SpawnPoint

There are some games that seem to take forever to finally hit the shelves. Screen shots and rumors about Half-Life 2 were floating around for so long before it was finally released that some people worried about whether or not it would be able to live up to the hype, while others began to fear it would end up as over ambitious vaporware. Duke Nuke’em Forever has been in development since before HL2, and there is still no sign of when we will be able to get our hands on it. And S.T.A.L.K.E.R.? For gamers, the wait, the expectations, the possibilities have all been overwhelming.

The wait is finally over, but was it worth it? Can a game that spent so long in development be everything we were hoping for when we first heard about it so long ago, or will it leave us feeling like it would have been a great game back then but now it just seems out dated? That’s what I’ve been wondering since a hard release date was finally announced, what I was thinking when I finally saw it on the shelf, and what I worried about when I went back the next day to buy it and find out for myself.

As with any game the first half-hour or so is more tedious than fun, mostly due to adjusting video and mouse settings to try to get things “just right” for the way you play. One thing that you will notice right away is the attention paid to movement, which adds a wonderful touch of realism to help you suspend your sense of disbelief and really get into the game. Instead of the simple bob up-and-down intended to simulate running in games like Counter-Strike the movement is more rounded and fluid (assuming you are sober…more on this later.) This attention to movement is especially noticeable when trying to run and shoot at the same time, which adds a great deal of realism but can be frustrating to gamers who are accustomed to being able to pull off running head shots from 100 meters away. If you’ve ever played FarCry you’ll know what I mean. The weapons and equipment system in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. also adds to the realism of the game, and adds a couple of interesting twists. You have two active weapon slots, a belt that can hold certain special items and a backpack, and a limit to how much weight you can lug around. Every item has weight, including ammo, and the heavier your gear is the faster you will get tired when running or sprinting. You can carry a fairly large collection of guns in your backpack, but only the two in your weapon slots (one pistol and one of anything else) can be used at a time. If you need a different gun you’ll have to open your inventory and put the gun you want into a weapon slot, which is a sure way to get yourself killed if you try to do it in the middle of a fight. If you are accustomed to games where you can carry a dozen different weapons and simply scroll through all of them at will, you are in for a shock. Fortunately the RPG-style inventory allows you to carry multiple copies of any given gun, giving you the option to either sell off the extras or hold onto them in case the one you are using breaks.

That’s right, you guns can (and will) wear out and start jamming and eventually breaking down on you. When you select a gun in your inventory you will be given a wealth of information about it including: the kinds of ammunition it can use; how much it weighs; ratings for accuracy, rate of fire, damage, and handling; and reliability. The more you use a gun, the lower it’s reliability gets until it eventually becomes useless. Also, as the reliability rating goes down the chances that the gun will jam and make you stop to reload and clear the jam goes up. The rating for a weapon’s handling is also an interesting addition. Handling influences things like reload speed, recoil, and how quickly you can line up your shots. You also have options as far as ammunition goes. Standard pistol rounds, for example, are cheap and easily found. If you want more of a punch however, you can buy (or find) the +P+ armor piercing rounds and swap those into your gun. Prefer the shotgun? Would you rather load it up with standard shot (great at close range) or heavy slugs (better range)?

One thing that really makes this game stand out is the enemy AI. Different enemies have different levels of intelligence, and many are smart enough to really ruin your day. Whether it's calling for backup, actively looking for cover to duck behind, or running around a corner and waiting to ambush you, the AI in this game is far superior to what you'll find in most games. Oh, and just because you thought you cleared an area doesn't mean it will still be clear if you go back a little while later.

There are plenty of other characters to meet in this game as well. How they interact with you depends on their attitude towards you. Generally everyone falls into one of three categories; friend, neutral, or enemy. The attitudes of friends and neutral characters are determined by your interactions with them. While helping someone out will make them like you more, attacking them will turn them against you. The more someone likes you, the more information they will be willing to give you and the better the prices you will get if you decide to trade with them.

The environment of the game is another area that contributes to the game play. Whether you are wandering around the ruins of a village on a clear day or crawling through the bushes on a dark stormy night, the environment is totally immersive. It also has the potential to kill you if you aren't careful. Anomalies are areas where strange and often dangerous things can happen. While some can be beneficial, others can cause radiation poisoning, blast you with powerful electric shocks, and a variety of other unpleasant effects. If you are exposed to high doses of radiation you will continue to take damage from the radiation poisoning until you can bring your radiation levels back down. There are a couple of ways you can do this. The first is to use an injection of anti-radiation meds to purge your system. The second is to use military-grade med kits to both bring down your radiation level and heal wounds. The third is...vodka. You can find or buy bottles of vodka which can be sold, traded, or drunk to counteract the effects of radiation. There is a serious downside to this though. While drinking enough vodka can counteract the radiation poisoning, it also makes you drunk. The more you drink, the more drunk you get, and the harder it is to see straight, never mind actually manage to shoot straight if you stumble upon enemies.

Finally, we have the mood of the game. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. succeeds in setting the mood of a post-disaster zone through the use of the environment and the attitudes of characters. Even when the weather is bright and sunny you never loose the sense of being basically alone in a vast wasteland. The sense of danger permeates everything around you.

Dark. Scary. Realistic in all the wrong ways... Man, this game is great!