A very interesting blend of genres, this open world FPS with survival horror elements and some mild RPG inspiration was well received by both critics and fans alike. Despite a troubled and long development cycle and numerous delays, a long list of cut features and many bugs and glitches, it seems like S.T.A.L.K.E.R series has managed to carve out its very own niche in gaming.
One of the points of interest in S.T.A.L.K.E.R games has been its visuals. By default, players might get turned off by the stiff animations, rough details upon NP Cs and weapon textures that looks like coming out of game from alpha - state. However, the texture quality is decent and level design gives the ambient atmosphere of being inside a desolated zone of Chernobyl. Another strong point upon visuals is the lighting system. Almost every single light source casts dynamic shadows, be it from campfires, to the sun. Ironically, it can often do that better than newer games which have limits to the amount of dynamic shadows and lighting sources within a scene.
Another point of interest has to be the A-Life Simulation and the AI that was produced and cut remarkably at the Shadow of Chernobyl, but slowly restored by the time Call of Pripyat was released. The A-Life creates much more memorable moments than any story driven game has given for me, and I'm the sort of person that plays the game and doesn't bother much with the story. The downside of this whole thing is that NP Cs are not unique in sort of way or get any character developement, but it's always a nice sight of finding that Loner that I encountered in the beginning come over into the late game area and help me out with some mutants.
Then we get to the gunplay, and I have to say it, S.T.A.L.K.E.R games has an excellent ballistics simulation as well as somewhat realistic bullet drop off to go along with shooting, making it necessary to learn aiming with different weapons. As mentioned above, weapons might not look exactly the most shiniest blings, but they do their job well enough.
The major downside, at least on Shadow of Chernobyl, and on many older FPS titles, is that it uses a probability system that is tied to its difficulty. On Easy difficulty the enemy will miss more of their shots at the player, but in turn so will the player miss shots in return. Some bullets just don't deal damage this way and it is quite annoying of an experience. Thankfully, the higher difficulties fix this and makes it much less tedious, and mods can outright negate the flaw.
All in all S.T.A.L.K.E.R games has some extremely strong and unique gameplay elements that has not been touched upon by other games, but also comes out being a rough diamond that can turn off gamers who do not want to invest time to make the game playable. However, getting past this limit ensures you a thrilling gaming experience no other shooter has yet to offer.
Points of interest in S.T.A.L.K.E.R series
A very interesting blend of genres, this open world FPS with survival horror elements and some mild RPG inspiration was well received by both critics and fans alike. Despite a troubled and long development cycle and numerous delays, a long list of cut features and many bugs and glitches, it seems like S.T.A.L.K.E.R series has managed to carve out its very own niche in gaming.
One of the points of interest in S.T.A.L.K.E.R games has been its visuals. By default, players might get turned off by the stiff animations, rough details upon NP Cs and weapon textures that looks like coming out of game from alpha - state. However, the texture quality is decent and level design gives the ambient atmosphere of being inside a desolated zone of Chernobyl. Another strong point upon visuals is the lighting system. Almost every single light source casts dynamic shadows, be it from campfires, to the sun. Ironically, it can often do that better than newer games which have limits to the amount of dynamic shadows and lighting sources within a scene.
Another point of interest has to be the A-Life Simulation and the AI that was produced and cut remarkably at the Shadow of Chernobyl, but slowly restored by the time Call of Pripyat was released. The A-Life creates much more memorable moments than any story driven game has given for me, and I'm the sort of person that plays the game and doesn't bother much with the story. The downside of this whole thing is that NP Cs are not unique in sort of way or get any character developement, but it's always a nice sight of finding that Loner that I encountered in the beginning come over into the late game area and help me out with some mutants.
Then we get to the gunplay, and I have to say it, S.T.A.L.K.E.R games has an excellent ballistics simulation as well as somewhat realistic bullet drop off to go along with shooting, making it necessary to learn aiming with different weapons. As mentioned above, weapons might not look exactly the most shiniest blings, but they do their job well enough. The major downside, at least on Shadow of Chernobyl, and on many older FPS titles, is that it uses a probability system that is tied to its difficulty. On Easy difficulty the enemy will miss more of their shots at the player, but in turn so will the player miss shots in return. Some bullets just don't deal damage this way and it is quite annoying of an experience. Thankfully, the higher difficulties fix this and makes it much less tedious, and mods can outright negate the flaw.
All in all S.T.A.L.K.E.R games has some extremely strong and unique gameplay elements that has not been touched upon by other games, but also comes out being a rough diamond that can turn off gamers who do not want to invest time to make the game playable. However, getting past this limit ensures you a thrilling gaming experience no other shooter has yet to offer.