S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat

As a DSL, the game is not bad, but if we judge the game as a full-fledged part, which is sold more expensive than the previous two, then it is clearly unsuccessful. Not terrible, but clearly worse than the legendary first part. And the main drawback lies in its obvious lack of development (dampness of the product), which ultimately resulted in the absence of that atmosphere of the first S.T.A.L.K.E.R, for which the game was loved. It turned out to be a strange situation when in one place the game was improved, adding all the best from the first two, but at the same time completely killing the most important thing - the atmosphere. S.T.A.L.K.E.R is famous not as a classic shooter, but as a very atmospheric game, which was born, in part, thanks to the developers’ special love for detail. To understand what I mean, just compare the content of objects in such locations as the Agroprom Dungeon in Shadow of Chernobyl and the Jupiter Plant (interior). The differences are visible to the naked eye. If the Agroprom Dungeon, like Agroprom itself, was created with great care/elaboration, with great attention to small details, thanks to which the location looks real, as if created from a real object, then the Jupiter Plant location looks like a typical cardboard box of a low-budget shooter Without much effort, we see a huge number of repeating details created using the “ctr+c” principle and... empty spaces. And this kills the atmosphere of S.T.A.L.K.E.R completely. There is no feeling that this is a real object, just as there is no feeling of uniqueness. It is clear that the developers were in a hurry to release a sequel that would be at least a little reminiscent of the classic first S.T.A.L.K.E.R. But if in the first S.T.A.L.K.E.R it was a pleasure to even just wander around the location of the 100 X-Ray Bar, enjoying how detailed and beautifully everything was worked out, with what meticulousness the developers approached the creation of every building, every nook and cranny and every object on the map. There it did not look at all like a typical box, where they changed the color of the walls and threw in several objects to at least slightly avoid the effect of emptiness. Unfortunately, if you go through all the Call of Pripyat locations, there are only a very small number of places where the same love of detail from the developers is visible. It feels like all efforts were devoted to creating places where anomalies accumulate, so to speak, ghettos for anomalies, because unlike the first part, in Call of Pripyat you can run around the entire location without fear of stepping into an unsuccessfully located anomaly.

The decision of the developers to move most of the anomalies into pens specially created for them is a clear mistake. Yes, a small amount was scattered throughout the map (mostly anomalies like “Jellied meat”), but the anomalies familiar to the player like “Funnel” are not here. This had a very significant impact on the atmosphere of the “Zone”, turning all locations into barely distinguishable locations from other games. But according to the narrative, it is anomalies that are the most dangerous enemies for stalkers because they are not only invisible to the ordinary eye, but also change their location after the next emission. Even though it was impossible to create anomalies that would change their location, creating separate zones for them, leveling the danger of movement through the “Zone” to almost zero, is a clear mistake. All that was needed was to add a car so that you could drive around the entire “Zone” like on a safari, hunting monsters like elephants in Africa. Despite the visual appeal of the new anomalies, they are not perceived as dangerous, but rather as unusual and beautiful, but clearly not dangerous. And the decision to inform the player when new artifacts appear in the anomaly is completely beyond logic. They would also introduce free cartridges and free repairs to completely kill interest. Wait! So they did it.

This decision - the introduction of NPCs in the last location who repair for free and give out first aid kits/ammo for any weapon - is very strange. Not only is the last location the worst due to the almost complete absence of beautifully designed zones (ordinary empty buildings, i.e. completely empty), but they also introduced a system thanks to which there is simply no sense in money, loot, etc. , because all the necessary supplies will be given to the player. It turns out that it’s some kind of shooting gallery, and it’s free. Let's add to this that in the third and final location, in addition to monotonous buildings that are practically empty of anything, there are also no monsters or anomalies, with the exception of special places located in areas specially designated for them. Yes, such new anomalies look beautiful, but one can be seen from three miles away. Beautiful, but not dangerous. As a result, the third location became the least developed in all three series. There is simply nothing in it. With the exception of places where you need to complete quests, the entire location is a boring space with empty buildings indistinguishable from each other. The developers of some amateur game distributed for free on Steam could afford this, but clearly not the developer of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl.

A huge number of NPCs. It feels like this is not a deadly “Exclusion Zone”, but the suburbs of some Mexican city. And they call this a dangerous “Zone”, into which numerous military cordons prevent you from entering?! You're kidding! There are so many NPCs in Call of Pripyat that there are even queues at the approaches to the stalkers’ bases. This definitely cannot happen if we follow the description of the “Zone” as a deadly territory, where not only monsters and anomalies promise immediate death to any unwary stalker, but the “Zone” itself is the main and most dangerous monster, where you need to take every step with great care caution. What do we have in Call of Pripyat? Crowds! Crowds of stalkers calmly walk around the “Zone” as if in some FarCry 3. This is the third factor that killed the entire atmosphere that was in Shadow of Chernobyl.

Plot. For DSL, it would be “norm”, but for a full-fledged game, it is very weak. In addition, a huge number of quests, with their variability, are not beneficial. Yes, they are more varied than in the previous two series and, in principle, this is the least serious flaw of this game, especially compared to everything else, but the main storyline could have been made more complex. Here you can also see the obvious rush of the developer to quickly release the game against the backdrop of the success of the first part and the failure of the second. Perhaps the weak quest value is due to the fact that the developers failed to create a balanced economy in any part of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R game. And this is already a rather significant drawback of the third part (in fact, like all the previous ones).

Is this what was perfectly worked out in Shadow of Chernobyl? Weapon management, when the player used the entire arsenal as he progressed. What do we have here? Almost the TOP weapons and armor in the first minutes of the game. It is enough to run through the ghetto with anomalies, collecting all the artifacts, and the player can buy (or find and repair) for himself at least a TRs-301 with 5.56 × 45 mm cartridges + Chaser-13. Anything below that, including pistols, simply loses its meaning. And now let’s add to this that in the third location we get repairs for free and are given free cartridges. What does this mean? This means that loot and saving money to buy yourself something more valuable or just to buy ammo loses its meaning almost completely.

Last but not least. If in the second part the bandits' remarks were censored, then in the third part the bandits look... like the NPC "Bandit", and not like a real prototype of such a character. I mean that the authors decided to remove the swearing almost completely, and the variability of the lines was reduced by an order of magnitude, which is why fatigue from repeated phrases sets in very, very quickly, because as I said above, there are noticeably more NPCs, so much so that the player will constantly hear their remarks. It feels like the game was created with the goal that children would play it, which means that it is necessary to remove the signature “Here you are, unfinished Arabs”, “Eat a lemon, motherfucker”, “Lemon for you, you pindosin!”, “ Catch it, motherfucker!” But these lines are what made the atmosphere of Shadow of Chernobyl unique, and not just another game a la FacCry that will be played by a kindergarten. So, alas, only the first part of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series. offers the player a fully developed world, with its truly dangerous “Zone”, where death awaits at every turn and where the bandits are really bandits, and not dummies with the label “bandit”.

In the end, overall, it’s a minus for the game, because the developers killed everything that made the game unique and atmosphere.