Chernobylite

... with a dash of Metal Gear: Survive Definitely a work in progress. Good visuals. Audio and writing could use some work. Dialog is quite cheesy and there are some issues with translation. Performance will hopefully be optimized. My older laptop (GTX970M) runs at about 35FPS in medium settings and freezes occasionally. Fairly cool concept, base building adds some novelty to it. Will keep an eye on updates

The game is an obvious interpretation/iteration of the STALKER franchise. Therefore, temper your expectations and keep an open mind. Similarities: * Chernobyl location: landmarks, musty bunkers, shady tunnels, secret labs and Soviet posters * The essence of the stalker profession/mentality/behavior/'gopnikhood' * Atmosphere: better than STALKER due to being much more recent, realistic and impressive graphically * FPS, inventory management & weapon customization Differences: * Day-based exporation over several smaller maps instead of the free-roam in STALKER * Better storytelling: no exposition! * Murky morality: NPCs are presented from several biased viewpoints, obscuring the villains and saints. The player can also act like a psycho * Well-defined NPCs: each has a decent backstory and a set of opinions * Heavy branching with consequences and revisiting of prior decisions * Team morale management: much more impactful and time consuming than one could think! * Base building: lots of manufacturing machines, air/radiation/electricity generators * No humor - everybody is goal-oriented. No guitars, campfires or atrocious jokes * No bugs or crashes Unique points: * Innovative editing of story decisions: enables building an alternate reality with desired outcomes * Realistic representation of chunks of contemporary Chernobyl - detailed and nostalgic * A separate stat for mental stress caused by killing - such a simple idea! * Color commentary from the NPCs is quite interesting Negatives: * The game's AA grade is clearly visible if one becomes bored and starts poking at things * The English voiceovers are hit-or-miss: the main character is voiced like a funny British professor (aka Monty Python), which stands out like a sore thumb in this depressing world * Combat is uninspiring. Wonky stealth, certain superpowered tactics * Horror is superfluous in this game - it is dark as it is In total, I enjoyed the experience and would recommend it

Just finished the game, and enjoyed it all the way! The game is set in Chernobyl, years after the accident at the power plant. You are quickly introduced to a varity of enemies and the harsh enviroment. There is a base-build-management type of system, just like in Fallout 4 and it works flawlessly! You have companions that you can send out on "mini-missions" to gather ressources. You can choose to sneak, or "Rambo" your way through the game. Story is captivating and keeps you invested in the game - you wanna know more and more. There is no time-limit. Take your time and enjoy the ride. ---{ Graphics }--- ☐ You forget what reality is ☑ Beautiful ☐ Good ☐ Decent ☐ Bad ☐ Don‘t look too long at it ☐ MS-DOS ---{ Gameplay }--- ☑ Very good ☐ Good ☐ It's just gameplay ☐ Mehh ☐ Watch paint dry instead ☐ Just don't ---{ Audio }--- ☐ Eargasm ☑ Very good ☐ Good ☐ Not too bad ☐ Bad ☐ I'm now deaf ---{ Audience }--- ☐ Kids ☐ Teens ☑ Adults ☐ Grandma ---{ PC Requirements }--- ☐ Check if you can run paint ☐ Potato ☑ Decent ☐ Fast ☐ Rich boi ☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer ---{ Difficulty }--- ☐ Just press 'W' ☐ Easy ☑ Easy to learn / Hard to master ☐ Significant brain usage ☐ Difficult ☐ Dark Souls ---{ Grind }--- ☐ Nothing to grind ☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks ☐ Isn't necessary to progress ☑ Average grind level ☐ Too much grind ☐ You'll need a second live for grinding ---{ Story }--- ☐ No Story ☐ Some lore ☐ Average ☐ Good ☑ Lovely ☐ It'll replace your life ---{ Game Time }--- ☐ Long enough for a cup of coffee ☐ Short ☐ Average ☑ Long ☐ To infinity and beyond ---{ Price }--- ☐ It's free! ☑ Worth the price ☐ If it's on sale ☐ If u have some spare money left ☐ Not recommended ☐ You could also just burn your money ---{ Bugs }--- ☐ Never heard of ☑ Minor bugs ☐ Can get annoying ☐ ARK: Survival Evolved ☐ The game itself is a big terrarium for bugs ---{ ? / 10 }--- ☐ 1 ☐ 2 ☐ 3 ☐ 4 ☐ 5 ☐ 6 ☐ 7 ☐ 8 ☑ 9 ☐ 10

For early access I feel pricing is highly relevant, is the asking price worth it in the games current state 2019-10-24? As beautiful as the world is there isn't much in it to do. There are very few locations, what is there, missionwise, has been bland. The AI is abysmal, you'll see two guys standing side by side, you murder one guy with a sneak attack and then proceed to "sneak" attack the other guy who noticed nothing. There are plenty of early access grievances. It can totally end up a much better game than stalker, but in its current state I feel it is both more expensive and a lot worse. 2019-10-24

The atmosphere is decent, but when the game tries to flex for horror the only thing it really has going for it is jump scares, which isn't typically "horror". What scares someone is personal, subjective, but that doesn't mean we don't have decades of exploring the art of horror to learn more about the human psyche; jumping to sudden sensory assault isn't the same as something causing terror within a person, and the game almost exclusively attempts at the former (sometimes entirely randomly with zero build up of tension) while having not much of anything to present to actually instill fear within the player. For its other mechanics the game is a little weak due to missions not being timed and resource management not being terribly difficult. If anything the "spookiness" and storms hitting kind of clash with the main atmosphere when exploring. Overall below average; shallow attempts at horror holding back a strong, even if derivative, gameplay foundation.