Posts from S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl

Here, I'd like to discuss this game and find out if anyone else has played it. First, a brief overview of the plot. It's the present day, 2008. A piece of land is covered by some kind of infection, radiation clusters and anomalies appear, and creatures mutate into monsters. This entire area is called the Zone and is constantly increasing in size. We play as a stalker nicknamed "Marked," who has lost his memory. Marked has an unfinished task: "Kill Strelok," but perhaps this is a flaw in the script, as we quickly understand WHO this Strelok is. The game is a shooter, but it's structured like an RPG. That is, we are given tasks, we complete them, and we receive bonuses: money, armor, artifacts, or weapons. My impressions: It's a shame that there isn't an open territory like in Oblivion; the locations are, in principle, the size of a standard action-level. It's a shame that the focus wasn't on the mutants: they are there, but you won't find any special tasks or storylines directly related to them or that reveal them in any way. The only exception is the trip to the laboratory to see the poltergeists (where it's really creepy at first :)), and encounters at night with vampires. Oh yes, there are also Controllers, but unfortunately, you encounter these creatures very rarely (I only saw three in the entire game). What I REALLY liked: the atmosphere and landscapes are reminiscent of a picture of our village after winter. :) The everyday life is excellent: stalkers tell jokes, play the guitar, tell stories, and even though the jokes are repeated, it all adds a noticeable dose of realism. What's also disappointing: the tasks are not original and are repetitive, so it's better to go through the main missions as a stalker, occasionally taking on tasks for money (for example, you can take pieces of creatures to scientists; they will also ask for a spacesuit, which you will find in the storyline). Tasks like "Destroy the camp" are annoying, as soon as you enter any location, BUT there are also some advantages; for example, you can shoot mutants or bandits along the way and earn some money. About the bugs: there are many... there are very many... But they can be avoided, so I will tell you about some of them. The task to infiltrate Agroprom: if you don't exit Strelok's hideout and enter the Agroprom territory, but instead go closer, the same way you came, and approach Agroprom from the outside, then the checkpoint will remain as the main task, making it difficult to navigate the other tasks. The checkpoint also doesn't update if you don't talk to a stalker before going down into the hideout. There is a bug at the Dolg base: due to an error in the game, mercenaries may be generated there. If you encounter mercenaries, don't kill them; it's better to sneak past them or run away, otherwise, half of the Dolg base will declare you a violator of order and shoot you on the way. There are other bugs, but I can't remember them right now. I would also like to talk about the plot, but I'll see if anyone else has played the game

Of course, I played it.
Back then, I eagerly awaited the game. I even got a little annoyed with the developers when they kept delaying the release, claiming they needed to "add three more polygons to the pig and the bandit."
And the previews, the trailers...

But I got tired of waiting and lost interest in the project. When it was suddenly released, I downloaded and installed it without much anticipation.
At first, I liked it; the illusion of a "huge world," roaming groups of mutants and thugs, "sitting around the campfire."
But soon, it became clear that the "huge world" was limited by the plot, albeit not too strictly;
the groups of constantly respawning bandits, whom you can quickly and easily cut down with a knife or simply run past, start to annoy with their dull monotony and idiocy;
and sitting around the campfire after half an hour of gameplay is perceived only as an eye-catching script, which it is.
To be honest, I expected much more from "Stalker."
Although I wasn't disappointed, for the reason mentioned above.
There's no feeling of a "gun" in your hands; all the weapons, up to the middle of the game, except for the powerful but low-capacity shotgun, are not impressive; constantly eating bandages during a firefight is depressing, and the money, which you can't really spend, the quests, for which you need to receive the reward exactly on time, which doesn't allow you to go on a long raid, the size of the backpack, which constantly throws you off balance, and so on, and so on – all this makes you yawn sadly...
Moreover, the illusion of a huge world completely disappears due to the loading between strictly limited locations, boring gameplay, and the inability to "live" in it. To live, as you can do in Rangers, and even in the Oblivion, which I don't like, to live, as in Fallout or the "pseudo-nonlinear" Fable...
In general, I didn't like it.
Many are simply swayed by the loud name of the long-awaited project. They think that since they waited so long, they need to convince themselves that the game is not a complete failure, but a real hit, because otherwise, their consciousness will be overwhelmed by crushing disappointment.

What's wrong with it? It's a good game. Well done, they captured the world of the Strugatsky brothers very well. The other components are also well thought out. However, it's a bit monotonous and starts to get boring after a while.

