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STALKER: Call of Pripyat |OT|

Median said:
Whelp, guess I've got two STALKER games to finish before autumn. HELL YEAH

Same here, I have played the first one for about an hour and just cant get into it. I will give it another shot as a good buddy of mine thinks its the best thing ever.
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
KittyKittyBangBang said:
Same here, I have played the first one for about an hour and just cant get into it. I will give it another shot as a good buddy of mine thinks its the best thing ever.
Good luck with that. I've tried to play the game like 5 or 6 times (spaced months apart) and just can't get into it. :p I've pretty much given up on the game at this point. There are too many aspects of it that I just can't enjoy and it ruins everything that is good about the game (for me).
 

Doytch

Member
dark10x said:
Good luck with that. I've tried to play the game like 5 or 6 times (spaced months apart) and just can't get into it. :p I've pretty much given up on the game at this point. There are too many aspects of it that I just can't enjoy and it ruins everything that is good about the game (for me).

Have you tried it with mods? 2009 Complete makes it pretty different...
 

dark10x

Digital Foundry pixel pusher
Doytch said:
Have you tried it with mods? 2009 Complete makes it pretty different...
Yep.

Just occurred to me, however, that there is one type of mod that might make the game awesome for me. CO-OP. Does anyone have any idea if there is some sort of mod out there that would allow for CO-OP play? I think this game would be perfect for it and would definitely take care of some of the issues I have.
 
It took me a few restarts to get into STALKER (kicking and screaming my way through :lol ) but once you get to grips with it, its absolutely amazing, the atmosphere is up there with Silent Hill.

They just need to stop having the initial releases being bugged to fuck (they do get fixed up though). Im hoping with Call of Pripyat it comes out without any nasty game breaking bugs and that the engine is clean (i love those Sun Beams, but do something to make them not destroy the frame rate, im sure it could be done :)).
 

tenritsu

Banned
Wow, I don't know how I missed this announcenment back in April... I've yet to play Clear Sky, but I loved the original. Will play.
 
Some shots to get people going (dont think theyve been posted) -

xr_cop_screen_016_1280w.jpg


xr_cop_screen_015_1280w.jpg


xr_cop_screen_014_1280w.jpg


xr_cop_screen_013_1280w.jpg


xr_cop_screen_012_1280w.jpg


xr_cop_screen_011_1280w.jpg
 

Ikuu

Had his dog run over by Blizzard's CEO
KittyKittyBangBang said:
Same here, I have played the first one for about an hour and just cant get into it. I will give it another shot as a good buddy of mine thinks its the best thing ever.
Just stick with it, the hardest part of the game is the first hour or so, once you get a better weapon than a pistol/shotgun it's much easier. It's also worth doing this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEhP_cqC-w0&feature=related
 

Frenck

Banned
I hope they get the basic stuff right this time. They also need to get rid of the fucking music from Clear Sky.

EviLore said:
Speculative console port talk in PC gaming threads remains banned, stay on topic.

*points to recent Alan Wake threads*
 

Almak

Member
Frenck said:
I hope they get the basic stuff right this time. They also need to get rid of the fucking music from Clear Sky.



*points to recent Alan Wake threads*
Turning that shit off was the first thing I did after I finished installing the game.

Also I feel like they had the basics right from the very first game. Its the details and above all polish that they struggle with.
 

Almak

Member
Caesar III said:
you can even go right and kill some guys in the military camp to get a ak ;)

It's not that hard if you are patient ;)
:lol Exactly what I'd do every time I replay Stalker. I remember once I ran out of bullets for everything in the middle of the fire fight with at least 3 of those guys, so I had to go Sam Fisher on their asses with a freaking knife.
Man I love this game and the random stuff that sometime ensues due to their AI engine.
 

