced and I'd argue there's no match purely due to how it feels, I was in a gunfight and ran out of ammo but I wasn't dead because I had been shooting from cover, but the bandits were coming quick so I grabbed out my knife and managed to kill one bandit and grab his pistol and shoot another few in the head before grabbing anothers shotgun and killed the last two. That's the atmosphere this game will let you experience and the lore is so fucking beautifully put together.
Overall Rating: 8/10 (only because graphics are old man)

Play it . Why ? Because it is original STALKER. Inspired by Tarkovsky's film and original ideas from Roadside Picnic novel so you get the idea of STALKER games and why they have such an amazing following .
Game is too good and important to list pro and cons. Just give it a chance. I play it again after long long time and enjoy it like it came out yesterday.
You don't need mods for first playthrough . Just vanilla .

A truly great and memorable, if flawed game. Still, you can feel how much heart, ambition and energy were poured into it. It went through a pretty long development cycle (for the time) so you can add time to that recipe too.

I think if you ignore (or patch/mod out) some of the problems of this game, you're looking at not just one of the best games ever made, but just a really important artistic statement from Eastern European game developers. There's a reason why people can't stop playing this game.

Guys, who’s still whining that Clear Sky is buggy? Do you even understand what you’re playing? Everything here is made for realism! All these "glitches" aren’t bugs; they’re anomalies, a part of the Zone. Thought you’d sprint between the swamp shacks without any issues, but suddenly you’re teleported back to the base? Congratulations, buddy, you’ve hit the “Local Loop” anomaly. That weird NPC standing in the middle of the swamp staring at you? That’s not a bug; he’s a stalker under the influence of “Psy-Mist”. It’s realistic to the last pixel!

By the way, I was born near Chernobyl myself. I can tell you that this game is practically a documentary. Those swampy paths, the damp, rotten atmosphere, the sun barely breaking through the fog—it’s all exactly how it was in real life. And the rain, my friend, it’s just like home: it pours while you’re in a suit, and something radioactive might fall from the sky too. That’s just how it is out there, trust me.

And the fact that the Zone here feels alive—that’s a masterpiece in itself. You think you’re about to score some loot, and suddenly your own faction decides it’s more profitable to shoot you. That’s real life for you: everyone’s in it for themselves, and you just have to figure out how to survive.

And the atmosphere? That’s on another level. Sometimes it feels like you don’t even need to play—just stand in the middle of the swamp, wait for dawn, and listen to everything around you creaking, groaning, and trying to eat you alive. It’s just like back home near Chernobyl—one mistake, and you’re done for.

So Clear Sky isn’t just a prequel; it’s a survival school. Understand the Zone here, and you’ll understand it anywhere.

The main story missions provide the most engaging experience, I strongly recommend this game.

Can't believe a game from 2007 can be this much addictive.
Tried with mods but vanilla experience is better if it's your first playthrough

After FINALLY completing this game, I think it's a little overrated.

Comments about how good the atmosphere is and the creativity behind this game are all very true, and by the end of the game I even began to appreciate how accuracy was used to make weapons feel different (and to value the sniper).
Except, there are a lot of short comings that this game has and even though it can be considered a classic, its flaws just didn't make it fun to play, and I don't think there's enough reviews that actually point these flaws out.

(If you don't care to read all of it, just read the 1st sentence and move on)

The armor durability system and weight system were brutal to deal with.
I did not like that I brung 3 kits of armor into the last 2-4 hours of the game (which then took up half of my inventory space) and by the end of it, I did not have a single kit that had more than 15% bullet resistance because they were all worn down. You could blame the type of armor I was using (Monolith, PSZ-9d Duty Armor, Berill-5M armored suit), or that I didn't go back to the trader because it was out of the way but I digress.

There are also difficult sections of the game that forces you to play way more carefully,
which results in the player save scumming after every 2 kills or forcing them to camp. I'm not insulting the combat because clearing areas can be very fun, but when you have an unsilenced weapon and a lot of enemies nearby- it kind of sucks.

I also think that the trading-with-NPC system could've solved a lot of my issues with this game.
It just sucks that the trader and the scientist are the only 2 people actually worth trading with, all of the others will be there either to buy your loot or sell you a single bandage.

I do like the game overall but it just wasn't fun to play, I apologize if I just bashed your favorite game so I'll say this; I was amazed at how good the AI was for 2007.

(I'll come back to this game with mods and see if my opinion changes.)

With Stalker 2 here now, writing a quick review for the OG feels necessary:


Shadow of Chernobyl is the "truest" of the first three games. Its all about the mystery, allure and quite horrific nature of the zone. While the later games would try and explore the bright side of the zone, SoC just oozes darkness, danger, radioactivity, violence and flesh ripping anomalies.

The gunplay can vary in quality. Its definitely a frustrating experience with the starter guns and especially if they have non-green durability. Mid and high tier weaponry is rewarding and second only to CoP.

