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

Stalker SoC holds up well - the enemy AI is astonishingly robust. Perhaps I'm just bitter from the endless flood of quirky post-apocalypse games that reside in the shadow of Fallout 3 and New Vegas, but Stalker is refreshing for the fact that it is a genuine horror game and mostly maintains a consistent tone.

Without a doubt, this is the best game in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series. From the haunting atmosphere to the unforgettable story, it captures everything that makes the Zone so unique. And of course Strelok, will always be a legend.

This game have a cult following for a reason. Quite long in the teeth this days though, just skip it and get Stalker 2.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. The game is still beautiful and atmospheric regardless of the year *~*

The title got me a little excited. But sadly there was no stalking. :'(
Instead... I was the one stalked. By crazed Russian speaking shadow clone men with wall hacks and a foul smell of vodka and stale bread under there breath. All in all, I got to sell other peoples lives and possesions away for money before ultimatley selling my own life and possensions away for money. 10/10

In S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl you awaken in the zone with a task to find Strelok, who is supposedly in Chernobyl. The game has some survival elements but is largely an action game, some of the systems like eating/drinking/watching your radiation levels can largely be ignored. I didn't mind this too much, I think the game does a pretty good job at focusing on the aspects of the game that are most interesting, which is largely combat. The gunplay is fun and each gun feels different, each encounter feels dangerous as you can die incredibly quickly. I do think the story prompts too many questions at the beginning of the game, and takes far too long to answer them. Once the story gets somewhat interesting the game ends. Overall, the game is fun but better pacing of the story elements would've made a more satisfying experience overall.

Phenomenal game. Great immersion. Very atmospheric! Survival horror at its best!

Pograłem chwile, nie ograłem całości. Ale już mogę powiedzieć że. Kurva. No jest git.

One of the best games I have ever played and in my opinion the best Eastern European game ever made. Good job guys.

The STALKER franchise is my alltime favorite. On par with the Metro games.

It's a very old game. BUT - there are mods that fix almost everything.
Actually there are a LOT of mods.

For the price its worth it. Very much so.

Game has not aged gracefully at all. The gameplay is clunky as hell. The graphics are terrible. It barely explains anything at all. I had to remap all of the controls because IDK wth happened with the assignments. I give up, I'm too old for this s***

fantastic game, played stalker 2 first and then picked this up and it's just as fun.

i didnt understand a single thing about the story of this game, i was just running and killing people and after 23 hours i finished the game.

Shadow of Chernobyl is the game that introduce me and my friends to the beauty of post apocalypse genre. Beauty but deadly. Beside the already good graphic in its era, it also supported with atmospheric detail that really snatch gamers into the tragic and sometimes difficult experience that The Zone offer. With a mix of shooter and survival mechanic with horror infused into the gameplay, making Shadow of Chernobyl as the appetizer for people that want to immerse themselves into the universe of STALKER. Eventhough there are bugs that annoying, it is part of the experience.

Beside STALKER is known for its modding community, a lot of additional story are made by dedicated fanbase. Also there are also graphic and community fixed patch for better experience. For hardcore fans, there are mods that adding a degree of realism.

My playing time is higher actually because i play the CD version, buying the steam version to have a digital version just in case.

Love it! The S.T.A.L.K.E.R. trilogy is probably my top three most replayed games, for some reason it keeps me interested and engaged.

its a very nice first person shooter for its time. but even in 2025 its a title that should be played if someone has not done so already. its has nice elements in it. a must try.

GET OUT OF HERE STALKER
GET OUT OF HERE STALKER
GET OUT OF HERE STALKER
GET OUT OF HERE STALKER
GET OUT OF HERE STALKER
GET OUT OF HERE STALKER

Amazing game, even though it's old and janky, it's a great game. Paired with ZRP and some HD models, this game is ABSOLUTELY SPECTACULAR, never in a game have the enemies actually planned against me, flanked me and waited until i got distracted to strike, like when im reloading or focused on other enemies, i get surprise attacked by some guy behind me. And also.


A NU CHEEKI BREEKI IV DAMKE!!!!!

For a game that's close to 20 years old, I had a great time playing. Excited to move to Clear Sky.

