My review of STALKER

To anyone who want to try this game out, I would say put down at least an hour or two of playtime before you judge it. When I first jumped into it yesterday I was very dissappointed (it runs poorly and doesn't make the best first impression), but after putting in over two hours of game time and getting a feel for what the game has to offer, I would call this the best game I've played since Half-Life 2.

First and foremost, the game that this most closely resembles is Farcry. The game draws it's fun from realistic firefights with some pretty clever AI. Most enemies go down with a couple hits to the head, but the weapon ballistics are very realistic so depending on how accurate a gun ur using (rifles are more dead on than pisotls, but even this vary depending on the rifle). The game can actually be pretty frustrating before you get ur hands on the better, more accurate weapons. Because of the limited accuracy, firefights tend to involve alot of sporadic cover and suppressive fire, very much like real firefights.

The human and animal AIs, though different, are very impressive. Enemy humans in a group will cover each other and hold positions, so you really have put alot of thought into how you are going to approach them and use ur environment in the attack. It really is alot like playing against reall opponents in that they really seem to convey a good sense of awareness and self preservation. I was in a firefight yesterday where I was outnumbered 3 to 1. I was taking cover and thought that I was gonna get flanked to death, when one of my enemies accidentally stepped into a grav anomaly. A light refraction ripped throught the bushs as the man was smacked around to death. After he was dead his body just floated in mid air. This game has alot of wow moments like this.

Animal AI is interesting as they base their aggression on how hungry they are. Usually wild dogs will just kind of forage around and not bother you, but every now and then one might run up and take a bite out of you. Sometimes, during storms or night usually, they form packs and that's when u really have to fear for your life. The AI coupled with the weather, sound effects and anomalies really do a good job of making you feel like you're in some unforgiving apocalyptic wilderness of survival.

The only drawback of the game is that it runs like crap. I have a decent system (check the sig) and I have to turn the settings alot to get a decent FPS.

I could go on and on but I'm just going end this post by recommending this game to anyone who loves FPS games. Rest assured that their are alot of things that I left out and this game is alot cooler than it sounds.

 

I have the game set to Object Dynamic Lighting with a number of settings set Medium or High and I get good FPS. The only problem is this game causes the most NMI Parity Check Error blue screens out of all the games I have, which makes it hard to play through. The only time I didn't get one when I was playing in my basement with a fan on full blast, shooting air underneath the computer. Which means it's probably a good idea for me to get a external cooling system in order to really play this game anywhere...

 

From Gamespot: 'This first-person survival game is at times amazing and engrossing and on par with such classics as Deus Ex'

Your thoughts? Deus Ex is one of the best games I've ever played so thats quite a claim.

 

Nice review. Why do the rifles take up 1/2 of the player's screen though? I like realism, but this is just getting ridiculous....

 

I would say it does become engrossing as Deux Ex and System Shock 2 did, but S.T.A.L.K.E.R doesn't have as much depth as those two games. It would've been, had they introduced character stats and skills, much like System Shock 2 did.

 

Very good review! Your review is nice to read, despite the lack of images! I really want a good notebook now to be able to play this game =)

 

any idea if performance will get better with patches it runs like crap on the rig in my sig

 

sounds like a great game...any idea when it will hit the stores???? because i went to the local circuit city and the sales person told me that he did not know when it would be in stock

 

i'm glad it doesn't have stats, it's a non linear shooter with some RPG elements, not an RPG with shooter elements (like hellgate london is shaping up to). It's all about the weapons in the game and the reflexes and tactics that the player actually posseses.

another thing that should've been mentioned in my review:

the rpg aspect is constricted to interaction with characters, which reminds me of the conversation system in fallout. The atmospere also has a feel to it that reminds me of fallout.

If you expect a world that is as unrestricted as oblivion's, u might dissapoint urself, but A-Life and the weather system make it feel more alive, and there are still multiple paths and backtracking

 

hey londex.....can i ask you wht kind of frame rates you are getting @ what resolution and settings? because i plan o buying this game...but i want to make sure that it will work comfortably on my lappie thanks

 

what is your processor ?

 

The performance is not bad. I run full 1920x1200. only option i have turned off is sun shadow. otherwise runs perfectly on my 7900gs

 

My processor is an Intel Pentium M 1.73GHz (Sonoma)

 

Anyone else encounters serious issues running STALKER on Vista?
I just keep on getting the game freezing then crashing after a few minutes into the game.
I used modded drivers v101.41.
No pbs on my desktop (windows XP).

