Chernobyl in Video Games

[@nekrypt]

In the HBO series there's a patrol tasked with killing radiated animals, but no deformed demented frenzied humanoid mutants. Damn censorship these days. By the way, great channel.

[@Painticus]

I'm not suprised; HBO has been pushing the pro-forest monster narrative for DECADES Thank you!

[@CharcharoExplorer]

I'd add that a very large part of STALKER's DNA is the Klondike Gold Rush. That is something the NPCs reference often and is a clear parallel, the people of the Zone are playing with things more expensive and important than Gold even.

[@WildPotatoIndustries]

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is a really good example of Slavic "Science Fantasy", which is fairly different than standard science fiction. It's distinctly alien, and doesn't really bother itself with being too grounded in realism. I think another good example would be Darkwood (which I heard you used music from in this). Shame we don't see many more games like this.

[@gabrielpadro5589]

To add to Stalker, I really like the games world-building. It defies the conventions of both post-apocalyptic settings and modern day horror/fantasy. For starters the world is mostly fine except for a small, isolated and deadly region of the world, knowledge of said region's weirdness and deadliness is wildly known across the world(no contrived government/Illuminati cover-up), the factions all have believable and understandable motivations for what they are all doing(even if said motives are often faulty or selfish), everything in the games is still recognizably modern and down to earth(except for the mutants, anomalies, artifacts and the occasional dash of grungy late-soviet era mad science obviously), all of the crazy things have some sort of scientific explanation, the outside world often interacts with and exploits the (not so)secret hidden magical world, the obligatory marauding bandits are just mundane criminal gangs rather than wacky BDSM Mad Max rejects, etc.

[@avatar-of-chaos860]

So the Monolith is the Golden Sphere of Roadside Picnic, that's is useful for me. Much appreciate, Paint!

[@ZEPj6blacklabel]

The last stand was S tier browser game

[@Maggerama]

Tarkovsky's Stalker is probably my favorite movie of all time in terms of cinematography and philosophy, so kudos for periodically drawing attention to it.

[@VidyaBox]

But what can I buy with my Chernobyl vouchers?

[@Painticus]

nothing but fear

[@VidyaBox]

@@Painticus I would at least like some tourist's breakfast :c

[@Painticus]

okay you can have some tourist's breakfast and stalker energy drinks with your fear

[@VidyaBox]

@@Painticus mil_patrol_dialog2_13

[@arcticcirclepit2008]

You absolutely nailed the essence of what makes the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series great. The Modding communities around those games also are a part of it (everyone has their favorite mod series to fix the broken vanilla games). But yea, no one does it like S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - except maybe the upcoming second one. Fingers crossed.

[@Jan_Strzelecki]

"Chernobyl Commando" is a sequel, though. The first game was called "Chernobyl Terrorist Attack". _And_ there's another sequel, called "Chernobyl Underground". And they all play pretty much the same. Aaand the _Spintires_ has Chernobyl DLC.

[@Painticus]

Oh dear lord, this is some dark knowledge I never needed to hear. There seems to be a few Chernobyl driving games... might end up making a sequel to this in that case!

[@dimethylhydra]

Imagine trying to drive through the more forested parts of Chernobylite's Zone in a beat up old lada or something. It would either be beautiful or a nightmare, maybe both.

[@Painticus]

"Beautiful or a nightmare" is a good way to summarise both Chernobyl in general, as well as most driving games. Well done.

[@roby6813]

The zone is pretty cool. By the way, great video!

[@endworldkrawky600]

I kinda want you to look at Liquidators the game.

[@yannickgrignon2473]

"Chernobyl commando is a game famous for two things: being f***ing DREADFUL, and not much else" I quite literally laughed out loud.

[@vencja]

I'm so happy whenever someone blasts Chernobylite

[@EpicHotCheese]

Metro Exodus is not set in Chernobyl but the atmosphere sure feel like it.

[@Painticus]

If I remember correctly the Metro games were inspired by (and even developed by some of the same people as) STALKER, so that makes a lot of sense! I'm yet to try Exodus but the world looks excellent.

[@CharcharoExplorer]

@@Painticus Metro games are based on the books by Glukhovsky, not STALKER.

[@Painticus]

@@CharcharoExplorer that's right - I must've been confused. It was made by STALKER devs though!

[@CharcharoExplorer]

@@Painticus Not quite. It is made by 4A Games, a company founded by ex-STALKER devs but it also has new people. Also, 4A was founded in 2006, so Clear Sky and Call of Pripyat had nothing to do with 4A Games. The two companies are separate. The Metro books are better than the games. For the setting I wanted to add this, for STALKER: "The series has one of the best-realized and most believable worlds in gaming science fiction. Of course, breaks in reality and mumbo jumbo exist, and the actual plotlines are not very exciting, but the actual planning of the world, factions and motivations, and the internal consistency…are all nailed down so well. Unfortunately, the developers have so far failed to utilize is the entirety of the setting’s themes and ideas, so work remains to be done. This thing writes itself. A modern version of the Klondike Gold rush set in a Zone already twice strangled by human progress and greed. People from all walks of life and countries, rich and poor, come to this now inhuman, alien area looking for a restart, adventure, a place to escape the authorities or riches to set their life in order and save their family’s lives. The very DNA of the game’s worlds has been inspired by the classics of literature and cinema, and by real world events. All of these elements are official parts of the game’s lore and design. The problem is that little of it has materialized in full, as a tangible part of the plot or characters, as a part of the world. With so many high and low concepts and ideas, all of them proven to work well together or alone, there is almost no limit to what an experienced writer can do with STALKER’s universe. Very few games have so much going for them, so it would be a shame if it were to continue to go largely unexplored. " Its from an article I wrote for STALKER 2's wish list.

