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

A classic of Ukrainian game development.

The game itself, maybe even at the time of release, doesn’t look very good. But Stalkach is not about that, he is about the atmosphere. This is a wonderful and unforgettable feeling around the fire with soulful NPCs who tell stories, play the guitar, and fry sausage and bread. What about laboratories? Ugh, how scary it was in them when I was still little!

If you step away from this waters and start talking about the matter, the game is still pretty good in terms of gameplay. To describe it simply, it is (just a little bit due to the mechanics of artifacts and replaceable equipment) an RPG and shooter with a more or less open world (several above-ground and underground locations, separated by a loading screen).

The gameplay, in principle, is good: there is a main mystical task that we will get to throughout the game, there are also quests that lead to our main task and side quests, which are mainly a way of income.

We run around, shoot the local fauna (which is represented by mutants like flesh, wild boars and other more interesting things), look for hiding places, complete tasks, and avoid anomalies. There are also boxes scattered around the world in which you can sometimes find loot.

I would divide each location into several stages:

1. Getting familiar

2. Performing side effects

3. Looking for different goodies: artifacts, hiding places, breaking boxes.

4. We complete the task that leads us to another location

(5). We return to this location to sell something or look for caches, submit a task, etc.

Speaking of hiding places. After searching the enemies, there is a chance to get a tip on a pre-made cache containing swag (loot), which ranges from sausage and bread to expensive equipment and artifacts.

Now about artifacts, one of the main features of the game series. In this particular part of the world, they are simply scattered on the ground and are not that difficult to find. They are needed for three things:

1. Sell

2. Wear to improve character characteristics (protection from a certain type of damage, restore health, reduce bleeding)

3. Hand in for completing tasks.

In stalker, the world is not as simple as it seems at first glance. I'm saying that running blindly is stupid and wrong. You always need to do everything carefully, otherwise you will end up in an anomaly - a certain phenomenon that occurs from different sources for different reasons.

Anomalies can be divided into several types: gravitational, fiery, acidic, electrical. Each of which deals a different type of damage.

Artifacts, by the way, can give you protection from these anomalies. For example, if you found the “Dummy” artifact, it will protect you from fire.

That's all. Good luck to everyone who decides to play Stalker for the first time!