The anticipation of STALKER...

[MinionZombie]

Well chaps, STALKER is apparently coming out in a couple of months ... and this time it seems GSC really actually mean it, they themselves have recognised the retarded amount of delays and cock-flop-inducing disappointment amongst the gaming community. Apparently it was all to do with the AI (which is apparently ball busting), which by the sounds of things was the foundation of the mountain-o-problemo's they faced making it. I've had the game on pre-order (I'll get it for like £7 cheaper than it is now, because it's been on pre-order for so damn long) and I've been left twiddling my thumbs for months and months ... and now years... BUT ... apparently it's coming, PC Gamer are going to be reviewing it or doing some kinda feature on it, so it must be coming very soon as they wouldn't bother unless it was actually coming out (the purpose of such articles is surely to inspire people to buy the game, ergo, must be coming rather soon - February or March?) Anyone else been looking forward to it? I was fleeing about the t'internet scouring out info, and was checking out some real life/videogame comparison photos and it's looking rather-ruddy-rockin' ... 30sq km of sandbox ghost towns and "red" forrests and such? HELL YES ... well obviously it was a horrid tragedy, but they say the game is about 60% real in terms of locations used (apparently one of the security officers or something at Chernobyl recognised his work office from previews of portions of the game! ) From what I've seen of it, it looks like a bloody good and entertaining game with plenty of scope for exploration and creep-induced soggy-knickers... Anyone else part of the "my pre-order on STALKER is rather dusty" fan club?

[EvilNed]

I loved the old Fallout games, and I love the Elder Scrolls games. Plus I like shooting games. And what do you get when you combine those three? STALKER. So yes, damnit, I'm looking forward to this game. You can explore all you want. The world is fairly HUGE. Just like The Elder Scrolls. It's going to be spooky, atmospheric and dark, just like Fallout. And it's gooing to feature lots of guns. Just like shooting games. At the very least, I think I'll have at least some goodtime fun with this game. At the very most, It'll be the best game ever. I'm looking forward to running around The Zone at night in particular. That... is going to be some scary ****.

[MinionZombie]

Agreed, the prospect of free-roaming sandbox fun - but in an FPS world - is rather "boiiiiiing" inducing. And aye ... creepy ghost towns and blown up nuclear reactors are scary enough as it is ... but add marauding monsters and it gets rather creepy ... then the sun goes down ... I have a feeling I'll be hiding in safe places for about 8 hours to the protagonist in the game world, lol. All that and at night? Damn that's gonna be scary ... and most likely 10 times scarier than when I was playing Doom 3 for the first time, christ I didn't have have a soggy time getting through that game!

[MikePizzoff]

Am I missing the joke or something? I thought this game was fake.......

[Neil]

Fingers crossed for a total living dead conversion!

[MinionZombie]

Mike - nope, it's very much real, it's just been in development hell for ages ... Duke Nukem Forever and the female orgasm ... those are fake! Neil - darn tootin', ghost towns/nuclear reactors + night + zombies ... heck yes!

[MinionZombie]

Been You-Tubin' it's ass, here's some cool vids: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RR5t-2oLBAo (the very kick ass game intro) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twqjhfy3GzE (5 mins 24) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bG4YpETmvuQ (March 2007, baby!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L--ouImYOBk (the road to Pripyat) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om-gcjQnlqI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7W4S8vL5cU (skip to about 0:40) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aNbssP2K1Y (diggin' the gas mask jiggle) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EGKpTyOw8A (GC 2006 clip) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxC3h9EwhuA (basic overview of the game) I hope you can enter the high rise buildings in the game, and snoop around abandoned apartments, it would give an extra level of creepiness and drama to proceedings, as well as make it twice as scary. This game could possibly be the scariest game we've seen for quite some time, not in a Doom 3 way, or a Silent Hill way, but in a way that comes out of the overall feel and vibe of the game. Sneaking around a ravaged, abandoned city (and its outskirts) while being watched by who knows what, sounds pretty damn scary.

[Neil]

The CGI of that intro is staggering!

[Tricky]

It does look a bit tasty that!i just hope it isnt dogged by loading screens every time you walk 20 yards seen as its free roaming!have you ever played "boiling point"?its a similar kind of game...

[MinionZombie]

Indeed, I'm hoping it's a game that also runs well. Because it looks great from the videos we've been drip-fed over the years, but you don't know how it's going to feel when you play it (like how it feels to run in the game, and look around, fire and reload etc). Hopefully it runs well too, and isn't like FarCry - which was a very fussy game in concern to your system. HL2 and Doom3 were both rather forgiving games as they worked a whole variety of differently spec'd machines. Hopefully STALKER has a forgiveable engine and pumps out nice frame rates. Surely it should, the engine is technically a bit old now as it's been delayed so many times, so you'd hope they've made a game which not only looks great, but also plays great and works great...fingers crossed. Neil - darn tootin', that intro looks proper purdy.

[Neil]

UK folks!! - http://www.thq-games.com/uk/news/show/1533

[capncnut]

Oh golly, there was me thinking S.T.A.L.K.E.R. was gonna be a really twisted stalk and slash game and it turns out to be some cheesy Chernobyl turd. God, whatever will they think of next?

[Neil]

Oh golly, there was me thinking S.T.A.L.K.E.R. was gonna be a really twisted stalk and slash game and it turns out to be some cheesy Chernobyl turd. God, whatever will they think of next? Huh? This game has been talked about for years and you only look into it now? And then when you finally actually look into it you come back with some silly comment (refering to it as a turd) when it offers what in actuality appears to be some quite original ideas? Huh?

[MinionZombie]

Perhaps Capn was being sarr-carr-stick... Indeed, STALKER is shaping up to be one ball-buster of a game, I can't wait for March! I downloaded a bunch of vids and clips of the real Chernobyl at some website by some guy who makes a lot of trips there, so I can get a better understanding of the real disaster first and what it looks like in reality, so I can then compare it to the game when it comes out.

[LoSTBoY]

This is going to be a kick ass multiplayer game, on the level of Delta Force back in the day. Good job on the youtube search MZ, can I ask where you got the pre-order from as I might try for a cheap pre-order myself. Edit: And I was up giving my big fish-little fish-carboard box to the 4th one there.