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

Nothing feels quite like STALKER, but it can be an acquired taste. Call of Pripyat does away with many of the frustrations of the previous games and just functions as an excellent and unique shooter. The game is much more open, has a fully working and balanced economy, a fast travel system, a great repair and upgrade system but still retains the atmosphere and tone that made "Shadow of Chernobyl" such an alternative classic. A few notes of mods; the one modification i would recommend out of the box is the "Visible range mod" as it vastly improves the dismal draw distance and look of the game with minimal impact of frame rates.

This is the best of the series. It may be more constrained but it is largely bug free compared to the other two games. Call of Pripyat is an open world FPS RPG. While you won't be choosing any stats for your character you will be making decisions about firearms and suit mods and you will eventually be able to choose which artifacts you want equipped. She shooting has a heavy emphasis on realism but it is still quite fun. I would recommend switching your gun off of full auto. Think of a combination of Fallout and Counter Strike. I love this game.

Are you one of those people who buy old games, think you will replay them, and end up being turned off after an hour at the most? CoP is one of those rare exceptions to that rule for me. It is still so fresh, gameplay and the survival elements are absolutely satisfying. Exploration is heavily rewarded. It's so much fun hunting/saving for better equipment and the atmosphere, while nothing will surpass the first entry to this series, is taking you in deeper and deeper the more you play. And with some mods (hint: get the COMPLETE mod - one dowload, quick install and you're all set) it even looks so damn pretty. GET THIS GAME!

CoP is one of those games where the stars align and everything just clicks. It's basically everything I'd hoped for when I first played SoC. As with the prior games, it's an atmospheric depressioncore shooter. All the changes from CS are retained, sans the faction war system. They are better implemented this time. The game plays out mostly on three huge maps, each containing a safe area or two with accessible technicians. Backtracking for repairs never feels excessive. The world contains many points of interest without feeling overly linear. The first two games had nearly everything take place along a roadside with a bunch of empty wilderness outside the road. The changes CoP makes are minor but appreciated. Helmets are separate gear from suits and may be upgraded to your liking, stashes may now be looted before you have the coordinates, coordinates are now received from quests and not randomly from dead bodies. More significantly, you will be fighting many more mutants this time. There are several instances of snork swarms. As such, this game actually makes shotguns a viable option compared to the previous games. It does the same for the RPG-7 and Gauss rifle, which you can now acquire and put to use at reasonable times. There are super tough mutant enemies such as chimeras where their use would actually be warranted as well. I really loved the anomaly clusters too, great way to show how the Zone warps the world. People sometimes complain about them but I can't recall any instances of solo anomalies in the prior games. They feel like they have more weight this time. If I have anything bad to say about CoP, it's that your starting gear is a bit too good. But honestly it doesn't take too long to get the good stuff in the other games. My experience was hardly ruined. CoP is a flawless, captivating game. It plays up S.T.A.L.K.E.R's strengths and removes its weaknesses. 5 stars is rare from me, but this is a rare game. It deserves everything I have.

Not the best story-wise, but definitely the best gameplay-wise in the whole trilogy. Also, amazing atmosphere, but that's to be expected. Seriously, I've spent more time exploring the zone rather than playing through the story. You can take a stalker out of the Zone, but you can't take the Zone out of a stalker.