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S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl |OT|
- Thread starter Defcon
- Start date
Vaporak said:The review seems very positive for an 8.0 score. I'll probably pick this up some time next week or so.
The trouble with using 5 as dead average is rating inflation. It only takes a few overly charitable reviews to make things messy when the next truly noteworthy game comes along.
Received my copy and I'm disappointed so far. Unable to run the game with dynamic lighting really sucks. I have an E6600, 2 gig ram, and a Geforce 7900GS. With DL on, I get around 15 fps. With static lighting and everything else maxed I get close to 100 fps at 1400x900. Lame.
Even worse, the game just comes off being very amateur. Horrible character models, animation, and voice acting. The PDA interface and map are clunky. No vehicles to traverse what seems to be a quite large playing area. I was bored with running around by the second area, but you are able to sprint (really fast) across the terrain for quite awhile before becoming tired.
It seems as if the game has a semi realistic ballistics model (I guess, I haven't fired any weapons aside from a 22) which means guns are widely inaccurate. I've been in situations where I've unloaded three clips into someone before they dropped. It doesn't help when your sights are so large on screen that you can barely see the enemy you have targeted. The weapons have stats attributed to them in the inventory and the few I've collected so far are very low in accuracy, so I guess it gets better later on in the game, but I'm not feeling the combat at all right now.
The side quests seem repeatable and are very basic from what I've seen. Destroy a boars lair, take out a stalker, retrieve an artifact, etc. Not even worth bothering with really since they are repeatable. I feel like they were just added as busy work and to artificially lengthen the game.
Ehh, I need to give it more time I suppose, but I'm not thrilled at all with the amateur presentation and crappy combat model. I expected a bit more after 6 years in development.
Even worse, the game just comes off being very amateur. Horrible character models, animation, and voice acting. The PDA interface and map are clunky. No vehicles to traverse what seems to be a quite large playing area. I was bored with running around by the second area, but you are able to sprint (really fast) across the terrain for quite awhile before becoming tired.
It seems as if the game has a semi realistic ballistics model (I guess, I haven't fired any weapons aside from a 22) which means guns are widely inaccurate. I've been in situations where I've unloaded three clips into someone before they dropped. It doesn't help when your sights are so large on screen that you can barely see the enemy you have targeted. The weapons have stats attributed to them in the inventory and the few I've collected so far are very low in accuracy, so I guess it gets better later on in the game, but I'm not feeling the combat at all right now.
The side quests seem repeatable and are very basic from what I've seen. Destroy a boars lair, take out a stalker, retrieve an artifact, etc. Not even worth bothering with really since they are repeatable. I feel like they were just added as busy work and to artificially lengthen the game.
Ehh, I need to give it more time I suppose, but I'm not thrilled at all with the amateur presentation and crappy combat model. I expected a bit more after 6 years in development.
The 8.X scores are pretty normal given the game lacks "something" to be a real classic. the way the story is crafted and the lack of personality on characters keep this of being a true masterpiece in my opinion (and what makes it something less than Deus Ex). But it nails many things, has an incredible level of ambientation and is something different that manages to offer it in a succesful way.
About specs, the games is demanding but it offer many options to tweak the graphic engine, so there is a good chance of getting a good performance with a medium range PC.
About specs, the games is demanding but it offer many options to tweak the graphic engine, so there is a good chance of getting a good performance with a medium range PC.
White Man said:
That is harsh, STALKER has a stellar presentation compared with many eastern games.
Defcon, you need to give it more time I think, but if the game doen´t hit you with its ambientation from beginning, maybe is not your game after all. I have the feeling you are looking for a pure shooter and you will need more patience and will to explore to enjoy this game.
Defcon said:
I have to seriously disagree. It starts out like any RPG, your gun sucks, your guy sucks, you have shitty equipment. Its a lot of fun to struggle, and slowly start building up your character. Plus there are a ton of ways to do things. Very minor spoilers
I started out by passing under bridge which was guarded by the "army" by going through a tunnel where I had to time the "lightening" strikes to get through. After I got more good stuff, I snuck up at night and picked off some of the army guys at with silenced pistol and then ran away when like 5 of them started looking around. After I got some better long range guns, I went up into the house near the army guards at the bridge and had a long firefight from up there. Now I just run through there and not have to worry about it.