Almak

Member
So the Russian version of this came out last Friday and I picked it up yesterday. Even though so far I've only spent just a couple of hours with it, I thought I'd post my first impressions and may be get you guys excited for this game. And believe you me there is definitely something to get excited about here! There might be some very, very mild spoilers, as I've said though I'm not far enough into it to even finish the first assignment yet.
First things first, I never thought I'd get to say this about a GSC game but this release build is stable as a god damned rock! All the while playing it I never had a single crash or a significant slowdown.
Ok so down to the actual game. After a relatively well made cutscene depicting loosely the events of the previous games in chronological order you're dropped straight into it. This time around however you come equipped! You have a pretty decent machine gun and side arm as well as a small cache of food and medicine. You are also wearing a pretty good armor and a gas mask.
The starting area looks to be a dried up lake bed. Scattered around it are the rusted husks of several ships now serving as outposts for stalkers.
First thing I noticed is that the UI is much more comprehensive this time around. Everything you have equipped as well as most of the things you find (weapons, armour etc) is sporting an indicator for the items condition. Mousing over weapons gives you a readout well known from the previous games about it's statistics and manufacturing but it also highlights the guns respective ammo that you're carrying (a nice little touch). All the medical equipment is now binded by default to F1 through F4 buttons for easy access.
The PDA looks pretty much the same. There are a couple of toggle buttons for various objects on the map a drop down menu for objectives (didn't notice any timers or time restrictions anywhere on those).
Weapon and armour upgrading is back but has also been refined. This time around it doesn't just cost money. When I attempted to improve my armour resistance percentage a menu informed me that in order to do so I will have to get some tools for the technician but also pony up a bottle of vodka to grease the proceedings. :D
Also vendors don't buy trash. If the item is pass a certain threshold it will require repair before being sold. And you do want to keep your guns repaired as they do jam. Food makes a return as well. You will have to eat and sleep to survive and keep fit (the later as I understand isn't mandatory however).
The gameplay is pretty much as you expect it. Bullets fall over great distance and the iron sight is your best friend (well the scope is, but that comes later).
There are no faction wars a'la Clear Sky. Though there are warring factions they usually tend to leave you alone unless you want to interfere. The AI itself seems more competent as well.
All in all this game seems to be much more focused on exploration with a healthy dose of action RPG elements added for good measure and its good! It reminds me much more of the original STALKER but also refined somewhat. There are lessons learned here and it shows.
I could post some pics but keep in mind that I'm playing with the SM2.0/static lighting on. So it wouldn't look incredibly impressive. But here's a screen of the new UI. Oh yeah if you guys have any questions about it I'd be happy to answer them.

 

EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
Had no idea it was out in any territory, thanks for the impressions. So, what's the game world like so far compared to the previous two?
 

G_Berry

Banned
I havent even finished the first two game lol. But the more stalker the better i suppose.

(I'm so wasted urrrg)
 

Dennis

Banned
Almak said:
So the Russian version of this came out last Friday and I picked it up yesterday. Even though so far I've only spent just a couple of hours with it, I thought I'd post my first impressions and may be get you guys excited for this game. And believe you me there is definitely something to get excited about here! There might be some very, very mild spoilers, as I've said though I'm not far enough into it to even finish the first assignment yet.
First things first, I never thought I'd get to say this about a GSC game but this release build is stable as a god damned rock! All the while playing it I never had a single crash or a significant slowdown.
Ok so down to the actual game. After a relatively well made cutscene depicting loosely the events of the previous games in chronological order you're dropped straight into it. This time around however you come equipped! You have a pretty decent machine gun and side arm as well as a small cache of food and medicine. You are also wearing a pretty good armor and a gas mask.
The starting area looks to be a dried up lake bed. Scattered around it are the rusted husks of several ships now serving as outposts for stalkers.
First thing I noticed is that the UI is much more comprehensive this time around. Everything you have equipped as well as most of the things you find (weapons, armour etc) is sporting an indicator for the items condition. Mousing over weapons gives you a readout well known from the previous games about it's statistics and manufacturing but it also highlights the guns respective ammo that you're carrying (a nice little touch). All the medical equipment is now binded by default to F1 through F4 buttons for easy access.
The PDA looks pretty much the same. There are a couple of toggle buttons for various objects on the map a drop down menu for objectives (didn't notice any timers or time restrictions anywhere on those).
Weapon and armour upgrading is back but has also been refined. This time around it doesn't just cost money. When I attempted to improve my armour resistance percentage a menu informed me that in order to do so I will have to get some tools for the technician but also pony up a bottle of vodka to grease the proceedings. :D
Also vendors don't buy trash. If the item is pass a certain threshold it will require repair before being sold. And you do want to keep your guns repaired as they do jam. Food makes a return as well. You will have to eat and sleep to survive and keep fit (the later as I understand isn't mandatory however).
The gameplay is pretty much as you expect it. Bullets fall over great distance and the iron sight is your best friend (well the scope is, but that comes later).
There are no faction wars a'la Clear Sky. Though there are warring factions they usually tend to leave you alone unless you want to interfere. The AI itself seems more competent as well.
All in all this game seems to be much more focused on exploration with a healthy dose of action RPG elements added for good measure and its good! It reminds me much more of the original STALKER but also refined somewhat. There are lessons learned here and it shows.
I could post some pics but keep in mind that I'm playing with the SM2.0/static lighting on. So it wouldn't look incredibly impressive. But here's a screen of the new UI. Oh yeah if you guys have any questions about it I'd be happy to answer them.


