S.T.A.L.K.E.R : Call of Pripyat UK release date set for 5th February 2010

The forthcoming title S.T.A.L.K.E.R : Call of Pripyat in the UK, Nordic and Italian markets, while also confirming that the game will be available to buy in those territories on February 5th 2010.

Koch Media Announces Distribution Agreement for S.T.A.L.K.E.R : Call of Pripyat in UK, Nordic and Italy

Koch Media, a leading distributor and publisher of video games today announced their partnership with bitComposer Games to distribute the forthcoming title S.T.A.L.K.E.R : Call of Pripyat in the UK, Nordic and Italian markets, while also confirming that the game will be available to buy in those territories on February 5th 2010.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat US release date set for February 2010 - with video

S.T.A.L.K.E.R CALL OF PRIPYAT. Beckoning players to enter the Zone, Viva Media’s latest release clearly marks the publisher’s stake in yet another category of PC gaming.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat video game release date set

The dark first person shooter S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat will be internationally released in February 2010. The game is published by bitComposer Games and was created by the Ukrainian developer GSC Game World. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat is the follow-up to the highly successful S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call of Pripyat PC video game Interview with developer

The announcement of a new S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game, Call Of Pripyat, offers an intriguing prospect. It’s a trilogy-completing work – with S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky acting as prequel – and it proports to show what took place in the zone after the events of Shadow Of Chernobyl.



The initial announcement seemed to promise a great deal: enhanced A-Life, more freedom, and more survival conditions to consider. But what else is in there? And what did the Ukrainian company learn from S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky? GSC’s Oleg Yavorsky took some time out to answer our questions, and to reveal a bit more about S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call Of Pripyat.

Q: Do you think you learned any important lessons from the release of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky? Has that shaped how you’ve approached work on Call Of Pripyat?

Yavorsky: Clear Sky has been a good lesson for us indeed, primarily in the aspect of game stability and playability. There were a lot of changes both in technology and gameplay that we did for Clear Sky, but we had no time to polish and fix everything as proper before the release. With Call of Pripyat now we are taking a safer route by, firstly, building the game on the technology we’ve been polishing since Clear Sky, secondly, getting rid of some features which did not work out well – such as global war of factions, for example; and thirdly, by taking more serious approach to testing the game.

Q: Can you tell us about the new areas of the zone that Call of Pripyat will include? How much of this new material is taken from the real Chernobyl zone?

Yavorsky: We will present a complete set of new locations in Call of Pripyat. This includes the Pripyat river basin and its rusty fleet standing still for over 20 years now, the Kopachi village completely buried after the accident, Jupiter factory located on the outskirts of Pripyat, the railway station Yanov, and, to crown it all – an entire district of Pripyat, modeled in its real scope. Many players have repeatedly asked us to implement Pripyat in the game, so we decided to satisfy their wish.

I think Call of Pripyat will be the most photo-realistic, and hence, atmospheric S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game of all three.

Q: Can you explain how you’ve changed the A-Life system for this new game?

Yavorsky: Firstly, we picked the best-liked features from SoC and CS games to preserve them in Call of Pripyat. Secondly, we added a number of touches to make the world and its atmosphere more believable. Hence, day and night cycles will affect the behaviour of both monsters and NPCs: monsters will be more active and go hunting prey at night, while NPCs will try to find shelter and return to bases after seeking artifact and day-patrolling as night descends. To liven up the game world, each character/monster has been attributed their deadly enemies. Mutants hunt humans, bandits are after neutral s.t.a.l.k.e.r.s, Duty faction is after mutants.

Thirdly, hunger and sleep will have their effect too in the game: if the player is hungry, it will take him longer to restore his stamina. Sleep function will help you to refresh yourself, so as to speed up the time a bit (which may be useful in case you have a night mission designated to start at a particular time at night, for example).

This said, we gave all monsters an updated look, changed their behaviour in combat (so as to make them tougher and more interesting to fight with), added a couple new monsters – Burer and Chimera.

