The Role Playing Survival Horror Shooter
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. takes place in a 30-mile wide Exclusion Zone around the infamous Chernobyl Power Plant. In STALKER's fiction, in addition to the explosion of '86 a second explosion occurs in 2012. This second meltdown creates all the mutants, anomalies, and artifacts you see in the game. Stalkers (which is an acronym for Scavenger, Trespasser, Adventurer, Loner, Killer, Explorer, Robber) are individuals who scour the Zone for these artifacts in hopes of gaining material wealth. The setting is loosely based (the following book and movie had no no mutants or anomalies; was more psychological) on the Strugatsky Brothers' novella "Roadside Picnic" and Tarkovsky's 1979 film "Stalker".
The story follows a man known only as the "Marked One" who awakes after being saved from a death truck. He is amnesiac and only his PDA gives him any clues on what to do. It says Kill Strelok.
The story has a lot of mystery, and the twist is fantastic. You learn a lot about the Zone itself and in the end all is made clear. It does start to have a philosophical edge towards the end, but it only reminds me of a problem with the game. The characters are flat. There are practically no major characters that are memorable and everybody is pretty much a faceless, albeit a realistic, NPC. Even Sidorovich, the most interesting character, isn't fully developed to the extent he could've been. The Zone makes up for this deficiency, but given STALKER's influences it seems like there should've been a stronger psychological element to the story.
The game is first and foremost a shooter before anything else, but it also has elements of survival, horror, role-playing, and sandbox games. Combat is highly tactical and most actual firefights can take place at long distances. Firearms are absolutely deadly which encourages the use of cover and caution. There's bullet drop and velocity too and the large amount of recoil all contribute to the difficulty of any shot. If you want to be successful, especially at higher difficulties, conservative play becomes a necessity.
That being said the guns feel great. They have a nice kick and impacts look great. Everything fires how you would expect and there's a nice progression to the firearms. Early Warsaw Pact weapons are inaccurate and weak. Later NATO weapons are accurate and deadly. Later versions of both weapon types have a nice tactical diversity to them. AK's are better up close, and Enfields are better at range. There's no real "best" weapon in the game, you'll simply find a favorite and that's what you'll do.
The game's survival aspects are pretty light, but there a nice addition. You have to eat every so often so scrounging for food is a necessity. Besides avoiding dangerous anomalies, dealing with mutants, and healing radiation ammo is scarce, which requires you to plan expeditions into the Zone (You don't want to run out of ammo when you're underground).
Where's all the RPG stuff? While it's not as in-depth as something like Deus Ex, STALKER has it's fair share of role playing elements. Besides the weapon mods, and logical enemy/firearm progression there's quite a bit more. STALKER uses a grid based inventory, a stand by of old rpgs. Unlike Deus Ex, you have a carry weight limit, and also have to make room for your ammo. The entire system of questing is very RPG-like. You even have your traditional fetch quests. But the most RPG like system STALKER has is artifacts, that in a lot of ways remind me of Biomods from DX1.
Artifacts are the very reason most people are in the Zone. While they're rather plentiful, the truly valuable and useful ones are very hard to fins. In your inventory screen you have a belt capable of carrying five artifacts. Various artifacts have various effects. Some raise your bulletproof cap, others enhance your endurance. Almost all expect the best have downsides too, usually increased bleeding or radiation. On top of that you can sell artifacts for quite a bit of money. It a nice feature that requires some thought. You'll also puzzle around trying to create an artifact belt that enhances your character, while adding artifacts that cancel out the negatives. A very well done, and well thought out system.
So what makes the game so immersive. Well for one it's a First Person shooter, which by nature requiring more input and reaction, tends to immerse you more easily. But the main thing is the consistency and realism of the world.
The world is pretty incredible. All the locations fit a general theme and yet are entirely unique. You have forests, industrial complexes, and even a small occupied town. There's a...emotion to each area, especially when you get to Pripyat and the NPP. You can't help but marvel at the empty structures, the militarized Soviet lifestyle, and just imagine what it must've been like before the disaster. When you get to the NPP, you realize your standing at the very place of the disaster, and you're awed.
It helps too that the inhabitants of this area, human or not, act very believable. The AI is incredible, in combat they will flank, suppress, and even sneak. There have been times where I've been killed by a NPC who saw me, snuck up on me, and knifed me. Not bothering to sound the alarm and warn his buddies, and myself, that I had been compromised.
Outside of combat the AI carries on in it's realistic behavior. Stalker's sit around the campfire telling stories, and cracking jokes. They eat, drink, and occasionally one will play a catchy tune on his guitar. It's common to see people traveling place to place. You can even follow some characters and see where they go. Mutants also act realistically, migrating, and feasting on bodies they have killed.
Another great contributor are the graphics and sound. The graphics were a bit dated a launch, and they definitely are now, but this is a case where art carries it through. The amount of detail is phenomenal, and little touches that add to the world abound. Enemy design is familiar and alien at the same time, which helps make the game feel relatable. The lighting is also very good and can create that perfect tone for every environment. This is one of the few games that when a thunder storm rolls in, I really feel like I want to find cover.
Sound has a lot of subtle effects as well and a lot of things actually contribute to the gameplay. Take the Geiger counter for instance. When that thing beeps you stop, and take a step back. Ambient music also sets the perfect tone, on of somberness.
That is STALKER's strength. Everything comes together perfectly to create the illusion of real life. Incredible atmosphere aside, the gameplay holds up with an interesting blend of genres and fun non-linear gameplay.