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

I remember the time I spent waiting for the release of Shadow of Chernobyl, and even though it was buggy it still is one of my favourite FPS games ever. After a few playthroughs I lost interest in STALKER series, so I started playing the sequels pretty late. While Clear Sky was bugged into oblivion to the point of unplayability, the Call of Prypiat is pretty well made. Of course not much changed, since they used the same assets for all three games, so graphically it's identical. The biggest problem with that game is that it feels... short. 3 areas in total, each self contained and sparsely populated. While the areas are decent in size, the problem is, that they are empty. And not empty as: "ooh, deserted villages, some leftover cars and some scenery that actually makes you curious", but "oh no, I need to walk through that road, where there's nothing besides grass and nothing ever happens AGAIN". So the most time in game is spent not exploring, talking or fighting, but just walking between points. It felt way more organic in ShOC. I really like how they changed the anomalies, so that they are grouped together and artifacts spawn inbetween, that's actually pretty good. The number of quests is only half decent, and they are pretty easy even on hardest difficulty. So you basically just effortlessly slide through the game with no chalenge, and the only thing that keeps you from finishing early is either your greed, walking or waiting for events to trigger. My biggest issue is with Prypiat location. You land in an almost legendary city, and there is nothing there. A few mutants, a few zombies, that's it. It's empty, quiet and sunny. It does not build the atmosphere as it did in ShOC. Moreover, there are almost no quests and most buildings are basically closed for exploration and just stand as big brick blocks of scenery. So that's my opinion: a good game, however it is short and uneventful. Oh, and the ending is so anticlimactic, that you wouldn't believe.

The best of the three stalker games released. This game offers horror, jump scares (unscripted), fps and alot of story and places that I experienced breathtaking and really caught the desolate and gloomy feeling. I like the stalker series because it offers something different than the regular type of mainstream games out there. However to get the best out of call of pripryath you need to update it with the pripryath reclamation patch, that improves the game in terms of game technical aspects and makes it simply work better. The reclamation patch can be found here: https://www.moddb.com/downloads/pripyat-reclamation-patch-v11-improved-inventory-icons If you want to experience something different, you should give the stalker series a shot.

This game is certainly the most polished of the franchise. I personally enjoyed it the most out of the three. It is a lot more open and feels really great - but I think the part that most amazed me (and makes me STILL play it) is the emergent gameplay. Every once in a while, a wave of anomalous energy will hit the region. You HAVE to get into cover during that, or you will die - but so does every human NPC. In the middle of a battle with mercenaries when the air-raid siren anounces the wave? You will ALL have to get into cover. It makes for such great stories. For added fun, look to modding. I personally don't mod my games much, but there is one for this game that makes these anomaly waves even more interestint - it makes it so that every human NPC caught in the wave gets turned into a mindless zombie. So, overall: this is just plain great. The feel of scavenging, of surviving, of becoming more badass not through leveling up, but through getting better gear and making better decisions is very strong in this one.

I spent about 2 months looking at this series wondering if I should buy it and I found that those 2 months were a waste of time! I shoulda bought this game the day I saw it! I have something like 36 hours in this game so far and I think it's either the best or second best out of the 3 STALKER titles the only one rivaling it would be the original title Shadow of Chernobyl. Cons: Really small payable area compared to first 2 games however the world feels alot more fleshed out and many more things have a purpose unlike the original that just felt like alot of unfinished empty space so is this really that much of a con? I guess that's up to personal opinion. Dumb AI (At times) Enemies take alot of bullets sometimes (But this can be fixed with mods however my first playthrough I played with none and had a blast so again is this really that big of a con?) Kind of boring anti climactic ending (The biggest con in my opinion) Pros: Amazing satisfying gameplay, always on the edge of my seat. Weapon upgrade system is perfected, Far less glitches (by far less I mean almost none) compared to the first two titles in the series. More interesting charachters. Better weapon animations. Despite its age this game still manages to make me almost crap my pants at times because the suspense and sense of vulnurability is done very well. Overall great game. I would reccomend this to anybody that likes hardcore survival horror games.

This game can be best described as the mirror polish that Shadow Of Chernobyl and Clear Sky deserved to be. This game still isn't without its flaws that can break the flow somewhat, but not to the crash happy extent that Clear Sky was and the 'barely out of beta' state the original had. It's recommended this one be played last since this is the final part of the trilogy.