Get the community patch which upgrades graphics, enables quicker keys to save, breakable lights fixtures and more! Takes the game from good to great! STALKER is my favorite gaming style! (I got the file patch from gamefront. Its 703.1MB and an exe.
http://www.gamefront.com/files/16359911/STALKER_Complete_2009_# )

Sneak around and attempt to take out any force with stealth attacks. The more silent you are, the more deadly you become. When you kill an enemy, pick their body up and hide it. Enemies see only whats in their vision, and while an enemy is in-sight they appear on your mini-map. If you don't crouch, they will hear you even easier! Turn on night vision and pull out your silenced weapon to become the ultimate STALKER! (still challenging!)

Each NPC has a unique name, and they will remember if they like you. They can die from enemies too, though. The killed NPCs are replaced with half as many fresh new NPCs, most of the time, which helps the game still feel alive, and progresses. If you shoot your friend once, they will forgive you. If you shoot them twice, then its war...

There are different groups/factions. Military, Bandits, Loners, Duty, Freedom, etc. Everything is at war. If you pis-off the Military, they will attack your base. If you don't ball-up, they will all die. Game changing! Although, you can save anytime you want. Which makes winning a serious battle, actually possible. Making you the most badass in the zone! Although, no one truly knows how cool you are, due to saves! ;D (I wish there was a video replay, where it shows you how [through saving] your character is elite.)

Mutated animals run around constantly. Sometimes you can take a souvenier from them. The types of mutated creatures become really sneaky and different than you can imagine. They will solo attack armed soldier squads too. Sometimes wiping them out. You get no rewards for helping NPC communities survive, but it is rewarding to know you just saved a friendly base.

Better equipment comes much faster from helping NPCs with a task. But you will probably gain access to much of the same guns much later on, from fallen enemies, except armor never drops from enemies. Bullets fall with gravity. You can watch a bullet fall towards a distant target. If you choose to use a sniper weapon, you will have to adjust your manual aim to compensate for this new thing called gravity. Also, the distance between you and your target feels real!

What else... there are... artifacts, which give bonuses. They are supposed to be found in anomalies, which are dangerous ghost like traps. If you hear your radiation meter going off, throw a metal bolt by pressing 6, to see if you are about to get zapped by stepping on a trap. Also, if you hear radiation, you are probably getting pummeled with radiation poisoning. Might want to step back. Suit up to get less exposure! (This seems bigger in the game Pripyat.)

Lastly, the atmosphere is really in depth. Everyone speaks with a Russian accent, and when the wind blows the bushes wave. Day/Night cycles and eating let you feel like you are really camping in the zone. Its cold and a loner's friend.

It's not a horror game, exactly, but it has one of the bleakest atmospheres I've ever encountered. The sandbox elements enhance the feeling of being trapped in a nightmarish world ravaged by nuclear disaster.

Of course, there is more to the story than that, but anyone who is fascinated by the horrors of the Chernobyl disaster will be interested in this game.

Those who enjoy a challenging FPS will as well.

Ukraine simulator

10/10

Would drink Vodka again.

Yes the game is plagued by bugs, but gaze over them (or just install a simple mod fix) and what you’ll find is an FPS with RPG and horror elements that evokes feelings that you’ve possibly never experienced before. It perfectly captures the overwhelming mood of a decrepit world without getting repetitive or monotonous.

It captivates you, inundates you with a constant wave of ambience and atmosphere, creating an illusion of desolation. The realistic gameplay and sound effects coupled with the brilliant soundtrack and periodic spine tingling bellows from mutated monster(lings) in the distance helps forge this.

So despite being armed to the teeth with lead, gunpowder, rations and a generous light source it does what most (survival) horror games fail to do. It’s a preview of emptiness and loneliness. It makes you hesitate. Permit yourself temporary freedom and succumb to misery and mystery in the dense expanse known as The Zone.

Recommended mods:
-Autumn Aurora 2: Necessary tweaks and amplifications of what makes the game great while also keeping your experience as vanilla as possible.
-Zone Reclamation Project: All your technical issues fixed with one simple mod.

Additional recommendations:
-Russian dictionary.

I said come in, don't stand there!

cheeki breeki



edit: apparently people have seen this so I feel like actually adding a review


This game is an atmospheric and spooky game that takes place in an alternate universe after the chernobyl incident. In this universe, the chernobyl incident created an ever expanding zone which produces deadly anomalies and horrifying creatures whose prey consist of you.