The story is serviceable. Its not grandiose and altough it follows a protagonist, its definitely world-centered. Its pacing is strange but personally in a good way, keeping enough details in the dark to imagine crazy stuff.

The world itself is a 10/10, no other game in the series has this much detail and evident effort visible in its maps. Textures are raw and cold, the skyboxes are breathakingly overcast, the CNPP looks as mighty as the game hypes you up. Sound design is so iconic even S2, years later, reuses most effects in it.

Game pacing is decent. The beggining can be very slow, the midgame as long as you want, and the endgame is a race to the finish line, depending which ending you get. The second half of the experience is well directed, never overstaying its welcome (except for the true ending, a real ammo-dump).

Personally, SoC is very different to its succesors in tone, in the jankiness of the xray engine, the quality all around. It really feels like an anomaly, a forbidden sight just barely keeping it, always threatening you with a crash, but at least in my case only 2 happened. If you dont know which of the three games you want to try, Shadow of Chernobyl is the CORRECT answer.

great game replying the story before starting stalker 2

good game but lots of bugs/ bad experience
7/10

A great game for those who love a classic shoot-and-loot. Lots of places to explore and secrets to find. Even better with the mod called "The Girly Zone" which adds female characters and the option to play as one yourself. Lost of different endings, all determined how you played up till the end, including 2 secret endings. I got the Greed Ending first time. Go figures, huh?

Great Game with amazing gun play and combat. I have never been so sacred in any other game. The atmosphere the threats and the player control play perfectly. The game can be buggy at times and its hard not to save scum. the traders need to sell more useful items the only thing worth buying is the exosuit. The combat is very engaging with the time to kill for you and the enemy being very quick. can't wait for stalker 2 in a few hours lol.

Fantastic game, should work out of the box as it did for me. Great start to a very interesting series

It may be rough around the edges, but S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl is a timeless masterpiece. It conveys a sense of being at its mercy from the very onset, while leading you along an uncharted path to unknown territory. It is like nothing else of the genre, as it borders on being a roleplaying game, but without any of the statistical aspect. It comes down to you the player to be able of making any kind of progress in this game. It is unforgiving, even on the easiest difficulty, not arbitrarily, but due to the player's expectations being overwhelmed by the sheer size and variety of this gem. It may not be the product that once was promised, but it is nonetheless clearly more than the sum of its parts and has stood the test of time - although proceeding games in the series have further improved upon the formula (especially with mods and new iterations of the various xray -engines), ShoC still stand firm as an excellent introduction the series overall.

For story, play this 2nd. For release date, play this first.

Classic and original precursor to the modern open world exploration survival genre.

Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl is unlike any other game I have ever played. It is immersive, brutal, engaging, disturbing and beautiful at times. And it unfolds an ongoing conflict between curiosity and anxiety what awaits you in the next area. And if you happen to survive and somehow make it to the inner zone, the real horror begins...

Really fun, despite it's age and rough edges it's still not bad, first time in a while where i jumped into a game without knowing everything i need to do or everywhere to go and it was pretty good, apart from some quests that are softlocked because certain people died i didn't encounter any issues with story, which was really interesting. Gameplay is also really good, love games that make you go off into the unknown and discover and build a backpack of your own to survive, learning how everything worked was a blast

7.5/10, if you want a really good old school FPS game this is a really good pick

"Good game with terrible mission system"

I'm not gonna spoil the plot, but basically, there is a mission that due to the description it's makes you think "oh, this mission is surely intended to be done last", but then that chance never cames because you finish the game without doing it (since there is no difference between important missions or secondary ones. The mission system is a mess).

So I finished the game, and saw the bad ending (and obviously I understood that it happened because I didn't do the other mission, but how was I supposed to know that the game intended for me to do the missions in a specific order?).
The missions are not sorted or marked in different ways, they are all bunched together. So you don't really have a way to tell if one mission is more important than the other, you have to guess. And tying the game's ending to you guessing the right order in which to do the missions, is a very dumb design.

-Great atmosphere and setting.
-Intriguing story but kinda hard to completely understand.
-Gun play isn't horrible but I've seen better for 2007.

I can see why this would be hard for most people to get into in 2024 because of the jank. Still yet, I thought it was pretty good and I think its worth a play through if you either don't have anything else to do or your just interested because of STALKER 2's release but not a must play. Also its not too long, clocking in at about 10ish hrs if you just focus the story and even if you want to do the side quest I don't see this game being any longer that maybe 15hrs.

great game bit of a difficulty spike at the end

Great game that feels like teh old games from the Fallout series - gritty, dark, grungy. Pretty difficult at start, even on easy, but once you've gone through the initial level, it gets easier. And a lot of fun.

Old school FPS with ok AI, low effort made to tell you what's going on and requires a working imagination to play. Played this straight after FarCry 6 and this is a superior game.