Thanks for the impressions Almak. The bolded parts of the quote has got me very excited. Great news.

Questions : I have heard rumblings about a texture downgrade compared to the two previous games - what say you? And how are you finding the graphics overall? better, worse or the same as Clear Sky?

Edit: Hey, I have become a full member! Celebrations.
 

Arcipello

Member
im not gonna pick this up straight away like i did with Clear sky, a heavy dose of good reviews and impressions are needed before i do that!
 

Almak

Member
EviLore said:
Had no idea it was out in any territory, thanks for the impressions. So, what's the game world like so far compared to the previous two?
"Look at this place, fifty-thousand people used to live in this city, now it's a ghost town. I've never seen anything like it." :D
Well you know. Its pretty much what you'd expect STALKER atmosphere to be. Though right away I'm already noticing much more interesting structures and areas per zone than before. Again I've only been in one area so far but its already full of stuff I would want to explore.

DennisK4 said:
Thanks for the impressions Almak. The bolded parts of the quote has got me very excited. Great news.

Questions : I have heard rumblings about a texture downgrade compared to the two previous games - what say you? And how are you finding the graphics overall? better, worse or the same as Clear Sky?

Edit: Hey, I have become a full member! Celebrations.
Congrats. :)
Like I said I'm not exactly the right guy to ask about graphical fidelity I am playing it on a laptop but so far if anything textures seem more detailed. There are even several options in the settings menu dedicated exclusively to texture fidelity, I'm not sure if there were so many in the previous 2 games. I don't exactly remember enough of Clear Sky to compare, sorry.

You guys are very welcome. I'll try to may be keep you updated on the goings on in the zone as I progress without giving away too much.
Cant wait to square off against the new enemies!
 

Almak

Member
Now that I've been playing a lot more of the game and feel more or less confident that I understand what Call of Pripyat is all about I thought I'd post another little writeup on how things are going in the zone.
First things first to get this out of the way early, I've been reading the official forums a lot more and now know what the hubbub about the texture detail is. Apparently the glitch in the release build of the game when played in DX10 does not enable the most detailed texture set available. This seems to be a known issue however and is expected to be addressed in the first upcoming patch. Ok so on to the game.
Do you guys remember the guides introduced in Clear Sky? Well they make a comeback in a major way in Call of Pripyat not in the smallest respect due to the fact that you have to use them to get from one part of the zone to another. Though this perplexed me a bit at first it was never a major annoyance either financially (yes it costs money to do) or gameplay wise. Quests of the main storyline that you take on vary in length and pay-off but the side quests are usually centred around the area you're currently in. Also as far as the environments go, strictly mathematically there are fewer areas in Call of Pripyat than in its predecessors but they are larger and more populated with areas of interest. Some of the familiar places make a comeback and there are quite a few underground areas that boast not only new enemy types but also environmental puzzles to solve.
Oh yeah and speaking of enemies I've met one of the new ones yesterday (the psychic gnome that was introduced in one of the pre-release trailers) and lets just say that before I figured out how to take him down (which I eventually managed) I emptied 3 clips into the guy with no significant effect what so ever. So lets just say they require a bit more strategy than a frontal assault provides. I've also heard some pretty terrifying things about another new enemy type called chimera which I haven't seen yet myself.
The economy works slightly differently this time around. Not being able to just dump the bulk of the crap you collected on to the vendors (like I mentioned before they don't buy broken or badly damaged apparel) makes you think twice before picking anything up in the field. Though there is money to be made here, repairing items prior to sale can net you a hefty profit if utilized correctly. Another welcome change is that unlike in previous games you are not required to know a location of a secret cache prior to finding it. That basically implies that if you simply come across one in the course of the game you are free to help yourself to whatever they contain (which in some cases can be quite more than you might expect). Hence yet another emphasis on exploring and going through the game at your own pace.
Its a known fact that there is a chance to continue playing after you finish the main story arc this time around. This will include the city of Pripyat itself , which in comparison to Shadow of Chernobyl seems to be roughly 3x times bigger in size.
Ok I think I'll stop there. Once again feel free to ask any and all questions about this one but keep in mind that though I wasted the last night of around 7 hours playing this game I am far from completing it and might not be able to answer all of them but I will certainly try. Oh yeah, if you care for it, here are two screens of the new UI, both inventory and PDA.




