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

The S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow Chernobyl review covers a survival fps with horror and RPG elements that remains relevant with a strong core game and a vibrant modding community.
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#STALKER #STALKERShadowOfChernobyl #STALKERReview #STALKERShadowOfChernobylReview #STALKERPC #STALKERSOC #STALKERGame #S.T.A.L.K.E.R. #S.T.A.L.K.E.R.Review #CheekiBreeki
00:00 - Intro
00:32 - Game Background & Premise
2:20 - Visuals
2:59 - Sound Design
3:17 - Gameplay Mechanics
4:07 - Difficulty (I'm still incorrect, see pinned comment)
4:33 - Gameplay Mechanics Continued
8:41 - Bugs & Issues
10:32 - Story
10:54 - Story (SPOILERS)
14:34 - Conclusions

[@MandaloreGaming]

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. on GOG - gog.la/CheekiBreeki THE LIST - docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_K3ziSxT9zcUUGCddS4sF1uNJTWHSbOwB1CQX2Rx4Uo Difficulty does NOT affect accuracy, just damage resistance, this is 100% proven now. I'm not sorry about siding with Duty. After the Bloodsuckers and Pseudogiants I have no love for the Zone, though I would've taken ecologists if they were a real option.

[@OverlordZephyros]

I have watched it with horrible bitrate and res... I guess a blu ray restoration would be awesome

[@pedrogog2161]

mandalore i was going to leave shadow of chernobyl for a while but you make me wanna finish it

[@warhammerist4597]

All in all however the film is pretty much a pretentious trash where 3 bums go out looking for alcohol but got stuck into a space-time loop and go back where they've started. And this is every other Tarkovsky's film. Stanislav Lem was right when called him a moron took his royalty money and went back to Poland when Tarkovsky was making Solaris.

[@Leben722]

Secret Oasis

[@Skyrim12345]

shit taste pleb

[@gkv633]

In S.T.A.L.K.E.R. there are no bugs, there are anomalies.

[@uliloolilu780]

Smart way to put it 🤔

[@rustyshackleford1508]

Such is life in the Zone.

[@IF040020]

Gautam Kumar lol

[@miamiwendigo]

@Brennan Lu ahat spirt its starve to death then jts finnish friend drank his vodka and kill himself

[@lm-rh3qo]

This is truth.

[@r.c.christian4633]

"STALKER isn't very well Polished." Well, it's Ukrainished.

[@Lawbringer.]

im polish and i cant confirm

[@cokiemonstermc2560]

@@Lawbringer. im polish and i agree

[@Bubbl3Bubbl3gum]

Ah god damn, I was just about to write that and then found this ;:D

[@jonascastejon5888]

😂😁

[@judsongaiden9878]

You just made Sans eat his heart out! XD

[@anyanP]

"Zone feels so surreal and otherwordly" Shows what look like 90% of post-USSR rural towns

[@thelaughingcossack6521]

I live in a village in the Balkans and more than half of it (and most of the neighbouring villages) look exactly like the game

[@acewolfgang276]

@@thelaughingcossack6521 how do you survive the anomalies?

[@thelaughingcossack6521]

@@acewolfgang276 we throw bottle caps (ussually beer bottles) at them and if those are unavailable we just throw the village idiot in and whatever happens happens

[@tabbyclawproductions7943]

@@thelaughingcossack6521 Man, I'm jealous

[@phantomspaceman]

You can have the same experience riding through the rural Appalachians.

[@ryleigh6574]

*Dog eats other dog* “That’s neat.”

[@alexcr4345]

its a dog eat dog world out there literally

[@quaza2001]

That's meat

[@NovumSB]

Cannibalism is cool

[@R3in_Ch]

he meant the realism bro. tissues

[@valentinidk6101]

what the dog doin

[@KingDaveth]

PDA: Kill Strelok Strelok: Ok.

[@dominichills6452]

The C-consciousnes has an IQ of -9000

[@Nikolai69420]

@@__asher__ The story is really just an excuse for you to go to places so you are not missing much

[@Duchess_Van_Hoof]

Like people play Stalker for the story. It is the atmosphere, the gunplay and walking around in the zone. A bit disappointed after reading the book, the zone of Chernobyl is fairly mild in comparison.

[@LordOfLonely]

true

[@johnsalchichon777]

Bruh im at normal difficulty, in the mole area,HOW THE FUCK I CAN TURN ON OR GET A LANTERN.

[@audimalvin5763]

Fallout : "radiation apocalypse" S.T.A.L.K.E.R : "THE COOLER RADIATION APOCALYPSE"

[@gaussiano]

*coolest

[@pbateman4124]

Fallout 1, 2 and New Vegas want to know your location.

[@unconscious7219]

Definitely cooler. People in the game wear really thick clothes.

[@JACKETMANE]

@@pbateman4124 fallout 1,2 and new vegas have been denied access to my location due to vast amounts of Cheeki Breeki and brain scorching. Fallout 1,2 and new vegas are amazing though

[@bogdanbogdanoff5164]

It's literally not an apocalypse, just a small area that's uninhabitable

[@f1nger605]

One detail you left out about the design of the game is that many of the textures are taken directly from high resolution photographs of the real Exclusion Zone around Chernobyl. The developers scouted the area as thoroughly as they could so as to make all the buildings and locations as accurate as possible. If I remember correctly, one big change they had to make for the sake of gameplay was to add hills and more varied terrain. The real Exclusion Zone is actually pretty flat and boring by comparison.

[@revoltingslob4678]

And shitty to fight in edit: Guess what i mean is i dont like getting one tapped by a black dot from across a field, now a forested flat landscape? wouldve been nice.

[@Robert399]

This game made me appreciate the Pripyat bit from CoD4 a lot more.

[@929Finn]

It's too bad how they had to replace all the hard work they did for their weapon models and textures after worries of legal troubles from companies

[@TheFree33333]

@@revoltingslob4678 Red Forest is one of the absolute worst places to fight in though, second to the NPP or Labs

[@OzzyOsbourneFan999]

It actually kind of helps the game make even more sense. With all the reality bending shenanigans and so on happening, especially the event that started it all, it would make sense for the land itself to get warped to a degree.

[@neopup1776]

“Exoskeletons are cool” *Shows someone writhing in pain on the floor*

[@aguynamedstetchkov4690]

NeoPup That's a zombified stalker

[@thecreator625]

@@aguynamedstetchkov4690 That's the same thing.

[@eleventy-seven]

God I love this game.

[@s.a.l.1974]

huyyyuyyyy....

[@ZFilms1946]

"What about the gameplay?" *_DEAD_* "It's gonna be a rough adjustment."

[@thecrimsonfuckr5676]

*Sticks WHOLE BODY out to peek* VS a rusty shotgun Who will win?

[@rejvaik00]

He was playing on easy difficulty that's why

[@benjaminzarkhin1293]

"The AI is pretty neat" It can simulate tactical stuff, of course, but overall it's on crack cocaine.

[@sirrivet9557]

Stalkers scripted ai is dumber than it’s free roam ai.

[@swolzer]

random 2 stalkers walked into campfire except it was in barrel...

[@themagalanium9491]

@@sirrivet9557 now I feel bad about getting outsmarted by the A.I in the open areas

[@cslantz4020]

@@themagalanium9491 the ai isnt terrible. but it was most definently rushed. mods can and will fix it and games like anomaly bring the ai to a whole other level, on top of artifact hunting, bounty hunting, taking and finishing jobs, getting revenge on you or sneaking after you for many many miles til you turn around. they flank, spread out, take cover, feel recoil and even more stuff i mean it is truly incredible. that being said it is extremely skillful and gives super dynamic intense firefights but leads to frustrating situations when you get shot in the ass by some sneaky breeki.

[@vividzx8034]

@@cslantz4020 in call of chernobyl im in a firefight with bandit in garbage and i killed em all but the counter still show 1 so i looked around and nothing so i think one is alive but injured then boom I'm dead.turns out one of the bandit was hiding behind a tree and sneak up on me

[@CitizenWarhorse]

''Do i really want to look for supplies in this absolute shithole?'' should be the tagline for this game.

[@kajetandziebaj6405]

Some of the best moments in stalker just happen on their own. Was fighting some mutants in an underground lab and was running low on ammo. Was outnumbered and cornered but also was turning the tide of battle in my favor. Every hit I take, 3 mutants end up dead. Fighting like a wounded lion. Last mutant left. Bloodsucker. *click* cyka The loudest bang is the one that doesn't come.

[@cryw1092]

Absolutely kino.

[@nikki-lx3yf]

thats when you pull out the knife

[@kajetandziebaj6405]

@@nikki-lx3yf I did, but I was too messed up and it basically finished me off

[@ianmitchell2192]

I had a moment like that. In my first playthrough, I was a dumbass and picked up an mp5 while I had like zero 9 mil ammo. Later, I go to the garbage and fight the bandits in that one warehouse thing-as you’re generally supposed to do-and the mp5 worked great-until I wasted all my ammo on three guys. (The edit is because my dumb ass said “there guys” instead of “three guys.”)