Ending unplayable, save scum simulator

This classic has even less women in it than the film The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, and frequent uses of the word r*tard as a noun. Making it through the secret lab at the end was so challenging that I was dangerously close to turning back and paying ₽300 to the wish granter to fulfill my deep, dark, monolithian fantasies of mods for stealth improvement and P*ssy Riot songs playing at the 100 Rads. Again I was tempted to give up and help the C-Consciousness project in their deception to contain the Гачиму́чи crack in the Noosphere. I don't know whether it was the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. programming in my mind that pushed me to achieve the right version of the ending or not... But I made it. And I guess I should be thankful for that.

I'm a huge fan of games like this and I loved the atmosphere at the beginning, but this game is ultimately not that great. It's buggy, animations are horrible, voice acting is terrible, and balancing is god awful. The ideas presented here are pretty cool, but that doesn't stop the main missions from being a slog. I never felt like I was doing anything for a purpose other than to kill time in game, and that doesn't help that the plot is kinda stupid and doesn't make much sense when you think about it for more than a minute. Like why AM I hunting down this dude I have zero memory of? Why should I really even care about anything? It doesn't help that the combat is so frustratingly punishing for no reason, it pushed me away from this game time and time again. When I did try finishing the game I found out I got tricked into a fake ending because the thing the game didn't tell me to get was in a level I couldn't get to anymore. This game obviously wasn't made on a high budget, but that won't stop me from having issues with it.

TL;DR, this game aged like fucking milk.

This game was alright, but I still enjoyed it. A lot of bonus points for the atmosphere and vibe of the game. ZRP made the experience a lot better. If this game is on sale you should defenetly buy it and play it sometime!

Scariest new vegas, spent more time modding than playing.

Did a full playthrough unmodded for about 65 hours, only had one game-breaking bug which was easily fixed by a mod. (The starting trader's door got stuck closed.) "Only one game-breaking bug" doesn't sound like a endorsement, but given what's accomplished here in 2007 and how much people meme on this game for bugs, it is genuinely impressive. As long as you are okay with some jank, this is a deeply interesting experience.

I especially recommend this game for those who enjoy Fallout 4 on Survival Mode, although it is worth keeping in mind this game isn't "Fallout but Russian" in tone or setting. Basically, if you like difficult games with realistic restrictions, this is the game for you.

General tips:
* AI is significantly more advanced than what you might be used to in more modern titles. Enemies will take cover and may attempt to flank you.
* Neutral entities that bark at you when you approach them with a weapon are saying "put your weapon away" in Russian/Ukrainian. This is the only untranslated line that might cause confusion to a player; all other lines are either translated or unimportant from a gameplay perspective.
* Mission markers (the green target symbol) sometimes don't go away on your PDA. This is a visual only bug, but it can be fixed by installing the ZRP mod if it really bugs you.
* You will not be able to carry a massive arsenal around all at once. Be selective about what you're carrying, and keep in mind ammo has weight too.

Still an immersive and unique experience after all these years. Expect some jank!

Having never played the stalker Series. Playing through the first games, then will play Stalker 2. However, i am blown away by how advanced this game was for its time! With a few easy to download mods that improve game play and texture packs, you can make this old game look next GEN, graphics aside even playing Vanilla is a must as the atmosphere, ambience and story alone is enough to keep you hooked. really good main story campaign and plenty of side missions to keep you from getting bored in the zone. Almost perfect entry to the series, play this and you wont be disappointed. Now get out their stalker!

Very immersive, amazing world, interesting rpg

Great game. Buggy though.
10/10 do buy!

Drunk with blurry vision both in real-life and in-game at night as dudes speak to me in Russian initiating insane missions in the radioactive open world with me having no idea what's going on.

10/10 would do it again every single time.

I'm finally finishing this game. After waiting for Stalker when it was announced more than 20 years ago, when it came out I never played it for more than a few hours, scared of the bugs and difficulty. Now, I'm playing it on maximum difficulty and it's great! Clumsy and unstable "like an isotope", but great! Slava Ukraine!

I remember attempting this game years ago when I was younger, getting frustrated, and then uninstalling it, never to be played again. Fast forward to 2024, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is coming out. At this point, I tell myself that I should play the old games before trying the new one. Many people seem to recommend that these games be played with mods exclusively due to their perceived age and jank, but after completing Shadow of Chernobyl, I think that this is an unfair assessment.