Also for those that would like to see some real screens here is a link to the screenshots thread on the official boars. Obvious spoiler warnings apply:

http://www.gsc-game.ru/main.php?t=community&s=forums&s_game_type=xr3&thm_page=2&thm_id=231&sec_id=16

p.s.

I am purposefully omitting a substantial gameplay element in my impressions. Though in retrospect it might not seem to be so much of a spoiler in on itself but I do not want to willingly rob any of you of the first hand experience. :D
 

Daigoro

Member
thanks a bunch for the impressions Almak. im really interested now.

i loved the first game very much. im glad that this seems to be following in the footsteps of the original.

hopefully impressions remain positive all around. but i think im pretty sold on this game so far.
 

Almak

Member
You're very welcome. Though of course I have to caution that my opinion is that of a long standing fan of this franchise and the things I enjoy and take for granted in these games might not appeal to everyone. Plus there is of course the question of localisation to consider. This game sounds so much more natural in Russian where upon translation, who knows? "Get out of here stalker!" Yeah...
But as far as hardcore fans populating the games official forums are concerned they seem to be unanimous in considering this game to be at the very least adequate and undeniably a better effort than what Clear Sky turned out to be, so I suppose if nothing else that stands for something already.
 

eXistor

Member
Awesome. I adore the first game and even managed to find things to like in Clear Sky. First day for me.
 
chimera is the two headed gorilla/dog thing. please locate one and play with him. very interested to see how it is now compared to the old stalker soc one.
 

Almak

Member
Joseph Merrick said:
chimera is the two headed gorilla/dog thing. please locate one and play with him. very interested to see how it is now compared to the old stalker soc one.
I'm actually pretty interested to see them in the wild myself. I'm just about getting ready to go into Pripyat, so if nothing else I'll probably see them there.
I'll likely do one last writeup after I finish the game if I'll have anything meaningful to say. Otherwise, I'll just post my chimerian impression in this thread when and if I'll manage to find them. :D

SonOfABeep said:
how do I go about purchasing this russian version?

I will do it asap. If it has english text.
I purchased the game here:

http://online.1c.ru/games/game/5498005/index.php

But be warned! There is absolutely no language option in the game itself! Everything is in Russian, down to the installation software and naturally the sites payment system.
If you do not know any Russian its probably best to wait for its Q1 2010 US release.
 

Zyzyxxz

Member
dang it already came out in Russia?!

Oooh I can't wait but luckily its not coming out too soon because I don't have a new computer yet.
 

Diseased Yak

Gold Member
Thanks for the impressions!

My hype meter is off the scale now, for this. I loved both the first two games and have dumped dozens of hours into each of them.

I'm sad that this isn't coming out in the US until 2010 :( Is Europe getting a release before then? I'd import it in a second if a version comes out with English text.
 

KillerAJD

Member
I need to play through Clear Sky still. Got it free with my graphics card, and could never get past the first mission/quest/thing before I found something more interesting to do. It sucks, because the game always intrigued me, and I've heard quite a few good things about it.
 

Woo-Fu

Banned
Most of the people who fail at STALKER do so because they're not used to facing opponents with the same gear and stats. There is no cannon fodder in STALKER.

You must aim for the head, they're wearing body armor just like you and theirs is most likely in better repair because they're not noobs. :)

Best advice for somebody starting who already appreciates that they're not rambo is this: find an smg, upgrade it, learn its range. After that you can kill anything before it kills you... as long as it has a head to aim at.
 

Victrix

*beard*
What? Yes there is, you mow down hundreds of dudes

The only hard part of the stalker is the very early game where you have a POS pistol and a two bit hand cannon. Once you get your hands on a few real guns, it feels just like any other pseudo-military fps in terms of combat

What makes it good is the incredibly thick atmosphere, light rpg elements, and the fun of exploration
 

Stallion Free

Cock Encumbered
RedNumberFive said:
Just got that Stalker movie in last night from Netflix. Wow, it was not what I expected it to be.

Is that in a good way or a ad way? I remember hearing about it before but I don't remember if it was negative or positive stuff.
 
grif1020 said:
Is that in a good way or a ad way? I remember hearing about it before but I don't remember if it was negative or positive stuff.