Also, it is really cool if you kill Bandits and loot their bodies, you get little mini missions, (purple on your map) and hints where you can go get some good stuff. Figuring out how to get on a train to get the artifact was good times.
Also, it is really cool if you kill Bandits and loot their bodies, you get little mini missions, (purple on your map) and hints where you can go get some good stuff. Figuring out how to get on a train to get the artifact was good times.
As for the graphics, I think it looks pretty amazing. You are dissapointed you can't run a fully dynamic lighting model, at a super resolution, in a game where the draw distance/zones are huge? I think that's unreasonable. Static lighting has very little difference and you get some amazing performance(least I do) with everything turned on. The wildlife models are a little pcish but the character models, especially the stalkers look great.
My only issue so far is the having to run everywhere,(any warps later on?) and you get overweight far too easily. Those shotgun shells are something heavy. The AI is fantastic, lots of flanking, covering, switching weapons etc... though they are little too accurate at times. In the begining I had to time their reloading so I would wait till they fired their shotgun, then sprint at them from behind a tree, hoping I would get there in time.
Probably want to keep the difficulty level pretty low, gets crazy hard in the "garbage". I died waaay too many times.
Also, its more akin to Oblivion in that its more "do what you want" - less story focused.
How is it not an RPG at all?
You have to upgrade equipment, sell stuff to make money, skills upgrade, looting, missions, side stories ? did i miss something?
Yup, that's my experience as well. The more people are into high-end hardware, the less they care about buying games. Hardware forums really are the worst, down to the point where even the mods and admins openly admit to downloading. Wish they'd just piss off and die.Fragamemnon said:
And a fantastic review on 1up, really makes me hyped for the game.
I'll probably buy it thursday or friday, probably the CE too. And I'll probably get Company of Heroes too since I still haven't gotten round to that game.
Acosta said:
It might not be Fallout or Deus Ex but it has elements of both games.
For me it's a combination of Operation Flashpoint, Half Life 2, Deus Ex & Fallout. Operation Flashpoint for the general production and controls/interface, HL2 for brownish graphics, Deus Ex for the FPS/RPG combination and of course Fallout for the setting and items.
People these days either expect Oblivion(open) or Half Life 2(scripted). S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is somewhat in between.
Oh and once again it's smooth as butter on maximum settings on just about any system when the lighting is not set to dynamic. They should have just removed the setting since it would have prevented a lot of negativity.
Some guns are extraordinarily accurate (check their stats in your inventory menu). In the pistol/shotgun phase aim for the head and crouch (or full crouch) when firing inaccurate rifles. Also note that weapon quality degrades with use, at which point jamming becomes an issue, etc.
Sjoerd said:
I am very happy with Stalker being as it is. Fallout is Fallout and Deus Ex is Deus Ex. I am happy of this game not being another "me too".
It has elements and values that appears in RPGs, I am agree with that, but I believe the core is in other parts of the design.
rollingstart
Banned
FartOfWar said:
quick question, if you shoot a guy straight up, will the bullet fall back down and actually hit the ground? in one of the reviews someone said that bullets are effected by gravity
Linkzg said:
I'd be pretty ****ing surprised if the game actually models physical slugs. I'm guessing they meant that the game simulates drop when calculating where shots land, and I suppose you could create a scenario where the calculation assigns the shot to the ground. No idea, though.
ZootedGranny
Member
Decided to forgo Earth Defense Force 2017 and pick this up, and as soon as I came out of the cellar from the opening, the framerate was poppin and lockin. I'm going to sort through the cfg later and see if I can get it running better, but my 2500+ and 9800 aren't cutting it currently, which I expected.
Upgrade time is nearing.
