Stalker shadow of Chernobyl is a weird game held together by duck tape and some mud and I love it to death.
Style: 8/10 Gameplay: 7/10 Story: 1/3 Overall: 7/10
Style 8/10
The apocalypse style of Stalker is almost on point if it were not for the fact that the most of the human enemies repeat the same voice lines over and over again. Other than that small issue you are immersed in the atmosphere for hours, which is impressive for a game made in 2007 to still hold that ability over the player.
Gameplay 7/10
Lets get this straight the engine is on death row where it can randomly break and cause some weird glitches, but if you handle the occasional bug the gameplay is alright. Its not the best and it’s not the worst, but it could be better. Starting you off is a story quest that causes you to follow a linear path with enemies throughout it. It is only after you get out of the main quest you can finally get on exploring and interacting with the environment. Which is one of the deadliest things in the game, step a bit too close to an anomaly? Get ready to spontaneously combust into a pile of goo. The only way to stop that from happening is with the use of infinite bolts and a beep every so often. And don’t forget about the mutants all of witch are scary and an abomination to the human race.
Story 1/3
The story looks like it is based on the book Roadside Picnic. In the book random anomalies are caused by an alien race, while in game they are cause by a group of scientist who wants to make the world pure. In doing so they mess up and realize they gotta contain what they messed up. And it is up to you to stop them! Why you may ask? I don’t know I barely paid any attention to the story because it dragged on for so long and forced you to play in linear areas.