Both the movie and game of Stalker are based off of the same material, a book called "Roadside Picnic". The game seems to follow the novel more closely, while the movie is not at all like it. Besides a character called "Stalker" leading people into "The Zone", there is little resembling the game. It is directed by the guy who did the Russian adaption of Solaris, so if you like heady sci-fi like that it might be worth a watch. If not, it will likely be 3 hours of boredom.
 

tmaynard

Member
RedNumberFive said:
Both the movie and game of Stalker are based off of the same material, a book called "Roadside Picnic". The game seems to follow the novel more closely, while the movie is not at all like it. Besides a character called "Stalker" leading people into "The Zone", there is little resembling the game. It is directed by the guy who did the Russian adaption of Solaris, so if you like heady sci-fi like that it might be worth a watch. If not, it will likely be 3 hours of boredom.

Seems like the movie is mostly atmosphere, so I think I'll still check it out even if it has the possibility to be a bit boring.
 

Myr

Banned
RedNumberFive said:
Both the movie and game of Stalker are based off of the same material, a book called "Roadside Picnic". The game seems to follow the novel more closely, while the movie is not at all like it. Besides a character called "Stalker" leading people into "The Zone", there is little resembling the game. It is directed by the guy who did the Russian adaption of Solaris, so if you like heady sci-fi like that it might be worth a watch. If not, it will likely be 3 hours of boredom.

You never even get to know if the Zone is for real in the film. It's more of a metaphor for the life outside the Iron Curtain, if anything.
 

Almak

Member
Diseased Yak said:
Thanks for the impressions!

My hype meter is off the scale now, for this. I loved both the first two games and have dumped dozens of hours into each of them.

I'm sad that this isn't coming out in the US until 2010 :( Is Europe getting a release before then? I'd import it in a second if a version comes out with English text.
According to it's wiki page the release dates (apart from the CIS release that already happened) are listed as following:

November 2009 (Germany, Austria, Switzerland),
Q1 2010(Rest of Europe, USA)
 

Stallion Free

Cock Encumbered
RedNumberFive said:
Both the movie and game of Stalker are based off of the same material, a book called "Roadside Picnic". The game seems to follow the novel more closely, while the movie is not at all like it. Besides a character called "Stalker" leading people into "The Zone", there is little resembling the game. It is directed by the guy who did the Russian adaption of Solaris, so if you like heady sci-fi like that it might be worth a watch. If not, it will likely be 3 hours of boredom.

Hmm, I don't mind the occassional heady sci-fi film so I might give it a try, thanks for the impressions.
 

Almak

Member
Joseph Merrick said:
chimera is the two headed gorilla/dog thing. please locate one and play with him. very interested to see how it is now compared to the old stalker soc one.
Well, seems like you get your request early. A local hunter commissioned me to take down one of them just before I was about to call it a day. The money was much more than I expected, so I agreed.
One problem with chimeras though is that they seem to be nocturnal, so it was the middle of the night when I made it to the location where it was sighted. It saw me as soon as I saw it. Quickly covered an impressive distance and jumped. Further than I ever saw a mutant jump before, about 3 times further than a snork and tore me the hell up. When I spun around to face it, it was gone. Before I managed to recover (I was bleeding pretty bad already) I was hit again, from the back! At that point I realized that I have no chance of killing it this way. I was in a small forest outside a facility. I ran to a clearing just in front of it, luring the thing after me. Only than was I able to sight it. I emptied 300 bullets into it before I was able to take it down.
After this little encounter I never want to see another of those god damned things for the rest of the game. Or at least not at night. :/
 
I've tried to play the original 3 times now and I still can't bring myself to do it. Each time I put in about 3 or 4 hours and then call it quits after barely getting anywhere. Never made it out of the Cordon proper, I've gone north of that bridge where there's all the army guys and then got killed in some buildings just to the northwest of it after taking some quest from a guy in some broken shacks being attacked by dogs.

I keep being told by my brother that its an excellent game, and it gets love all over the place, but I just suck at it so bad and I die way too quick. It became very much quick save/quick load for every fight I ran into because I am terrible at the gunplay (assuming I remember to save. On my first playthrough I didnt save once, figured there would be checkpoints or something. I was pissed when I died like 2 hours in). I'll probably try again in the next couple months, but I don't know if I'll ever get to the point everyone else seems to be with regards to this game.
 
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