Chernobylite

This is certainly an interesting game. In theory it basically has all the mechanics that I could ask for. Scavenging... exploring... stealth... customization... branching choices in the story... game looks good... But none of it matters because of three things: 1) The writing is extremely underwhelming - You are trying to find your wife who is a voice in your head but seems to somehow still exist in the Chernobyl zone. Game throws pictures, flashbacks, all sorts of things to try and make you care but sorry it's not good enough. And everything that's not related to the wife is its own thing completely disconnected from the main plot. As a result a lot of the dialog is like useless MMO-style filler and just feels like a sequence of events to justify gameplay not world build or move the main plot. I found the companions exceptionally annoying too. 2) Combat is bad - The enemies are all bullet sponges after the first few days and the stealth ends up not really being possible. Headshots do maybe 50% on a non-helmet enemy with the first gun for a reference point. 3) Timer - If you take too long it starts to storm and a super enemy spawns on a timer a la the Nightmare in Prey (2016). This is not as big a deal as the first two problems but it is just as annoying as in Prey (albeit the guy is more killable than the Nightmare). Why this is even in the game is beyond me when the game is clearly more exploration focused than anything else. It's still an alright game but it definitely could have been much better with a few tweaks to improve it like a better story, more randomization, and less linearity. If you decide to check out youtube gameplay I would recommend watching a let's play over a review because I watched a review before buying and I did not come away with an accurate impression how it plays.

The game is a great one so far. You have to scavange for ressources to expand your base, finish missions, several side objectives and actually a nice story. As for an early access tilte this game already has a lot of content and you will be busy for a longer time. Especially when returning to already visited places, you will most likely always find something new. However, compared to the version provided on Steam, this game is days, sometimes weeks behind the Steam version. And therefor I'm unfortunately asking myself if I ever should buy an Early Access game on GOG again.

After checking the game in Early Access, I am very positively surprised. The creators have incredibly reproduced the atmosphere of the Zone - the atmosphere is dense and the graphics are surprisingly good. Associations with the STALKER series are perfectly in place, although a huge map is missing - individual locations are separate maps to which we get from the base. I don't know if this mechanics will survive until the final version, but it would be great if instead of choosing a point on the map they had at their disposal a whole hub from which one could go to other places. The game also has an intriguing story, combining sci-fi themes, the missing wife of the main character, his participation in the Chernobyl disaster. The creators skilfully combined the atmosphere of horror and survival. The only thing that causes mixed feelings is the expansion of the base in the fashion of Fallout 4 - we set up craft tables, generators - I like it on average :P At least for the expansion no horendual amounts of raw materials are required. Currently, the game has quite a lot of content, several locations are missing, and the optimization is not the best, but it's Early Acces - I've seen projects in a much worse technical condition. To sum up - I definitely recommend the title, especially to fans of the Stalker series. I hope that the creators will add some "momentum" to the size of the maps to feel the enormity of the Zone.

I've had to restart my game twice now. On my third attempt, I just stopped playing. After I get to a point in the game (No spoilers) It takes away my radiation detector and teleportation gun for no reason, they just disappear, then I can't leave a mission. I just get stuck in the same mission with no way of leaving the mission front. As far as I'm concerned, this game is still in Alpha.

I played this game for over 40 hours so here's my opinion that I divided into five points. 1) Story and characters I really liked the story of Chernobylite and characters. I just wanted to know what will happen and how everything got so messed up. Plus your team is a band of really weird but nice characters. I love Mikhail and yes, listening to "Sex, Kvas and Hard Bass" changed my opinion about music. 2) Sound And while we are talking about music I also liked it. It adds to the atmosphere and it is enjoyable. I didn't got bored. Weapons do not kick like a mule and maybe they went into a more realistic approach with. Anyway I hoped that shotgun will have this more kickass sound, but that's just me. 3) Weapons I like the idea of modding them, but I just wish there could have been more of them. Like two pistols, two shotguns etc. And the fact that I can't get my hands on NAR carbine is just something that I cannot forget. I mean this gun looks awesome! I want to try it and shoot stuff with it and... oh well. 4) Scary moments are nice There are some scary moments in this game and while they are fun I hoped that there will be more of them. Farm 51 if you will ever read this please, try to expand on them and give us more of them in your next game or expanions or sequel or wherever they would fit just fine. 5) Leveling up Getting skills is nice. More damage, better scanner, more HP etc. But why in God's name did you had to put this info about new level in the center of the screen? And why you slow gameplay while doing it? In the corner would be fine, instead I can't see a damn thing when shooting to enemies. Anyway it's not a fast paced FPS like DOOM, instead you have to take it slow to eliminate enemies, think about your base, supplies, reducing harmful efect during missions etc. This game is good and I had fun with it, but I also think, that it has potential to be something really, really awesome. Maybe in sequel?