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

From my point of view, the very first part of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game series. is the best in terms of authenticity and uniqueness. It is the Shadow of Chernobyl series that is best developed, because there is neither an excessive number of shootings (and enemies as such), as was the case in the second part of Clear Sky, nor an obvious overkill with quests, as was the case in the third part of Call of Pripyat. In other words, Shadow of Chernobyl is the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. that carries the true spirit of the game. I can say differently: if instead of Shadow of Chernobyl, Clear Sky or even Call of Pripyat had been released first, the game would not have received such fame and popularity simply because the second and third parts are ordinary shooters, of which there are now hundreds. Personally, I've played through Shadow of Chernobyl dozens of times.

Let's start with the most important thing in the game - the atmosphere. Neither the second nor the third part had the atmosphere that is present only in the first. It was in the first part that the feeling was created that you were in the “Exclusion Zone” and not somewhere else. In Clear Sky, there were so many groups and the total number of people that one would think that the player is not in a dangerous “Zone”, where at any moment you can die if you get into an anomaly, but in some city in South America, in which There is a war between different factions (a la FarCry). In Call of Pripyat it was also not possible to create such a unique atmosphere, because it still felt like there were a lot of people and monsters, for such a dangerous territory as the “Exclusion Zone”. Indeed, according to the narrative of history, the “Zone” is dangerous not only and not so much for its numerous anomalies, but for its emissions, which means that there simply cannot be many people or monsters (on the surface). In Shadow of Chernobyl, when you walked through the “Dump” location or even the “Cordon” location, you had the feeling that you were walking through a completely empty territory, that the “outburst” and anomalies destroyed all living things (and only deceptive silence, crows circling above the hero’s head, and distant sounds of gunfire/screams of monsters). However, we understood that this was an illusion, because both people and creatures simply hid from the “Zone”. Some live in the ruins of buildings, others have gone underground. Neither people nor animals traveled as actively through the “Zone” as began to happen in the second and even third parts of the game series, thereby dissolving the sense of danger in the “Zone” as such. This destroyed the entire atmosphere of danger in the “Exclusion Zone,” instead creating the feeling that this was just another and completely ordinary territory inhabited by enemies. But the essence of the game S.T.A.L.K.E.R. not that its world is populated by dangerous monsters and anomalies, but that the “Zone” itself is one big monster from which both people and monsters are hiding.

So, the atmosphere in the first part, in almost all locations, with the exception of the last ones, was done superbly. I would note the simply mind-blowing design of such locations as “Cordon” (the merchant and his bunker, executed superbly), “Junkyard”, “Duty Base” (Bar “100 X-ray” is in no way inferior to Sidorovich’s bunker; painted with love), “Amber” , “Dark Valley” and, especially, the Agroprom dungeon (+ Agroprom itself), the place in the dungeon where the Bloodsucker lives. Here, every detail is written so perfectly and so appropriately (there is no feeling of a random arrangement of objects), that you get the feeling that you are not in some fictitious cardboard location, but in a real one (light and shadow are also done perfectly, and the rattle of a light bulb adds realism ). Unfortunately, this effect disappears starting from the “Military Warehouses” location (it is immediately clear that from this moment the developers begin to rush to finish the project), in which there are many unnecessary details (not involved in any way by the gameplay) and which only interfere with creating the correct and unified atmosphere of the location . At Cordon and at Svalka, for example, we understood where we were. “Warehouses” are some kind of mixture. In other words, the closer to the emergency, the more often monotony of places appears in the location, which add nothing to the atmosphere and which are not significant for the player to spend time exploring. In the first locations there were no such meaningless objects or zones.

Financial system + quests. Since all the necessary equipment can be found at the location, you don’t have to bother at all with completing repetitive quests, collecting swag, etc. In almost every location, and even exactly where the player will definitely pass, there are useful items. I played through the game many times and eventually came to the conclusion that we don’t need to pick up anything at all, except for the necessary ammunition and artifacts that come our way. This will be quite enough. In other words, the developers did not create an incentive to explore locations in search of useful items. For example, many artifacts are in plain sight, and as for ammo, the money given at the end of story missions will be quite enough. As a result, the developers created a situation where the player simply walks along a straight road, without turning anywhere, because there is no such need (the game does not stimulate).

Cache with swag. A very interesting concept in the game, which adds atmosphere and uniqueness (gatherings around NPC fires with telling jokes are just as unique). Unfortunately, due to the fact that money in the game is not particularly important, because there is nothing to spend it on, and what is given for the main quest is quite enough, then running around caches is also not very relevant. Unfortunately, the developers did not make them an important element of the game, in the sense that their content does not always justify the cost of finding them (the same problem is relevant for Clear Sky). I think it would be better to reduce the total number of them, but increase the value and make them appear in different places rather than in the same places over and over again. The game has a huge number of places (safes, boxes, etc.) where caches can be located, but only the same ones are used. In general, it’s like with artifacts - it’s worth going for them only if they are two steps away from you.

So, due to an incorrectly configured financial system, such a block of content as repeating quests, searching for artifacts and hidden swag remains almost completely unclaimed by the player, because the game already gives the player everything they need. This is a big disadvantage, because of which the game turns into running along a straight line - the story line.

Opponents and combat system. Everything is great here. The gunplay is enjoyable, and the monsters are different, not only visually, but also in behavior. For example, Snorks and blind dogs have completely different styles of behavior, which makes the game more varied. Yes, even zombies bring variety, although they are similar to the behavior of a regular human enemy. As for the groupings, they are also made taking into account the uniqueness of each. Thus, members of the Monolith group can fall into a trance from time to time (although they do this extremely rarely, which is a shame), and the bandits have such excellent lines that many have become famous (Shadow of Chernobyl has the best lines of bandits, because the developers did not limit themselves to the use of obscene expressions, as clearly happened in other parts). In general, the developers managed to create truly different groups that differ not only in appearance and name.

Weapons. The developers have made it so that the player uses almost the entire arsenal of weapons throughout the game. At the first levels - the initial pistol, machine gun, shotgun, and the further you go, the more serious it becomes. Even at the very last stage, the sniper weapon is replaced with a haus cannon. As a result, this game implements that rare case when the player is encouraged to use, albeit for a while, the entire arsenal on offer. Of course, you can run around with one type of machine gun throughout or almost the entire game, but obviously the player will have to use the starting weapon, at least in the first stages. It should be noted here that weapons are sold by dealers for a lot of money, and you can get them for free, although not in perfect condition, quite quickly. As a result, the player runs for one or two levels with the least powerful (possible) one. However, this does not in any way affect the difficulty of the passage.

Despite the shortcomings (I’m not talking about bugs, because bugs rarely rule even such giants as Bethesda), the game is great. Will S.T.A.L.K.E.R. be as great? 2? I don’t think so, because the rest of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. too heavily populated by people/monsters, and this simply cannot happen in the “Exclusion Zone”. As I said above, the “Zone” itself is one big monster.