Who are these folks complaining that the graphics arent great? Oblivion junkies I suspect.
I think the gameplay is great, though the intentionally inaccurate guns will annoy gamers who are looking for a simple "gun and run" shooter. You will quickly die in this game if you dont always use terrain for cover. There's a constant lack of ammunition (also intentional) to give this FPS a nice strategic slant . The enemy AI is excellent and it the first game to come close to the great AI in Far Cry for PC.
Stalker lacks the ability to upgrade your character except for some simple ways to increase your armor's defense. That's really it for RPG elements and its a shame because a story-driven game like Stalker would have been better if you could customize your character's abilities more.
I dont think Stalker is for everyone: its a often a hard game that requires some strategic thought before you engage in battle but at the same time it lacks the cool gadgets of something like Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. The story doesnt always make a whole lot of sense but it is always sucessfully creepy. I'm loving the game 4 hours in, but then again I liked classic games like Deus Ex 1. I'm pretty sure Oblivion fans wont like the difficulty level of this game or how this game looks. They are missing out on a great game.