Review: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl - Watch that Geiger counter

Mike Bantick
Sunday, 01 April 2007 10:42

Opinion and Analysis

S.T.A.L.K.E.R Shadow of Chernobyl
	Developer:	GSC
	Publisher:	THQ
	Rating:	MA 15+
PC

At last S.T.A.L.K.E.R has arrived.  Was this radioactive combination of First Person Shooter, Role Play and Horror Survival game worth waiting for?
 
Before dual-core cpu's, prior to Phys X cards, many moons before the release of Half-Life 2 there was S.T.A.L.K.E.R Shadow of Chernobyl (STALKER).  As time went by, STALKER developers GSC trickled out details about the game they were developing.  By the standards of 2001 the scope was unimaginable, even by today's standards what GSC hoped to achieve was ambitious.

STALKER eventually fell into the same joke vapourware category as Duke Nukem Forever, as release date, after release date was missed.  Still the tech movies were released to the web, name changes ensued and now we finally have the game in our hands.

Background wise, STALKER has chosen the surrounding countryside of the ill-fated Chernobyl nuclear power station, which exploded catastrophically April 26 1986.  The literal fallout of that accident is still being felt in the region today.  STALKER takes that real life situation and extends it into the world of horror fantasy. 

As the Marked One you will become a Stalker, roaming the dangerous region around the destroyed power station, confronting the human and not so human denizens of the area. Using your PDA, scavenged weapons, knowledge from NPC's and your wits you make a living by taking on various jobs, whilst trying to complete the mysterious overarching objective of finding out just who you are.

Originally the plan for STALKER was to present the player with an area 30 by 30 kilometres to explore at whim, have GSC achieved this objective, see page 2 for more.