S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat

I've always been fascinated by Chernoybl and urban exploration and this game is the closest thing to scratching that itch for me. The atmosphere (sometimes literally!) is great - storm clouds, oppressive rain, fantastic ambient soundtrack (look up "STALKER Call of Pripyat theme of Zaton Day" on YouTube) and you're surrounded not just by decaying and brown vegetation but the feeling of disaster that Chernoybl should. Wrecked boats on a now-drained bay...Rusted power substations, crashed HIND helicopters. There's so much to explore and discover. But within that death the game somehow has created a living, breathing world. The NPCs are lively and have their own agendas that seem realistic and your choices have consequences. I remember I cleared out an area of tough NPCs in an epic gunfight and while hiding in a tunnel during an "emission" storm, some bandits moved in to the building - only to leave after they say I stripped it clean. Many of these games have repetitive side quests but I felt the ones here were not only engaging and showed excellent effort in their design, but were actually more interesting than the main storyline. And that means a lot in a game like this. As a newbie to the series, it gave me no tutorial - dropped me in a forest with a vague mission guideline and told me to go. That was amazing as I started to figure things out on my own. Also, the game has the right balance of combat and exploration to feel like a "realistic" game world vs. a shoot-em-up. But to call it a walking simulator is very wrong. Highly recommended for FPS RPG fans or anyone interested in urban exploration or Chernobyl itself.

I bought this on sale years ago and then forgot about it. When my gaming laptop died, I had to look for something that would run on my other laptop, and this one caught my eye. I went in with no real expectations, never having read a review of it. What a game. Immersive and complex and with a terrifying world to explore. The first time there was a radiation event I actually panicked. Exploration of the sandbox world is well rewarded. Resolving quests gives you real benefits. And there are elements of real terror. The graphics are fine, perhaps not as polished as you'd see in more recent titles, but these are still good enough to carry the game.

For some context, this is my first S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game, and I've only started playing it recently. At first, I was just lost. Roaming around with little purpose besides exploring as much as I coud, tackling some quests on the way, dealing with the usual STALKER business: trying to get rich and avoid being mauled by roaming mutants or bandits). As I kept exploring, the game just clicked for me... I grew to love the atmosphere. From the (relatively) cozy shelters, the abandoned power plants, the old decaying railways, among others, the environments carry a wealth of character and, at times, ooze history. The encounters only enhance the sense of danger, and they can be satisfying to overcome. Discovering new anomalies that piqued my curiosity as I continue patrolling the zone has always been a treat. All in all, despite its faults—such as poor voice acting (which can be charming, I must admit), occasional bugs, and a forgettable main story—I love this game and believe it deserves the praise it has received.

Played this game for the first time in 2024, after I completed Shadow of Chernobyl and used the openXRay mod. The core gameplay has been improved and finally delivers on the vision of the first game. Looking for artifacts, avoiding anomalies, killing mutants, sneaking in enemy bases... everything works together and the world truly seems alive and not centered around the player. It also was less buggy, with only a few minor bugs and glitches. The difficulty was also more consistent and fair. However, it's not perfect, the story is pretty bad and far less interesting than SOC, the final area is pretty weak, there are some rough edges (no traders in the final area and you need to pay 5K to travel back and forth), loading stutters while traversing the map, which get worse the longer you play... However, it is still definitely worth playing! Now I just gotta wait until I get a giga gpu so I can play STALKER 2...

Can't say what isn't already said about this game. If you like post apocalyptic scenarios, ego shooters and you don't mind some survival feature (eat, drink, sleep) this game might be for you. However it can be the case that this game might not run (or for some reason only on random occasions) with Win 10. If so, you probably find a solution here: https://www.gog.com/forum/stalker_series/call_of_pripyat_wont_launch_1