I played it, and I liked everything... except for one thing: the ending. I played through it so many times, and in the end, I was overwhelmed by beams. :( :( :( :( :(

There's a catch...

Loken! Install Arcomage 1.4...
There are rumors that Arcomage served as the basis for HALF of the ideas in "Clear Sky." It's worth it... And after the patch (the VERY FIRST one:)), money becomes a NECESSITY, and armor breaks VERY quickly...

The endings are interesting! I had three of them. After the выброс, I entered the sarcophagus and saved, and then I tried different approaches. No, not exactly. First, I found the monolith, made a wish: "This world is imperfect, people are evil, etc.," and, well, everyone died. I didn't like this outcome, so I reloaded, went further, and found a secret room. There, they said something like, "It's the scientists' fault, and you want to fix it?" So, I first agreed, and it ended with a final cutscene where the main hero puts on a helmet and starts "DOOMing" with the other scientists... I didn't like this outcome either, so I reloaded, killed the scientists, and ended up in the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant area, where I went on a long journey through portals. There, at the end, we blow up some kind of thing, and in the cutscene, everything is calm, grass is growing, the Marked One says that he doesn't know if he did the right thing, but grass is growing around, and a dragonfly is flying. I don't know about the beams; can you provide more details? And also, what other endings have people encountered in the game besides these?

Added 2 minutes ago
I have patch 1.0004; there, armor really breaks quickly, but there's enough money from looting. You can only get rich on artifacts and pieces of mutants from the scientists.

I would like to discuss this game and find out if anyone else has played it.

I played it, completed it on two difficulty levels, and saw 6 endings :)
It's an excellent shooter (the best one I've played), with gameplay that is unusual for this genre.
Overall, I really enjoyed the game; it's a shame it's so short :( I hope the next installment will be longer.

Sincerely, VDV_forever

What other endings are there, how can I view them, and what are the requirements for unlocking them? Regarding the game being short, that was a bit disappointing. I wasn't really looking forward to it, I just saw a preview on Igromania (a long time ago, maybe 2 years ago or more). They presented the game as a huge open world, showed a quest for an artifact, and said it would take a long time. What the developers did particularly well was the sky. It's not exactly beautiful (gray clouds like before rain), but it's made so realistically that it's almost unsettling. Now I'm waiting for the expansion, hopefully not for another 8 years....

What other endings are there, how can I view them, and what are the requirements for unlocking them?

It would take a long time to write everything from memory, and I don't remember everything, so I'll provide links to detailed information:

Complete walkthrough of the game (EVERYTHING about the game STALKER)

Description of the endings in the game

Sincerely, VDV_forever

Damn. I only played through it once, and I also got the ending where all the beams collapse. I'm not entirely sure, but I heard that this ending is triggered if you accumulate a lot of money. And I was doing just fine with loot and trophies from corpses... So, I ended up with a ton of money.

What idiocy... It seems this article about the endings is supposed to be funny, but besides the nonsensical wordplay, you won't get anything out of it (in terms of normal reading). But now I understand that there are only 3 real endings. Monolith simply offers a choice of videos. I just completed the story missions, without interfering in the conflicts between Freedom and Duty, and didn't visit the military outpost, and I got the "Kill Them All" ending... This Monolith is strange.:)

I played it twice, and both times, all the interest evaporated at the same point. I also played with the patch; the breakable armor is good, it adds some variety to the monotony, but I wonder, who will pay exorbitant amounts for an exoskeleton that will quickly break down and cannot be repaired? So, after the patch, it's all about strafing and using cover. What I really liked was when I took on quests to kill stalkers, slowly setting up camp on a hill, waiting for the victim to settle down by the campfire, a gentle press of the trigger, a precise shot, a hole in the back of the head, my meal, and then – on my way, for the money. That was interesting. ...clearing the village of bloodsuckers... These moments were interesting because they were *atmospheric*. But... There aren't many of them, and the atmosphere is very much spoiled by the constant, tedious skirmishes with the poor, dim-witted bandits, and many other things.

That’s exactly what I mean – the atmosphere is simply excellent, with the exception of some tedious quests and a few other things that don’t quite fit into the world of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

I also enjoyed the hustle and bustle before the assault, as well as the soldiers' conversations during the attack, but I expected something more from the ending overall.
Another interesting point: why does the AK-47 have a scope if the bullet spread at a distance of more than 100 meters makes it impossible to hit anything?

No, there's no reason why not. I played almost the entire game with that weapon, and it shoots perfectly fine...