Q: How much inspiration do you take from the work done by the modding community on the previous Stalker games?
Yavorsky: We are very pleased to see how active the modding community is with S.T.A.L.K.E.R. – we’ve seen a number of interesting modifications done by the fans (AMK-mod, for example). When it comes to development of the next official games, however, I’d say we rather build them the way we see as proper and our own style, rather than copy mod-makers’ ideas. Our ambition is to present players our own S.T.A.L.K.E.R. as we see it (and we still have a number of ideas to get implemented). Nevertheless, we do listen to a lot of feedback received from players and their wish-lists. It helps us make decisions on which directions to take for the series.

Q: From the patch notes: “Sleep function added into the game.” That’s a function that was unlocked by several mods…

Yavorsky: As opposed to pure story presentation element, the sleep function this time will have its gameplay role. As mentioned, you can take a nap to save time and not walk about in wait for your mission to start at a certain time. After sleeping your character will also restore his powers. You will only sleep in safe dedicated spots, such as s.t.a.l.k.e.r. bases, for example.

Q: Can you explain how the game will be playable “after completion in a freeplay mode”? Is this tied to the extended side-quests?

Yavorsky: The free play mode is designed for those players, who prefer to stay in the game and explore as much as they want without the need to re-play it to see all of it. So, you’ll be able to travel freely, enjoy the A-life around and accomplish quests you missed during the play through.

Q: Do you expect to return to the underground “horror” sequences of the original Shadow Of Chernobyl? Yavorsky: We will provide a couple underground locations for players to explore in Call of Pripyat, so beware of spooky monsters!

Q: Replacing English dialogue with the original Russian dialogue seems like a popular modification – have you considered an all-Russian dialogue option with English subtitles, as CD Projekt did with Polish in The Witcher?

Yavorsky: Thanks for the idea! At least part of our S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games has been in Russian already (such as campfire stories, combat shouts (predominantly rude ones!)). We’ll consider adding even more of the language flavoured with vodka, bears and balalaikas.

Q: Is there much you still have to do with the original Stalker setting? Can we expect another “new” Stalker title from GSC one day?

Yavorsky: I assure you there’s a lot of ideas still untouched about S.T.A.L.K.E.R. universe and setting. We are building plans for the full-fledged sequel game, but it’s too early to talk about it at this point.

Call Of Pripyat is due for release in Autumn 2009.

System requirements:

Minimum System Requirements

* Intel Pentium 4 2.0 Ghz / AMD XP 2200+
* 512 MB RAM
* 128 MB DirectX 8.0 compatible card / nVIDIA GeForce 5700 / ATI Radeon 9600

Recommended System Requirements

* Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 / AMD 64 X2 5600+
* 2 GB RAM
* 512 MB DirectX 9.0c compatible card / nVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX / ATI Radeon HD 4850

The plot and quests here on gamezplay...

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call of Pripyat PC video game the plot, the quests...

The events of Call of Pripyat – the second stand-alone project in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. universe (Clear Sky being the first) is taking place two weeks after the events of the original game: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl. As Gunslinger shut the psy-antennas down, lots of stalkers rushed to the center of the Zone trying to lay their hands on the treasures it conceals. But only few made their way into it safely, as a new faction war broke out. The survivals are mostly neutrals, ”Duty” and ”Freedom” members as well as some bandits.



As the psy-barrier broke down, the military started to develop an operation called ”Fairway” in order to establish full control over the new territories. As a first step of the operation, 5 reconnaissance helicopters were sent to investigate the new areas and find a safer way through the anomalous fields for their full-scale ground operation. Despite all the precautions made, the operation fails with all HINDs being vanished from the radars leaving only approximate coordinates of the crash sites.
The player takes a role of major Degtyarev, an ex-stalker who signed the contract with the military in the past, and now is an undercover agent sent to the center of the Zone to investigate the reasons behind the operation failure.

The Zone.