[@generalrubbish9513]

I helped out the stalkers at the junkyard who were getting attacked by bandits. Then, later, in a different part of Garbage, I attacked a small group of bandits but it turned out they had backup, LOTS of backup, so I ended up desperately taking cover and trying to hold back the encroaching tide of CHEEKI BREEKI while slowly running out of ammo. Then it happened. More people showed up in the distance, but they weren't shooting at me. They were shooting at the bandits. It was the stalkers from the junkyard. They were NOT scripted to leave their junkyard as far as I know, there was no in-game reason why they would be here, in this part of Garbage, but they were. They came to repay the favor. I know it sounds like bullshit but I swear it happened, and I still have no idea why. We stalkers gotta help each other. Nobody else will.

[@fjoa123]

I bought all STALKER games on a Steam bargain for like 14 dollars. Best purchase of my life. Spent 200 hours having Soviet mutant fun.

[@nathanielstoppelman9630]

fjoa123 I did the same thing, I got em all for 10, been playing and nodding the shit out of them all ever since

[@kajetandziebaj6405]

soviet mutant fun eh? dirty man. am approve.

[@isaackalashnikov3681]

You guys are paying for games?

[@isaackalashnikov3681]

@Chinmay Walimbe lmao, ok consoomer

[@utsavbasu1048]

@Chinmay Walimbe nice dignity

[@Wopolusa]

"It's kind of like Pokemon, except you're looking for Ukrainian hell rocks" 10/10

[@peterlavalle]

^ this

[@TheInsomniaddict]

STALKER got me to read Roadside picnic; honestly the entire source material for Stalker is pretty amazing. The Chernobyl Exclusion zone was called the Zone in reference to Stalker/A Roadside Picnic since shortly after the meltdown. Some of the few greatest moments of AI brilliance I've ever seen came from Stalker, and one of the best horror moments happened in an underground base while I was trying to avoid a patrol. I saw their lights flicker across the hallways while I snuck through the side vents. At one point I heard yelling, shots being fired and then screams. Lights went out, and I waited a good couple minutes with my gun trained at the entrance closest to where this happened. Just silence. As I delved deeper into the facility this continued to happen. Still have no idea what killed them... Could've been those squid-faced bastards, but usually they make some noise. This was just... dead silence.

[@TheIansanity]

Probably a Poltergeist or Burer. I did not understand what was going on the first time I "encountered" a Burer.

[@darkspirit1911]

Older games like stalker or fear make me realize how practically all modern FPS games give absolutely zero fucks about the AI development, it’s all about fancier graphic, more loot, more cosmetics and coop or online gameplay (sometimes story if you’re lucky). Like, stalker is by no means a perfect game in this regard, but it does have moments of brilliance that lure you to come back time and time again, and it’s random situations like what you’ve described is what contributes to the atmosphere and makes the game unique. I’m not sure what’s going on with the modern game devs, I think the next revolution needs to be in the AI side of things, graphics have been good for quite a while,but I guess it’s harder to sell than some action packed looter shooter.

[@hadeseye2297]

@@darkspirit1911 They don't give a fuck about gameplay, but microtransactions, multiplayer, not story driven single player, and graphics. Oh and the best game will be the one that plays itself from start to the very end. You just sit and watch. And click on ACCEPT when next playment will pop up.

[@butsmash]

That's why I love STALKER even though it terrifies me. It's an actual open world RPG that everyone like to claim they're making, but they can't seem to male a world worth exploring. A world that exists without your "dragonborn" kind of thing.

[@tobyvision]

@@darkspirit1911 AI, animation, and inverse kinematics are so much more powerful in making a world feel real than absolute graphical fidelitey. But they are also much more difficult.

[@darekbaird]

"Sitting in a bush, drinking vodka to get rid of radiation." He's one Comrade short of the most Russian thing ever.

[@BlueZirnitra]

@@TheDetectiveL *balalaika intensifies*

[@purecalm3160]

Squatting in a bush*

[@alexkhaid]

Iffy would be more Russians I’d he was squatting

[@hellfiredoughnut1434]

Right now i randomly renembered when i was a kid and how it`s cool to hide in a bush. Because in big bushes branches start to grow radial in sides and in the center of a bush you have only few thick branches and just enough space to hide in aaand when you sit there leafs is closer to you, so you can see trough them, but others dont sees you. Ahh the memories.

[@darekbaird]

@@hellfiredoughnut1434 nice

[@Skyrim12345]

I SAID COME IN, DON'T STAND THERE

[@cheezburgrproduction]

GET OUT OF HERE STALKER

[@phantomtf1413]

Who do you think you are imposter?

[@tovrobi5097]

Проходи не задерживайся.

[@Kryogh]

hello hello

[@WildBeret]

1 hour of "I SAID COME IN, DON'T STAND THERE"

[@WillowEpp]

The experience that sticks in my mind from playing S.T.A.L.K.E.R was finding a PSO scope in a sniper nest and then looking up a PDF of the scope's manual on the internet to apply that in-game... and it worked.

[@Overlord99762]

Based

[@ratasslordofyoink4542]

@@Overlord99762 on what?

[@tomjackjack960]

@@ratasslordofyoink4542 the term "based" is used as a compliment,you can search its origin online

[@minoanlight4545]

Of course 4chan would be here

[@queuedjar4578]

@@minoanlight4545 stalker is 4chan's fetish buffet

[@tama7026]

"get out of here S.T.A.L.K.E.R." on loop is so iconic that people don't fix it.

[@George_M_]

I remember my parents walking in and wondering if it was a game or a movie, the environment could be so real at times.

[@SunsmileMaria]

Indeed!

[@dsandoval9396]

I WISH I had a 30 series card or even a 1080. I'm stuck with my 2060 and I can barely get 60-70 fps on medium/medium-high settings. I'm not playing Anomaly even tho I really want to because I KNOW it can look SO FRIGGIN GOOD but I don't want to settle for "medium".

[@user-tp4gi8gt3g]

@@dsandoval9396 play Anomaly in DX9, your graphics probably will look like SHoC but at least you can play it. Try it out.

[@pastelfromgreece9603]

@@dsandoval9396 i have a 1650, plays fine with high settings. it's the x-ray engine the game uses, it sucks.

[@dsandoval9396]

@@pastelfromgreece9603 I actually just got my 5900x/3080ti/x570 Plus Mobo/32 GB (2x16) Vengeance build a couple weeks ago. I played SoC and CoC real quick just to see the difference. OMG! 😱 There's still stutter here and there (yeay for the engine I guess) but it's way, Way, WAY, better with a 3080ti card! I can actually set all settings to max even after setting video to "Maximum", turning on all settings (minus a couple like "60 Hz" and "Vsync") and I get a solid 85 fps so far. I say "so far" because after barely getting 60 fps on my previous rig I just decided to go with 85hz in Nvidia Control Panel and no higher as I was just playing to see the difference, I wasn't actually going to game a session. I'll get to Anomaly eventually after installing certain games and learning the Nvidia Control Panel and Bios settings, plus working out a few bugs.

[@arthurkilly2235]

One thing you forgot to mention : the world is alive and believable. Stalkers and NPC's have full on conversations/stories/jokes among themselves. I think it's in Russian only, so ENG speakirs will never get to experience this,.

[@Rotinaj37]

I like to sit around the campfire and chill with NPCs as I'm taking a snack/smoke break during this game, and I'm always thinking "man I wish I knew what ya'll were saying"

[@LaMusiqueetlabeat]

@@Rotinaj37 I just had the idea, put the game on speakers and try a translator app, they work pretty well :-D

[@enricofermi3471]

Somewhat true, but they also very often use figures of speech, which are not correctly translatable via machine translation, you need someone to explain the results still. Although you can just google the meaning, it makes you do a lot of work for little return.

[@alexqwerty3227]

As a Russian speaker i can say that they tell jokes and funny stories about the Zone in general or about their last raid (scripted and non-adapted to what really happened, but still really atmospheric). Also they sometimes they talk about their dreams and complain about garbage food or about a hole in the sole of their boots and etc. All in all yes, it adds up to the atmosphere big time

[@nagabenang9537]

Same, I love to just chill with the NPC despite not knowing what they're talking about.

[@badrm3272]

the darksouls of fallouts

[@roger5555ful]

The corridor fights from CNPP, oh boi

[@uliloolilu780]

@@roger5555ful just got the game 😁

[@roger5555ful]

@@uliloolilu780 Prepare for a world of pain 😂😂😂😂

[@uliloolilu780]

@@caffeinefiend1217 I'm fucking terrible but the camp fire songs are amazing 😂

[@Galacalactus]

Lol

[@FiksIIanzO]

After a harrowing near-death scenario involving a group of bloodsuckers, joining a group of stalkers warming by the fire as one of them pulls out a guitar and starts a homey, melancholic tune is still one of the coziest feelings I've ever felt in a videogame. I almost pulled out a cigarette to smoke right there in my bedroom.

