S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat (2009)

Stalker... A legendary series of games, and just as controversial. She has both hot fans and haters. Call of Pripyat is a game that Stalkers around the world had high hopes for. And in part, these hopes were justified. The continuation turned out to be, in general, interesting and more ambitious than the first part. We invite you to read the review of the game Stalker Call of Pripyat. If you haven't bought the game disc yet, this Stalker Call of Pripyat review will help you make your final decision.

Graphics or atmosphere: skier or snowboarder

The Achilles' heel of the series is the antediluvian X-Ray engine. No manipulations based on Direct-X 10 seem to be able to
lift him off the margins of progress. For some gamers, the archaic graph will greatly spoil the impression of getting to know the updated version of the Zone: someone plunges headlong into the atmosphere of hunting for a chimera, and some of us will only wince from participating in an absurd school performance with logs in key roles. If you are from the category of the first players - behind not so perfect graphics, spacious and beautiful locations, an unsettling atmosphere, an exciting hunt for the secrets of the Zone and quite funny shootouts will open up for you. Do you want to finally decide on your attitude to the Stalker Call of Pripyat graphics? You can also see a video review of this part right here!
Oh, roads ... .. dust and fog ... ..

The game Stalker Call of Pripyat, a review of which is presented here, is designed for a gamer who loves not only thrash gunfights, but also a long

the road through the mysterious locations of the Zone. Naturally, such a journey is filled with dangers. But how could it be otherwise, if a bloodsucker or some other creature of the underworld is guarding behind every tree? The game Stalker Call of Pripyat, a video review of which is also presented in this article, suggests the possibility of long transitions. Almost half of the game time you can spend on the road.

It's good to travel light, but if you have a heavy machine gun and a bunch of other goodies behind you, this prospect is very annoying. For those irritable, there is always
helpful guide. This is one of the differences between the Call of Pripyat - guides began to meet much more often. From these you can not only buy everything you need, but also save time on the walker by asking you to see you off.

The recently released sequel to the first part has already found its happy fans and brought gamers closer to the more realistic laws of the Zone. In review Special attention I will give the degree of this approximation in comparison with the previous part of Clear Sky.

IN new game there are also huge shortcomings, which for some reason are not particularly mentioned in the online media. Let's take a detailed look.

The game version is updated to 1.6.00, and the main character becomes a military man sent from Kiev to find out the reasons for the fall of several helicopters, whose order was reconnaissance of Pripyat after the incident with the massacre between Strelok and the O-Consciousness group.

The plot, logically, should be extremely simple: get a couple of pieces of paper, inspect the helicopters and it's in the bag. But, as is customary at GSC Game World, the task of complicating the life of gamers was successful. If earlier you were tormented with endless bugs at every step of the game, now in front of you new problem- Extreme complexity of tasks.

The most unfinished was the stage called "Jump into the anomaly". Your direction arrow is pointing straight ahead, and the objective of the mission is on the right, so that every 100 meters after jumping into the anomaly, you get an increasingly annoying line with the name of the same mission.

The next flaw is associated with the eternal waste of money. If earlier you could safely get to the transition to another location, now such transitions simply do not exist. But there are conductors who, for a considerable fee, can transfer you back and forth. In the meantime, you will not find a map with a short road from Zaton to Jupiter, you will always be charged crazy money. I wasn't able to do a bunch of extra-plot missions just to save up for those transitions and to buy a suit for one of the main missions. I solved the problem simply - I hacked the game through ArtMoney. I think the rating of this program will rise sharply after buying a new part of STALKER.

I also noticed the lack of cartridges for Vintorez in large quantities, and in fact in the previous parts everything was completely different. First you had to find a shotgun, then a Kalashnikov assault rifle, and only then Vintorez, Val and other rifles. Now there is no well-organized system for such improvement of weapons, and modernization for technicians has become more problematic. The second and third levels of improvements will be opened only after finding tools for fine, rough work and calibration.

The stupidity was improved due to the lack of bandages and first-aid kits: in each corpse you will find a first-aid kit, a bandage, some edible things, sometimes you will come across vodka, a pistol, cartridges, and it is also possible to find several weapons at once (usually an AK and a shotgun).

When loading a saved game and moving to another location on the loading screen, the developers added a panel "100 Tips for Surviving the Zone". I still cannot understand how turning on the flashlight with the letter "A" will help to "survive". I almost never turn it off for a minute due to the darker atmosphere of the game compared to other parts. A lot of stupid advice can be caught in such an informer.

At the expense of the atmosphere: new stories of stalkers have been added, which smell more like degradation of intelligence in radiation areas than respectable humor. But on the other hand, an avid fan will be pleased with the new abundance of monsters, zombies and a handful of anomalies with worthless artifacts that are only suitable for sale for very good money.