First of all, there will be no faction wars in Call of Pripyat, the number of NPCs will be greatly reduced, as opposed to Clear Sky, and the developers promise us to create a bigger ”back to the roots, explore-the-surroundings” feeling of the game, more common to the original: Shadow of Chernobyl. Among other game improvements, the game’s locations are one of the most important ones with three new huge locations that include a photorealistic Exclusion Zone – Pripyat (the eastern part of the town), Yanov railway station, Jupiter factory, Kopachi village and others, recreated by their true-to-life prototypes with the use of satellite photographs. There are also two underground locations which are kept secret for now.

The first location, where the game starts, is Zaton (The Backwater) – a huge 1.5×1.5 km area, featuring a dried out river with some shipwrecks, a factory of some sort and lots of anomalies. As the player arrives to Zaton, other stalkers have already accustomed to the area, so we can find the Bar in one of the ship’s carcasses, the bases of the ”Duty” and ”Freedom” factions who share one ship by having a cease-fire agreement (but only within the walls of their base), and the mercenary base somewhere in the industrial area.

The Blowouts (aka Emissions) will now be random and deeply incorporated in the local ecosystem: with every Blowout, new artifacts are born in the anomalies, and some anomalies will change their positions (only random anomalies and not the unique looking, static anomalous fields). Stalkers will seek cover during Blowouts and will fight for it, if members of others factions will attempt to use the same hideout; this works for the player as well: staying on the open field during the Blowout is lethal, but finding a safe spot (they will be marked on your map) can cost you your life as well, if it is already occupied by your rivals. The new types of anomalies will also be introduced in the game.

It is also worth mentioning, that now both stalkers and mutants will have their own day/night cycle, with mutants being more active at night, while stalkers will be going to bed. As for the mutant additions, we will see the good old, finally made functional Chimera and Burer. Chimera will be your most fearsome night encounter, as it moves rapidly, hiding in the dark, always trying to attack you from the rear; however it won’t be such a menace during day time, as it can be easily spotted under the sun light. The Burer uses telekinesis to grab and throw objects at you, which can be a heavy barrel or even your own weapon pulled out of your hands and thrown at you. It was also mentioned in some previews that Burer is able to cast a bulletproof shield with his telekinetic abilities. But the good thing about Bruer is that he is not really an aggressive creature and, for the most part, will only attack if the player bothers him.

The behavior of the older and more familiar mutants been reworked as well. For example, dogs and snorks are now attacking on the move, instead of just stopping in front of you and biting like before; so fighting them is now much harder, especially when they attack in packs. The packs, however, can now be formed with the mutants of each type, and since all the mutants are now divided into carnivores and herbivores, we can expect one hunting the other. The Bloodsucker has been redone as well, so it can now literally grab the player and start sucking the blood out of him. If you think they now have an unfair advantage over you, the developers made it fair by removing the invincibility of the bloodsucker while he is invisible.

The stalkers, as mentioned before, have a ”timetable” of what to do during the day: they leave the base in the morning, alone or as a small group, roaming across the landscape in search of artifacts and finally return to the base in the evening for some rest. The developers are promising to make a fair system of an artifact trade, so if you happen to run across some stalker, you can see the stuff he has already collected and trade with him by offering something more worthy than just vodka or a lump of bread.
Searching for an artifact with the detector is also in the game, and both positive and negative effects of the artifacts are rebalanced.

Quests.

The game features over 70 ”hand-made” quests (no more randomly generated missions), which can be received from not only faction leaders and a barman, but from ordinary stalkers as well. As already mentioned there will be three factions to cooperate with (but not join, as the main character is already an undercover military soldier). ”Duty’s and Freedom’s leaders and members are controlled by the criminal authority nicknamed Sultan, who is ready for cooperation with everyone if it is beneficial to him. However, even without joining a faction, it will be possible to become a dominant force by cooperating with others, for example when the scientists will lose the protection from the military, it will be possible to give them a hint about some guys from Freedom who are eager to grant scientists their services for a small price. For the Freedom faction it will mean a stable financial income and for the player – good relations with the faction and an access to their up-to-date equipment. ”Duty” will support you with machineguns, assault rifles and heavy armor, while ”Freedom” will equip you with sniper weaponry and their armor which is more suitable for exploration and protection from the environmental hazards. The bandits will possibly equip you with shotguns, but it is not clear yet.