[@niallreid7664]

It also gave us some of the best video game memes of all time. CHEEKI BREEKI

[@soupalex]

AH NUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

[@goku445]

IV DAMKE

[@brockbreacher]

*HARDBASS STARTS*

[@ABC-in2le]

AHNUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU CHEEKI BREEKI IV DAMKE!

[@FinneousPJ1]

GET OUT OF HERE STALKER Is forever baked into my cortex

[@Necroid000]

The film is a gem by itself, it was made by Tarkovsky, a genius when it comes to screenplay and composition of shots. His movies are beautiful and they tell their tale visually.

[@austinnovak2054]

Hydraw yeup

[@Dattyification]

It seems even Mandalore didn't do much search on him. He is one of greatest directors but working in the USSR probably makes him hard to access and not very popular to Westerners.

[@peppermillers8361]

Pretty sure Mandalore was joking.

[@makecoffee9558]

He made dexter labs 🧪

[@user_imyarek]

@@makecoffee9558 shieet... Tartakovsky made dexter lab, not Tarkovsky. LOLevsky

[@zenek9678]

It's not Polished because it's Ukrainian

[@tsudarasan8822]

Zenek yes! Yes! One clever man in comments! [Sorry for my spelling I bad know English] =D

[@zenek9678]

TsudaraSan but still ukraine is not a nation

[@tsudarasan8822]

Zenek I don't understand you questions? What do you mean by Ukraine is not a nation?

[@Transgender-ProphetMohammed]

Poland .....ukraine ....all russian i guess.

[@gleo1465]

@@zenek9678 you stupid or yes? Ukranian its nation

[@rejvaik00]

"As there are many words to describe the average Russian and bilingual is not one of them"

[@danilvorobev6034]

Hey hey, people!

[@IvanSoregashi]

@@danilvorobev6034 pretty false tho

[@IvanSoregashi]

@@oldpersonalaccount what a cool, edgy, sarcastic, unprovoked, degenerate response you have there. You must be quite proud of it? Carry on.

[@niallreid7664]

I know a Russian woman. She's trilingual. Russian, Latvian and English.

[@lbmember4637]

That was a reference from an other stalker review by a channel called ssethzeentach if some didn’t get that one

[@RickLag8514]

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. isn't the only reason to own a gaming PC, but it is the best reason

[@NineteenEighty8]

No. This game is so bugged that I cannot complete one full story mode.

[@Bandit-mr8cc]

Gaming PC? The game runs on the shittiest toaster available these days :D

[@Elicabas1768]

@@Bandit-mr8cc stalker 2 is coming :v

[@ididntmeantoshootthatvietn5012]

@@Bandit-mr8cc the only game i played on my microwave without lags

[@Steak818]

@@Bandit-mr8cc The engine is still a broken mess, you often need a good hardware to make it run smoothly with the mods that are worth it.

[@spiderbugbear3721]

Strelok is a nickname. It means literally "Shooter". A better translation would be "Gunslinger" or a "Sniper".

[@ImperativeGames]

It doesn't translates 100% accurately.

[@noname91387]

@@ImperativeGames I'm russian. Strelok means "Shooter". We have a verb " strelyat' " in russian. Strelok is a person who shooting.

[@vilieskelinen1503]

Some beta footage I saw shows the pda used to say "Kill the gunslinger"

[@denisarabinka3508]

Marksman and Gunslinger are the closest analogues, I think

[@GeorgeTsiros]

@@denisarabinka3508 the name of the game was chosen intentionally so that it looks like an anagram of strelka and so that it sounds like the player character's name

[@brothermaleuspraetor9505]

"eeeeeeh! Помоги мне aaaaagh!" "ahhh, Спасибо!" "Ehy! Anecdote...."

[@bogdanbogdanoff5164]

Bandit screams in surzhik are burnt into my vocabulary, permanently

[@hellfiredoughnut1434]

@@bogdanbogdanoff5164 And you dont even mad about it

[@SerhiiMartyneko]

I have an interesting story about this game. When it came out it was instabuy for me, ofc. The problem was - my computer was pretty old at that point, so I had to run it on lowest setting possible. This meant that I had to keep dynamic lighting off. And, in turn, it meant that my flashlight didn't light anything. Strangely enough - the gun shots and anomalies did light things up a little for short moment. It wasn't much of an issue outside - can always wait for daylight, but when I went to dungeon areas, man. I had to use gunshots just to light my path (yes, to be sure that I'm actually moving and not walking into the wall in front of me of that better part of the hour) and throw bolts in hope to find anomalies to react and light my path. I didn't beat the game like that, but made it pretty far - the Svoboda area, I believe. Latter I had my PC upgraded and game became so much easier =)

[@Halera-]

I did the same in the first Dark Forces game. Until I found the flashlight key by accident.

[@sickcxnt9444]

When i played COD WAW for the first time, my pc was so bad compared to sysreq that i played most of the game looking up at the sky so i'd have about 30 fps and when looking anywhere else i had maximum 10 depending on what i looked at. It was pretty bad but if performance is not present, perseverance becomes the key.

[@SerhiiMartyneko]

@@sickcxnt9444 Wait, did you actually beat the game this way? Missions in Japan and Berlin were so intense I can’t imagine you could play it through

[@sickcxnt9444]

@@SerhiiMartyneko I honestly don't remember if i did or if i lowered the graphics on the last few missions (dumb kid me didn't wanna lower them cause 'it looks worse'). i know i played it that way until the second to last mission in the japanese campaign because the fade-in from black after i died and respawned was horribly slow because of the rain but i believe i did beat it that way.

[@Welnisty]

I tried to play Escape from Buther Bay without googles because I don't know, It was very bright hell.

[@Hand_of_NOD]

Ah, I remember the first time I went into the underground labs and got to the door that was being slammed on from the other side. What a terrifyingly great experience. Recovery from that involved a lot listening to Stalkers talk at the camp fires.

[@yourface0o]

Honestly the jokes you can hear by the campfires are top notch, they're actually really funny albeit in russian

[@b3nl555]

Can you translate one for me?

[@alberts6096]

@@b3nl555 I got you stalker. - Let me tell you something about radiation. They are lying like I don't know who! I've been here for five years now. I haven't noticed any changes! What do you think? - It's bullshit. Although ... On the other hand ... my scale itches more and more lately.

[@4m0nym]

@@b3nl555 I'm not him but here's my favorite one you can hear from Loners: Some mercenaries captured a stalker and brought him to a well. They dipped his head down the water and held him there. After a bit of time they pull him out and ask: "Any artifacts or money?" "No" the stalker responds. So the mercenaries dip his head down the water, hold him there, pull him out and ask again: "Artifacts or money?" Again, the stalker responds: "No" A third time they dip his head down the water, hold him there, pull him out and ask again: "Artifacts? Money?" The stalker is getting fed up and says: "Look, either you hold my head down longer or dip me further in. I can't see well in this murky water.

[@xmlthegreat]

@@4m0nym ah that got me good

[@cheekibreeki904]

@@xmlthegreat here's another one: So, a stalker goes to see a doctor. The doctor gives him a check-up and says: - Okay... This is for your chronic fatigue, this should relieve the stress, and this will help with managing depression. To which the stalker replies: - Thank you, doctor, thank you. Say, do you have anything other than vodka?

[@furrystalker3901]

A guy spawning in a fire? B-but, it's Wolf, it was Wolf. The guy who hands you your first gun. He had debts, had.

[@Duchess_Van_Hoof]

The book is most excellent and strongly recommended. Interesting twist with the wishgranter there, it requires the sacrifice of a life for every wish. Hence the character named Vulture who found it and traveled to it several times but he was always the only one returning. Oh, and the protagonist doesn't have any guns in the book. And the zone is far far worse.

[@Axl4325]

The book is amazing and the Zone is ultra deadly, but I think I like the one in the film more. It`s still deadly but we don`t get to see it because the Stalker is an expert, but we do get to see the spatial and time distortion in all it`s glory, walking a plain road in the Zone from the movie is more similar to solving a puzzle or traversing a labyrinth and I love it

[@karhu7581]

​@@Axl4325One thing I like about the movie is that it's not actually clear how much of Stalker's behaviour is truly necessary and how much is empty superstition. Like, does carrying a gun actually make the zone more hostile to you? Maybe not, but being armed didn't help the soldiers, so best just throw the piece away. The only proof that the Stalker's ruleset is valid is that he's still alive, but the Writer flaunts his rules constantly and still survives too. The zone is ultimately just terrifying and random.

