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S.T.A.L.K.E.R.s Revealed


Komag

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First impressions, after 1 hour of playing:

 

Running great on medium settings, on Athlon 2500+, 1.5 gb ram, nvidia 7600gt. The visuals are still good, although it's nothing jawdropping.

 

Great atmosphere. Weather and night/day cycle, constant fear, anomalies, sounds, random events etc., it all makes the game stand out.

 

It's tough, you can die easily, an angry boar or a few pistol shots and it's over. It's really more of a survival game than the classic "run around and shoot around like crazy" FPS style.

 

Controls and interface are a bit clunky, it takes time to get used to it.

The game's a bit buggy, but nothing game breaking so far, except one thing: when it starts to rain, the screen is full of blinking semi-transparent polygons. Might be a problem on my side though, I should update to latest drivers.

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Little does anyone know that we're changing TDM's name to D.A.R.K.M.O.D. (Doors, Alleys, Rooftops, Knockouts, Mansions, Objectives, Dungeons)

That is awesome :D

 

It's tough, you can die easily, an angry boar or a few pistol shots and it's over. It's really more of a survival game than the classic "run around and shoot around like crazy" FPS style.

 

NOW I'm interested...

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Wasn't really trying to hype the game. More like I thought this game was vaporware. I'm really happy they pulled it off. We need more companies who keep trying and trying till they break through with a game like this. Their earlier games were RTS which I really wasn't interested in. (Napoleon wars and what not aka Cossaics or w/e) B) What can I say I like to see people succeed.

 

C&C 3 now there's a game i've hyped a lil bit. Not sure if you guys are familiar with the Command and Conquer universe. It's one of my favs.

Edited by Unstoppable
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I grabbed the game this morning and I've been playing it for a few hours, so I'll give my first impressions:

 

I have to say that I'm surprised. This game has two things it does great: atmosphere and survival. I'm playing the graphics on medium settings, and as Redface said, it's not exactly gorgeous, but the frame-rate is constant and there are no problems with lag, so the game-play is intact.

 

The game constructs it's world well. You actually feel you are there. Gun battles are short and fierce; take a few shots and you're dead. You have to plan your strategies accordingly, and also deal with guns that are realistically inaccurate. They definitely have a unique flavor and feel exhilarating.

 

Also the game play in general feels solid. You can sprint and walk a bit faster then a normal person would, and for much longer, but this doesn't break the immersion and definitely is a good compromise when there aren't vehicles. The quest system could be a little more strait-forward, but no real complaints there yet. The control is tight and the art style fitting. It's just a shame I have to play it on the specs I have. I just don't want to pay a couple hundred for a top of the line video card.

 

That said, the world feels as harsh as it should. You walk down the road for the first time to see rippling air and mutant dogs gnawing at a corpse on the side. You definitely start to watch your back and take precautions wherever you go. The AI is also impressive. Dogs won't attack you unless they feel they have the advantage and a pack. For the most part, I've found its best to just disperse them, or rather, try to intimidate them by lobbing off a few shots their way (with a noisy gun), and then moving in.

 

The Russian adds a unique flavor to the game, and its walking out of the bomb shelter you start out in to hear the military blaring out warnings that trespassers will be shot on sight. The game's enemies and tension is also the kind I enjoy; sure its horror, but you have the firepower to deal with it.

 

For the most part this really is Morrowind with guns (and mutants), and its great. I'm much happier with my purchase then I expected to be, and its the first game in a long time that I've been so sucked into. For forty dollars, its definitely worthwhile for the experience alone.

Edited by Ombrenuit
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Does the level of noise from the gun determine the extent of response from the dogs? Is there an option for gameplay to be so easy that a grandfather can play this while frequently leaving the computer to get more tea? I was thinking about buying this game after reading this thread, but confirmation of the above will reinforce my intent.

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I grabbed the game this morning and I've been playing it for a few hours, so I'll give my first impressions:

 

I have to say that I'm surprised. This game has two things it does great: atmosphere and survival. I'm playing the graphics on medium settings, and as Redface said, it's not exactly gorgeous, but the frame-rate is constant and there are no problems with lag, so the game-play is intact.

 

The game constructs it's world well. You actually feel you are there. Gun battles are short and fierce; take a few shots and you're dead. You have to plan your strategies accordingly, and also deal with guns that are realistically inaccurate. They definitely have a unique flavor and feel exhilarating.

