STALKER - Reviews

[LoSTBoY]

MZ, from where you are there are still a couple areas you have to go through to finish, perhaps 5 hours worth? For a good gun there is a hidden stash in the Army Warehouse area inside an old school bus, max rate of fire but has good accuracy and a scope so headshots galore. EvilNed, you should have helped the Freedom group, they offered a lot more than the Duty guys. I don’t think I ever went into that Dark Valley area, I might find that guy there I have to kill.

[MinionZombie]

I went to Dark Valley last night, found the gun for the other loner in the bar, when I came out of that area there was a whole fuss about a bunch of Bandits, so I helped defend one camp, and attacked another, but then when I headed back towards the bar, when I reached the Duty road block, they f*cking opened fire on me and were now my enemies, even though I was matey with them!!! What the f*ck was that about?! I don't know what happened, was it a glitch? Maybe, because my contact list that was packed with people was now just one person, the leader of Duty, who was now my enemy...so that was gheay. Do you think it had anything to do with me talking to Freedom in a nearby village where you have to sweep out the bloodsuckers in the boarded up houses? I had already been set the task by a guy in the bar, but Freedom wanted me to do it as well, and I said yes, but they never paid me. Gonna have to retrace some steps 'ere methinks... Oh yeah, is there something underground the Dark Valley buildings? I think I read something about that, but didn't go and look, I think I might need to go to Yantar and get a scientific suit for it though (as I helped Yurig or whatever his name was, get through the Mercenary battlefield after their chopper got ditched)... So many things to do!

[Tricky]

Yes, completion time is roughly 5-10 hours maximum. Hmmm im a bit disappointed with that then!is it possible to just exist in the game world without following the plot,like GTA,or is it fairly linear?

[capncnut]

Is it open ended? I don't think so but then again, I haven't played it. A lot of reviews say that the only bad point about S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is that it is a very short experience. But then again, that doesn't take anything away from the overall quality. I know what you're saying though, I love a long old slog of a game myself.

[MinionZombie]

5 to 10 hours if you utterly barge it, more like. I've played at least that and I've only just gotten to the 100 Rad Bar and there's still plenty of side missions and tasks and quests and sh*t to do in the bit I've just been. The length of play entirely depends on whether you choose to just barge it, or take up the offers of the people you meet, as well as whether you go exploring. After completion you can't go around just wandering about, so in that respect it isn't like GTA, but it is during the game somewhat, because you choose which missions to do when and you pick when to go and do them and such, not like HL2 where it's just 'follow this path and the story unfolds', in STALKER you feel trapped within the world and you're finding out all about it as you go along through the other men in the world or via PDAs and documents and stuff. So you can hang out in the world as long as you want I think, if you just wanna run around and shoot animals/bandits/other folk/explore if you want, but if you follow the storyline through to it's conclusion then that's where the game concludes with one of (around 7 I think) the endings. I've been playing a lot of it since Friday and I've still got plenty to do before I even think about crossing the thick red line on the map into the unexplored territory to the North. *additional* Here's my little photo montage of my exciting Friday morning when STALKER turned up. http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=5073726 Oh yeah, I went back to an earlier save, had to to Yurig, the gun and the bloodsucker camp all over again, which was kinda gheay, I hate repeating stuff when you've already done it a matter of hours before...anyway, I'm mates with Duty now, they seem to like me as I assaulted a Freedom camp (and massacred a group of three ... who just seemed to stand there and take it, hahaha ... pansies). Anyway, am now going to progress onto Yantar, get that fancy ass suit ... not sure if I might do one of the other side missions, like one called 'kill the lead stalker' and another called 'kill the traitor' ... not sure how that might impinge on my overall good nature in the game (being a goody two shoes my first time through, next time I'll be a total c*nt ). Anyway...laterz taterz!

[EvilNed]

I've played for AT LEAST 5 hours and probably more upwards 9-10 hours. I haven't beaten the game yet and I'm haven't set my foot in Red Forest yet. Methinks that 10-15 sounds more like it, maybe 15-20. This week I am REALLY busted though, I will barely have anytime to play at all. I have to research italian zombie flicks this week. And next week. And the week after that...

[MinionZombie]

Doing a dissertation on Euro-zombi flicks, eh? Aye, it definitely takes a lot longer, I went back over that stuff I did last night and did a bit of extra, chumming up with Duty, even saved one of their lives, so we're mates now. I keep thinking that my brief friendly encounter with Freedom f*cked me over, like the word got out that I was friendly with them. So I went by a trio of them on my way to that small village where bloodsuckers are hanging out, and I slaughtered them. So now "Freedom" are my enemies, and "Duty" are my friends ... makes sense when Duty are essentially the big cheese in the area, especially around the 100 Rad Bar, you'd just end up with lots of trouble on a frequent basis, so it's not worth it, not a smart move. Anyway, I'm off to Yantar next time I'm on it, maybe do some work around there for a bit, then head back, do some more work with Duty, and/or even go back to the Cordon to do more fussing about around there as I've probably skipped past a bunch of stuff there that could have been done...so it's gonna be a while before I venture into the North. Isn't it great how this game has captured our imaginations? Like a shared experience, as if we're "in" the games ourselves, trading stories and such. While it might have the odd rough edge here and there and had a trouble gestation, it's capturing imaginations, and that's the important part.