[@jessebarajas7972]

Andrei Tarkovsky's "Stalker", is one of my favorite films and Dmitry Glukhovsky's "Metro 2033" is one of my favorite books. I love the "Metro" games as well. I'll definitely check this game out.

[@rekunta]

The reason STALKER’s so amazing is a core design philosophy that takes the focus off of catering to the player and places it into creating a tangible, living, breathing, dynamic world. Many games model and structure themselves around the player through scripting and triggered events. Because the developers want you to experience something specific, yet this is only an illusion that is seen through after the first time played. Replayability tanks. STALKER doesn’t do this, and doesn’t suffer this problem. It’s a world that exists and evolves without concern for the player at all. The Zone doesn’t give a single fuck about you. Factions fight you, each other (even when you’re not on the same map), they fight animals and mutants, and stumbling into battles that have nothing to do with you is common. Actions affect reputation which plays an integral part in forming allegiances and causing rivalries. It’s a constantly evolving dynamic playground that always surprises. Not only does STALKER have an exemplary core design philosophy of complete and total indifference towards the player, it affords them very satisfying fundamental gameplay mechanics to experience the world. Exhilarating gunplay complimented by a realistic ballistics model, highly competent (though not perfect) AI, good inventory management and a weight system, an abundance of items and cool gear, phenomenal sound design, day/night and dynamic weather cycle....then mix all this up with an unparalleled sense of atmosphere, dread, isolation and top it off with an enjoyable story and STALKER is a pure diamond. I remember the first time I played STALKER I was more than a little underwhelmed and lasted only a few hours. It certainly doesn’t start out strong. The early weapons suck ass and don’t feel satisfying, it’s hard, you can’t go anywhere, and the narrative is bland. Bugs (which were numerous on release) don’t help either. But once you get a rifle with a scope so you can fight at a distance, find some halfway decent gear to explore better, and start to understand how you’re in a world that you occupy but are not the reason of its existence, there is really no other experience in gaming like it. STALKER is, plainly put, simply a brilliant testament to exemplary game design. That it’s lasted so long, is so loved, and still has a passionate modding community to this day is indicative of such. Unfortunately, the vanilla game remains an unpolished gem so this is a bit of a necessity and I believe it is a game that should be experienced with mods (yes, even for first timers). Autumn Aurora 2.1 specifically with ENB enabled and played _only_ on “Master” difficulty (this was how the devs intended it). The vanilla game, while good, has visually aged quite poorly and in a game about atmosphere, eye candy is crucial. But polish it up with this mod, and STALKER’s an experience that shouldn’t be missed by any self-respecting gamer. It’s a masterpiece.

[@cslantz4020]

I disagree heavily with the "mods even with first timers" statement. Mind you I agree with everything you said up until then. Stalker SOC is a flawed gem that should always always be experienced in vanilla for the first time. Bug fixes as well but not autumn auruora since that drastically changes the gameplay. Let me explain; it adds repair kits, artifact detectors, changes npc spawns, and the changes to the economy are too much. A newbie playing this will be very confused after completing it and getting into any of the other games... It's better to learn about the games, experience what makes stalker stalker, which isn't the addition of mods, but how the raw game itself takes the player for a ride.

[@bogdanbogdanoff5164]

Funny thing is that "indifferent towards the player" was the entire plan for the game that part of the team wanted to pursue. Around 2003-4 they imagined it as a game where an NPC actor can get to the center of the zone before you, as many NPC stalkers would pursue the same goals as the player. This was obviously crazy difficult to realize and not really that marketable so a person from the publisher got involved after multiple deadlines missed and decided to cut down the scope. He also decided to get rid of many elements which were basically finished at the time. So it came out kinda strange with pieces missing here or there but still bugged. Way too ambitious for the team so inexperienced and with no money but it still shines through.

[@IDrinkLava]

ZRP with the vanilla config is the only way first-timers should play. Literally all it does is fix the bugs GSC couldn't in v1.00005.

[@bogdanbogdanoff5164]

@@MikoyanGurevichMiG21 Fuck it being huge. It's better because it's rough and arthousy at the end of the day.

[@bogdanbogdanoff5164]

@@IDrinkLava Does ZRP add any quests cut from the release version? It's by far the most interesting part missing.

[@alexlindstrom9971]

This is the best review of this game I've seen. It has suitable background detail on the IP and admits that the game has some fairly notable issues (bugs, late-game mechanics, pacing, accessibility problems) while being insightful and patient enough to recognize *why* the game is just so great and so loved. It takes nuance to properly review something which can be considered a cult classic. Subscribed.

[@TheTrueReiniat]

"The monolith is true. All of it. Its just an illusion". Oh Ukraine, never change.

[@Cherobyl1986]

translated original:Time is running out, so listen to me carefully. Everything you said about the Monolith is true: it is just an illusion.

[@TheAderwolf]

god i loved all of the stalker games. that sense of fear when u hear a bloodsucker in the middle of the night. that jumpscare and uselessly emptying a magazine when hes rly close to you but u still cant see him. the ticking of the rad meter, the sound of gunshots in the distance, the eery silence when they subside and ofc best of all the guitar playing npcs around the campfires. so many iconic things i will never forget.

[@TheAdatto]

Yes! Hopefully 2 will be great too.

[@bandob3169]

Who else always sat to an bonfire and listen to the guitar?

[@Robert-jv4hf]

Dank Meme Lord Me. The only time you can feel safe outside of the bar.

[@bandob3169]

Robertas S. Yeah until you were outside

[@FifthSkip]

Funny enough, I'm pretty sure those guitar songs are actually what made me try the instrument out. I've only been learning ~1-2 months, but I think I've done pretty well

[@ASHOT3359]

@@Robert-jv4hf especially if you know russian. There are some good jokes in there

[@jackercooper4078]

Totally, and finding one of those outside of the main camps, it's a good way to kill a bit of the tension you get while going outside

[@Appendixization]

"It's kind of like playing a Pokémon game except you're looking for ukrainian hell rocks" X fucking D

[@DankNova]

MortalWombat Looool

[@Ironwind1972]

Stalker has better ambiance and mood setting than most games these days. You get a real sense of death, decay, loneliness, etc

[@112523]

this game had some amazing graphical things going on. just in the details and you wouldnt notice if you werent looking for it. but just look at a brick building. you can see the grooves between the brick. wich is a detail you wouldnt really see at the time this game was released and there are a bunch more of these small details that are actually pretty damn amazing

[@n0rie9a]

lol thats parallax mapping and its been around since the early 2000s, the brick wall texture is actually flat; i agree though that x-ray was doing some pretty advanced stuff for the time the game should have been released initially

[@SEGAClownboss]

The film was fantastic. Apologies if people don't like it for being long and heavy and not relying on action. But the way the game is framed is also a correct interpretation of the story and setting.

[@TheInsomniaddict]

I enjoy the film, although the melodrama is a bit much. I'm awestruck by the cinematography, almost put to sleep by its pacing, and astounded by the fact that I keep recommending it to other people. The book's much better as a story and is one of my top reads, but the movie is amazing for its scene porn.

[@mpmuradov]

TheInsomniaddict Yeah, the movie is great. Mostly because of Tarkovsky style, I think. I would recommend Solaris movie too.

[@djbeema]

It's considered a classic by most film buffs. Very slow but it's beautiful

[@VarenvelDarakus]

saying i like movie is a bit strong word , its different and i don't regret it watching , but i can see why some call it long ,it has good writing and interesting dialogues and strong character development.

[@AlanKocisMusic]

Holy shit your pfp

[@lazynav]

Literally found your channel last night (EYE Divine Cybermancy) and decided to subbed. Watched your Division, Endless Legend and Damned video back to back

[@DeMZIrus]

Same, bingewatched reviews after found video about EYE

[@MrIbot88]

Exactly the same, the youtube algorithm has smiled upon you.

[@Sarum9nich]

Lol same.

[@dominikmagnus]

story of my sub, E.Y.E. is the best

[@angamaitesangahyando685]

Just googled BF 2142 to check what happened to it after the last half a year, found a 200k video about it by this insane dude ^^

[@MegaSmouke]

I'm pleasantly surprised by this review. I like Stalker very much all 3 games actually. Author made such a profesional job and even know that game is from Ukraine (not from Russia, which like author said mostly missed by lot of people). I also want to add that this game was very special in Ukraine, we waited it for 7 years and original scope for this game was much bigger. Team which made this game was very talented but too ambitious for they first project and after 7 years they made a feature cut, so game finally see the world. Originally they planned much more freedom, vehicles, independent AI for stalker, which behave same as player in game world and some specific monsters which actually appeared in later Stalker games (like Clear Sky and Call of Pripyat). So, despite game was great lot of people criticize it that they missed some promissed features. For me, I just was blown away, I bought this game at day one after release and beat it by two days with two play-sessions by 12 and 8 hours each, missed all my lectures in University by these two days. ))) And play it from time to time even today. Same developers also made Metro 2033 another game which I really enjoyed and it also from Ukraine (not Russia). Thanks for great review!

