Stalker is a game that will never be forgotten to PC gamers.
Stalker: Shadows of Chernobyl is a first person/role playing game based in the Zone, an area surrounding the Chernobyl PP. It's combat system, atmospheric ambiance and story are what really make this game one to remember.
I'll start off with the story aspect of the game. Without giving anything away, I can say that Stalker has a very unique plot and twists throughout the game that bring you closer to understanding what your purpose is. It starts off leaving the player with questions that want to be answered. All of them are answered as the game progresses and you start to understand why everything. I really appreciated and respected the way they decided to unfold the story to the player, instead of just slapping you with everything at the beginning. It takes smarts and a good sense of understanding to absorb the story as you go along as things start to connect and make sense. But even if you don't get it as it happens, you still have a chance at the end, and that's if you choose the correct path in your game, for everything to be explained to you point blank.
The atmosphere is something that has grabbed every players attention. The game is contained in a post nuclear Zone filled with mutants, mercs and radiation. The landscape is dead and abandoned while factions take up camp in these deserted locations and call them their own. Where ever you look you can think of a story behind it of why it's there, it's this that leaves the player wondering with a sense of imagination.
The zone is an open world that leaves the player able to create their own ambushes and strategies giving to play out fire fights any way they choose with their own sense of cover and combat. This is what makes stalker's combat system great. You never feel like the game is on rails because every battle is different. Enemies will flank, rush, take cover, ambush and even throw grenades at you. The enemies have just as much life as you do which evens the playing field out. With this, Stalker's combat has got to be one of the most innovative first person shooters.
In conclusion Stalker is a fantastic game with much re playability and contains many great game mechanics that make it one of the best games of 2007.