Upgrade time is nearing.
bee
Member
picked up my copy, either im shit or the game is hard playing on the level above stalker forget the name.pretty weird point to bring up but i like the way they've handled climbing down ladders im forever falling to my death in fps games on ladders
predictably plays fine on a 8800 with all settings on max AA,AF,draw distance,grass shadows etc havent played too far (just about to go underground) bottoms out around 30fps average around 55 max around 100.
game has a really nice atmosphere as has been said before, enemies take a LOT of hits maybe too many and there isnt exactly an abundance of ammo but this makes you experiment on how to get past groups of enemies, just before i waited a little while and a pack of dogs started randomly attacking a group of bandits i was trying to get past which caused a diversion and enabled me to sneak past quite easily.
not had time to take many pics but i'll include one, not the greatest looking game ever(or screen) but pretty nice never the less.
playing on the level above stalker forget the name.pretty weird point to bring up but i like the way they've handled climbing down ladders im forever falling to my death in fps games on ladders predictably plays fine on a 8800 with all settings on max AA,AF,draw distance,grass shadows etc havent played too far (just about to go underground) bottoms out around 30fps average around 55 max around 100.
game has a really nice atmosphere as has been said before, enemies take a LOT of hits maybe too many and there isnt exactly an abundance of ammo but this makes you experiment on how to get past groups of enemies, just before i waited a little while and a pack of dogs started randomly attacking a group of bandits i was trying to get past which caused a diversion and enabled me to sneak past quite easily.
not had time to take many pics but i'll include one, not the greatest looking game ever(or screen) but pretty nice never the less.
Omg, the AI is freaking fantastic.
I just met up with a guy to get some information on another Stalker I'm hunting down and all of a sudden this huge pack of dogs come charging in and maul the guy. Just after he falls, they split up and two of them come running straight for me. I quickly take them out with a shotgun blast to the face, only to notice the rest of the pack has actually gone around and flanked me from behind. I barely manage to survive as I kill another and the rest retreat into the woods. It wasn't scripted either, because I reloaded to try it again and there were no dogs. Sweet!
The game does have atmosphere in spades though. I'm loving the thunderstorms at night, although night time in the game isn't very dark and the draw distance is insane. You can actually see mutants far off in the distance running around or other stalkers on patrol, etc.
The combat mechanics are slowly growing on me now I've realized you can't play it like a straight up run and gun shooter. Waiting for enemies to reload and sprinting around corner to knife them in back as they take cover to reload is highly satisfying. I like how the AI is just as inaccurate as I am with the crappy guns as well. Numerous times I've had to run away and had bullets whizzing by me as I retreated.
Again, presentation wise it's a bit iffy. I don't know if it's a bad translation or what, but the story/text found in your diary and in dialogue with other NPC's is pretty cheesy. The game is definitely open ended so far. No hand holding at all. You can freely go as you please and complete quests or just roam around taking out mutants/stalkers. Some of the areas are blocked off by powerful armies that I have no chance at taking down, but for the most part, you can go anywhere you like.
So underwhelmed at first, I'm really starting to get into it.
I just met up with a guy to get some information on another Stalker I'm hunting down and all of a sudden this huge pack of dogs come charging in and maul the guy. Just after he falls, they split up and two of them come running straight for me. I quickly take them out with a shotgun blast to the face, only to notice the rest of the pack has actually gone around and flanked me from behind. I barely manage to survive as I kill another and the rest retreat into the woods. It wasn't scripted either, because I reloaded to try it again and there were no dogs. Sweet!
The game does have atmosphere in spades though. I'm loving the thunderstorms at night, although night time in the game isn't very dark and the draw distance is insane. You can actually see mutants far off in the distance running around or other stalkers on patrol, etc.
The combat mechanics are slowly growing on me now I've realized you can't play it like a straight up run and gun shooter. Waiting for enemies to reload and sprinting around corner to knife them in back as they take cover to reload is highly satisfying. I like how the AI is just as inaccurate as I am with the crappy guns as well. Numerous times I've had to run away and had bullets whizzing by me as I retreated.
Again, presentation wise it's a bit iffy. I don't know if it's a bad translation or what, but the story/text found in your diary and in dialogue with other NPC's is pretty cheesy. The game is definitely open ended so far. No hand holding at all. You can freely go as you please and complete quests or just roam around taking out mutants/stalkers. Some of the areas are blocked off by powerful armies that I have no chance at taking down, but for the most part, you can go anywhere you like.
So underwhelmed at first, I'm really starting to get into it.
Chiggs said:
There's three options for lighting:
static lighting - all the nice lighting is gone so it runs smooth but it looks like a high res dreamcast game
objects dynamic - has the DX9 look to it but most objects no longer cast shadows as the sun has no effect on anything anymore. looks like a high res xbox1 game.
full dynamic - almost everything... grass, trees, people, etc casts a shadow according to where the sun is. it looks very nice but you need an insane system to run it smooth. the amount of detail you lose using anything but this setting is quite noticeable.