[EvilNed]

Well, I have to say that STALKER is as close I've ever come to being part of a multi-million dollar hollywood dystopian sci-fi horror adventure. I think that's what captures folks imaginations. The game is just so cinematic and you really FEEL cool when you learn how to handle the game. I know I do whenever I meet up with a bunch of mercs and I just blow their brains out with headshots. I don't waste that much ammo anymore. I'm done with lake Yantar. I went over to the Duty guy at the bar and asked me if he had any more missions for me, and it looks like the dumb asshole lost his gun again. In the bandit base in the Dary Valley. Again! Argh! Heh. I won't do that mission again, though. The Barkeep told me the Duty commander wanted me to do some chores for him. Unfortunetly the chores including infiltrating a Freedom base and posing as their "friend". Which, uhm, seems rather unlikely consider the last time I was there and killed upwards 20 of them. Nah, I'm not gonna play anymore tonight. Now I gotta go do some reading. Then I'm gonna finish Flags of our Fathers and get some well needed sleep. I picked up the X-Men trilogy box set today for 10 ****ing dollars. What a bargain!

[MinionZombie]

lol, I guess I won't be infiltrating Freedom anytime soon then! lol ... slaughtering those three without any other reason than to please Duty didn't go down well with Freedom, haha! Will keep that in mind for next time. I look forward to the horrors of Yantar, and totally, you really get into the game and the atmosphere...it's certainly the most post-apocalyptic game I've ever played, it's very intricate too, so you never feel like you've mastered the zone, you totally feel that it's far bigger than you, which adds to the sense of awe, suspense, fear and trepidation...oh, and horror!

[LoSTBoY]

I've gone back to a previous save (Start of Army Warehouse) and went back and to meet Ghost which I didn't do before, I've now gone and met the Doctor (Back to Stavat's(sp) stash, where that psi monster is ) and save shortly after that. FYI, when you help the scientist back to the lab you will get an orange suit, however if you continue to help the doc you will get a Green suit that's the bollocks!

[MinionZombie]

I'm currently helping the scientists, fortunately I already had a couple of things he was after, haha. He asks you to get a unique suit from the midst of the nearby industrial area, but it reeks with psych-activity, so your head gets all ****ed. I dashed in, but even though I was over the icon on the map, couldn't find the f*cker for the life of me! Where on earth do you find Ghost? He's one of my missions, but I haven't gotten around to it, no idea where to find the info about him yet...Ghost is Strelok's mate isn't he? Damn all these Rusky names. Being inside the scientific base gives you that safe feeling, but also you feel you're sh*tted up, because I was in there and I could hear a small gaggle of zombies outside all moaning and muttering nonsense-Russian (a very nice and creepy touch), when I went outside (the added trepidation of the airlock having to lock behind me before I left) there was a gaggle of zombies. Some spotted me, some were completely in a trance until I engaged them...noiiice. Will go back to the scientist bloke and hand him an eye from a "flesh" monster, already handed over the foot of a snork to him too. How do I protect myself against psychological attacks, like in that industrial area near the scientific base in Yantar?

[EvilNed]

Ghost is a bit ahead of you. He's gone underground for now. And you protect yourself from the psychological effects of the machine by wearing a silly prototype the scientists give you (infact, you only have to keep it in your inventory) after you help them do some readings on radioactivity. Makes no sense whatsoever, but hey... I'm actually a bit let down by the Red Forest. It wasn't fun AT ALL. Basicly you travel around one longass road and get attack constantly by soldiers and snipers and there's invisible spots of radioactivity everywhere. So it's not uncommon for you to have to shoot up a syringe of anti-radioactivity while a sniper is shooting at you. While action is cool, the Red Forests offers absolutly nothing else. And believe me, that road is looooong...

[MinionZombie]

I guess the Red Forrest is what Lou is looking for, as he was saying he personally prefers 'fly by the seat of your pants action', whereas STALKER is something you play over an extended period of time in small chunks at a time and take the time to explore and such, there's not too much bashing about like you get in games such as Doom 3 or Half Life 2 even... Ah right, cool on the machine thing, I'll look forward to getting that then (should really be explained first of all you'd have thought, why give me the option of taking the mission when I can't yet physically go in there because the boffin hasn't given me what I need to go in there! ) Off to the Bar area again, gonna kill a bunch of dogs to get the tail of the blind breed...

[LoSTBoY]

[QUOTE=EvilNed;77109]Ghost is a bit ahead of you. He's gone underground for now. And you protect yourself from the psychological effects of the machine by wearing a silly prototype the scientists give you (infact, you only have to keep it in your inventory) after you help them do some readings on radioactivity. Makes no sense whatsoever, but hey... QUOTE] My way was a bit different in finding Ghost. In the area with the zombies (Yanar(sp) Lake) You can see a downed helicopter, there is a guy in a suit next to it, if you search him you find his pda and the location of Ghost.

[MinionZombie]

Thanks for the tip LostBoy, I've been meaning to have a look at that chopper. There's chit chat of Ghost working in Yantar, or being known to be there, I thought maybe he's the (or one of) the scientist's human subjects - don't tell me either way, no spoilers ya dick'eds, Anyway, I'm stuck right now - I'm in Lab X18 (and it's SCARY AS F*CK, the sound design is SU-F*CKING-PERB). Anyway, I've got the documents, but there's all this psi activity or something going on, barrels getting lobbed at me, and jets of fire being shot at me. The door I unlocked however, is on fire and it's being 'held shut from outside' - how do I get out?