S.T.A.L.K.E.R Shadow of Chernobyl Worth Playing?

One Vision said:
So how is the best way to play it? Or a good way to play
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It can be played different ways and different ways with different Mods too!

The game has different endings too apparently, but I've never quite managed to finish it yet, been deep into the game a couple of times though, this time I've just went for the graphical overhaul Mod AA2.1 mentioned here only to keep the game more modern looking, if I finish it this time may try more ambitious mods later :)

At the start you need to win a bit of trust, the AI is actually some of the best I've seen in any game.

It really is a deeply dark atmospheric game, if you have seen the Movie "The Road" this game has that same dark sinister feel about it, except you are not watching but participating, played in a dark room with headphones, it can be quite a blast as you get drawn in and have to consider all your options, tactics and next move.

You can get all three games on GoG DRM free for about £30 and that's a bargain IMHO. I actually got SoC free with a graphic card years ago, but I like to support GoG especially.

Maybe have a look at some of the Youtube play trough's if you are not sure.

Good Luck, Stalker.
 
I've just installed CoC, spent an hour running around collecting a few bits and bobs, then got killed so I'm back to square zero.

Is there any way of importing my CoP character so I can start with some money and decent kit?
 
So whats best to play as im going to install with a mod or two for graphics.
Is it worth just play COP and not bothering with the others in 2017? Id rather have a good experience on COP first time round than burnout on Chernobyl and Clearsky before getting to COP if you get what i mean.
 
One Vision said:
So whats best to play as im going to install with a mod or two for graphics.
Is it worth just play COP and not bothering with the others in 2017? Id rather have a good experience on COP first time round than burnout on Chernobyl and Clearsky before getting to COP if you get what i mean.
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You can choose any one of them, it doesn't really matter which you play in what order.

All are worth playing with mods.

If COP takes your fancy first then go for that one.
 
I hear clear sky is the weakest of the 3? Focuses more on action rather than what made stalker unique is that right?

Will get my teeth in this week let's all play and use this thread to compare our frustrations :D
 
Clearsky was my favourite :o. It also has the red forest, which is one of the most atmospheric and creepy places in all 3 games.

I didn't notice a difference in action, or anything else. It had a higher focus on artifact hunting than the first, which i really enjoyed. I have only played it with the complete mod, so not sure how different the stock game is.
 
SickAsAParrot said:
I've just installed CoC, spent an hour running around collecting a few bits and bobs, then got killed so I'm back to square zero.

Is there any way of importing my CoP character so I can start with some money and decent kit?
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Not sure? but when installing Autumn Aurora 2.1, there was some mention of an easy mode file swapping mode in a read me file somewhere there.

SoC starts off quite difficult for sure, but becomes more rewarding as you build your character, its worthwhile getting over the initial SoC difficulty hurdle, because it does prepare you for what's to come.

Haven't played the sequels yet, am determined to finish this first game by hook or by crook, it can be done :)
 
Mark A said:
Clearsky was my favourite :o. It also has the red forest, which is one of the most atmospheric and creepy places in all 3 games.

I didn't notice a difference in action, or anything else. It had a higher focus on artifact hunting than the first, which i really enjoyed. I have only played it with the complete mod, so not sure how different the stock game is.
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Can't argue with that! I haven't played it just seemed to be a bit of a general consensus when I was googling about! Your description sounds good to me!
 
Yeah I just had a look at the steam reviews and it's still 'very positive', but the other two games are 'overwhelmingly positive' and have like double the reviews.

I saw quite a few complaints about bad AI and bugs, which must have been fixed by the complete mod as I don't remember any bugs or bad AI.
 
kinger8938 said:
I hear clear sky is the weakest of the 3? Focuses more on action rather than what made stalker unique is that right?

Will get my teeth in this week let's all play and use this thread to compare our frustrations :D
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It tends to be generally regarded as the poorest in the series, yes. However, for me, it represents some of the best of what Stalker has to offer along with one or two design choices which I don't like as much. I tend to play it less often than the other two simply because there isn't as much choice where mods are concerned; I think there are one or two promising ones in development for it, though. Graphically speaking, I think it looks the best from a vanilla standpoint, and the implementation/use of artifacts in it (like in COP) are better than in SOC. As with the other two games, the music/atmosphere in CS is top notch.
 
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One Vision said:
Ok im installing COP tonight as i just bought off Kinguin. Whats a good mod? I heard complete mod sucks...?
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I haven't played the complete mods for a long while, though I enjoyed them a lot (I never quite understood why they got, imo, more than their fair share of negative feedback). I certainly don't recall them being particularly buggy.

However, that said, there will no doubt be a much wider choice available now than there was several years ago.

Off the top of my head, if I was to choose a mod right now for COP I'd at least consider something like SGM (1.7/2.1 are very good):

http://www.moddb.com/mods/sigerous-sgm


I think the most recent version of Misery might be too unforgiving if you're just getting your feet wet, but the first release wouldn't be a bad shout:

http://www.moddb.com/mods/stalker-misery/features/features48


Finally, another worth thinking about might be COP Reloaded (I don't want to throw any more at you :D):

http://www.moddb.com/mods/call-of-pripyat-reloaded
 
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Shadow of Chernobyl is my favourite mainly because it was simply the first and opened the doors to the world of Stalker. It also had the most cohesive storyline with a good progression from beginning to end; the others felt a bit sloppy and disjointed in this regard. It also had one of the coolest areas of all the games, the 'wild territory'. I absolutely loved the last portion of the game, the point of no return where you had to make your final journey towards Pripyat and then the reactor. Could remember before I went I kitted myself up with the best gear I had stashed throughout the game, the best armour, rifles etc; felt like one epic one man mission towards belly of the beast. Unfortunately the game when first released was very buggy (still is) and some of the later game mechanics were either missing or underdeveloped. Still, this amongst my top 5 best games ever and I doubt anything will ever replicate the experience on my first play through.

Clearsky was the most ambitious in my opinion and whilst it got a lot or things wrong, it did certain things better than others. I think the environments were better and more interesting, with the fantastic Red Forest area.

Call of Pripyat was good, it was the most stable and polished of the three with some of the best gunplay, but I felt the environments were the least interesting.
 
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arc@css said:
I haven't played the complete mods for a long while, though I enjoyed them a lot (I never quite understood why they got, imo, more than their fair share of negative feedback). I certainly don't recall them being particularly buggy.

However, that said, there will no doubt be a much wider choice available now than there was several years ago.

Off the top of my head, if I was to choose a mod right now for COP I'd at least consider something like SGM (1.7/2.1 are very good):

http://www.moddb.com/mods/sigerous-sgm


I think the most recent version of Misery might be too unforgiving if you're just getting your feet wet, but the first release wouldn't be a bad shout:

http://www.moddb.com/mods/stalker-misery/features/features48


Finally, another worth thinking about might be COP Reloaded (I don't want to throw any more at you :D):

http://www.moddb.com/mods/call-of-pripyat-reloaded
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Thanks man
 
Wow COP looks great with the absolute nature/atmosphere mods installed.

Is there a weapon skin mod thats compatible? I tried searching moddb, but its not finding anything.
 
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