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

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.

The game is great. Think Resident Evil crossed with a darker version of the Fallout type environment and Half-Life level of weirdness and story. Captures atmosphere perfectly. Graphics: Nothing special by todays standards but for their time great. The tone is excellent and will really bury you in the zone. Further there are tons of mods to improve texture quality out there that are pretty easy to install. Sound: Pretty great, and atmospheric. Gameplay: Terrific for an open world shooter/survival horror type game. Has a few issues with the engine lagging as it loads in the enemy AI, will be experieced as stutter and there isnt a lot you can do about it -search google for ini settings tweaks. Hits register well and hit boxes are accurate, at higher difficulties enemies can be sponges if you arent going for the head and the combat relies on you being stealthy/careful and not trying to Ironman groups (get used to sniping and creeping your way in to areas). Can equip 2 weapons and an armour suit and helment that have different bonuses (higher combat survival versus higher environmental hazard etc), along with 'artifacts' - magic stat boost items that have bonuses but usually penalties too (until the top tier ones later which have mostly just bonuses). Lots of guns to choose from but will probably fall to the usual 1xSniper and 1xAssault/SMG weapon. Bit of an inventory management game involved due to the guns and ammo types, armours and healing supplements etc. Lots of quests and exploring available. It has a few flaws though in the mechanics of the enemies behaving like they are psychic and have super strength to throw grenades. Engine can crash randomly. Mods:There are overhaul mods that are excellent to try, many of the better ones try to make the game torture and more hardcore (I Work Alone mod, Misery mod - Black Road start), they are interesting but tend to skew heavily certain ways and make some of the problems from vanilla worse. Definitely worth trying.