Description
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: The Shadow of Chernobyl is based on the famous science fiction novel
Picnic on the Roadside (Piknik na obochine, 1977) by Russian writers
Arkadi and
Boris Strugatski. In the book aliens have visited the Earth and left behind mysterious Zones which are extremely hazardous but also extremely profitable because the physical changes inside the Zones have altered the items left inside the Zone. These potential profits draw all sorts of people to the Zones and the people who go scavenging are called stalkers. There is also a famous movie adaptation of the novel by
Andrei Tarkovski, but the game actually is much closer in concept to the book although instead of having numerous Zones around the world, the game s focused around the Ukranian town of Chernobyl, the site of the most severe nuclear accident in history. The story goes that in 2006 another incident of some sort happened and by 2012 the whole area is hazardous with mutated animals, bandits, soldiers who don't ask questions before shooting, and first and foremost, mysterious anomalies. These anomalies differ in their effects but they all have one thing in common - they are quite deadly. There are areas where the gravity is much stronger, others where the air is crackling with electricity etc. And there is also the radiation to worry about.
The player is one of the stalkers who has lost his memory in an accident. All he knows is he has a note in his PDA telling him to kill someone. And so the player is thrown to a village located on the outskirts of the Zone trying to figure out who he is and what the secret of the Zone is.
The game plays as a FPS but with a 30 square kilometer playing area where the player is free to roam (assuming he can survive). There are also lots of NPC characters he can communicate with and in this sense the game playes more like an RPG, although there are no attributes or skills to improve. Along with the main quest the player can do sidequests and the way the player acts has an effect on other NPCs. Some of these quests have time limits, some don't. The player can also modify his weapons and armour and has to carefully manage his inventory because not only is there a carrying capacity his equipment degrades as they are used. The player can also use the items, called artifacts, altered by the anomalies to his benefit. They offer different kinds of bonuses, but also have side-effects. For instance, an artifact could improve your bullet resistance but also increase your radiation level.
The game features ragdoll physics, destructible surroundings, HDR lightning, dynamic weather, day/night cycles and multiplayer for up to 32 players.
Alternate Titles
- "迷失地带" -- Chinese title (Simplified)
- "S. T. A. L. K. E. R.: Oblivion Lost" -- Working title
- "S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Cień Czarnobyla" -- Polish title
- "Stalker" -- Common Abbreviation
Part of the Following Groups
User Reviews
The Press Says
| ActionTrip |
Apr 03, 2007 |
90 out of 100 |
90 |
| PC Games (Germany) |
Apr 05, 2007 |
90 out of 100 |
90 |
| Games Master |
May, 2007 |
89 out of 100 |
89 |
| Fragland.net |
Jul 08, 2007 |
87 out of 100 |
87 |
| Jeuxvideo.com |
Mar 21, 2007 |
17 out of 20 |
85 |
| Gaming Target |
Apr 23, 2007 |
8.5 out of 10 |
85 |
| PC Games (Germany) |
Apr 27, 2007 |
83 out of 100 |
83 |
| Playfuls |
Mar 29, 2007 |
8.3 out of 10 |
83 |
| TotalVideoGames (TVG) |
Mar 26, 2007 |
6 out of 10 |
60 |
| Cheat Code Central |
Mar, 2007 |
2.9 out of 5 |
58 |
Forums
Trivia
At some point of the game, you find one PDA called "
Gordon's PDA". Some people say you find it in some scientist's corpse, but it seems to be more random than that. Reading it, the owner tells how he was first in Black Mesa, then in some Russian town and then here in Ukraine. This is clearly a reference to the
Half-Life series and the possibility of that series' protagonist Gordon Freeman visiting the zone as an stalker.
The funny thing is how Freeman looks like a total rookie trying to survive in the Zone, to the point that he even has to trade his crowbar for a can of food. The bottom line comes when you realizes that you have just killed Gordon Freeman (which is why you have his PDA), who hasn't been able to survive to the Zone after all.
This entry to the MobyGames database was contributed by
Mortimer (76) on Mar 20, 2007.
