The game sets players off in the forbidden zone around the radiation-filled Chernobyl and tasks them only with the task of discovering their own identity – the main character wakes up amnesiac, only carrying a note which reads ‘Kill Strelok’.
From there, it’s a huge open-ended adventure with a dozen endings and a smoothly integrated RPG and FPS combo.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R falls down on a number of levels. The game is a little clunky to play and the story is very difficult to follow owing to translation problems and a frustrating design. Many of the available endings are disappointing and the entire RPG system is massively scaled back from the original design.
Still, when S.T.A.L.K.E.R gets it right then it does it very, very well. The combat is beautifully put together and the level of difficulty is honed to a razor edge so that although it is often frustrating and challenging, it is never unfair. Bullet physics are excellently integrated to the game and as you progress further towards the end-game and learn how to make the best use of your arsenal it becomes almost impossible not to appreciate the fine-tuning of the combat model.
To be praised for ambition and scope if nothing else, S.T.A.L.K.E.R didn’t just break the mould; it shattered it completely and sent the pieces back to its mother in hundreds of separate envelopes. There are some obvious holes in the formula and you can complete the game without ever realising that you messed up the main quest and have wasted twenty hours of your life, but as a whole S.T.A.L.K.E.R still manages to succeed thanks to a grimly realistic world which is consistently engaging and brilliant.
Source: Bit-Tech