Some side-quests have already been shown. For example, we can take a quest from the barman to find a specific artifact on the abandoned fishing vessel – the player finds the ship being surrounded and filled with anomalies, and when he finds his way through all the traps, finds the artifact and leaves the ship, he will be greeted by a stalker, who will ask the player to give him this artifact, as it is the only thing which can save his dying friend. If you’ll refuse to handle him the artifact – two heavy armed stalkers will block the road and ask you the same thing but in the less polite manner. If you will give the artifact, the two heavy armed stalkers will wait until the first one will run away, and then you can find him at the barman’s place selling the artifact. Of course the barman doesn’t care who found it first and the only thing he will say to your complaints is: ”This is the Zone, son.”

Another quest that has been showcased is from Sultan’s bandits. They try to establish control over stalkers, so they are attempting to make a raid at night on one of the stalkers’ bases. You can accept their offer and kill the stalkers or you can warn the stalkers of this threat and they will give you a counter-mission to engage the raid with the bandits but shoot them in the back. What to do is up to the player, but the both decisions will affect his reputation among stalkers and bandits.

The game is expected to have 20 unique characters with unique appearances taken from real life people.

bitComposer Games secures worldwide rights to S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat

bitComposer Games has secured the worldwide rights to S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat, the next first-person shooter from Ukrainian developer GSC Game World and follow-up to the highly successful S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl. The internationally successful S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series has sold over 2 million copies, and the newest episode seamlessly connects to Shadow of Chernobyl. The release of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat for Windows PC is scheduled for Fall 2009.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat takes PC gamers once again into the deadly area surrounding the Chernobyl nuclear reactor explosion of 1986. Cordoned off by the military, this highly contaminated “Zone” is scoured by treasure hunters known as s.t.a.l.k.e.r.s, who search the irradiated lands for unique artifacts. In the role of Agent Alexander Degtyarev, the player must go undercover as a s.t.a.l.k.e.r., investigating the mysterious disappearance of five military helicopters while standing against various s.t.a.l.k.e.r. groups.

Using the time-tested X-Ray graphic engine developed by GSC, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat skilfully combines first-person shooter action with role-playing elements in a realistic post-atomic world. The grim realities of this deadly environment are underscored by the many desolate industrial ruins, reproduced using aerial pictures and the developers’ own photographs. Mutants, s.t.a.l.k.e.r. groups, and lethal anomalies are everywhere, posing a constant threat to the player. The thrilling story is advanced through numerous quests, taking gamers through such diverse areas as a secret military base, the Jupiter factory site, and the titular city of Pripyat. The player decides how far to explore and which tasks they undertake – freedom determines the gameplay. Other s.t.a.l.k.e.r. groups respond to the player in a friendly or hostile manner, depending on the group to which they belong. In this ever-dangerous world, the player is supported by various weapon systems and upgrades, as well as several types of equipment.

“With S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat, we have another high-profile title in our portfolio,” says Wolfgang Duhr, director of bitComposer Games. “The fact that we could assert ourselves against internationally established publishers shows the trust placed in us by GSC. Together with GSC and our distribution partners, we want to continue the success of the series so that we can build on this foundation in the future.”

“We're anticipating a very successful international release for Call of Pripyat and are happy to work with bitComposer Games to bring this next chapter of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. to PC gamers around the world,” says Sergiy Grygorovych, CEO of GSC Game World.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky patch update v1.5.09

1.5.04 - 1.5.08 versions saved games will be compatible with 1.5.09.
Patch introduces the following changes...

Improved integrated anti-cheating system to take screenshots from the player’s screen.
Improved integrated anti-cheating system that allows the remote admins to track the modifications in network game parameters.
Fixed bug with killing the player after respawn.
Improved player-checking system upon connection.
Fixed bug with RPG-7.
Fixed bug in buy menu.
Added new effect High Definition Ambient Occlusion.
Increased the game stability.
Changes of game balance in Multi-player:
- Increased damage dealt by "Tunder С14", "SA Avalanche ".
- Added possibility to attach scope to "SA Avalanche".
- "UDP Compact" pistol now has an increased cartridge (12 bullets).