[@morenoramonvictor]

i just found out about your channel because of you darkwood review, and god your videos are so good

[@realstreetjesus1953]

Have you heard of the old PC game called Ecstatica? Your Alone in the Dark videos reminded me of them. I suppose they are supposed to be "horror" games, but they're so old and antiquated that I seriously doubt anyone would find them frightening in the slightest. It features pre rendered background and similar gameplay to some other Surivial Horror games, set in a medieval backdrop. One of the weirdest things about the game is that it uses spheres to form its 3D models, so everything ends up looking like Ballz on the Genesis. I know a youtuber by the name Ragnarox made a video on the first game, but I've never seen anyone cover the sequel, the entire series seems to be some forgotton precursor to the modern definition of, "Survival Horror". Despite these claims, the game isn't really that great however.

[@UlyssesSGrant-vw6eg]

I have a couple of questions and feel free to answer but if not i entirely understand 1. Are there multiple stalker games 2. If so which one should i buy 3. Thank you for the video 4. I hope you have a good day

[@Painticus]

1. There are! 2. Shadow of Chernobyl if you want the first (and more widely liked) game - but it's notoriously clunky - or Call of Pripyat if you want a smoother experience. I'd say that SoC is probably the better choice as going from CoP to the earlier 2 is quite jarring. 3. No, thank YOU 4. I refuse

[@UlyssesSGrant-vw6eg]

Painticus alright thank ye for the info ill just save up for all of em and get SoC first

[@readdising714]

The last stand!?! I loved that game!!! Do you remember Perpetual Heaven?

[@santsandoval7]

I played S.T.A.L.K.E.R and sadly, I couldn't finish it because of the bugs and glitches it had. When you kill monster and enemies and then you save the game, for some reason when you load that saved game, the monsters and enemies appear again and that was really frustating. but I highlight the soundtrack of the game; it really makes you feel that you are in such a terrific place. There are rumors that a STALKER 2 is under develop. if so, hopefully it brings back a modern game with an amazing atmosphere.

[@Painticus]

I was lucky in that I rarely came across any major bugs, but I know many (or even most) people have some glitch horror stories, which is a shame! I think a lot of it is caused by the A-Life ai system which is ironically one of the best parts of the game. And you're totally right about the soundtrack! It's spectacular. I use it as the background for a lot of my videos because it's super atmospheric and creepy.

[@tussletoes]

No game is a substitute for what the Zone is really like, but after the awful Chernobyl fire earlier this month, there are a bunch of otherwise ordinary buildings from the Zone that get to live on in the STALKER games. It's weird seeing how Yanov station used to be a real building that is now reportedly mostly burnt down, and how well (despite obvious creative liberties) it's replicated with eurojank magic. The same goes for a number of different buildings and locations (there are even some good comparison videos on KZbin)-- from the Prometheus movie theater, Jupiter, the Red Forest, etc. to random cranes, soviet murals or a cement factory that were carefully recreated and lifted from real places in the Zone. It's weird and fascinating that we can recognize an ordinary abandoned building far off in Ukraine because we played a video game. I'm sad I never got to see some of these places for myself, but seeing them in these games was a fun way of experiencing them.

[@Painticus]

I used to be sad that I could never visit the zone before the new enclosure was put over the reactor, but now that's been utterly dwarfed by the terrible fires. It feels odd to be so enthusiastic about a place born in tragedy, but I think that adds to it.

[@Blayze]

Can I get a THE GREEN REALM soundbite, please?

[@Painticus]

Absolutely. clyp.it/jcv4aa0m Here it is with no processing on it - feel free to add as much ungodly reverb, chorus and pitch shifting as you want! Make it very cursed.

[@Blayze]

@@Painticus Cheers mate; I'll make ears bleed in your name.

[@DomWrath]

I'd love an in depth review of the tarkovsky film, it's one of my favorites and while it's pretty well revered I don't hear it talked about so much. It's an interesting movie to pick at. I haven't read Roadside Picnic but want to find a copy so I can give it a try.

[@ivanmixo-mari]

Nice Darkwood music my man

[@MrStrider28]

OH wow I remember last stand

[@Painticus]

It was among the peak of browser games back in the late 2000s! Well, the 2nd one was anyway.

[@squirleyspitmonkey3926]

I don't celebrate the death of our hero JWB. I celebrate his release into freedom from this mortal coil. Lincoln on the other hand, hey man. Nice shot. 3:41 what's with Darkwood morning theme? Soviet setting? Eh it works.

[@WujaMikus]

Will Chernobyl be the series next to Lovecraft related?

[@Painticus]

I reckon it'll either be that, or the Bubsy series

[@jackbennett2269]

I loved Stalker Call of Pripyat

[@yearoflinux]

ThE GrEeN ReAlM

[@Painticus]

T h E G R E E E N R e A L m

[@Gixxer983]

Stalker Anomaly is the best . End of discussion

[@olesdrow6711]

Chornobyl, please. Not Chernobyl

[@MysteryHandle76]

What about those shitty Metro games?

[@MysteryHandle76]

Great*

[@MysteryHandle76]

Epic*

[@MysteryHandle76]

That's not Chernobyl tho :(

[@gigagleb9842]

Schizophrenia gaming?