[@FatGouf]

one of the developer of this game, Vladimir "Fresh" Yezhov, died defending his homeland from Russian invaders. Rest in Peace STALKER.

[@amirhb7531]

Another man died because of American greed

[@thebiga3073]

@@amirhb7531kotlet

[@josevictorribeirolisboa7576]

​@@amirhb7531Goofy fucking kremlin bot

[@stelfer]

@@amirhb7531 ???

[@stelfer]

@@amirhb7531 are you acoustic

[@SpecShadow]

Massive thumb up for bashing Complete (when people ask for fixes for first playthrough) and recommending ZRP instead.

[@doggod106]

Complete for Shadow of Chernobyl is great, every other game...well, I wouldn't recommend it that's for sure.

[@SpecShadow]

No it isn't People pick Complete for better graphic unaware of gameplay changes, and they are awful.

[@doggod106]

I've played damn near every mod there is for all three games (hell I've even modded it myself on more than one occasion), and it's entirely subjective, but to completely (unintended) write off Complete is a mistake I think, it's not something I'd play, or have played, more than a few times, but it's worth playing. I highly doubt I'm gonna change your mind any, but for anyone else reading this go check out this post on the stalker reddit that lists the actual 'substantive' gameplay changes and decide for yourself if any of that detracts from the atmosphere of the game "www.reddit.com/r/stalker/comments/2jb2w3/re_complete_2009/".

[@Sniper2565]

@@doggod106 i read this 2-3 years ago.. HAHA.. Thanks for reminding me ♥

[@addictedtoRS]

It's all preference my man. I've beaten the three games countless times, and I personally find Complete to be a great mod pack for SoC and CoP, but not so much CS.

[@ezservice6764]

the ending of this was gr8. 3/4 of the screen blocked out by links, and all you can see is what looks like a gunfight, with the ridiculous bandit music playing and the obligatory cheeki breeki. and that's the other side of stalker..

[@ProcyonDei]

one thing that really makes the STALKER games feel so immersive is that despite there being some scripted moments for the player, a good chunk of the encounters are random. You can just go explore a section of the map and find enemy or friendly groups walking around and sometimes fighting one another, same with the mutant encounters; It makes the game feel truly living. Also sometimes major character can die randomly due to the events and the game actually adjusts to that rather than break like most other games would...

[@tired9769]

For a second I thought my Spotify somehow went on when I heard *what you won't do for love* at the start

[@a-n-d-r-e-w-k]

Now I want a Ukrainian Hell Rock.

[@FalloutUgglan]

"Duty is objectively the correct faction" **Glares in Freedom**

[@localmonolith5989]

**laughs in Monolith**

[@marialuke2116]

Is it possible to be factionless in stalker? (ive never played and my potato computer is slow)

[@low-polyhexagonalrat]

Maria Luke yes and no. In the first game factions don’t really matter, the second game is focused on a war between all the factions of the Zone and the third one has faction elements. You can in some way be “factionless” as in Clear Sky I believe you do have to choose a faction. That faction would be Loners as at best they’re a loose organization of S.T.A.L.K.E.R’s but really have no ties or allegiances.

[@marialuke2116]

@@low-polyhexagonalrat Ah, I see. Thank you for explaining.

[@mice6545]

**Confused in Clear Sky**

[@darkcheaker]

Played this game back in the day of release in Russia. Still play it to this day yearly.

[@tylerward4386]

Stalker: Call of Prypriat with the Misery mod is one of my favorite games

[@swat2555]

"So what about the gameplay?" *game over* I was cracking up at that point. Awesome and honest review, take my like and sub.

[@ripbooboo8563]

I love your reviews, and your deadpan humor is legendary. You deserve more subscribers

[@el_mal_de_ojo]

Just wanted to mention that Tarkovsky's 'Stalker' film is more than very good, it's one of the greatest films ever made!

[@mark33850]

Agreed

[@Kyrelel]

Unless you've actually watched it :/

[@TheInsomniaddict]

@@Kyrelel Visually it's amazing. The transitions are great and the scenery is beautiful. Visually I think it's one of the most memorable movies I've ever seen. Otherwise it's overly dramatic and the story and philosophy is a bit thin. Interesting, but the movie itself is "boring." Tarkovsky's other work is similar, from what I've seen.

[@snezak5399]

@@TheInsomniaddict Well to be honest the production of the film was like the worst in movie-making history... could've also actually killed tarkovsky and several other crew members. But if you liked the movie, I can't recommend enough the novel, from a philosophical aspect it passes down the message better than the movie IMO. The ending is also one of those moments where you finish a book and then just sit there, thinking about it.

[@TheInsomniaddict]

@@snezak5399 Didn't know the about the movie, I normally don't look into production history. Yup, I've read the book a couple times and I own physical copies of all the games, movie, and novel.

[@christianpuga9424]

PDA: KILL STRELOK Strelok: Ok *a moment later Strelok: *Wait that's illegal* *Destroys C-consciousness*

[@MartianBuddy]

Better than fallout in terms of wasteland exploring i think.

[@somedesertdude1308]

Martian Buddy jup

[@alfalfington81]

Well better than 3 & 4 and for hard to compare S.T.A.L.K.E.R. wit h1 &2.

[@sataricon111]

What about NV?

[@MartianBuddy]

Halo Toto Ooo that's a toughy but I gotta give it to Stalker. NV is another favorite.

[@merten0083]

Finding Gordon Freeman's body was a neat Easter Egg, I think he had a Desert Eagle on him that took 9x39mm

[@liamh1621]

"Get out of here, Stalker" gets me every time.

[@krodmandoon3479]

I said come in, don't stand there.

[@GATORBUBS]

here after E3 2021 I had no idea this was a game series

[@iihamed711]

Me too

[@r3dsnow757]

welcome comrades

[@Krahamus]

Atleast you done research and didn't say its metro clone or escape of tarkov clone, because i seen people bashing Stalker 2 without knowing anything.

[@32bitcal69]

An interesting thing to note: My wife and I have been watching the new HBO mini series Chernobyl and at the same time I've been playing through this game again. Really makes my appreciate all the details and effort put into this game... even though it was terribly rushed at the end once THQ took over.

[@StrikeWarlock]

Funny you mention that, Mandalore was talking about the show on Twitter.

[@bogdanbogdanoff5164]

Without THQ it would never release though, even if Dean Sharpe had a retarded choice of things to have deleted sometimes

[@abhilashyadav2274]

That miniseries is full of technical mistakes. Don't believe it for accuracy.

[@TheJuicyBear]

S.T.A.L.K.E.R Shadow Of Chernobyl = My favourite Clear Sky = The Worst (with mods its a a lot better) Call Of Pripyat = Majority Of S.T.A.L.K.E.R Fans Favourite Lost Alpha = Free S.T.A.L.K.E.R Call Of Chenrobyl = FUCKING GODLIKE

[@MorweenTBX]

if anyone asks why "the worst" it's because the amount of crashes and bugs in the default game have it's so frustrating Call of chernobyl with misery mod and addons : CHEEKI BRREEKI!

[@nyuszicsib]

And it is the worst because the non-stop grenade spaming. It's annoying as hell.

[@fantaguzziniko]

same

[@Slender_Man_186]

Which one would you say is best (unmodded) for a beginner?

[@nyuszicsib]

@Slender Man I think Shadow of Chernobyl and Call of Pripyat is good for beginners, so if you want to choose, here's your answer. But Clear Sky is fun too (except the Garbage part with the insane grenade spam, but after that it's a good game too), so even if you read/watch (rant)reviews about CS, don't let them to talk off about it. It's a GREAT video game series and I think it is worth to playing. (sorry for my english)

[@FamousOnChains]

HAPPINESS, FREE, FOR EVERYONE, AND LET NO ONE BE FORGOTTEN!

[@MandaloreGaming]

Such a great ending

[@FamousOnChains]

MandaloreGaming Indeed it was, I was suprised to see the movie had so little in common with the book, but was even more suprised that it was so good for a russian film of it's age

[@acaustik8763]

Both my favorite book and favorite ending for a book ever :)

[@mpmuradov]

Aubrey Hansen , these words are resided in the game too. It is one of Easter eggs.

[@mkahvi]

9:20 New groups of stalkers and similar spawn at the edges of the maps. Some traveling groups do that too IIRC (or not?). So you had the fun lucky time of entering the map when they spawned as well.

[@ferreiraferreira9192]

Stalker is a masterpiece btw the movie is actually amazing and I recommend a lot, great video.

[@BIadelores]

The film Stalker is an absolute masterpiece. Everyone who likes this game should go see it.