I almost immediately fell in love with this game. Despite wearing its age on its sleeve, its atmosphere, world building, exploration, and mechanics all drew me in. I honestly don't know why it took me so long to get around to playing this game.

My recommendation; play this game vanilla before adding any mods to enhance or change the experience which the developers at GSC originally created and published back in 2007, and then go back with a modded play-through later on. Who knows, you may just love Shadow of Chernobyl as it is.

Very fun, catching up to play #2

Way too hard for this old gamer. Play on novice, die 100x. Play on master, die 1000x. Loot too scarce to keep armed/medic. AI with one shot kills while I'm emptying 20 round clips at point blank and nothing. I played for 60+ hours before rage quitting.

It's easily in the top handful of games that have most immersed me in the worlds they've created. It does have A LOT of minor technical issues, but most of these can be largely overlooked (especially since there are mods that even out the experience gameplay-wise) At it's best, this game takes all of the horrifying aspects a nuclear fallout can bring and amplifies them in ways comparable titles couldn't.

Atmosphere and story is rich and amazing! The AI is smart and will use it's every wit to fight against you and still holds up today! The only flaw is damage and the "myth" on difficulty. However playing on novice or stalker is preferred for a "normal" experience.

Stalker complete 1.5 is recommended!

Overall grade: B- (vanilla)

Enjoyable? Yes
Recommended? To classic FPS fans and those interested in survival-ish/horror-ish/post-apocalyptic themed games
Replayability: low-medium
Total Hrs played: ~40hrs (online+offline play)

+intense, intricate and engaging gameplay/combat
+large, open map with tons of exploration/scavenging opportunities
+atmosphere: gloomy, desolate, perilous
+inventory management and item intricacies eg weapons and armor degrade with use/when taking damage, and vary in stats; find and store food—eat it when you’re hungry; bandages stop wounds from bleeding while first-aid kits replenish health; carry weight limit; etc.
+environment design/variety and weapon/gear, enemy, difficulty progression

+/-brutal and unforgiving, even on the lowest difficulty — one enemy can significantly drain your health or flat out kill you. And, you can die from radiation poisoning pretty quickly if you’re not careful/prepared, though this wasn’t really an issue for me—remain vigilant and save often!!
+/-not suitable for all occasions: you have to be ready for its intensity, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but I found that my interest fluctuated because of this—there were times where I dedicated 1+hrs of gameplay per session and others where I would put it down only after a few minutes of play
+/-decent story but had a below-average delivery

-I loved strategizing vs gun wielding enemies but disliked indoor, CQC vs mutants (specifically in lab 18, lab 16). Since these aggressive mutants immediately charge towards you at first sight, the general tactical approach was stripped away
-side quests are recurring, repetitive, and the “kill [target]” and “eliminate/destroy mutants” missions were unintuitive
-almost all side quests are unimportant ie no lore. You would mainly complete these for rewards but there are plenty of supplies awarded/found while pursuing the main story line—I eventually avoided them all together
-once you complete a mission, you have to sprint all the way back to the person that gave you the task so there’s a ton of back and forth ie no fast travel
-dialogue is mostly flat, though you can find some good details in there
-clunk, jank and bugs. Not too bad if you’re forgiving

Steam Deck compatibility: ✅
Offline playable ✔️
~7hrs at max settings (60fps)
Widescreen ✔️
Runs smooth, no stutters or crashes (only one crash in 40hrs)
In-game video setting do not save, so you have to set them up EVERYTIME you launch
Button prompts show as mouse and keyboard buttons
Sorely requires buttons to be remapped imo

my first stalker game in the franchise and im in love!, old and janky but somehow perfect

The game is not new, but it is still interesting. Today, it is harder to play, and for many things, they have come up with more convenient controls, but even 20 years later, the game brings pleasure.

[ENG] S.T.A.L.K.E.R S.o.C

Ever since I was a scrawny little kid, I've wanted to play this game. I remember watching gameplays, clips, and my favorite YouTubers playing it back then, and I remember how in love I was with the dark and disturbing aesthetic of the Zone. On the last summer sale, I remembered this fragment of my childhood when i saw the game on my feed and decided to give this game a chance, blinded by nostalgia.
...And well, I'm disappointed. Be minded, I played the entire game in Vanilla, so as not to alter the original experience, but they can improve YOUR experience, and I recommend that you download the most essential QoL ones, unlike me.
Despite this, I can point out some positive points: The graphics are not bad, and the overall aesthetics of the game are incredible. I love how dark, rusty and hopeless everything inside the Zone looks, the immersion is incredible.
... Incredible until you come across the negative points.
Where do I start?