Third video game S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call of Pripyat announced

GSC Game World is glad to announce a new project in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series – S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat (working title) for PC. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat will become a third stand-alone game in the highly-acclaimed Survival FPS S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series. The project is slanted for release in autumn 2009.

The events of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat unfold shortly after the end of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl. Having discovered about the open path to the Zone center, the government decides to hold a large-scale military "Fairway" operation aimed to take the CNPP under control.

According to the operation's plan, the first military group is to conduct an air scouting of the territory to map out the detailed layouts of anomalous fields location. Thereafter, making use of the maps, the main military forces are to be dispatched.

Despite thorough preparations, the operation fails. Most of the avant-garde helicopters crash. In order to collect information on reasons behind the operation failure, Ukraine's Security Service send their agent into the Zone center. From now on everything depends on the player.

Key game features:

• Photorealistic exclusion Zone – Pripyat town, Yanov railway station, Jupiter factory, Kopachi village and more, recreated by their true-to-life prototypes.
• New story, a number of unique characters.
• Extended system of side quests.
• New monsters: Chimera and Burer. New behaviour and abilities for all monsters.
• New A-Life system, created using the players' best-liked elements of the first two games in series.
• Emissions considerably influence the world of the Zone.
• Sleep function added into the game.
• New player's interface.
• Possibility to continue the game after completion in a freeplay mode.
• The game is developed on X-Ray engine v.1.6

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky PC video game release delayed to September 15

Due to a problem in manufacturing, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Clear Sky will be released in North America on September 15, 2008.

The digital download release date has not yet been determined.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Clear Sky is a survival FPS game for PC based on a 'what-if' scenario of the second Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident. 

The game is created as a warning to mankind against mindless play with technologies. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Clear Sky is the official prequel to the renowned S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game by the Ukraine-based GSC Game World studio. 

The game is set in 2011 and brings forth the events to have preceded the third campaign of Strelok to the Zone center.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Clear Sky introduces an alternative look onto the events of the original game and offers the player to try himself out as a mercenary s.t.a.l.k.e.r. in search of his own path in the world of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

All S.T.A.L.K.E.R. posts on gamezplay.org here...

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Clear Sky video game out September 5th

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Clear Sky video game out September 5th

International release date for game has been set at September 5th 2008.

You can watch a trailer on YouTube here... http://www.youtube.com/user/stalkerofficial

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Clear Sky a survival First Person Shooter video game for Windows PC takes place in Chernobyl after a second Nuclear accident. Created as a warning to mankind about what could happen when we mindless play with technologies. The game is a prequel to the acclaimed S.T.A.L.K.E.R. video game. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Clear Sky is set in 2011 bringing the events that have preceded the third campaign of Strelok to the Zone center.

This video game brings an alternative look onto the original game become a mercenary S.T.A.L.K.E.R. search your own path in the post nuclear world filled with unexpected twist and turns.




Visit the official game site here... www.stalker-game.com.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Clear Sky survival FPS PC game

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Clear Sky is a survival FPS game for PC based on a 'what-if' scenario of the second Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident. The game is created as a warning to mankind against mindless play with technologies. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky is the official prequel to the renowned S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game by the Ukraine-based GSC Game World studio. The game is set in 2011and brings forth the events to have preceded the third campaign of Strelok to the Zone center. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky introduces an alternative look onto the events of the original game and offers the player to try himself out as a mercenary s.t.a.l.k.e.r. in search of his own path in the world of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. The game is expected to be available worldwide on August 29, 2008.



