Review: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl

Release Date: 3.20.2007
Platform: Windows PC

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl is a first person shooter with mild RPG mechanics and a dark survival-horror atmosphere that released in 2007, after many years in development by the Ukraine-based studio GSC Game World. Taking place in an alternate universe where a second Chernobyl disaster occurred, the player is sent on an adventure through a heavily radiated and quarantined area called The Zone, where the very laws of physics are changing, mutants are on the prowl and gangs of violent scavengers battle each other to find rare artifacts that grant incredible power.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s base game mechanics are more like that of an old-school first person shooter rather than recent titles which take a very handholding style when it comes to gun aiming, gun accuracy, health regeneration and controls. Your guns in this game can wear down and jam and bullet spreads are much more realistic than in modern games like Call of Duty: Black Ops. When you take damage your health doesn't regenerate automatically like most post-Halo shooters, but rather you have to use scavenged supplies like bandages, medicines and health kits to repair yourself. Adding to the realism is the weight limit to how much gear you are able to haul around and how item management and scavenging quickly become a thing of high importance to survival.

The Zone itself is an open world with many diverse areas that allow for numerous choices of approaches to achieving missions, from blazing gun battles to stealth tactics. Meanwhile, the highly radiated nature of the environments creates areas that are toxic to player health, leaves anomalies that are lethal and spawns deadly mutants who are more than willing to attack any and all human invaders of their territories. Within The Zone there are towns and communities of other scavengers and outlaws who you can interact with and accept missions from, and who will react to you based on your actions and your alignments with different factions. Scavenged items from the environments and fallen enemies include gear and power ups that increase player stats and capabilities and upgrade weapons with add-ons like scopes and grenade launchers.

In many ways one could say that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl is a thinking person's FPS, granting greater rewards and satisfaction to those who engage missions with a deliberate and methodical approach rather than the Hollywood blockbuster balls-to-the-wall action of newer shooters. The game is inherently more difficult and unforgiving than what the average Call of Duty: Black Ops or Halo player is likely used to, but the challenge is never unfair or cheap. A fair comparison many have made is that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is to the FPS genre what Demon's Souls was to the sword and sorcery RPG genre.

Production-wise the game in it's initial release was fine for it's time, albeit dragged down a bit with some long loading sequences between areas and a few glitches that were of some annoyance. In the years since the first release the large and impressive modding community has created fixes for many of these flaws and also refreshed the game with drastic visual and audio enhancements. If you are only now getting into S.T.A.L.K.E.R. it's practically mandatory that you install the 2009 Complete Mod before you begin in order to have the absolute best experience possible.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. not only makes it's mark with challenging and intelligent game systems, but with an incredible sense of mood and atmosphere. The Zone is a suitably dark and ominous place, perfectly designed to reflect the bleakness of the backstory with great visual and audio design that build tension and really give off the feeling of being in a post-apocalyptic Russian wasteland. Everything comes together brilliantly in this game, and even 7 years after it's debut it still stands at the forefront of doing this sort of apocalyptic subject material right in a sea of pretenders to the throne.

In short, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl is a game definitely worthy of anyone's attention and playtime, and it gets my highest recommendation.