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

Stalker is one of the most atmospheric and super real games. For those like me, who want to live a virtual life throughout a video game, this is the best choice. I read about real accident and watched two documentaries just to be closer to the story line and atmosphere. That's mastery of impact on player. That's the best game in genre I ever played.

Call of Pripyat is a significantly smaller game than Shadow of Chernobyl. It's notecably shallower in every aspect but the equipment aspects and quest variety, but it doesn't stop this game from eating through your free time as soon as you get engaged with quests. This game has a lot of value thanks to relatively rich game world - there are plenty of abandoned undergrounds to visit, plenty of quest related items to find and there certainly is horror feeling to some areas, the only drawback of new level design approach is that all key locations are somewhat tightly packed close to each other, making it a bit too easy to reach to safer areas - doesn't feel lonely enough, really. Handcrafted, branching quests are real saviors of this game. This quest system actually plays out like in Fallout 2 where you can see consequences of your actions in the end. The quests are in fact so well made, Bethesda could envy GSC. It's a solid game which could have been better if the developers took another few months and focused on art-style, weather system and ambience as well as repeatable quests and better base gameplay mechanics. At least it was extremely stable even without patches. Definitely recommended, just wish this game was larger!

Well perhaps not metro but somewhere between that and fallout. The setting is an alternate reality where an incident at Chernobyl created a strange zone where laws of nature break down and mutants and radiation are a constant threat. Braving these threats lured by mysterious artifacts are the stalkers... The game features a free-roaming world like Far Cry 2 consisting of 3 medium sized areas that can be fast traveled back and forth. Graphic-wise, with the use of the "complete" mod the game looks very nice and I must say night and weather were better than say Fallout NV. I especially liked the lightning during storms. There are some not especially memorable quests. They do, however, set the mood and tone. Combat is mostly satisfying and different opponents require different strategies. For example there is one mutant that can see you only when you move. Human opponents display somewhat decent AI and you will be flashed out with grenades if you camp. There are a lot of hidden stuff for the explorers to find and some of them are pretty hard to reach. There were some issues with merchants and weapon damage (merchants not buying less than 75% durability items and some weapons felt like bb-guns) but these can be edited. Lastly, the game supports modding and there are quite a few mods out there that enhance and add to gameplay and graphics. Most importantly though, anyone can change many game parameters as easily as editing a text file. I didn't give the game 5 stars cause it could do better and have more content but make no mistake the game deserves your time and it will keep you entertained.

The game has become a classic by this point and I keep coming back to the series to keep enjoying them. I have a Windows XP PC just for games like that, never have had any problems. Heads up to fellow "retro" gamers, they have a lot of games that for some reason after years of showing real minimum requirements have been changed to a newer OS. I knew that they have been changed because when I got this game I had no idea what the other specs meant, I only knew that I had Windows XP and it worked great on it. The support for an older OS was the reason I stayed.

The plot and the main missions of this game is the least, just feel The Zone in this masterpiece of the trilogy. Play and keep playing, being a STALKER in a vast area never was so fun. Once you finish this game just stay and wander around a bit, Zaton, Jupiter and Prypiat, still alive and The Zone too. Catch all the special weapons, artifacts, ammo, and kill all the mutants. Easter eggs are everywhere. Replaying is always good too.