With all due respect to the developers, I leave the details of the game at the same rating as they are in reality. The slogan "One was corrected - the other was spoiled" is preserved here as well. Maybe the second part will allow us to enjoy a more pleasant atmosphere, thoughtful plot and a lot of unforgettable moments. But the toy rightfully deserved the award of a nostalgic miracle.

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One of the most ambitious long-term construction projects, known under the pseudonym S.T.A.L.K.E.R., sold around the world at the speed of hot cakes. The prequel "Clear Sky" was no less successful. Now the second addition has arrived. And you know, this time we are not dealing with a beta product, which, like air, lacks a couple of patches.

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One of the most ambitious long-term construction projects with domestic roots, known under an undercover pseudonym, has sold around the world at the speed of hot cakes in the Kiev market. The prequel "" was no less successful. Now the second addition has arrived. And you know, this time we are not dealing with a beta product, which, like air, lacks a couple of patches.

A thousand little things

In general, it is not customary to praise for the absence of bugs - this should be the norm in any project. But thank the leadership GSC for once, I want to because they didn’t save on testers. It has become humanly pleasant to play, without being distracted by regular crashes and freezes.

"" is, first of all, work on bugs. There are no revolutionary innovations, but all the elements are brought to mind, but flavored with new locations and a fresh storyline. The protagonist has learned to sleep, now he needs to eat regularly, there is a binding of food, first aid kits and other things to the "hot keys", and also became available the new kind weapons - a powerful shotgun called the "Bump". "Freshness" is mainly about pleasant little things.

The story, however, is boring, unoriginal and extremely predictable. It originates after the events of . Several military helicopters are sent to the Zone, but for some reason they do not get to the right place. We have to try on the skin of an experienced warrior Alexander Degtyarev (not to be confused with Vasily Degtyarev, a Soviet weapons designer, author of the Degtyarev machine gun, which was actively used by Russian soldiers during the Great Patriotic War - ed.) and find out what happened there.

However, it is not the plot that plays on the atmosphere here, but the unique autumn surroundings, skillfully covering the old outdated graphic wrapper. However, very small locations do not allow you to enjoy the local beauties to your heart's content - you can run from one end of the map to the other in just a few minutes. But wandering through them has become more interesting thanks to the careful study and detailing of virtual spaces.

On the way, the hero is entertained by both all sorts of creatures and local stalkers, who seem to be wandering around here not idle, but with some purpose. In general, the characters have noticeably gained in charisma and no longer look like lazy "bots". The updated map also plays into the hands, it has become more convenient to navigate on it. The developers also threw out the stupid gang war that took place in .

STALKER Call of Pripyat is the third part of the Stalker game series. IN final game series developers have tried to finalize and optimize the project as best as possible. As a result, the fans got the "Stalker" they were waiting for: with a heavy atmosphere, increased complexity, a sense of hopelessness and a beloved game mechanics. This is how "Stalker: Call of Pripyat" turned out. System requirements, an overview of the game and mechanics, read further in the article.

Game idea

From game to game, the concept of the Stalker series has not changed at all. The player takes on the role of a lone stalker who encounters different factions on the way. Join them or unleash a war - it's up to you. Also, such decisions affect the plot twists. Frankly, in the third game, the story does not shine with interesting characters, colorful dialogues. Everything is done in the usual style of "Stalker": laconic characters, sharp, abrupt phrases and tasks that, in terms of wording, are more reminiscent of orders from superiors.

However, no one has ever called the game "Stalker" friendly and welcoming to new players. Why? This point is worth explaining in more detail.

Game mechanics

For "Stalker: Call of Pripyat" system requirements became a stumbling block. Despite the standard requirements for its time, the game received disgusting optimization. One could turn a blind eye to this oversight if the game received a new engine that has not yet been tested by the developers, and modern graphics. However, it all turned out pretty sad. On "Stalker: Call of Pripyat", the system requirements are too high, and the player gets a dubious result: the graphics completely repeat the "Clear Sky", which has more effects.

But what fans of the series and the setting will not endure for the sake of dozens of hours of being in their favorite game! Fans of the game claim that they got exactly what they wanted at the time of the release of the very first part. And although the assessments of game journalists turned out to be very contradictory, the feedback from the fans was mostly only positive.

"Stalker: Call of Pripyat", the system requirements of which will be written below, was late with the release by several years. This is exactly what GSC planned to release "Shadows of Chernobyl". The developers did not have enough budget for a full-fledged second part. Mixed ratings led to poor sales, and the company was forced to close. Many fans are still hoping for the announcement of a full-fledged second part of Stalker.

Stalker: system requirements, "Call of Pripyat"

To run the game at the minimum graphics quality settings, you will need to install the game on a computer no weaker than the following configuration: Pentium 4 processor or similar from AMD, 512 MB of RAM, video card with 128 MB of memory.