In the classic adventure game Secret Files: Tunguska, players unravel one of the greatest mysteries of our time. In 1908 in the Tunguska region of Siberia, a massive explosion of unknown origin triggered a flaming inferno, leaving death and destruction in its wake, but almost 100 years later this mysterious catastrophe is barely remembered. Even Nina Kalenkow knows nothing of it-until her scientist father suddenly vanishes without a trace. Accompany Nina and her boyfriend Max on a fascinating voyage of adventure around the world. Follow the kidnappers' trail through ancient secret passageways in Irish castle ruins, through the flickering heat of Cuba, and aboard the legendary Trans-Siberian Railroad.

---

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Deep Silver and GSC Game World release box shot for S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky

GSC Game World, computer games developer, its publishing subdivision GSC World Pub-lishing and Deep Silver, the games label of Koch Media, a leading producer and distributor of digital entertainment products, today announce the official box shot for S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky, the long-awaited prelude to S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky is a survival FPS game for PC based on a 'what-if' scenario of the second Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident. The game is created as a warning to mankind against mindless play with technologies. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky is the official prequel to the renowned S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game by the Ukraine-based GSC Game World studio. The game is set in 2011and brings forth the events to have preceded the third cam-paign of Strelok to the Zone center. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky introduces an alternative look onto the events of the original game and offers the player to try himself out as a mercenary s.t.a.l.k.e.r. in search of his own path in the world of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

Official game site: www.stalker-game.com

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky - Fact Sheet

GSC Game World and Deep Silver release new details about the prequel to S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl

Hermosa Beach- Jun 26, 2008 S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl was one of the best-selling first-person shooters of 2007. In late August 2008, the Ukrainian developers from GSC Game World and the publisher Deep Silver will invite gamers to join them on a new foray into the nuclear zone: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky is set one year before the events of part 1 - at a time when the Zone is changed forever by a huge anomalous eruption of energy.

War of factions
In S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky, the player assumes the role of Scar, a mercenary s.t.a.l.k.e.r. In a unique mixture of first-person shooter and complex role- playing game, Scar fights for survival within the Zone and its hostile sectors. The new Zone territories are explored by s.t.a.l.k.e.r.s scattered in groups - and these individual factions soon engage in relentless battle. As a mercenary, Scar quickly finds himself in the middle of a war of factions over territory, artifacts, and power. It is up to the player to find out on whose side Scar has the greatest chance of prevailing.



Clever adversaries, luscious graphics
Just like its predecessor, Clear Sky perfectly captures the sinister atmosphere within the death Zone. DirectX 10 support enables spectacular graphics, including dynamic transitions between day and night with absolutely realistic light effects, as well as very detailed landscapes and lifelike animations. At the same time, the developers saw to it that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky also works with DirectX 8 and DirectX 9.

Special attention was given to realistic, independent thinking and actions of the NPCs. The artificial intelligence from the predecessor game was strongly improved, so that foes and allies now make their own situation-based decisions that impact the further course of the game. For instance, the outcome of battles is not predetermined. Only in the last few levels is the player guided towards a given end of the story, which leads to the events described in Shadow of Chernobyl.



Key features

• Unique mix of action-laden first-person shooter and complex role-playing game
  
  
• Gigantic scope: many new levels are available, plus some completely overhauled levels from S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl and many side quests with motivating rewards
  
  
• Realistic simulation of the extensive S.T.A.L.K.E.R. world: enemy factions fight each other, mutants hunt of their own accord.
  
  
• Intermediate movie-quality cut scenes complement the thrilling back-story leading up to the events of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl
  
  
• Numerous new in game features, such as fast travel, or extensive modification and repairing armor and weapons
  
  
• Greatly improved artificial intelligence
  
  
• Complete DirectX 10 support for state-of- the-art graphic effects (God rays, soft particles, SSAO, dynamic volumetric smoke, dynamically wetting surface (rain effect) etc.)
  
  
• Dynamic transitions between day and night with realistic weather effects
  
  
• Detailed graphics, including an all-new animation engine
  
  
• Hugely expanded multiplayer part with many varied game modes and up to 32 players online or over LAN.