• The gameplay is generic, it's basically an open-world FPS with a few survival elements. Speaking of, the open world is mostly empty. Seriously, at most you'll find a few artifacts here and there, other than that, NOTHING, and there's no incentive to explore.
  
  
• The side missions are bad and repetitive, and the rewards aren't worth the amount of time and resources you waste. You'll almost always LOSE more than you gain.
  
  
• There's practically no progression, even if you get better equipment, you never feel stronger. And while this favors the atmosphere, since you always feel powerless against the dangers of the Zone, it ends up hurting the gameplay cycle, which becomes repetitive and drags after a while.
  
  
• Many, many bugs and illogical moments. Enemy weapons can go through walls and hit you, the movement of humans and mutants is equally strange and clanky, and their behavior is random and unpredictable. The list goes on.
  
  
• The plot is poorly structured. Not necessarily bad, but poorly executed. The story is all over the place, and it's very likely that you'll finish the game without a clue on what just happened if you don't pay REAL close attention.
  
  
• Inconsistencies. MANY. in the difficulty, which fluctuates all the time, in the subtitles, which sometimes work and most of the time don't exist at all, in combat... in short, the overall quality of the game. Sometimes it feels like a masterpiece, and sometimes it feels like a shitty Oblivion total conversion mod.
  
  

I get it, it's very old... and it's imaginable that I, spoiled by the extremely high standards of the current industry, wouldn't be able to enjoy a game at enlistment age.
But.. If you have a potato pc, i guess it doesn't hurt to give it a chance. But download mods, the Vanilla experience is just what I said.
Thanks for reading!

[PT-BR] S.T.A.L.K.E.R S.o.C

Desde muleque, eu tinha muita vontade de jogar esse jogo. Me lembro de ver gameplays, clipes, e meus youtubers favoritos jogando na época, e me lembro do quão apaixonado eu fiquei pela estética sombria e perturbadora. Recentemente, ao ver o jogo na promoção, eu me lembrei desse fragmento de infância e decidi dar uma chance a esse jogo, cegado pela nostalgia.
...E bem, eu estou decepcionado. Deixando claro, eu joguei todo no Vanilla, sem mods, pra não alterar a experiência original, mas eu reconheço que eles podem melhorar a SUA experiência, e recomendo que você baixe os mais essenciais de qualidade de vida, diferente de mim. Não tem tradução oficial, então recomendo baixar uma na internet.
Apesar disso eu consigo sim apontar alguns pontos positivos: Os gráficos não são ruins, e a estética geral do jogo é incrível. Eu adoro o quão sombrio, enferrujado e desesperançoso tudo dentro da zona parece, a imersão é incrível.
... Incrível até você se deparar com os pontos negativos.
Por onde eu começo?

• A gameplay é genérica, é basicamente um FPS de mundo aberto com alguns poucos elementos de sobrevivência. Mundo aberto esse que é na maioria das vezes vazio. sério, você no máximo acha alguns artefatos aqui e ali, fora isso, NADA, e não tem nenhum incentivo à exploração.
  
  
• As missões secundárias são ruins e repetitivas, e as recompensas não valem a pena pelo tanto de tempo e recursos que você perder pra conseguir elas. Você quase sempre vai PERDER mais do que ganhar.
  
  
• Praticamente não existe progressão, mesmo conseguindo equipamentos melhores, você nunca se sente mais forte. E enquanto isso favorece a atmosfera, já que você sempre se sente impotente aos perigos da Zona, acaba machucando o ciclo de gameplay, que se torna repetitivo e maçante depois de um tempo.
  
  
• Muitos, mas muitos bugs e momentos sem lógica. As armas dos inimigos conseguem atravessar as paredes e acertar você, a movimentação dos humanos e mutantes é igualmente estranha e travada, e seus comportamentos são aleatórios e imprevisíveis. A lista continua.
  
  
• O enredo é mal estruturado. Não necessariamente ruim, mas mal executado. A história é jogada pra todo lado, e é muito provável que você termine o jogo sem nem saber o que aconteceu se você não prestar MUITA atenção.
  
