Seems like a decent game that I would buy, but the choice of light colors with neon-like glow and very high contrast is legitimately uncomfortable. I don't know who could function in a space actually lit this way in real life. Far Cry Blood Dragon actually pulled this 80's super retro color scheme, but in SS, it just hurts. Somebodies working for this studio got real high on their artistic vision and forgot to consider how 99% of people see the world and function within it. This is the first game I ever had to not play due to color and lighting choices. If the studio re-masters this remake with lighting that would actually work for a humans to use as a space station or any other similar type of facility, I will buy it. Someone please tell the self-important "artists" who chose this lighting and color scheme that more neutral lighting will actually make the textures and other assets appear more "rich and colorful" and won't blind players.
for me. Okay, I played through this years ago and played it and all the DLCs and thought it was good. However, I tried replaying it recently on my new rig, and I somehow forgot how bad the combat mode taking over control of the player is. I guess my tolerance to this design decision was much higher years ago since Witcher 3 was so well done in other aspects that other games couldn't match. This time, I just couldn't tolerate running away from an enemy and the game forcing "combat mode" and making me turn around to face the enemy even though I am trying to actually evade them. It sucks so bad. I can't stand that. Uninstalled and will never play again. I guess my Witcher 3 experience will forever remain back in the 2010's, rose-tinted glasses and all...
Playing games since I was six years old in the 80's when I got a C64. I am at the point where I just can't play certain older games anymore that I used to be able to play and really get into. This is the most recent example. I actually got into Stalker relatively late and this was my first Stalker game around 15 years ago. I was very immersed and truly got into the game and the "mega-mod" for this which I played after completing Call of Pripyat. They totally immersed me for months. Now I am trying it again, after having tried last year, and I just can't play this anymore. Nowadays, it just feels like an unfinished alpha game. I tried again to play just before writing this and gave up after 3 stalkers just had ZERO reaction to getting attacked by a mutant dog and let themselves get killed. I killed it with no problem. Looking back, I think my early 30's self was more depressed, an alcoholic, and DESPERATE for escapism. This game fit the bill perfectly then. Now I see this just doesn't hold up at all anymore. It just feels like it is a waste of time putting up with it. However, it makes me happy to see how much more discerning I am with my entertainment and happy I am not so desperate for an experience to use precious days of my life just playing this. Glad to have grown out of that sad state of being 15 years ago, but at least the game did fill the void I had for a time. I could never recommend this game to anyone today unless I felt the were truly desperate somehow as I was back then. But even then, I might recommend something else more uplifting. I think the game did fuel some bad drinking even though it was fun at the time. Even writing this review gives me some needed perspective and provides a bit of closure to that period of my life... goodbye old self!
This game is terrible. Can't explore without malaria kicking in and the "open world" is a bunch of corridors and immediately feels claustrophobic. Far Cry 1 is way more free and open despite being split into multiple levels. Lighting is dark. Performance is a slow 60 fps limit whereas I can play newer and older games at 120fps no problem. Not even worth bothering with mods. Have to be a weirdo to give this 5 stars. Come on.
I just want to remind people who are really into FPS that the biggest flaw I notice every time I play is the run speed of the character feels somewhat slow, like fast walking pace at best. This was a period in FPS history where many developers made running in FPS games much slower than the earlier FPS games like Quake, Doom, and Half Life. However, in this case they went a bit too far. Although the run speed isn't as bad as Far Cry 1, which is painful... FEAR still feels outdated in this important regard as well. I have much more fun playing FEAR without using slo-mo, so I wish the character just had a basic sprint move or slightly faster running speed in general. I had modded this aspect before but unfortunately the modding tools don't seem available or I can't find them anymore. The modding tools originally came with the disc versions of the game. Also, the gun animations in FEAR are notchy and not smooth like most other FPS games. Especially with the pistol, he muzzle flash is never consistent and appears in different places during the animation which looks pretty bad. I still love the game, but it's nowhere near perfection when these basic elements are lacking that even mediocre FPS games get correct or better. Other reviews will mention the lack of variety in the enemies and locations, which I agree with, but these two issues I mentioned get ignored for some reason.
but police can NOT drive them.
This is a decent game, but honestly, it's kinda boring. The level design is simplistic and the fighting gets monotonous.
AI is changed on Butcher Bay and totally throws the game off balance since it is now too all knowing. I can not recommend this to experience Butcher Bay properly. Unfortunately, the original Butcher Bay has a mouse bug in Windows 7 so one must use an XP install for it.
Ahh... the stutter. I was hoping the redux version fixed the stutter issues of this game but it doesn't. It's something I could deal with during the first playthrough but it severely hampers subsequent playthroughs for me. It's a shame. The game itself is easily a 5 of 5 that I could replay a few times. This seems to be a curse of Russian oriented games since Stalker: Call of Pripyat has it's own massive stuttering issues and I quit replaying it for similar reasons.