Ok, I installed it, and I'm not getting discreet 4-channel sound. My left front and left rear play the exact same noise... it's just double stereo. I have an Audigy 2, and I have EAX selected. This game would benefit immensely from 4 channel sound... I really hope there's a fix for this.
Tokubetsu
Member
Defcon said:
Yeah, atmosphere is def. a big part of this game. I was running up the road to the first mission area, all of a sudden this Hind (a chopper) comes up above me, circling me. It left after I ducked into some grass/trees to talk to another stalker. All the A.I guys got killed as we tried to overrun this bandit camp. It was my fault of course, I got them all killed trying to get used to the game. Took me a couple of tries to get through it. Bled out the first time, second time, a guy hit me as far as I can tell, a headshot. Really like combat in this game, it's like semi-realistic stuff. Really rewarding. Also nice how guys won't necessarily die right away, they'll slowly bleed out on the ground calling out for help (or so i assume, it's not in english).
darkressurection
Banned
Yeah, great review and I loved the podcast!FartOfWar said:
This game is damn hard. Well, im at the 3rd level of difficulty (out of 4) and its quite hard. I have a few questions.
When you arrive in the garbage, and hellp the 3 guys getting rid of the bandits, covering behind the cars and stuff, is it normal that after succeding the mission, a shitload more bandits coming by ? Is there infinite respawn in this game ? And how come some NPCs are gettin into radioactive area without any problem, while I die when going there ?
Tokubetsu said:Yeah, atmosphere is def. a big part of this game. I was running up the road to the first mission area, all of a sudden this Hind (a chopper) comes up above me, circling me. It left after I ducked into some grass/trees to talk to another stalker. All the A.I guys got killed as we tried to overrun this bandit camp. It was my fault of course, I got them all killed trying to get used to the game. Took me a couple of tries to get through it. Bled out the first time, second time, a guy hit me as far as I can tell, a headshot. Really like combat in this game, it's like semi-realistic stuff. Really rewarding. Also nice how guys won't necessarily die right away, they'll slowly bleed out on the ground calling out for help (or so i assume, it's not in english).
At times the AI will pull some bullshit and shoot at you although you're on the other side of a wall, but mostly it surprises and delights. You know all the big concrete pipes everywhere? I've had guys go through those and pop out of the end to get at me.
VictimOfGrief
Banned
Bought it. Opened it. Installed it. Played it. Cried.
Seriously, I can see why this game took so long to develop and now I know why they didn't want to release it.
Cool idea or premise for the FPS genre but terrible execution.
I loaded it up on two different rigs to test:
My old machine:
P4 3.2 OC'ed to 3.6
2GB Dual-Channel Ram
eVGA 6800 GT 256MB 8X AGP
WDC Raptor HDD
Frame rate @ Native Res about 12-16 FPS. F*cking pathetic.
Loaded it up on the new rig:
Core 2 Duo : E6600
2GB Dual-Chan DDR2
XFX 2x7600GT SLI for a total of 512MB on 16X PCI-E
WDC Raptor 150GB - RAID 0
Frame rate @ Native Res about 27-51 default settings without tweaking. I mean seriously, if SLI has a problem with keeping the framerate, their coding just must suck.
That said, I'm giving the game another week and if I still hate it as much as I do as I type this, it's hitting Craigslist for some $$$.
Sad.
Seriously, I can see why this game took so long to develop and now I know why they didn't want to release it.
Cool idea or premise for the FPS genre but terrible execution.
I loaded it up on two different rigs to test:
My old machine:
P4 3.2 OC'ed to 3.6
2GB Dual-Channel Ram
eVGA 6800 GT 256MB 8X AGP
WDC Raptor HDD
Frame rate @ Native Res about 12-16 FPS. F*cking pathetic.
Loaded it up on the new rig:
Core 2 Duo : E6600
2GB Dual-Chan DDR2
XFX 2x7600GT SLI for a total of 512MB on 16X PCI-E
WDC Raptor 150GB - RAID 0
Frame rate @ Native Res about 27-51 default settings without tweaking. I mean seriously, if SLI has a problem with keeping the framerate, their coding just must suck.
That said, I'm giving the game another week and if I still hate it as much as I do as I type this, it's hitting Craigslist for some $$$.