Top 5 PC Games That Should Be Ported To Console

List of the top 5 games that should be ported to the consoles. Interesting!

read more | digg story

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky Release date announced

GSC World Publishing and Deep Silver announce planned release date for S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky

Game will be released on August 29, 2008

GSC Game World, computer games developer, its publishing subdivision GSC World Publishing and Koch Media, a leading marketer of video games, today announced the planned release date for the title S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky. According to the agreed plan, the game will ship August 29, 2008 worldwide. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky will be published by the games labels Deep Silver and GSC World Publishing.

“The topic of the release date for S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky has created a lot of interest among gamers, press and fans. We’re pleased to announce an exact date for this highly anticipated game now,”

said Craig McNicol, Managing Director of Koch Media.

“Our intention to deliver the game simultaneously worldwide is both a challenge and big responsibility to the many fans of the game around the globe. We are looking forward to achieve this ambitious goal in August.“

- said Sergiy Grygorovych, GSC World Publishing CEO.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky is a survival FPS game for PC based on a ‘what-if’ scenario of the second Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident. The game is created as a warning to mankind against mindless play with technologies. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky is the official prequel to the renowned S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game by the Ukraine-based GSC Game World studio. The game is set in 2011and brings forth the events to have preceded the third campaign of Strelok to the Zone center. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky introduces an alternative look onto the events of the original game and offers the player to try himself out as a mercenary s.t.a.l.k.e.r. in search of his own path in the world of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

Official game site: www.stalker-game.com

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: 1.65 Million Copies Sold

From Ukraine to the official S.T.A.L.K.E.R. forums, to Google Translate to Dozerking, to me:

The poster translated the article, saying the CEO of GSC, Sergei Grigorovich, reported sales of 950,000 units in CIS, while selling 700,000 units in the rest of the world, almost all at full price. That would total about 1.65 Million copies plus, since the interview.

GSC proves, once again, that PC gaming isn't dead.

Source: IGN Voodoo Extreme

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GSC World Publishing and Koch Media Sign Publishing Agreement for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. : Clear Sky

GSC Game World, computer games developer, its publishing subdivision GSC World Publishing and Koch Media, a leading marketer of games and application software, today announced the conclusion of a publishing agreement concerning the title S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky. Under the terms of this contract, Koch Media is guaranteed worldwide publishing rights - with the exception of the territories Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky will be published by the games labels Deep Silver and GSC World Publishing.

"The unique atmosphere of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. caused a sensation among gamers, while the sales have demonstrated the brand's enormous potential. We are delighted with this chance to publish the prequel together with GSC under the Deep Silver label," said Craig McNicol, Managing Director of Koch Media.

«Publishing the game Heroes of Annihilated Empires worldwide together with Koch Media distribution, we were happy of the cooperation and are glad to continue it with S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky project», - said Sergiy Grygorovych, CEO of GSC World Publishing.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky is a survival FPS game for PC based on a 'what-if' scenario of the second Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident. The game is created as a warning to mankind against mindless play with technologies. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky is the official prequel to the renowned S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game by the Ukraine-based GSC Game World studio. The game is set in 2011 and brings forth the events to have preceded the third campaign of Strelok to the Zone center. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky introduces an alternative look onto the events of the original game and offers the player to try himself out as a mercenary s.t.a.l.k.e.r. in search of his own path in the world of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

Official game site: www.stalker-game.com

About Koch Media UK

Founded in 1994, KOCH MEDIA UK develops, publishes and distributes a diverse mix of titles for home console gaming systems, personal computers and the Internet. Based in Basingstoke, the company has distribution contracts with a number of software publishers, including NINTENDO. For publishers not in the UK, KOCH MEDIA exclusively markets, sells and distributes titles. Under its own brands of DEEP SILVER and EUROPRESS, KOCH MEDIA develops and publishes its own range of gaming and educational and lifestyle software. For more information on KOCH MEDIA and its products, visit www.kochmedia.co.uk

About Deep Silver
Deep Silver is KOCH Media's premium games label. Deep Silver has been collaborating with international developers and publishers since 2002 to publish creative and innovative computer and video games. The multi-award-winning X2 and the daring Singles have already put Deep Silver at the top of the charts. Projects include co-publishing titles with Sunflowers (ANNO 1701, ParaWorld) and JoWooD (SpellForce 2, Gothic 3, etc). www.deepsilver.com