Excellent game that still holds up very well provided you use a community patch like ZRP to help clean up some stuff.
Boy did I forget how awful the ending level is. If STALKER 2's ending level isn't that ass then I want no part of it!!

Anyway, I recommend not modding it beyond adding Zone Reclamation Project for your first playthrough. The game has a very good and consistent art style and atmosphere that you start to kind of lose with any texture/lighting/environment overhaul mod. The jankiness of how the game looks and feels gives it soul. After all, if you're buying this you're certainly not doing so to play GAMMA/ Anomaly, might as well go all out and play it vanilla to see how this all started before checking out STALKER 2 (hopefully this doesn't age poorly, game comes out in a week from writing).

Absolute 9/10 game, absolute classic. I feel I had to subtract a point because I literally spent an hour on the last half of the last mission (if you've beaten this game you know the one) and it was driving me up the fucking wall with how much it was overstaying it's welcome.

Compared to the other two original STALKER trilogy games, I don't know where I'd place this one. I've beaten this one the most but I prefer the overall gameplay of CS/COP a tad more due to stuff like weapon/armor modding, repairing, and the weapon/enemy models not looking batshit insane. There's just something about the way this game feels and it's story that keeps me coming back. I'll have to see how I feel after beat Clear Sky and Call of Pripyat again, but I think this one has the most compelling story, CS probably has the best overall campaign, and COP has the best open world and gameplay, and is where the modern idea of STALKER originates from.

I enjoy how arcade-like the first game is compared to the others, its a good setup to the rest of the series and the deeper lore really interests me.

interesting world, hard out fighting in the starting areas so far, need to gear up!

VERY VERY BUGGY GAME. Nearly 20 year old game and yet still has lots of bugs. Unbelievable! Enemy spawning outta nowhere. Random Radiation effect. Sometimes enemy don't die even if you shoot them on the head with distance of 5 feet. Ruined my gameplay.

Absolutely incredible all time classic survival horror game. Created the post apocalyptic Eastern Europe genre that Metro later followed, along with many other games clearly inspired by this game and the book Roadside Picnic. The graphics aren't incredible due to it being almost 20 years old, but the gameplay still is quite good, the gunplay being especially surprisingly great for such an old game. The atmosphere of sheer isolation and danger is so incredibly well done in this game, even Metro doesn't match how scary and out there this game is.

A gravity anomaly annihilated a military platoon shooting at me, very generously and kindly allowing me to pick all the ammo and sausages off of their corpses without having to spend any resources of my own

shits clunky and buggy as hell but its pretty fun and the atmosphere has aged super well

This game holds up extremely well for something nearing 20 years old. The combat is unforgiving and the game won't hold your hand, but if you stick with it past the slow/difficult beginning it will sink its hooks into you. My only regret is that I waited so long to check out the exclusion zone. Highly recommend this classic gem.

The game has a very nice depressive setting and a good story with satisfying progression and gun play. I played it for the first time when I was around the age of 6 and didn't get far because it's not very beginner friendly for non-gamers.

Some cool features that AAA games still don't fu**ing have 17 years later:
* Bullets having a ricochet across multiple surfaces in a tunnel.
* Wild dogs that out of combat start hauling away the dead creatures that you've killed.
* A map that doesn't take up the entire screen nor pause the game, allowing you to navigate while moving.
* God forbid a tidy set of menus.

Being a 2007 game it also has some jankiness to it, it's mostly minor stuff like:
* On newer hardware it causes some stutters on high settings in some areas.
* Scrolling on the map is weird and disproportionate.
* 2560 x 1400 at least had a clickable malfunctioning "drop" button in the inventory that worked like half of the time.
* Mission markers that can glitch and stay on the map, even though you completed the mission and its objective or in rare circumstances not have the enemies spawn to even complete a defence objective. I even soft-locked a faction mission tree once by wandering towards the main mission marker, help out some dudes since they were literally attacked by a hostile faction and the fight was on the entire area that encompassed the transition from one level to the next.
* Occasionally reloading a save can cause enemies to spawn behind you, doesn't really matter since they are like Silvers in CS, once they see you they open fire no matter if they can actually hit anything or not.
* Enemies have an advantage at pointblank range (can kill you in half a sec during the end), the player has an advantage at range, but guns can't hit anything at long distances unless it's a sniper rifle, so you can't 1-tap enemies with an AK from far. Also the enemies are bullet sponges, which means that If you are dealing with a group you headshot them, if you really wanna kill them, then you spray them down with most of the mag.
* At some instances when reloading a save after being detected by the enemy, the enemy will still be aggroed.
* I've seen from videos some bugs or visual glitches but personally I didn't encounter any and only crashed once.

Basically, a good experience and a slightly different approach to a game if the jank doesn't bother you too much.
Bought it on sale.