You play as a STALKER, which basically is just a person who traverses the zone, who has suffered from some sort of amnesia. You only have one clear goal which is noted on your PDA: Kill Strelok.
Who strelok is or why you need to kill him is unknown, but you pursue this goal in hopes of finding out why you are trying kill him and what happened to you.

The game starts you in a small village with a simple goal of assisting nearby mecenaries in raiding a bandit camp, in hopes of retrieving a prisoner and a thumbdrive.

It sets the tone of the game very well. You can choose to experience the more stealthy lethal approach or the loud and proud route by talking to the head merc and choosing either option.

You get a quick feel for the tense gunplay (which I significantly recommend playing on max difficulty, it increases lethality for both sides during fights) and how the AI acts.

The game in essence is great. Sorry if the review isnt in depth, but the game is rock solid 10/10.
Though if you buy it know that you are supporting a person who practically tortured the dev team (who recieve no money from your purchase) and made them work in inhumane conditions.
No matter what way you choose to get it, this game is worth your time.

based on Complete Mod ONLY...

Game is fun despite having this mass amount of money dropped in your lap from side quests and trading in artifacts. Before i reached 1/3 way through the game i already had close to 200,000 Ru.

The shooting mechanics are well done, love the weapon degradation, and the scopes are perfect. Theyd ont zoom in too far or not enough, just the right amount. Despite the engine having its issues, even with the Complete mod installed, the game runs very well. The weather system is outstanding, and this marks the first game i've played where night time actually was pitch dark. In games like Crysis and FC series, you can see for miles at 2:00 AM.

Never played the vanilla version of the game because of the all the bugs i've heard about. From what i understand the game is easier with Complete mod, i just didnt want to deal with the amount of bugs the vanilla version has. I was able to make it to the end on the Master skill level (hardest one), but the last level is crazy hard.

This game is all about atmosphere, and some of the enviornments made me stop and take it all in, while the underground environments were rather spooky to the point where i would move so cautiously.

7.5/10

Quite possibly one of the best FPS open world games I've played. The moment you start your game you enter an extremely immersive and atmospheric enviroment where your choices will shape how certain characters interact with you.

Made even better by some of the survival horrror elements you will always be coming back for more. I highly recommend a clean playthrough for your first before installing any mods so you get that gritty introduction to the series. Be prepared for bugs though, as they're there, although some are not entirely gamebreaking, you will encounter problems.

GET OUT OF HERE STALKER!

Stalker is a series that is somehow both ahead of its time and dated simultaneously.

Graphically the game isn't, and never was, the hottest thing on the market. However, the world that they dev. team have created is one of the most genuinely sinister and oppressive that I have ever experienced in a game. The creatures are disturbing and dangerous, and the lighting (particularly in the darkness) effectively creates a creeping, relentless tension. The moment in the tunnels when you look back and see the silhouette of the Controller emerge for the first time (seasoned players will know what I mean) is one of the most unnerving experiences I can recall having.

Like all the games in the series, Stalker doesn't coddle its players. Starting the game is quite brutal as it can take a new player some time to come to grips to the realism of the gunplay and the initially unforgiving difficulty of the enemies. The bullet physics are realistic in that your weapons aren't perfectly accurate, nor are they entirely reliable, and misfires can be common with weapons of a low condition, so you must use your brain and know your weapons and their limitations before initiating a firefight. In saying that, the game rewards the player by lightening the load as you progress and get better weapons and armour, and by the mid-point the difficulty can lessen considerably.

The sound is here and there in terms of quality, with the voice acting being average and flat a lot of the time, however, the atmospheric sound, weapon sounds, and THAT droning voice towards the end (seasoned players will understand), really plant a disturbing and terrifying chill in your spine the whole way through. Voice acting aside, the sound in these games are one of my favourite parts.

Stalker: SoC is a game I keep coming back to replay again and again, not in the least because of the quality of the mods out there. In saying that, the world that the devs have created and the emotions that that world inspires in me remains with me for long after every play session, and I think that, once one gets past the initial hurdles that the game places in front of you, this is one of the best post-apocalyptic games I've ever played. I feel that, whereas classics like Bioshock (for a random example) are fantastic games that appeal to everyone, cult classics are fantastic games that are an acquired taste. This is very much, in my mind, the absolute definition of cult classic. I highly recommend it (with a good mod like COMPLETE if you wish to smooth the creases out) to anyone looking for a deep, memorable and unsettling FPS experience.

Listen here Ivan.
Do you of like realistic shooting in ukrain?
Do you enjoy listening to cheesy russian language?
Do you like the spooks and the chills that every enemy of game will make you feel?
Then play Stalker.

