S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl

When I think back to this game it's like journey memories. At first very intimidated by the Zone, I ended up feeling at home there. It's dangerous. Odd. Realistic and surreal. Living. Creepy. Everything in the environment was whispering to me, like, "This time the humans with their ideologies and technology have really, really screwed up. To the point where reality itself has some bugs. Some anomalies. And now it's too late." But the autumn night wind was still blowing through the poplars, a few lost Stalkers still warmed their bodies and hearts around a flaming barrel, sharing guitar tunes, vodka and anecdotes to make dawn rise faster, perhaps also to stop hearing the distant grunts... The devs managed to communicate to me a part of their emotional connection for the region of Ukraine where they grew up.

This is not even close to a perfect game. It's rather obtuse with the story; there's a few "fake" endings and a couple "real" ones, and getting the real one feels like side missions until it all comes together. Some sequences are hard hard, as in, I tend to play games on the second easiest difficulty, as I left the part of my life where challenge itself was a driving factor of fun, and now I'm really just here for story and gameplay; even on the easier difficulties, as you sit in god-tier armor, guns that fit your exact playstyle, enough medkits to open a hospital yourself, there are parts of the end where you need to fight during the daytime with your back to a wall and something bulletproof in front of you to have a good chance of winning that gunfight. The story is delivered mostly through fetch quests, and you're running the whole time, because you usually don't need to go back, invalidating the merit of fast travel between hubs. All that complaining to say, I'd give it a 4.5 out of 5 if I could, but I can't so I'm rounding up instead of down, because it's worth it. This and both of its sequels are games that you play through and think at times, "Ugh, what a slog." When you finish them however, you feel like something is missing from your life, like finishing a good book. Its pieces are a mess, but when assembled, form a wonderful art piece, and you understand the obsession so many people have with this series.

+ The first of the series that sets a good base for the rest of the series plot-wise. + Game has iconic voice acting and "script writing" (whether intentional or not) that continues to ensure that it's always going to be a well-loved game. + Relatively realistic gun play. + Nice and atmospheric. + Modding community is very active and continues to support the game long after the developers have moved onto develop newer games. - Glitchy.

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 shadow of chernobyl you need to update it with the shadow of chernobyl starter pack, that improves the game in terms of game technical aspects and makes it simply work better. The starter pack can be found here: https://www.moddb.com/mods/starter-pack/downloads If you wan to experience something different, you should give the stalker series a shot.

This is the most brutally honest FPS that I have ever experienced, in that it will make a grown man nearly piss himself in fear even though he's armed to the teeth! To say the atmosphere, tactics, realism etc is top-notch comes as an absolute understatement, borders on outright exaggeration! once you walk out of that bunker, you'll be gifted to a living in a world that genuinely feels like an eastern European country that has been overrun with mutants and environmental corruption. It still feels real enough that the NPCs are still well rooted in reality enough to convincingly form factions and carry on their lives even in such a barren environment as this. I whole heartedly recommend this game! I bought two of three of the Stalker saga on steam for seven bucks, however, once I saw it on GOG I had to get it immediately, and even though I spent $22 for the complete saga, (Well over the steam vers) I feel I got the much better deal via gog mainly due to the fact that with gog you don't need to have an internet connection at your home to play/install your games! I lost my internet connection in 2011 and at the same time got a glitch in my SOC installation, thereby making it impossible to install/play my game for 3 yrs!