 

Also the game play in general feels solid. You can sprint and walk a bit faster then a normal person would, and for much longer, but this doesn't break the immersion and definitely is a good compromise when there aren't vehicles. The quest system could be a little more strait-forward, but no real complaints there yet. The control is tight and the art style fitting. It's just a shame I have to play it on the specs I have. I just don't want to pay a couple hundred for a top of the line video card.

 

That said, the world feels as harsh as it should. You walk down the road for the first time to see rippling air and mutant dogs gnawing at a corpse on the side. You definitely start to watch your back and take precautions wherever you go. The AI is also impressive. Dogs won't attack you unless they feel they have the advantage and a pack. For the most part, I've found its best to just disperse them, or rather, try to intimidate them by lobbing off a few shots their way (with a noisy gun), and then moving in.

 

The Russian adds a unique flavor to the game, and its walking out of the bomb shelter you start out in to hear the military blaring out warnings that trespassers will be shot on sight. The game's enemies and tension is also the kind I enjoy; sure its horror, but you have the firepower to deal with it.

 

For the most part this really is Morrowind with guns (and mutants), and its great. I'm much happier with my purchase then I expected to be, and its the first game in a long time that I've been so sucked into. For forty dollars, its definitely worthwhile for the experience alone.

 

What are your system specs please? Thanks. This website might interest you in the purchase of a video card.

www.pricewatch.com goes hand in hand with www.resellerratings.com

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Specs:

 

1022mb RAM

Intel Pentium 2.66ghz processor (2 CPUs)

Nvidia GeForce 6600 LE

 

I ran into some lag, although it wasn't bad. I was in an underground room filled with glowing green ooze and flashing lights and in a firefight between about 4 military personnel. The more I offed the better the lag improved.

 

First real "wow" moment:

 

After said firefight, and sneaking into a stalker's stash (and getting his fancy increased firing speed AK), I walked into the next room. Now I'm in an underground facility at the moment, and there are quite a few military guys down here. I walk smack dab into a party of them, and luckily my AK is a smoother talker than me. These guys are pretty tough with their armor, and it took some sharp shooting around corners to off them (and there were more on the stairwell).

 

I climb the stairs up to the top, down into a dark room illuminated by a smoldering pile in the corner and from there into a hallway. Its long and rusted, leading into a dark expanse, the open doorway lit by a swinging red light (with a lazy rusty yawn every time it swings). I pulled out my rifle again expecting another encounter.

 

I got about half way down the hall when I thought my computer screwed up. I just hear a WHOOSH and my screen starts blurring into vertigo, and then the camera swings wildly out of my body and into a perspective facing some sort of blurred face. I'm not sure what the hell is going on, so I wait; maybe it was a triggered cinemat--WHOOSH. Okay, my vision's getting pretty f***ed up by now. That face is there again too. Okay, it must be some sort of creature, ahead of me?

 

I start to run forward but I can only walk down the hallway. The wooshes are getting quicker, my vertigo spinning faster and faster, the walls blending together. I stagger to the dark expanse ready to shoot wildly at the face my out of body perspective keeps blinking. Shit, its dark here. The face had a white wall behind him.

 

I turn around.

 

He's there. Or did I turn around? I wasn't sure. Maybe I walked through the dark hallway and I'm at the other side. My vertigo is almost critical. The wooshes are starting to deplete my health. I just point my rifle at the wall, advance, and fire. That's when I realize I'm hitting something. Because that something is walking towards me. It's like a huge bulky shadow calmly advancing. Fire. Step forward. Fire. Step forward.

 

I started pulling back as he closed the distance between us. Fire fire fire. Shit, this is a fucking machine gun for christ's sake. Why is it only firing single shots? Am I hitting him? This is my second clip? I'm not hitting him. I keep firing and I'm not hitting him. Blam blam blam.

 

The shadow gets closer and closer, my vertigo flipping wildly out of control; as he gets closer he starts to become less shadow and more some kind of humanoid fleshy thing. Blam. Silence. Nothing but the light turning and turning.

 

I start to catch my breath, my vision swapping into each other, spinning and morphing still. That's when I realize there's a soldier standing in front of me....

 

Blam. A clip. My vision still screwed up, and he falls into a heap.

 

By the way, anyone know how to attach a silencer to a pistol? I found a silencer that says that it is universally attachable, but I can't seem to figure out how to do that.

 

And yes, there are difficulty settings. You can play on an easy mode. Although this is a survivor game. The point is to kind of out-think the AI (through stealth or otherwise. Man, storming the army base and knifing out sniping towers was great). In a way, the challenge is for there to be a challenge. So I wouldn't exactly say its the type of game for a softcore experience.