 

THQ is working on a patch for vista. The game wasn't even designed with Vista in mind and isn't officially supported yet.

 

that clarifies a bit.
Do you have a link with this info? Couldn't find out while googling.

 

gamespot.com , editor mentions it in the video review.

 

thx.
I understand why I couldn't find it on the official game site.

 

I almost bought this yesterday, well to the store I go

Thanks for the review ... gave rep

 

I'm really eager to get hold of this game but I have been getting second thoughts about buying it after reading about the trouble ppl have in getting the game to run smoothly.
My specs: Intel Core2Duo T5500, 1,5GB Ram, nVidia Go7600 (256 MB). My OS is WinXP Pro SP2.
So what do you guys think, can my rig handle STALKER without too much problems?

 

Your machine should run it fine on medium settings. I have a lesser system (Core solo/ geforce 7400/1gb ram) and it runs okay with everything on low.

Make sure you turn EAX off in the settings.

 

Spring break starts this weekend for me... I think I have my after work entertainment all lined up. I swear, it's like we are in a video game renaissance, I don't remember this many quality games coming out in such a short period of time at any other point in my life.

 

I have to turn everything to pretty low settings on the machine listed in my sig. 1024x768. I'm not on the lowest settings on anything, but everything is med/low and I run in the upper 20's - low 30's fps most of the time which is actually quite smooth & playable. I've only played as far as the 2nd real gun-fight you get into and when the bullets start flying, thats when I see my performance take a hit.

Very playable, but I have to sacrifice a bit on graphics.

 

Is there any way to permanently stop the radiation. cause i run out of that crap fast to heal it?

 

anyone running this on:

core 2 duo 2.0ghz
2gb ram
go7400

????how is it running????

 

Just played my first couple hours. Runs great on med settings on my rig. So far looks like a great game.

 

Runs pretty bad on my asus w3j with ati x1600. I get about 30 fps with everything turned to low. I need to try it on my xps m1710 with geforce 7950 gtx.

 

My machine is about to be a core 2 duo e6400, with 2 gigs of ram, and a 8800gts.

This isn't one of the crazy future high demand games is it? I'd like to run it at full capacity at 1920x1200.....

 

sounds so scary T___T, when i read review on gamespot, they said the graphics look as good as HL2, so i guessed i can max out all settings (just like in HL2), but it doesn't seem to be true
i have Go7600 128Mb

 

The trick is in static lighting - you'll get a great speed improvement. Not looking so nice, but it is very fast. textures and all on high.

If you use object lighting or full lihting then you need fast graphics. Like 7900 series. otherwise you need to play it in low res. Even if it looks fast you will lose your life in the gunfight because of the stutter.

2GB RAM enhances the load speed and gameplay dramatically.

It is playable even on older gear, but with static lighting.

I play it in Vista - no issues whatsoever. Using AMD ATI 7.2 drivers.

Great game.

Ivan

 

there seems to ba a patch out for this game

 

Exactly, the first thing EVERYONE should do is TURN ON STATIC LIGHTING!

I tried tweaking the game for almost an hour before I figured out that the lighting was causing my terrible performance. I am able to run everything on high at 1400x900 with my system. The 7900 does a nice job except for when there are a lot of effects which drop my fps below 30 fps. For the most part, the game looks very nice though many things are dated.

Im about 4 hours into the game and Im very impressed. Its hard to get into the game; its difficult and boring at first, but once you get going, some new armor, new weapons, and better missions, the game is very addicting. I would say its on par with such greats such as HL2, Far Cry, and Doom3.

Hopefully the ending and getting deep into the zone will really make this game something special.

 

I am having issues with this too. I dye before I can really do anything.

 

Well, I get an average of 30 FPS (which is fine) with the following hardware and settings:

Asus G1 Laptop (2 Ghz C2D, 2g RAM, 5400 HDD, nVidia Ge Force Go 7700 with Tweaked MobileForce M4 Enhanced Video Drivers 9.4.2.0).

Render: Objects Dynamic Lighting
Quality Settings: Maximun
Resolution: 1024x640 Full Screen
Vision Distance: four notches below 100%
Objects Detail: two notches below 100%
Grass Density: 100%
Textures Detail: 100%
Antialiasing: 2X
Sun Shadow: No (becuase of my Render Settings)
Grass Shadow: No (same as above)
Lighting distance: Three notches up
NPC Flashlights: YES
Shadow Quality: 100%

As you can see, it's not bad for a laptop...

I like the game so far... Very recommended.

Regards,
RayanMX