About GSC Game World and GSC World Publishing:
Founded in 1995 in Kiev, GSC Game World is the leading computer game development company in Ukraine. The launched projects developed by GSC Game World, among others, include the critically acclaimed and multi-million selling Cossacks series, American Conquest, American Conquest: Fight Back, Alexander (Oliver Stone's movie tie-in), Cossacks II: Napoleonic Wars. The two recently released titles by GSC Game World are Heroes of Annihilated Empires (self-published worldwide by GSC's proprietary publishing subdivision GSC World Publishing) and the top-selling S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl. Currently in development is the official prequel S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky for PC.
Official web-site: www.gsc-game.com

Top ten games of 2007 - Number Seven : STALKER Shadow of Chernobyl 0n PC

For a game which was so massively delayed and annoyingly named though, S.T.A.L.K.E.R was fantastically enjoyable and used a surprisingly intricate plot which draws from modern Russian literature, notably Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strigatsky.

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

Codemasters triumphant at Golden Joystick Awards

Codemasters named 'Developer of the Year'– The Lord of the Rings Online scoops 'PC Game of the Year 2007'

Codemasters, the developer and publisher of world-class video games, was victorious at the 25th annual Golden Joystick Awards winning both the ‘UK Developer of the Year 2007 Award’ and the ‘PC Game of the Year 2007 Award’ for The Lord of the Rings Online™: Shadows of Angmar™, developed by Turbine, Inc. and published and operated in Europe by Codemasters Online.

The Golden Joystick Awards are the UK’s longest running and most popular video game awards and, in this 25th anniversary year, saw nearly 750,000 votes cast by readers of Future Publishing’s leading video game magazines and websites. The prestigious event took place at the Hilton Hotel on London’s Park Lane on Friday.

In being named ‘UK Developer of the Year’, Codemasters is the first to be honoured with the award. The category, introduced just this year, praises and recognises the best home-grown creative talent and saw 51 companies competing for nomination.

Codemasters, whose Warwickshire-based central studios are responsible for titles including Colin McRae: DiRT™, Brian Lara International Cricket™ and the Race Driver™ series, beat competitors including Rockstar North, Lionhead, Rare, and Bizarre Creations to the award. Codemasters was also the only 3rd Party games publisher in the final nominations announced during the event for the ‘Publisher of the Year’ award, alongside Microsoft and Nintendo.

“To be recognised and rewarded as a creative team is a great achievement and the fact that this award was voted for by hundreds of thousands of gamers has made everyone at Codemasters immensely proud,” said Gavin Cheshire, Vice President, Codemasters Studios.

“Game development has been a part of Codemasters for almost as long as the publishing arm has been operating and our titles have a quality and consistency that many other developers and publishers envy. We’re overjoyed in winning the award for our achievements to date and, be assured, we have many exciting concepts for the future.”

In addition to the ‘UK Developer of the Year’ award, Codemasters also celebrated winning the much coveted Golden Joystick for ‘PC Game of the Year 2007’ for The Lord of the Rings Online™: Shadows of Angmar™, which it publishes and operates in Europe in association with the title’s developer, Turbine, Inc.

The highly acclaimed massively-multiplayer online role-playing game beat out a stellar list of nominees, including World of Warcraft: Burning Crusade, Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars and S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl, cementing its place as one of the premier gaming experiences on the PC. The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar was also nominated in the Soundtrack of the Year, Nuts All-Nighter Award, Online Game of the Year and Ultimate Game of the Year categories as well.

“Codemasters Online is delighted to receive such a prominent award and would like to thank all the dedicated players who voted for The Lord of the Rings Online at this year’s Golden Joystick Awards,” commented David Solari, Vice President and General Manager of Codemasters Online.

“The nature of the award is particularly important to us because it’s voted by the players and we feel extremely privileged to receive PC Game of the Year for The Lord of the Rings Online.”