Also be wary of the blowout soon fellow rookie.
You ask of when?
NOW

Darksouls for men

10/10 would stalk again (until I get a restraining order :/ )

I’ve been playing this classic gem for years and years. Shadow of Chernobyl is a gritty, survival focused FPS which puts atmosphere and gameplay above all else. Although not a true RPG, there are various elements which RPG lovers will appreciate such as an extensive inventory system, and quest based missions.

The vanilla game itself is fairly basic, but the sheer amount of large mods available give this game so much life/replayability. Three in particular that I have enjoyed are:

Lost Alpha

Oblivion Lost U.L.T.I.M.A.T.E.

Autumn Aurora 2

This game is something no gamer should miss. Although not everyone will appreciate it as much as me, I still recommend that everyone give it a go. Definitely with the Lost Alpha mod installed <3 Hopefully you’ll like it as much as I do!

Awesome open-world FPS. A little rough around the edges and glitchy, but still a great game. The game is over 7 years old, so it is a little dated as well.

The game takes place in "The Zone", referring to the uninhabitable area surrounding the Chernobyl nuclear power station. You start the game as a man with amnesia. Throughout the game, you try to piece together who you are.

Within The Zone, there are anomalies, bandits, mutants, and treasure. You have a lot of choice in the game. You can use something loud like an AK-47 or you can try and be stealthy.

The only real problem I have with this game (besides the glitches and other bugs) is that it is very difficult at the start. You start with a pistol and some food, so it is difficult to kill the bandits/soldiers who have much better weapons than you at the start of the game.

Overall, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl is a flawed yet fun open-world FPS.

The Cheeki Breeki beckons...

The people are either dead, ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥s, mutants, or heavily intoxicated.
A very realistic simulation of life in Ukraine

Whether you're looking at this game because you're a fan of FPS, horror, post apocalyptic settings, RPG's or just games with strong mod communities, I can say without a doubt that buying this game will be one of the best decisions you have ever made. 10/10
Be ready to get lost to the zone.

Instead of using S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Complete 2009, use ZRP (google it) and some shaders if you really feel like you need them.
Play on the highest difficulty, as anything lower than that makes enemies bullet sponges.

Good hunting, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

Cheeki Breeki
Get out of here S.T.A.L.K.E.R
Get out of here S.T.A.L.K.E.R
Get out of here S.T.A.L.K.E.R
Get out of here S.T.A.L.K.E.R
Said come in, don't stand there
Said come in, don't stand there
Cheeki Breeki

With one of the greatest cult followings of all time, fantastic mod support, a wonderful setting, and cheesy Russian voice acting, the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series is one that may have been surpassed by some, but is definitely worth the $15.

Like most post-apoctalyptic games, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s harsh Russian wasteland and mutated animals provide a brooding backdrop for the game. However, unlike most games of the genre, this one's story is something that brings a little extra novelty to the game (the game is based off of the 1972 classic, Roadside Picnic.) Along with this, there was also a movie, which is aptly named Stalker, which was released in 1979. You can read more about that here. The story revolves around the Chernobyl nuclear diasaster in 1986. In the story, the radiation spread much quicker, the effects being much more devastating. Now, radiation storms and rocks, all under the name "anomalies", were scattered across the landscape.

To get more into the actual game, the gunplay is actually somewhat satisfying. The game is a first person shooter, with elements of an inventory, as well as enemies dropping rare weapons, or better weapons, as well as food, bandages, etc. Akin to games such as DayZ or Arma, the shooting mechanics are meant to be more realistic in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. You bleed at various severities depending on where and how much you have been hit, and you must use bandages to stop the bleeding and heal yourself (food is another option to regain health). Your gun can (and will) jam, and ammo is scarce (even scarcer with some friendly mods). The AI is probably the most lacking of all the gameplay aspects, as their grenade lobbing and intense corner camping can lead to some awkward firefights (the quicksave button is nice). The game revolves around this faction, known as Stalkers. These are freelance men, almost like prospectors, to find valuables deep within the Zone (the area in and around the Chernobyl factory.) Being a Stalker is a dangerous job, which can turn many to a darker side. The Russian Army has become a shell of its former self, now a greedy army looking for power. Factions such as the Duty attempt to rally against this army. Like any good post-apoc game, there are of course low level mercaneries too, there to spoil the fun and become some nice target practice. There are of course more factions, but why spoil them all here? You can read all about them in the ingame PDA.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. holds a place dear in my heart. Many have played it, and it is definitely an inspiration for many popular games today. The definition of a cult classic, this game (as well as the series) is something to be cherished.

Spoiler - The objective of the game is to kill yourself and drink vodka.

10/10 would die again.