Edited by Ombrenuit
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Well I haven't gotten the game yet but the interface looks simila to deus ex. Try dragging the attachments onto the weapon of your choice. Try right and left clicking. Try right and left double clicking. Force the sum bitch in there.

 

p.s.

Is there a nickname I can call you because I don't know how to pronounce your board name and it's kind of odd. ^_^

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I played it about 2 hours today, probably wont be playing much tomorrow either due to homework. But the AI is very impressive from what I've seen, they are good at flanking and peeking around corners to get you. They feel more like you are playing against people in cs rather than mindless bots. The animals are fun to watch because their always doing something stupid like fighting and it's fun to try and get opposing factions to fight each other. I wouldn't call it a run and gun game, because you die very fast if you get shot, but it' still a lot of fun. It's more of a tactical shooter if you ask me. The game is great and I'm glad I got it, however if you use any of the lighting affects your performance will be drastically reduced, but it doesn't matter that much.

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How are they AI when they get indoors? I read a review that said they got rather stupid indoors, but I'm not sure if this is true or if the player was just reducing their field of fire to one area and creating a bottleneck which is "easier" because it's using good tactics. I just hope the AI don't keep stupidly running in to said bottleneck. Do they ever throw grenades around the corner in situations like that?

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I've had the game a few days *ahem* and am totally loving it. I think i'm about to fail my degree for this game.

 

I'll start off by commenting on Ombrenuit's review, because theres a minor point i disagree with:

 

You can sprint and walk a bit faster then a normal person would, and for much longer

 

I actually feel the opposite, for a physically conditioned male of the approx. age of the main character, you should be able to sprint a little bit further, and you should be able to maintain the standard fast walk for a long period of time. I agree that a 'normal' person, ie guys who sit in an office/behind thier PC all day, would perhaps struggle, but the main character is obviously not a normal person :)

 

Now onto my own thoughts

 

Specs:

 

AMD X2 5200+ CPU.

2gb RAM

7950GT 512mb GFX card.

 

The first thing that struck me almost immediately when i started playing STALKER, was that it felt like i was essentially playing a first person version of Fallout. It's fair to say, once i realised that, i knew i was onto a winner. The game world itself is the real jewel of the piece, the areas in the zone are well thought out and constructed, and with the ambience, the weather, day/night cycles, it looks gorgeous and it sounds gorgeous. What more could you want?

 

The game itself is for the most part a survivor game, fighting human AI, helping out various groups, scavenging for weapons, ammo, food and supplies. But just occasionally, it turns the horror factor right up, and when it does, you won't forget it. It's not often i come across a game that makes me have to stop playing soley through use of fear! This works better than out and out scare fests such as Doom 3, because the relatively rare scary moments are contrasted with gameplay that, although slightly creepy at times, is mostly manageable with plently of 556 and a decent rate of fire. So when odd things do start to happen, it actually feels out of the ordinary.

 

So far (and i'm guessing i'm quite far through), the storyline is good, if not a little vague - but the plot twist that is coming is obvious to me already, even though the main character hasnt spotted it :P The cutscenes are pretty damn good too.

 

Hmm, bad things? AI is challenging and intellegent, so it's mostly good, but there are odd moments when it decides to try and fire through a concrete wall. It's hard to manage the ammount of wieght you can carry - although i agree its probably realistic to limit the weight to roughly what it is now - and still pack enough weapons/ammo to cover yourself - but thats more a challenge than anything else....errr...so is there anything actually bad about this game? Only that i ought to be writing an essay as we speak and instead i'm craving to play STALKER!

 

Definately worth buying.

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How are they AI when they get indoors? I read a review that said they got rather stupid indoors, but I'm not sure if this is true or if the player was just reducing their field of fire to one area and creating a bottleneck which is "easier" because it's using good tactics. I just hope the AI don't keep stupidly running in to said bottleneck. Do they ever throw grenades around the corner in situations like that?

 

Unfortunately they don't use grenades, at least as far as I have seen. I remember being in a situation where I had to create a bottle neck. Although they aren't completely stupid. If you shoot one of their friends in a doorway, they pause and take cover; and when they advance, they try to storm the doorway as a group. Also I thought I picked them all off, and when I walked inside, I started to get shot at from in the dark. So some know better to just wait. I even think I picked up a grenade off an enemy even after my assault though...

 

But then again, the grenades thing doesn't bother me because in a way I acknowledge it would make the game far too difficult, at least at this stage.

