Stalker is excellent!

I got this game at release and I couldn't really get into it. I got a few hours in and patched it at one point to find that it erased my saves and didn't really look back. Anyways I reinstalled it because I figured I need to get my money's worth. After downloading the latest patches and the FLOAT32 mod I gave it a second shot. All I have to say is "Wow!". The graphics are amazing and the gameplay is some of the best I've ever seen in a game. It's like Oblivion and a first person shooter mixed into one. Anyone else think this game is sort of underappreciated?

EDIT: Oh yea, and the monsters + art design is top notch! That one guy in the sewers who warps your mind is freaking crazy! Scared the hell out of me.

I got this game at release and I couldn't really get into it. I got a few hours in and patched it at one point to find that it erased my saves and didn't really look back. Anyways I reinstalled it because I figured I need to get my money's worth. After downloading the latest patches and the FLOAT32 mod I gave it a second shot. All I have to say is "Wow!". The graphics are amazing and the gameplay is some of the best I've ever seen in a game. It's like Oblivion and a first person shooter mixed into one. Anyone else think this game is sort of underappreciated?

EDIT: Oh yea, and the monsters + art design is top notch! That one guy in the sewers who warps your mind is freaking crazy! Scared the hell out of me.

GodLovesDead

[QUOTE="GodLovesDead"]

I got this game at release and I couldn't really get into it. I got a few hours in and patched it at one point to find that it erased my saves and didn't really look back. Anyways I reinstalled it because I figured I need to get my money's worth. After downloading the latest patches and the FLOAT32 mod I gave it a second shot. All I have to say is "Wow!". The graphics are amazing and the gameplay is some of the best I've ever seen in a game. It's like Oblivion and a first person shooter mixed into one. Anyone else think this game is sort of underappreciated?

EDIT: Oh yea, and the monsters + art design is top notch! That one guy in the sewers who warps your mind is freaking crazy! Scared the hell out of me.

OoSuperMarioO

It's not my fault really. Stalker had enormous issues during release, and an save-erasing patch took the cake.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R really impressed me in the opening few hours. Firefights were hard, it felt like every fight was a fight for my life and I wasn't killing to whittle down the enemy who exist purely to prevent my progress - as in other games - I felt like I was killing to survive.

But as time went on, the game just got easier and easier, and once I got a decent scope, combat became a little pointless. S.T.A.L.K.E.R is a near miss as far as I'm concerned. Some changes I would make:

• Remove all money, make all trade be item for item, so everything you get is a sacrifice.
• Increase the value and rarity of consumables so you are constantly fighting to survive.
• More variety in - and point to - the sub-missions. Better rewards.
• More realistic, cyclical AI. S.T.A.L.K.E.R used some annoying spawn triggers, many of which were bugged, leading to annoyingly broken missions and a lack of randomness in combat.
• Reputation. Once you're famous, people come hunting for you. Other elite S.T.A.L.K.E.Rs.

I'm not bothered about how rough around the edges it is, how dire the english dialogue is, how the plot is uninteresting. I can live with all that. If the above are implemented in the sequel, It could be a seriously great game.

Glad you liked it, I thought it was CRAP-Tastic. :x

Much rather play Crysis, or Guild Wars.

Stalker is excellent!GodLovesDead

Agreed! :D

S.T.A.L.K.E.R really impressed me in the opening few hours. Firefights were hard, it felt like every fight was a fight for my life and I wasn't killing to whittle down the enemy who exist purely to prevent my progress - as in other games - I felt like I was killing to survive.

But as time went on, the game just got easier and easier, and once I got a decent scope, combat became a little pointless. S.T.A.L.K.E.R is a near miss as far as I'm concerned. Some changes I would make:

• Remove all money, make all trade be item for item, so everything you get is a sacrifice.
• Increase the value and rarity of consumables so you are constantly fighting to survive.
• More variety in - and point to - the sub-missions. Better rewards.
• More realistic, cyclical AI. S.T.A.L.K.E.R used some annoying spawn triggers, many of which were bugged, leading to annoyingly broken missions and a lack of randomness in combat.
• Reputation. Once you're famous, people come hunting for you. Other elite S.T.A.L.K.E.Rs.

I'm not bothered about how rough around the edges it is, how dire the english dialogue is, how the plot is uninteresting. I can live with all that. If the above are implemented in the sequel, It could be a seriously great game.

mfsa

You should try the Redux mod. It's got most of what you're asking for. Totally revamped economy which means items are extremely rare and very expensive.. There's next to no food so you'll have to decide whether it's more important to carry that extra box of shells or a few tins of food. Bandages no longer heal you and first aid kits are almost as rare as food. Completely redone ballistics and damage system so that combat is much more unforgiving. Weapons and armour also degrade much more quickly than in the original game, but you can repair them. There is also a lot more armour to chose from and it covers 9 locations rather than the entire body. REALLY annoying if you're in the middle of a radiation zone and you get a hole in your suit. Any damage to an enviro-suit and it becomes completely useless at shielding you from radiation, chemicals, or fire until you patch it up.

That one guy in the sewers who warps your mind is freaking crazy! Scared the hell out of me.

GodLovesDead

Unfortunately there were only a couple of those psi mutants in the entire game. Not having enough unique ideas like this was one the game's disappointments.

