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

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
PC, 2007

Players assume the role of an amnesiac in search of their identity in the Chernobyl exclusion zone in this unique PC game by Czech studio GSC Gameworld. I know this is an older game—released in 2007—but I am going to review it because,

• It is the latest game with strong horror elements that I have played
• It is worth noting the game since it blurs the lines between action-horror and survival-horror.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is loosely-based on Roadside Picnic by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky (which was made into the movie Stalker by Andrei Tarkovsky). The story in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. revolves around stalkers, individuals who sneak into the exclusion zone to, among other things, find and smuggle out artifacts, surreal objects with strange properties. players take control of a stalker who has lost their memory, whose only clue to the past is the note "Kill Strelok" found on the player's PDA.

At its core, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is a first-person role-playing game. Players do not level up, but advance through the game by improving their equipment, learning their surroundings, and collecting artifacts. Players also need to find food and eat to keep healthy and be wary of their environment. Gameplay is straightforward and while the game has its flaws, it successfully builds an immersive world and frightening atmosphere that is grounded in reality

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. makes effective use of atmosphere and presents a chilling lore that make the game extremely unsettling. The abandoned locales of the Chernobyl exclusion zone set a haunting mood, while physics anomalies and radiation present hazards that force them to proceed with caution.  Within this landscape are mutated creatures that stalk the landscape, sometimes actively hunting the player. This combination of a harsh, lonely environment and deadly creatures makes S.T.A.L.K.E.R. a truly frightening game

However, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. also presents competent action and social mechanics.

As much as it is a horror game, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is equally an action game with slight social elements. Players engage enemies while roaming the zone using a variety of weapons that each feel unique. The controls are good, even with the layout slightly different than most modern games.While roaming the zone and shooting things is a major part of the game, scattered in the zone are camps and bases that provide a level of safety to the player. Bases and camps are where the player can trade goods and receive quests. Non-player character (NPC) stalkers can be found in these places, sitting in bars or around campfires playing guitar, telling jokes, or performing routine tasks. The player can talk to these characters, trade with them, and sometimes receive quests as well. These NPCs add an interesting element to the game that make it feel more like a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) than a single player experience.

With all that it does right, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is a seriously flawed game, and suffers from many technical issues and strange design choices, such as the excessive amount of head-bobbing that occurs when the player walks. Frame rate issues and bad artificial intelligence (AI) can make stealth a chore. Most technical issues can be fixed with game modifications; I suggest the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Complete mod, which fixes most of the bugs and other issues with the game while adding several graphical improvements.

Overall, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. takes the best of both subgenres and creates a game that seamlessly presents a terrific story, amazing atmosphere, and tense action.

LINKS

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. SoC website

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: SoC Complete Mod

Website for the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. franchise