The free version is just enough and I had fun with it for 2 days. You can play a free campaign called the curse. At about mission 4 you really have to pay attention and on mission 5 it gets very hard. With enemies coming from everywhere, ambushing you, running away so you get stuck between armies, ... You get wiped out very fast and have to load old saves a lot. It reminds me of the fantasy wars and elven legacy games but without the move limit. Just as difficult and instead of the move limit they just throw more and more enemies at you, including wildlife (including giant dragons, kinda cool) that attacks you while you are facing enemy armies. After this free prologue I have had enough. There are other similar games that I like more, are a bit more forgiving and keep it more interesting, Warlock for instance. This game is just battle after battle and some upgrading of units. Could be a smarthpone game. Only for the hardcore fans I think.
This free version is just enough. You can play a free campaign called the curse. At about mission 4 you really have to pay attention and on mission 5 it gets very hard. With enemies coming from everywhere, ambushing you, running away so you get stuck between armies, ... You get wiped out very fast and have to load old saves a lot. It reminds me of the fantasy wars and elven legacy games but without the move limit. Just as difficult and instead of the move limit they just throw more and more enemies at you, including wildlife that attacks you while you are facing enemy armies. After this free prologue I have had enough. There are other similar games that I like more and keep it more interesting, Warlock for instance. This game has no story, is just battle after battle and some upgrading of units. Could be a smarthpone game.
I own the game on another platform and tried it for 2 hours. I didn't like it, so for me a 1 star review. Maybe it's the genre but I liked layers of fear and that's a bit the same. I completely agree with the review of M3n747. I just ran passed everything untill I could not do anything anymore. Then I looked up a guide on youtube. And for me even with a guide the puzzle with the first vehicle just did not work. Oh and after 2 hours I quit and tried to go back again to try another time. The game did not save because I did not solve something. And it can't be saved manually. So all my progress was lost. After that I gave up. Maybe I'll watch a playtrough or something for the story but I won't be playing it myself. I respect the people that like this, it has great graphics and maybe a good story but as a game I want something else. Not just pressing button for walking and looking at things. Then I'd rather go walking in the local forest.
I get bored fast by games and loose my interest fast. With STALKER SOC however it's the first time since the elder scrolls morrowind that I can play for hours on end. The world is full of life with very good atmosphere. To get some better graphics I installed the complete mod, just looking at the modding community for this game you can see I'm not the only one that fell in love with the game. This game is old but there is still a big active community. This game is a combination of FPS and survival horror. I'm now about 35 hours in the game and just now I'm learning a bit more about the history of my character, the missions and side missions are interesting and keep drawing you in. I don't have the feeling that I'm doing chores. I choose what I want and do what I want. I don't have a lot of experience in FPS but I like the way the game plays. It seems realistic enough. Guns draw up when firing for a long time so firing in short bursts is better, ... It's definitively not an easy game, I'm not a hardcore gamer and play on novice and it's still a good challenge. You have to be on your guard all the time for everything. Bandits that surprise you, all kinds of animals, fire, radiation, electric charges, ... The game also has a day and night cycle and weather changes. The Russian talking and the music in bars, played by people in camps sitting by a fire all add to the immersion. Also the fact that everyone is in the game for their own goal is nice, you are just one of the people trying to survive, you can join others or choose not to. You hear conversations everywhere or shooting and fighting nearby or far. You can choose to help or just stand and look from a far how another Stalker gets eaten by something. In short, I have fallen in love with the game and just want to push on in the story to see what else STALKER SOC throws at me, for me a definite 5/5 game.
I was scared to play this game, everyone saying that it is very hard and difficult. I like making choices and thinking about my party and their skills and gear but I don't want things like getting maried, think about what you want for dinner or doing my laundry before I go out on a quest. I have a real life for that. Back to difficulty, it isn't difficult, that is if you take the right steps. You can go everywhere you want in the game but the game doesn't let you roam freely because you simply can't defeat an enemy in your path (yet). Creating the party is another choice to consider not doing yourself. I have a balanced team with everything I need to enjoy the game. Music, sounds, atmosphere, food and gathering system is all good. Fighting is where the game is different from games like baldur's gate. You get a first person view of the enemies and you can switch characters from front to back row or sideways. Of course best to keep your fightcrew in front and support from my healing- singing- and firetrowingcrew in the back. It can be difficult and frustrating, you miss a lot and you fail a lot but if you don't attack everything you see it all works out. It is turn based and you can think about your choice so speed and skill isn't needed. Beautiful game world for me. Lots of people to interact with and you don't have to talk to everyone for an hour. The story, seeing your party getting better with your choices and the not to much micromanaging are just right for me. You develop in the game with every step, I never have the feeling that I have to grind a lot to advance and I don't need to much backtracking. conclusion: A very nice game with a good atmosphere, just the perfect amount of managing and overthinking your skills and inventory and a difficulty that keeps you going the right way but not putting me of from playing the game. Who will like it? People that like baldur's gate that don't want to much choices and like the idea of the different fighting system.
When I started the game I said what a fun game with some cool things. Very nice music, fun that the world builds around you as you go along and fun gameplay. I played it with a controller. It's pure hack and slash game. The narrator is cool too with some jokes about your playing and everything you're doing. There is a story but after a while I didn't listen anymore. After about 75 % of the game I got bored of it and just wanted it to end. After you finish the game you can play a story mode again with every weapon at your disposal and all buildings but I don't feel the need to play again. so conclusion for me: fun in between game (when you don't want to think a lot) that is maybe just long enough, nice graphics and very good music
