How good is STALKER?

[Surfer]

Brilliant atmosphere. Still best weather and use of lighting i've seen in a pc game.

 

[misterjingo]

Isn't every last base in the game part of the main story line anyway, except a couple of the tiny camps you don't "have" to destroy but have like 5 people in anyway.

There are a few which aren't, but you can get side quests there to pick up papers etc. The ones with few guards, if you go on an all out assault, they call reinforcements so you can be fighting against 30-40+ special guard type of NPCs.

Side missions and faction quests have no point at all, haven't played it patched, finished before there were any.

If you literally ran straight to the end ignoring all else, I can see why it would seem like a dull game.
I enjoyed the exploration and soaking up the tales about the zone. Personally,
I found the locations and myths built up about the deeper zone enthralling, and so I enjoyed discovering all the nooks and crannies before carrying on with the main quest.

Invincible, or as good as 2 hours in(if that) make it a touch ridiculous, 2 great fights in the game, very early on, incredibly dumb AI, ridiculously accurate weapons and powerful past the first hour of the game. Once you get a gun that actually puts bullets at the crosshair , which is basically the 3rd/4th gun onwards its just too easy. The "open world" also takes about 3 minutes, if that to get from one side all the way to the other, so open world, generally yes, tiny world, also yes.

You could run from the starter areas to the plant in a few minutes? It took me more than a few minutes to run from one zone to the next. By open world, I mean the entire game, not just a single zone.

The main bases for the biggest missions are very nicely put together, although mostly VERY short, it feels like a few normal levels of say HL2, with long runny bits inbetween getting to those levels to extend the game to me, nothing more nothing less. The atmosphere is nice but theres little to do.

I enjoy games which give scope for exploration rather than having to follow the storyline at all costs (bioshock) which is why I got a lot out of stalker.
if you're the kind of person who doesn't like open ended play, then stalker might bore you and seem quite short.

 

[Inquisitor]

I have stalker but couldnt get 'hooked' on the game, the guns just never seemed to hit or do damage!

You obviously never managed to get an F-2000. You can take down a heavily armoured mercenary from 20 metres in about 3 shots

 

[TheRedZealot]

Thought it was a fn2000 best gun on the game was the VSS Vintores though.

 

[Inquisitor]

Thought it was a fn2000 best gun on the game was the VSS Vintores though.

Yeah its real name is FN F2000 though.

 

[TheRedZealot]

In stalker it was called the FT 200M though if i remember correctly

 

[psychas]

http://pieisgood.org/ <---- thats how good is it

 

[Topper]

Stalker is and will continue to be a great game. The randomness of events is balanced nicely (in many cases) by scripted but believable behaviour (nighttime feeding frenzies by predators for eg). The relative scarcity of the monsters early on also i think makes it far more scary. That first time down the stairs in seach of streloks stashresulted in filled trousers. Never jumped so high playing a pc game in my puff. cannot wait until clear skies.

 

[Admiral Huddy]

Superb but takes some time to get into ..

I wish after I had competed it I hadn't been so neutral. Great atmosphere as you ventured further towards the the disaster area