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.
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.