I found SO MANY flaws in S.T.A.L.K.E.R so many glitches in design and structure errors I threw it out my window!
I can live with the dated graphics, actually they are far better in many ways to Oblivion’s graphic capabilities. Projected shadows for example give the game tremendous depth. The guns, the few I was able to try before turning the disc into a UFO out my window, were pretty darn nice. It actually feels and sounds like you’re firing rifles, pistols and bolts... yes you can throw screws to distract the enemies. The NPCs seem smart, or at least smarter than in many FPS games. They take and fire at you from cover, they try to flank, distract, jump out and surprise you. They will come in close if armed with a shot gun for example. Yes, the NPCs are all right. The scenes seem well designed and elements are placed in a very natural form. I personally would have liked a little more interaction with my surroundings, especially after waiting for half a decade, but oh well... we can’t have it all.
My main complaint is how the missions seem to be flawed. You take a mission, complete it, and somehow, by design or glitch, you can attack the same dudes you killed an hour ago. Every time I would pass from one sector to another, and back, the same guys were there and actually facing the direction (waiting for me) I had come from originally. Over, and over...and over again. The missions are honestly stupid and guided by the hand.. Far too simplistic. Go here, kill that, go there, talk to that guy, then come here get this, take it there and back. What am I UPS?
Hidden stashes are sometimes not there and at other times do not disappear from your PDA (the in-game device used to keep track of everything)
The one thing I love about the game is that it feels DESIGNED ON A PC, FOR A PC. None of that damned console, obnoxious, ported-over, cow dung we’re seeing in far too many PC games lately. The menus are great and well organized. It’s easy to keep track of missions... that is, if they work for you in the first place. Some quests you just can’t finish. And me, I like to get things done.
That’s about it. I was expecting Oblivion with an AK and got Half-Life with Russian actors. Another thing, that annoying Russian babble. Give me a break, I like to know what people are saying behind my back. The NPCs are all Russian, sure, sure, I know, Chernobyl is in what used to be the U.S.S.R. (thanks to the guy that corrected me on this, I had written Russia before), I know that you imbecile... but the game, I purchased it in the good O’l U.S. of A, buddy!
As John Lear would say... “Stay away from the light.. Don’t go into the light!”. There are anomalies everywhere, they are kind of cool. You can kite an aggressive NPC mutant to run right into one and watch it get sucked into a mini-black hole and spit out in a blast of blood, guts, pixels and teeth! Hehe.. I gotta’ admit, that was fun! But after a while, anomaly here, black hole there, whirly-wind there.. C’mon... a little too much! Quantum physics and string theory step aside, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. gives you enough alternate universe holes for a lifetime! Then the game boasts free roam gaming... nah, not true. You pretty much need to stick to the storyline or you get your ass kicked into a thousand pieces and thrown back at you into an alternate dimension. The game takes you by the hand all the time, that is, if you want to make it anywhere. And it feels like you’re playing in a closed environment, not an open map. For example, when you start out you actually have fences that limit your exploration in certain directions. A pretty lame method of delimiting an area if you ask me.
If they would fix the faulty missions, lessen the anomalies a bit, and translate the NPC chatter and expand the maps (I know the latter is very unlikely)... I may buy this game again. For now, I go back to Oblivion, where at least I can actually roam free, as free as the wind blows, as free as the grass grows... ahem.. Sorry bout that.