[@xanaxodgrindcorelover9191]

i agree but i feel like it should come with a warning that it is extremely slow and alot of the beauty is in the dialogue and cinematography instead of a rapidly-moving plot or flashy suspence. if you want the latter you should just watch Annihilation

[@voyageproper]

@@xanaxodgrindcorelover9191 oh Annihilation is like sovet stalker meets, game meets, Claude Monet ..a feel like they probably played the game hahaha. i never really found the original film stalker to be slow... but then,. i've seen lots of dull films. and compared to other Tarkovsky... or godz willing Alexander Sokurov now he makes some slow films hahahah.

[@uliloolilu780]

Is there a English version

[@ascendedbro1828]

Yeah and film has basically almost NOTHING in common with the game.

[@Gadget-Walkmen]

Slow paced as hell tho.

[@CharcharoExplorer]

In general for first time users I suggest Zone Reclamation Project. It has a few changes but is overall a very stable almost vanilla-esque experience. Also, pretty please taking a look at Clear Sky? Preferably with Sky Reclamation :P ? As for the movie? It is a classic of its genre. The USSR didn't like it, but they lied - it is top 10 science fiction movies tier.

[@hemangchauhan2864]

Alexander Yordanov What about Autumn Aurora 2?

[@CharcharoExplorer]

Great mod, but NOT for a new player :P

[@Sassy_Witch]

What are those few changes?

[@primary2630]

Always play Vanilla. Mods are only good if you've played vanilla and want to replay the game with different aspects. I've tried only a couple mods but I always find that they just add things I don't care about and change things I do care about. For me, Vanilla is always the best, especially for SoC and CoP.

[@user-qc6pg6ef6h]

I think AMK Mod could be OK fr newbies too. A bit more complex, but still mostly loyal to the original in spirit. And frankly, Clear Sky's a disgrace.

[@covid-yq8zy]

I loved this game so much... The end section with all the factions rushing toward the nuclear plant... it was epic, one of the game that gave me such feelings i couldn't sleep later, and my gf was mocking me cause i was completely in the game hours later, dreaming and trying to figure out the meaning of the story. I think i had the "get me rich" ending.

[@sleepychicken6185]

"How does it feel to chew 5 gum" Fuck...that had me laughing...

[@faeryka7813]

Vanilla stalker doesn’t ever have crashes really it’s just the mods you got to worry about

[@aleksapetrovic6519]

Welcome to modding community.

[@Kyrelel]

Vanilla stalker crashes more often than Roman Grosjean

[@OverlordZephyros]

Oh shit.. one of the BEST GAMES I have ever played ... and you made a review of it?? im GLAD I subbed this channel ;)

[@lukasgroot]

I just finished my first playthrough and now I love this game. I'm so glad I watched your review first and played it vanilla like you recommended. It never crashed and no major bugs. And after my completion I started watching other playthroughs but they almost all use a mod and it feels like they're playing another game. They have a sleeping bag to skip time, +10kg carry weight which is a very big increase and repair kits! There are also aesthetic differences with the scopes.

[@nagabenang9537]

Yeah I planned to replay the game with the mod once I finished the vanilla version. The bandits killed one of my favorite NPC and I don't intend to let it happen again.

[@lukasgroot]

@@nagabenang9537 I finished them now and I moved on to Call of Chernobyl with Arsenal Overhaul mod. I really liked that but before finishing a full playthrough I now moved onto Anomaly and its great! Super hard though in my opinion.

[@thepresetvenoms]

The reason i love this game is actually because of a bug. I had only been playing for like 20 hours and i had just completed a fetch quest for some Gopnik in either rostok or garbage(cant quite remember), so i was there to hand over his stuff but also unload the random loot i had on hand first, unfortunately something in that random loot must have been bugged because the second i traded it a death sound played and he fuckin atomised out of reality before i even handed in the quest item, but oh well shit happens. i wasn't really that shocked or dismayed until i turned around and saw his body on the ground IN the campfire and all his friends as one rose up and blew my fuckin face off. I reload to my last quick-save which was just before i started trading and the dudes alive only he instantly opens fire on me, i manage to kill him at which point his friends behind me wake up and kill me again. I reload again this time before im even in the town, kill some dogs, med up and peek in to town, there all bloody dead. Mission still active which means radom gopnik still out there, give up toss heavy package on ground, loot dead guys and prepare to leave. Gopnik floats out of campfire...sits down... i walk up to him to ask if he has any jobs(mostly to see if he is still trying to kill me). Tries to give me the exact same fucking quest, leave roasting man be and never look back. that one incident made me obsessed with the game and out of all the dumb deaths i've had playing it, that one is still my favourite.

[@cryw1092]

Sounds like a hell of an anomaly.

[@katamarankatamaranovich9986]

I gues you traded a reality-breaking artefact.

[@s4rg380]

There really are no bugs, only anomalies.

[@Ixaglet]

There's an early quest (think it's the 3rd area) where you have to get some documents from a base filled with bandits. Once you get close enough, an alarm triggers, alerting all the enemies. If you try to reload an earlier save, the game will have overwritten them so that the alarm is already sounding, on every save you have in that area. Very cool.

[@someonesvagabond]

No fucking way! No... No... No... I don't believe it. My favorite all time game is being reviewed! Holy Monolith! Edit: Now after finishing watching it I can say only a few things. The difficulty as it is now was forced onto the devs at the last days of production, and since they didn't have time the easiest solution was to make bullet sponges. So yes, playing on master difficulty or veteran is the true *vanilla* experience. The ending with the Monolith Crystal or Wish Granter. The crystal itself can be interpreted in a few ways. 1)It is another "Brain Scorcher", only a bit different, instead of frying the brain or converting it into Monolith soldiers (this is how Monolith gets it troops) it makes you a part of The Zone. This is actually supported by the official Zone folklore, for example Yuri Semetski is one of the stalkers who wished for immortality, but as a monkey paw the crystal is he was bound to die once in a while, unable to die completely or leave The Zone. Stalkers consider his death message via their network a lucky sign, a sort of local superstition. Then there is also the Dark Stalker, who is a half-god, half-ghost figure. So from a certain point the Wish Granter actually exists, instead of being considered and illusion by the Strelok's gang, only question left is: "Does it grant a pure wish?" 2) The Crystal is a last resort, same as the Brain Scorcher, it exists to detour anyone who tries to uncover the Zone's real secret, which is the C-Consciousness, but it makes them a member of the group by first "killing" the stalker by having the death hallucination, after which brainwashing him and adding to the group, and since only a handful actually manage to do so, they are considered either way eligible to help contain the Zone. Which comes to the following... Those that do grant a wish don't expand the Zone, blowouts a.k.a. emissions do that. The emissions are released by the C-C to prevent stalkers like Strelok from getting to the Center and finding out the secrets, rather then getting their Wish. But that's not the only reason blowouts occur. They also happen because it's excessive power which C-C cannot control, so they must release it, otherwise the Zone will expand at an uncontrollable rate, so instead it happens in small portions and this way The Zone expands by 3-5km every time, a harsh dilemma for C-C I'd have to say. So every time a blowout happens it's either A)Stalkers are near the center and it happens to stop them or B)There wasn't a blowout for a long time and a lot of energy accumulated, so it happens. This is why blowouts vary in power and consistency, sometimes they are weak, sometimes they are so powerful that the terrain itself changes. And the second disaster that created the Zone was C-C taping into the Noo-sphere. A lot of this is actually cut content, but it's unofficially official, since it's wildly accepted by both fans and by devs. And the REAL center of the Zone is the cut location called Generators, where everything happened, where the real secrets lie. But GSC was forced to scrap it due to time limitations and constant revisions (actually a lot of content was cut, like the Chimera and Burer were only added in the third game, and they are the only cut content to be added). Mods help return those places, like Call of Chernobyl. Speaking of mods, Misery is one mod that actually depicts the whole Stalker atmosphere as it should be, like in the book Roadside Picnic and the movie Stalker, since even on Master difficulty vanilla STALKER is a bit arcade-y, and with a proper equip you feel like a God, Misery changes it completely. Although there is a small detail, Misery itself as it is right now(and possibly all future versions) is NOT good, it's actually piss poor balanced, the "real" Misery mod is with an addon called Les Miserable, which changes at least the economic side which makes the mod way more tolerable and playable. I would suggest a better combination: Call of Chernobyl with it's open-world maps and an addon Call of Misery (with an English Patch), plus a few more addons for a more balanced experience. However with that, the game is still unfair in one department - gunfights, both with mutants and humans (which comes from the raw Misery mod). From one point mutants, even the blind dogs, are a force to be reckoned and it actually seems more logical and actually better, no more knife hunting them, but then there are burers and poltergeists which are complete BS. You can't fight them without a helmet with a psi-upgrade or smoking weed, which not only breaks the flow and some RP elements(like playing as a "clean" stalker) but also logic. Burers and Poltergeists are telekinetics, not telepaths, therefore they can't damage you if you are in a close proximity, by frying your brain slowly as like a Controller would, so there is a huge minus there from a lore standpoint. Humans on the other hand are a completely different story. Bandits sniping you from 200 meters with a broken shotgun/pistol/bolt, dunking a 200+ score grenade toss to which Olympic spear and rock throwers with Michael Jordan would smoke nervously in the corner, or you not hearing any enemy movement in a 5 meter radius, but they can not only hear you, but "see" you through walls(and toss grenades like confetti with aforementioned accuracy), even if you are walking(same actually for mutants, but I can suspend my disbelief for them). And those are just bandits. Then there is the revamped damage system, which is based on real life ballistics and armor types and body zones, which in raw Misery is bad, in raw Call of Misery is excellent(to a certain point) and in a damage addon for Call of Misery it is outright BS (30 9x19 AP into a armor jacket and the enemy doesn't die). But even then, I would recommend to play Misery, especially Call of Misery, but only with balanced mods and if you can find them in English(or you are lucky to not have problems with Russian language), unless you want to be a masochist and shave the F5/F9 button into dust. Otherwise you will get a whole other experience, at some points a bit butthurt, but overall, a worthy one.