Sad.
VibratingDonkey
Member
vpance
Member
I'm running this on full settings all sliders except for AA on an AMD x2 4600+ @ 2.75ghz, 2gb ram, 7800gs+ 512mb, 1680x1050. Runs great overall. Outdoors sometimes stutters a bit and dips below 30fps but it looks good. Minor complaints so far are the running movements and no animation when crouching. Feels weird when its just on/off.
I love this game. It's a fantastic return to old-school PC adventure-FPS. Like Deus Ex, Underworld and System Shock 2. We need more of these games!
I just got to the
and the game is starting to get *really* scary. I just saw one of the most awesome freaky moments:
I love Deus Ex type games. And I especially love scary games. And this game is really scary. And really Deus-Exy. I'm in heaven.
Overall, I give it a 9/10 so far. My only real complaint is the shoddy writing.
I'm also getting a pretty nice 30fps framerate with everything on except no antialiasing and shadows at 3/5. This is running on a 3.4 ghz P4 with 2 gigs of RAM and a 7900GT OC@1280x960.
One question though, without revealing too many spoilers, is there a way to increase your carrying capacity at the point I am in the game? Did I miss something? That 50 limit is getting pretty brutal.
I just got to the
underground lab in dark valley
when the two cans raise up off the floor, and hover there. You're thinking "hmmm that's weird". Then the FLY at you! I actually jumped back from my monitor. I haven't done that since System Shock 2
I love Deus Ex type games. And I especially love scary games. And this game is really scary. And really Deus-Exy. I'm in heaven.
Overall, I give it a 9/10 so far. My only real complaint is the shoddy writing.
I'm also getting a pretty nice 30fps framerate with everything on except no antialiasing and shadows at 3/5. This is running on a 3.4 ghz P4 with 2 gigs of RAM and a 7900GT OC@1280x960.
One question though, without revealing too many spoilers, is there a way to increase your carrying capacity at the point I am in the game? Did I miss something? That 50 limit is getting pretty brutal.
Athlon 64 3200+
256MB 6800GT
2GB ram
stalker = not playable
the game is only worth playing with full dynamic lighting as that's what helps create the mood, problem is the coding is horrible. even with all the settings set to low but dynamic lighting on getting a 30fps framerate is rare and the game looks like a friggen n64 title at these settings.
if the lighting is off it runs awesome with everything maxed out but it looks horrible. it's like they tossed in the shader effects at the last minute and didn't bother to optimize it.
256MB 6800GT
2GB ram
stalker = not playable
the game is only worth playing with full dynamic lighting as that's what helps create the mood, problem is the coding is horrible. even with all the settings set to low but dynamic lighting on getting a 30fps framerate is rare and the game looks like a friggen n64 title at these settings.
if the lighting is off it runs awesome with everything maxed out but it looks horrible. it's like they tossed in the shader effects at the last minute and didn't bother to optimize it.
big_z said:
Not playable without full dynamic lighting? That's just crazy - when did graphics become so all important?
This game has a ton of content to offer - beyond the great atmosphere. I have played with both dynamic and static lighting and I don't find a "huge" difference, certainly not enough to refuse to play
FartOfWar said:Wow and thank you. Technically its a GFW review, so if you enjoyed it I have to say try the mag.
Heh, I have a subscription to the mag, and the size faintly depresses me, and the Vista/Live/GFW/MS ads in it sort of vaguely annoy me. But I suppose that's because I've been in bit of a 'bleh, upgrading my PC AGAIN' sort of doldrum, and Vista doesn't excite me in the least, nor does DX10.
But whatever, yeah, the review was nice, which is rare. Will you be my next Kasavin, the only guy who's reviews I paid attention to?
Actually I suppose there are still a few... Tom Chick, a handful of others. None that I can think of on most of the webpages I guess is the issue.
Odrion said:
I did run into a few bugs and performance issues, but the decision to not talk about those was deliberate (had they been significant, I'd have had no choice). I really don't want to be in the business of writing atomistic, consumer reports when I can help it; reviewing Cinemascope and Technicolor as it were instead of the movies, or babbling "aurally speaking" or "in visual terms" any more than I want to see a woman and say "legs: 7, ass: 5, breasts: 8, smile: 9, hair: 3, overall: 7."