I'll keep it short. Worst 3D souls-like I've ever played. The devs are incompetent. They think tedium is how to make a game properly difficult. Souls has fun difficulty. This game is not fun. At the end of the game it just becomes straight up unfair in its design with a ridiculously poorly designed and tedious last boss. The last boss alone makes me regret playing this game. Please save your precious time and use it on something else. Don't play this trash.
Although I believe the vanilla experience to be a decent one, which deserves at least one playthrough, what holds this game back from excellence is its lack of polish. I would strongly suggest the MISERY 2 mod for an intense, immersive, and even frightening experience. This mod basically accentuates the game's survival aspect and enhances the atmosphere. Unlike SoC, your behavior here won't have as much of an impact on the ending, but certain choices do matter, thus it's possible to experience a variety of consequences throughout the game. SoC is more story driven, while CoP provides you with a simple purpose and gives you the freedom to traverse its 3 big maps how you please. Play nothing less than the master difficulty if you want the most realistic experience. Unlike other games, the hardest difficulty here doesn't just make you easier to kill; everyone becomes fragile. I simply love this game and can't recommend it enough to other post-apocalypse survival enthusiasts. There are zombies, too. Now get out of here, stalker, and for god's sake, remember to throw a bolt.