[@blzahz7633]

"few" things..?

[@mainomai]

Aren't all the mods you mention for Pripyat and not Chernobyl?

[@someonesvagabond]

Call of Chernobyl is a mod for Call of Pripyat, yes, Misery is a mod for Call of Pripyat too. BUT, Call of Misery is a mod for the mod Call of Chernobyl, and Call of Misery has addon mods. Modception! Plus Call of Misery isn't an official (from the devs of the original Misery) port, it's fan made. Unless you mean under Chernobyl - SHoC, the first game, which either way means still getting Call of Pripyat and getting the mod Call of Chernobyl installed, because CoC includes ALL the locations from all 3 games AND cut locations like the Dead City, Generators, Vehicle Graveyard etc.(only minus is that they picked the worse version, from Clear Sky for many of the common location, instead of sticking to ShoC, but meh), so in a sense it's SHoC, only bigger, and you can start with free play from the beginning for any of the factions, and also, I tested, you get nearly the same, like 90%, "storyline" if you go in freeplay. Only you don't kill or join the C-C, and you play as your own character. But if you want a good, an actually good mod for SHoC and not CoP, then get the original Oblivion Lost (not the bundled 2009 or something like that) with Arsenal Mod. It will be something between the arcade of the vanilla and the one-shot potential of Misery, plus a nice arsenal of weapons, and a lot of other cut content. And in that mod, the difficulties are balanced, where Master = Hell, but even the Newbie difficulty doesn't have the flaws of the vanilla, you kill them just as fast in all difficulties, only they do a bit less or more damage. Still, I played on Veteran difficulty, since it was the more balanced overall experience, and I do highly recommend. I myself can't play Stalker SHoC or CoP without the mods, they just add so much, without taking away anything.

[@someonesvagabond]

Yep, kinda. Although I do play with an additional Arsenal mod pack (using the term "Arsenal" as colloquial to all "adds more weapons" mods), which I think is the key factor, but... Call of Misery is basically Misery, just in Call of Chernobyl, which uses the re-imagined bullet penetrations and body armor factors which is divided into simple Roman numerals from 1 to 5 + a factor of "no protection". 1 being the lowest body armor, 5 is the highest (exoskeleton armor) and each body armor and helmet provides a protection to specific parts of your body. So you can get a 5 class penetrating bullet (SP-6 for the AS VAL = OP) and go on killing everyone with 2 hit well placed body shots. So if you are like me and that semi-realistic freak who can't suspend disbelief to such nonsense in the vanilla and wants a bit of a Dark Souls challenge, then Misery and Call of Misery is for you, with addons to economic and logic balance... Like Les Miserables. In Call of Misery it's all the same as in the raw Misery, until you install a few addons for better hunting for mutant parts and artifacts, better traders and weapons, more outfits, which makes it more like Les Miserables. Actually, for some strange miracle (I call it a bug), after installing all these mods(and only after that), the NPCs actually had a semi-fair accuracy. Like, when they see you they fire some shots, but they almost always miss, and it doesnt matter what distance it was , 1 meter or 50 meters, and they barely snipe your head off if it's peaking out of a concrete block, although it's not the same for the grenades(which I already explained how it is and I died more from them then from bullets). But I had this only with bandits and on rare occasions - Monolith. Haven't tested on others since I was an Ecolog, but the fact that the modded version gave me time to react to enemy gunfire which was in a way realistic, was a thumbs up(aside from a few moments), because when I installed this one addon for a "better" realistic ballistics and damage, I got aimbot NPC that can withstand a 30 mag AP 9x19 to the chest and at the same time headshot your head peaking by a millimeter from a container. I tested it all in the Arena, since it was a quick way to get all types of enemies, and this is what I got. So, if you are installing an Arsenal pack for Call of Misery, DON'T install the one which says that it alters ONLY the damage parameters. Although I only found these for the Russian version, but I did see on Moddb similar if not the same. I am saying this just from my VERY recent experience (2 weeks old), but take it as a grain of salt, since I have this small feeling that it's more of a bug, but who knows, even with it I died a lot, and the oh so alluring ironmode with campfire only saves just fades away the moment you understand that you have to have REAL paranoia and huge luck to not get a bandit sneaking up on you out of nowhere to give you a real heart attack or a chimera one hit killing you near a location transfer point and you have no where else to go. But it's all still in development, so I guess it's expected. I on the other hand will keep what I have right now and wait a bit longer till a more stable and better version comes out for both Misery and Call of Misery(and the addons, and maybe other mods). As Mandalore said, quote :"Modders are still developing for this game and with good reason - it's fantastic." So I can wait.

[@apropercuppa8612]

Judson Joist That's the mod! OL and L.U.R.K. I used to love those mods.

[@KrissFliss]

"It's kind of like playing a Pokemon game, except you're looking for Ukrainian hell rocks." xD

[@peterlavalle]

^ this

[@BetaBloomberg]

I am a film buff and love your close analysis to the game's birth rite and the similarities between the book/movie/game. I am very late to see this video but regardless loved the work you've put into this!

[@jesusskelly7632]

Came back to watch this after beating the game, you inspire a lot of my taste in games now, been a long time viewer so congrats on 777k man

[@Doctorgeo7]

Regarding the crashes, Stalker Clear Sky is definitely filled with crash prone areas. But Shadow of Chernobyl and Call of Pripyat seem to have fewer of them. I've gone through both Call of Pripyat and Shadow of Chernobyl unmodded without any crashes. But I ran into frequent crashes when playing Clear Skies without mods.

[@flyingspaghetti]

Doctorgeo7 Call of prypyat's game engine (revamped XRay engine) is the most stable engine of the series. It even permits the implementation of areas of ShoC and CS without any hiccups. A standalone mod called Call of Chernobyl has the areas of ALL THE GAMES sewn into one under the Cop engine, and it is a masterpiece.

[@BAAa-tw7lo]

Could you toss me a name/link for that? Super interested.

[@flyingspaghetti]

B.A Aa Does KZbin allow links? Here it is anyway: www.moddb.com/mods/call-of-chernobyl It was voted Mod of the year 2016 by the biggest mod site in the Web, followed by Enderal of Skyrim. And rightfully so, I may add.

[@cookytrix]

i had a lot of problems with this game crashing when it was first released. i was ok with it. taught me to use computers better and appreciate the game when it worked :)

[@zetetick395]

No shit! Not to mention the *insane* difficulty spike when you exit the swamps through a tunnel into Cordon O_o

[@tyranids4ever]

Loners are my only true brothers in the zone.

[@petergambier]

At the time I really enjoyed playing Stalker and it's atmospheric spaces. Recently watching a documentary about Chernobyl where they visited Pripyat and I was back in the Stalker world, it was so familiar and well mapped out. Also enjoyed the guitar music at the way stations.

[@Pr0manStream]

A friendly side Info from a fellow Stalker for anyone interested in wanting more S.T.A.L.K.E.R. but having finished all the base games. I can only recommend you guys to look into mods: You might be wondering what mods to play, well I'd say for the "ultimate S.T.A.L.K.E.R. experience", download the modpack "S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Anomaly". Little bit of history: Mods for this game had the interesting behaviour of being iterations of each other, that either have been developed on top of, or getting integrated into newer projects entirely with a different spin taken to them. Well, Anomaly is basically a huge hodgepodge of all the best mod parts the Zone has to offer. You can customize a ton of settings to have near-perfect fine tuning, or just take one of the presets that is to your liking. It has less of a fixed story and instead is more of a Sandbox set in the entirety of the Desaster Zone, meaning you have all around 30-some maps of varying size that are all linked to each other and that you have to traverse through. Not just that, but you can (and will) encounter every faction existing in the World of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and have different interactions with them. Better yet, you can play as a character that is aligned with any of the Factions, all having different standing to each other, different gears, variations of gears and what not. It is probably the best simulation of how the Stalker's "day to day life" looks like, while focusing more on the moment to moment gameplay than an overarching story. While each faction comes with a main questline to follow (along with some achievements and side quests unlocking more factions to play as), but those take very long to complete and the zone most certainly wants you dead - the difficulty in this mod can ramp anywhere from "a stroll in the park" to "you need a perfect strategy to get past this.". You wouldn't believe how much time I've sunken into it, can only recommend for all of those that have the itch again to play S.T.A.L.K.E.R without wanting to re-tread every story beat from the original games.