  
[*]Inconsistências. MUITAS. Inconsistências na dificuldade, que oscila toda hora, nas legendas, que as vezes funcionam e na maior parte do tempo não existem, no combate, enfim, na qualidade geral do jogo. As vezes parece uma obra-prima, e as vezes parece um mod de conversão total do Oblivion mal feito.

Eu entendo que é muito antigo... e é de se imaginar que eu, tendo sido mimado pelos altíssimos padrões da indústria atual, não conseguiria desfrutar de um jogo em idade de alistamento.
Se você tem um PC fraco, não dói dar uma chance, mas baixe mods. A experiência Vanilla é isso aí que eu falei.
Obrigado por ler!

Stalker is a cult classic for a reason. While janky, it crafts a truly unique world, factions, and story. Just make sure to play on Master difficulty.

Man do I hate any level that contains the Monolith. Fighting against them inside the nuclear plant is literally rage inducing. Besides that, I highly recommend the game. 10/10

This game is an amazing sandbox and semi-open world, especially for it's time when it was released in 2007; it still holds up today, and the core gameplay loop of looting, shooting, and exploration is quite satisfying. The atmosphere is truly immersive, recommend playing with a good pair of headphones. Great for rainy or snowy days, as the gloominess of The Zone is greatly enhanced. Sitting down around a campfire with your fellow S.T.A.L.K.E.R.s after navigating the dangers of The Zone invokes such a cozy feeling, a refuge from the anomalies and bandits that patrol the abandoned structures and surrounding wilderness. Can be played with mouse and keyboard, or manually mapped to customized controller inputs. Be sure to start Steam in Compatibility Mode by Running as Admin for the Steam Overlay to work within the game. Has an amazing and active mod community, and still maintains a dedicated cult following as evidenced by the hype surrounding the release of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2. If you're new to the series, this is a great jumping off point. Starter Tip(s): Sell your loot to The Trader or other vendors as often as you can, and money will never be an issue. Stashes and dead bandits offer near endless amounts of essentials like food, vodka, and medkits. Save and Quick-Save often! Potentially losing large amounts of time, progress, and rare items can be crushing. Lastly, don't forget to use your Bolts, or you'll regret learning the hard way by blindly walking into lethal anomalies.....

I was unable to finish my playthrough of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl due to instability issues. These issues could not be fixed through mods, through careful planning, through drivers, or through any other means.

Unfortunately, I simply cannot finish and adequately judge the quality of this video game as an experience. I can only warn you that it is essentially uncompletable for those with AMD GPUs.

This is a real life Ukraine Simulator with stunning resemblence to real life. Being Ukrainian myself (I lied) i can confirm that to go to my school I have to bring enough my weapons and antirad to not succomb to the beautiful wildlife of the Zone.
7.5/10 game would play again

Interesting story, annoying but well made npcs for that time, game pretty challenging even for stalker difficulty. Made fell in love even more with s.t.a.l.k.e.r . 9/10

It was Perfect... perfect everything down to the last minute details.

There's a reason why it is a classic. Play it and find out.

This is probably the most bugged game I've ever played (and I'm a veteran at Bethesda games). Even the credits didn't line up correctly. The final mission kept respawning enemies. Half the time I wasn't even allowed to finish quests because of some bug. I didn't get to join a faction, because it was bugged and I wanted to try Freedom first and not just the first faction that came along.
I played it on hard. The gun mechanics aren't terrible, but most of the rest of the game is.
Let me list some of the reasons why you probably won't enjoy this game now (as opposed to like...2008):
1. The graphics are bad even for 2008
2. The bugs (multiple, game-breaking bugs)
3. There are no obvious stashes (but there are -- look for blue boxes)
4. Very bad inventory management
5. There is no fast travel (and there really, really needed to be in this game)
6. The game mechanics are either not explained or explained poorly.

Apparently, there are a lot of mods, because when I was looking for solutions to continue the game I ran into so many posts about them. So, I would consider just playing the game modded if you're really interested in trying this game.

For 2007, this game definitely scratched the FPS itch; Far Cry meets Metro 2033. Pretty janky, would recommend downloading some mods to smooth out the experience (unlike what I did beating my head against the wall while the game crashed for the 3rd time in one night). Overall though, fun shooter with a decent story! Two words: Save. Constantly.