 

My only real complaints lie with quest timers (not with the main or important quests). In a way though I can understand their purpose, but it still doesn't mean that I haven't gotten frustrated occasionally. Granted they do give you a healthy amount of time, I just waited too long to turn a few in...

 

Also multi-player was so laggy for me it was rendered unplayable. Not that there were many servers anyway, nor that it is really worthwhile.

 

As for my screen name, its French. Its pronounced like "Hombre-newee"

Edited by Ombrenuit
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I'll start off by commenting on Ombrenuit's review, because theres a minor point i disagree with:

I actually feel the opposite, for a physically conditioned male of the approx. age of the main character, you should be able to sprint a little bit further, and you should be able to maintain the standard fast walk for a long period of time. I agree that a 'normal' person, ie guys who sit in an office/behind thier PC all day, would perhaps struggle, but the main character is obviously not a normal person :)

The perception of how far your character can run is complicated by perspective distortion in an FPS. Because they're taking a human horizontal field of view of ~170 degrees, and compressing it down to about 90 degrees on the monitor, perspective gets skewed and far away things look closer than they actually are. Combine this with no depth perception (unless you have nifty 3d glasses), and it's easy to think you've just run 100 meters when your stamina ran out, but if you were to look at the real distance on an overhead view, it could be more like 150 or 200 meters. This only applies to first-person though, I don't know if Stalker has an optional third person view or not.

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(Joke)

 

Yes, he's found the one way to make Deadly Shadows sound even more gay ... put it in French. :laugh:

 

(/joke)

 

Seriously, though, I always thought it sounded pretty cool, and I love the avatar.

What do you see when you turn out the light? I can't tell you but I know that it's mine.

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...and it's easy to think you've just run 100 meters when your stamina ran out, but if you were to look at the real distance on an overhead view, it could be more like 150 or 200 meters.

 

All i know is that i run 1.5 miles (2.8km roughly) 4 times a week and there is no way i'd be out of breathe as quickly as our otherwise superhuman S.T.A.L.K.E.R. It's to do with phyiscal conditioning, when i first started doing phys, i'd have probably agreed on the running, but having been conditioned, i'd have to strongly disagree that his stamina seems too high. And as i've already gone as far to say, i think it should infact be more than it is, given the pyhsical nature of being a S.T.A.L.K.E.R - the best of these guys would be phyiscally on a par with someone from a high quality infantry unit i dare say.

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All i know is that i run 1.5 miles (2.8km roughly) 4 times a week and there is no way i'd be out of breathe as quickly as our otherwise superhuman S.T.A.L.K.E.R. It's to do with phyiscal conditioning, when i first started doing phys, i'd have probably agreed on the running, but having been conditioned, i'd have to strongly disagree that his stamina seems too high. And as i've already gone as far to say, i think it should infact be more than it is, given the pyhsical nature of being a S.T.A.L.K.E.R - the best of these guys would be phyiscally on a par with someone from a high quality infantry unit i dare say.

 

But what about all the gear he's carrying around?

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All i know is that i run 1.5 miles (2.8km roughly) 4 times a week and there is no way i'd be out of breathe as quickly as our otherwise superhuman S.T.A.L.K.E.R. It's to do with phyiscal conditioning, when i first started doing phys, i'd have probably agreed on the running, but having been conditioned, i'd have to strongly disagree that his stamina seems too high. And as i've already gone as far to say, i think it should infact be more than it is, given the pyhsical nature of being a S.T.A.L.K.E.R - the best of these guys would be phyiscally on a par with someone from a high quality infantry unit i dare say.

 

That's possible. I used to run an average of 5 miles a week. I just feel like his sprint is an all out one, and that's nothing I could comfortably maintain (with 50kg on my back? 110 pounds?) for the distances he can. But you're right, he is a soldier. Its not breaking my immersion. It just felt faster than most first person shooters I'm used to.

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The game is really easy to get into, there's so much detail and so much happening, exploring is a lot of fun. It isn't like Elders scroll where there's a giant environment that seems to repeat itself, rather everything is very carefully detailed and useful. The AI can get stupid at times. I had a mission where I was supposed to rescue a guy, but he stayed behind to get flanked by the super-troops, which he wasn't supposed to do. So I ended up having to try several times to kill all these troops to save him, just to have him tell me to go in a hole. Also I've had about 5 guys get stuck in a corner. But 99% of the time their really smart, even indoors. They flank relentlessly, attack and retreat, or just suicide attack. The game is a lot of fun and I can't wait to get further into it.

 

And 10 hours to get past the main story line is a fairly bad estimate, with so much to do you'd be mission out on a hole lot if you just did the main story line.

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