S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl Review

Alas, STALKER is like one of those crazy European movies – the plot starts out very slow and it requires your attention and dedication. If you are looking for a flashy Halo-like experience here, you better look elsewhere. STALKER will require your attention and just a tad bit more patience and devotion to get into.

I loved it because of it.

Personally, I would rather buy this FPS for myself than any other FPS currently on the market. Why? Because it gives me hours of gameplay that is definitely much deeper than your average point A to point B shoot-everything-in-sight type of gaming experience.

Thank God for that.

But not everything is rosy in STALKER (as if you had any doubts). While the game engine is relatively sound and with quite a bit of advanced 3D features crammed in (the detail on the textures – especially of the interiors – is quite amazing), I couldn't help but feel that the art design was lacking.

STALKER lacks the swagger and the panache of brilliant Japanese horror titles (artistically speaking). It lacks the visual diversity and the vibrancy of some great Western games.

Yes, I fully realize that the idea for STALKER was to create a grim, depressing and bleak ambient, but considering this is a video game, a bit of style on the monsters, a bit more creativity on the radiation-affected abominations wouldn't have hurt. There are exceptions to this rule (especially some of the unique monster encounters and a few boss fights), but overall, I would say that the art team could've done a better job.

In that same sense, the dialogue (not necessarily the story itself) lacks a bit more flare and a bit more character – think Fallout series and the final Vampire game by Troika (that's what I'm aiming at).

Even so, STALKER comes highly recommended from yours truly. I have become so jaded with idiotic titles that this one comes as a true breath of fresh air; with its strong attention to the important aspects of game design. This is the type of game I would go out and buy for myself... if that's worth anything to you.