Does it have puzzles?LaNoOm

I haven't encountered any puzzles. Regardless, just read the games features. I wish it was given higher scores by the critics so more people would try the game out. It feels like the game isn't as well-known as it should be. I think the critics focus too much on unimportant aspects such as the story (I like the story and its 7 endings) and don't focus enough on the content and technology at play. The gun-fights are great and the artificial intelligence is the best to be found in a game. Remember Oblivion's "innovative AI"? Well, Stalker has Oblivion's AI except it's much more improved. Stalker is the Oblivion of the FPS genre, without the simplicity.

I bought Stalker awhile back, and played through for a short bit. It was a lot of fun, but I had just bought Bioshock at the time. I plan to get around to it soon, though. There's a huge backlog of games for me to get through.

Float 32 mod amps up the graphics...!!

Hard to believe it was created by one man in his spare time...

GSC needs to hire him...

The difference is incredible...!!!!

Never really got into it, thought the game was pretty boring, Oblivion with guns as someone said. Only problem is that Oblivion sucked. Been meaning to maybe give it another go but between The Witcher, NWN2, The Orange Box, Jericho, and System Shock 2, and probably a couple of more games after the holidays...i'm not going to find any time for STALKER for quite awhile.PTMags

Oblivion didn't suck because it was open ended. It sucked because it simplified RPG elements. Stalker relating to Oblivion is meant in the sense of quests, scale, and AI.

Float 32 mod amps up the graphics...!!

Hard to believe it was created by one man in his spare time...

GSC needs to hire him...

The difference is incredible...!!!!

OgreB

The Float32 mod improves the graphics and increases your FPS by ~20%. It's a requirement if you plan to take Stalker a ride.

How many hours does it take to beat?LaNoOm

I've played for 14 hours and I still haven't gotten anywhere in the mainquest. I don't plan to touch the main quest til I have to and I have a long ways to go.

So stalker is an rpg?LaNoOm

It's a shooting game with RPG elements. The gameplay relys on shooting skills when fighting enemies. Besides that FPS element, you have an inventory, resistances, armor, gear, quests, journals, optional dialogue, open ended levels, and lots of replay value.

How many hours does it take to beat?LaNoOm

[QUOTE="PTMags"]Never really got into it, thought the game was pretty boring, Oblivion with guns as someone said. Only problem is that Oblivion sucked. Been meaning to maybe give it another go but between The Witcher, NWN2, The Orange Box, Jericho, and System Shock 2, and probably a couple of more games after the holidays...i'm not going to find any time for STALKER for quite awhile.GodLovesDead

Oblivion didn't suck because it was open ended. It sucked because it simplified RPG elements. Stalker relating to Oblivion is meant in the sense of quests, scale, and AI.

Well that's your opinion I guess, but I don't like games that are so open ended, takes away from the story. Then again the story was retarded just like everything else about Oblivion so maybe that's why there was all that other crap to try and distract you. Which is the same with STALKER. Wouldn't be as bad if there were a faster means of travel I think.

So Stalker should be in the rpg class it seems like not fps.LaNoOm

Why doesn't it look like FPS? FPS means First Person Shooter after all. STALKER is first person and it is a shooter.

And it's lacking too many important RPG elements to actually be one. STALKER is FPS with RPG elements and it doesn't try to be anything else.

I think that S.T.A.L.K.E.R is a brilliant game,I love it even though it has it's flaws! But once you've finished the main quest there's not alot to do,apart from the multiplayer games, I think they should release it onto the 360 and PS3 and make it an MMO where you can explore the whole game world(With additional locations),give each character a level/reputation(Rookie,veteran,e.tc),start your own clan or faction an wage war against others,make money mor scarce so you have to work for it,let you buy more armour/clothes e.tc,customiziable weapons ahhh you get my point!

If anybody else out there agrees with me on this reply or send me a message,

Peace

STALKER is an excellent game experience but with alot of rough edges. The patches have done a hell of a lot for it. The very first 'vanilla' version before the first patch was just such a beta version it was unbelieveable.

The other guy was right, elite stalkers should have come after you once your standing increased, that would have been interesting.

Also, the two seceret labs could have done with some proper monsters down there, not that stupid 'hands and legs' monster, which was scary at first because its soo large and soo ugly, but something really bad ass.

I think that S.T.A.L.K.E.R is a brilliant game,I love it even though it has it's flaws! But once you've finished the main quest there's not alot to do,apart from the multiplayer games, I think they should release it onto the 360 and PS3 and make it an MMO where you can explore the whole game world(With additional locations),give each character a level/reputation(Rookie,veteran,e.tc),start your own clan or faction an wage war against others,make money mor scarce so you have to work for it,let you buy more armour/clothes e.tc,customiziable weapons ahhh you get my point!

If anybody else out there agrees with me on this reply or send me a message,

Peace

Frostbite345

I agree.

I brought it earlier and it looks and feels unique. I've scheduled some cold winter nights to play this one - once I get another 1GB of ram. I'd reckon you'd need at least 2gb orRamand a GPU of some noteto get it to run with any sort of efficiency.

But then, that's for all games coming out now. So hard to keep up with the times.

8)

STALKER is quite excellent indeed many nice mods for it to.

Drivable vehicles anyone ? :P