[@Pr0manStream]

@@HelghastStalker Nope, the mod is a standalone pack of the game that is heavily modified to the point of literally only playing anomaly. Just download, unzip, play

[@Axl4325]

Anomaly is amazing, it can single handedly make you lose a semester or get fired and you would be happy because you now have more time for Anomaly

[@yunogasai3350]

@@Pr0manStream The real question is, does it have ALL all factions, as in the Mutants and Children of the Zone from the books?

[@Pr0manStream]

@@yunogasai3350 Well, from what I can tell, only the factions that made an appearance in the game trilogy also make an appearance in the mod. So the 12 playable factions are: -Stalkers -Bandit -Ecologist -Clear Sky -Duty -Freedom -Mercenary -Military -Monolith -Renegade -Sin -UNISG Though the last 3 named factions can only be accessed once you finish the entire "story questline" that is offered to any faction that isn't outright hostile to the others, which means you can't do this on Military, Bandit or Monolith. Also also, there's the "easter egg" faction of Zombified that you can select when you do a specific button combination on the faction select screen. :)

[@yunogasai3350]

@@Pr0manStream Drat, no hanging out with my three armed, mutated human friends while being civil and chill with actually a surprising amount of the other factions.

[@yaroslavkizyma2370]

Dude, I'm Ukrainian and I want to express my gratitude for two things: a) You did a great review, b) You can tell the difference between Russia and Ukraine and that's quite a feat for a english-speaking westerner. And you did some research, which is awesome. Yet with all those ukrainian post-apoc games (Metro games based on russian novels were made by ukrainian studio as well) it really makes you think.

[@BorrisStonoyanovich]

Truly the ameriburger we deserve

[@MandaloreGaming]

Haha I made sure to specify it was a Ukranian shooter at least once since that gets lost on people. I don't know what magic your people are putting into your games but they're typically pretty neato

[@Strawberry_ZA]

slav magic is the result of squats and pumpkin seeds

[@rollercoasterintogiantdomo]

StrawberryZA And alcohol. Mmm vodka

[@user-ou1vk3go4r]

We love pumpkin seeds as well, but true slav prefer sunflower seeds

[@KeramatZMode]

just so you know, whenever you upload a video I'll make sure I had a good snack and laid back on a comfy chair enjoying your stuff. The length may be beyond your usual 4minute "game video" on youtube, but your video have this relaxing tone and pacing that I can chill with after hard days of work. Thank you.

[@anhnguyenhoang210]

4 years later. Still waiting for a STALKER Call of Pripyat review

[@AllNyteLova]

the fact you keep playing the song in the beginning in the backgroud is amazing lmao

[@dustindacus967]

I would kill for a Dark Messiah and Might and Magic review from you.

[@DankNova]

Dustin Dacus loool

[@Dasqal]

Dustin Dacus Enjoy. ;)

[@roadent217]

So who's the dead guy then?

[@fakenews6133]

Did you have to?

[@Theboyhoodbard]

The BOOT OF JUSTICE

[@henrya3530]

The three games in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series - Shadow of Chernobyl, Clear Sky, and Call of Pripyat - are very enjoyable to play and make a great alternative to American first person shooters. Of the three I think Call of Pripyat is the best. The games have a great AI and stuff happens in the Zone (creatures hunt, Stalkers go on missions, firefights between factions happen, etc.) whether the player interacts with them or not. Sometimes it's fun to find a secure location and just watch life happening in the Zone.

[@dsandoval9396]

I'm not sure what actions are hard coded in what game / mods but I remember seeing stalkers clear out dead bodies after a gunfight (and other AI details) and at the time I was playing with Complete mod on Shadows of Chernobyl and I've never since seen that type of interaction done in the other 2 games and even with mods. Also, (I think this was Complete too) I remember interaction with NPC's that were great like, if you ransack a dead body that you DIDN'T kill the gujjy who killed him will come up to you and he'll say to give the stuff up. There will be a few ways to respond. 3 of 4 options are given to you in a text box for you to reply starting off with something aggressive where you tell the guy to back off unless he wants to have a gunfight, or you can just give the stuff up. If you have enough reputation and you tell him that you're keeping the stuff he just might back off but your reputation will go down a little, if your reputation isn't high enough he will risk having a gun fight with you. Also, one thing I remember in one of the game mods that I saw that made a whole lot of sense was purchasing a padlock for the chests. As the whole game revolves around scavenging stalkers were also known for going into the chests and stealing the items put inside. Purchasing a padlock and putting the padlock inside the chest allowed you to make sure no one else stole your things. This ALWAYS made sense to me and wondered why it wasn't a staple after it was introduced in the mod. All these things made for a more immersive gameplay plus it only made complete sense and I always wondered why they weren't incorporated into later versions or updates of more popular mods such as a COC. I'm 95% positive I saw all of these things in "Complete" and after playing with other mods I can say Complete wasn't that bad, and in fact had great ideas that I still don't see in newer mod/mod updates. (I have yet to play Anomaly)

[@bogdanbogdanoff5164]

The A-life parts are the best about these games. I wouldn't call CoP the best, I think it lowered the difficulty too much by making bandits neutral for example and makes for the least replayable game of the three because the questing is all pre-written and non random. And it somehow looks worse than the previous two games. I wish the GSC team knew a bit more about coding FPS games in general. Then we wouldn't get shit like missions in ShoC especially written for the broken stealth system (Agroprom military base and Cordon extra for Sidorovich) And the last 3 levels were obviously rushed AF.

[@DinnerForkTongue]

Glad to see someone else values Clear Sky. Although I have to add a footnote: _it _*_HAS_*_ to be played with a game fixing mod._ It's by far the least polished of the trilogy.

[@bogdanbogdanoff5164]

@@DinnerForkTongue What did you play CS with?

[@DinnerForkTongue]

@@bogdanbogdanoff5164 The first time through, I went with Clear Sky Complete because it was the most convenient. Now I owe it a run with SRP (Sky Reclamation Project).

[@kunns123]

2:35 Is that the Bully Scholarship Edition OST in the background? Yoooooo

[@Manjensan]

Just wanted to say how awesome I think it is, the way you've divided your review up into sections. So awesome dude.

[@madallin133]

Found your channel today.Been binge watching your videos,love them btw. Keep it up :D

[@tyclips4155]

You know when you're playing an RPG and stumble into an area that's too high level for you but you try to cheese your way through it anyway and die 50 times in the process, this is like an entire game of that.

[@VitaliyMilonov]

I fail to undestand casual normies every single time they complain about something being ridiculously hard even though it's as easy as possible. I did this game when I was 7 YEARS OLD WITHOUT A PROBLEM AND THIS WAS ONE OF THE FIRST GAMES I'VE PLAYED. And now it seems even easier when I'm grown ass adult. I vomit my soul out when I encounter comments like this. DO YOU GUYS NOT HAVE ARMS?!

[@VitaliyMilonov]

Or or are you working as a game journalist?! Mental challenge seems to be the common case among those folks.

[@tyclips4155]

​@@VitaliyMilonov Wow.

[@ThisisnotTwitter]

One of my favourite moments in this game was like half way through, I had no idea what kind of mutants etc there might be around the corner, then while exploring an underground lab I am dealing with kit on the ground next to a puddle. Then in the puddle, I see the reflection of a pair of eyes open, glowing green... Cue panicked reverse running while firing and screaming.

[@cherryredinterloper8520]

0/10 No Hardbass in the background

[@kirillmarine5157]

Samuel Jordan bandit radio wasn't enough?

[@uber__1400]

*CHEEKI BREEKI INTENSIFIES*

[@kristapsmalahovskis8723]

Bandit Radio?

[@user-md2vl2pr1c]

Как так, сука блять

[@butchdeloria3797]

Chief Stalker hip hop beat

[@matagatos777]

3:17 "so the immersion is killer, but whata about the gameplay?" BOOM Dude you nailed it, just for that you gained a new subscriber

[@MangyMagi]

I love how you sneak in music, it's like a little treat when I can recignize Bully's music even when its super quiet and overlaid footage of STALKER

[@DeltaPi314]

Great vid. I agree with some of what you say, not all of it. I have never experienced the bugs you mentioned. Although seeing so many people complain about bugs is making me doubt this. Stalker is hard, yes. Unless you really start exploring every nook and cranny. In the very first zone you can find a hidden suit that is top shit. Bandit camp and military blockade are no problem after that.