These are the system requirements of Stalker (minimum). For a full-fledged game with the best graphics quality, you will need: a 2-core Core 2 Duo processor or equivalent from AMD with a frequency of 2 GHz, 2 GB of RAM and 512 MB of video memory. However, even with this configuration, the game does not guarantee stable FPS and no freezes. For comfortable gameplay, it is advisable to stock up on a more powerful video card and add another 1-2 GB of RAM.

What do you need to know?
Game system: AMD Phenom 8450 TripleCore (2.1 GHz), 4 Gb, GF 8800 GTS
Settings: maximum on DX10
Version: 1.6.00
Exclusivity: We are the only game resource that publishes a review on the day the game is released. Moreover, we played in the developers' office, and did not download a pirated game.

Say that "Call of Pripyat" did not wait - to dissemble. Still, after the prequel, which disappointed the masses with its instability, the developers needed to return the favor and trust of the players - and we, with bated breath, were waiting for something bewitching. Clearly understanding that the rights to the second "Clear sky" They dont have, GSC Game World threw a lot of money and man-hours into testing and debugging a new game. In addition, we were promised big levels, interesting story and handmade quests.

Meanwhile, the short development period and the utmost attention to the stability of the game made me worry about the in-game content. Early builds were not bad, but could not give a definitive answer to the question about the "insides" game world. The focus of the PR department and the public on stability only increased the unsettling feelings. Was it not given at too high a price?

And now, a little over a year after the release "Clear Sky", we can stop guessing and appreciate the new creation of the Ukrainians on the merits. Ready? Then go ahead!

"... the heroes of science go to put their belly on the altar in the name of humanity, knowledge and the holy spirit, amen."
(c) Strugatskys, "Roadside Picnic"

If you believe the army documents and the stories of experienced stalkers, the assumption that the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986 is the smallest mystery in a series of strange events that completely changed the face of this piece of Earth looks quite true. Twenty years after the accident, the Zone experienced a cataclysm of an unknown nature, which destroyed almost all life and radically changed its world and internal structure. For a long two years, scientists unsuccessfully tried to understand the nature of the new Zone. It was then that in the Zone, inhabited only by scientists and the military, people appeared who called themselves stalkers. Time passed, stalkers became more and more. In 2012, a stalker with the call sign Strelok solved the riddle of the Burner - and opened the way to the center of the Zone. Stalkers rushed there - someone in search of the legendary Klondike Artifacts, someone - no less than the legendary Wish Granter. The military also sensed a chance to take control of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and organized Operation Fairway. The reconnaissance group of helicopters rushed to the center of the Zone, but the operation failed - for unknown reasons, all helicopters crashed. Major Degtyarev, a former stalker, is sent to the Zone to search for helicopters and study the reasons for the failure of the operation. Deep in the Zone, communication with the Center is lost, and now the Major must rely on himself...

All this will be helpfully told to us in a beautiful introductory video, stylized as old photographs. And then the game begins...

The first thing that catches your eye is the size of the levels. They are few, but they are really big. We start at Zaton, a dry river bed, where the skeletons of ships are still preserved, in one of which local stalkers settled. Then we will get to Jupiter, where Duty and Freedom live side by side at the Yanov station. Then we will visit the dungeons of Pripyat, which we will have to wade through together with a team of stalkers assembled and equipped by us. And, finally, the stunning Pripyat, recreated in detail, along which, unlike the “Shadows of Chernobyl”, we will be allowed to walk in plenty. In addition, there are several other, underground locations, for example, the X8 laboratory. I am glad that the player is not only allowed to explore locations, but he is also encouraged to do so. Firstly, there are quests in the game without direct instructions, say, "find two fellow mechanic Cardan." Only a curious player has a chance to stumble upon them, while others will not help the old drunk in his search. Secondly, hunting for artifacts is still quite profitable business. By the way, the big anomalies in the game are worked out well and look fascinating.

We will move not only on our own, but also with the help of guides. There are about a dozen important objects on each level, and some stalkers are ready to take us to any of them for money, and you can agree on this not only in a bar, but simply by meeting stalkers in the middle of the level. By the way, stalkers go mainly in groups of several people, and each group has a commander: only with him can we communicate and trade - a very reasonable and cunning move on the part of the developers. There are, of course, more specific methods of transportation, say, a spatial anomaly, but this is still the exception, and the rule is that we have guides as the only alternative to walking. But for some quests (mainly collective ones), the game itself helpfully takes you to Right place and - after execution - back.

I remember one of the USP "Call of Pripyat" the quests were supposed to be handcrafted, and in a recent preview we mentioned that their "interestingness" is critical to the success of the game. To some, this fact will seem incredible, but GSC really made a huge step towards the players. First, many quests are non-linear. For example, you can help the bandits kill the stalkers and share the swag, or you can tell the stalkers about the ambush and shoot the bandits in the back. Secondly, in the "Statistics" tab of the game PDA, you can see your "Achievements": they are issued for completing some key (and non-plot) tasks, often consisting of a chain of quests. Thirdly, some quests in one way or another play on the feelings of the player: for example, one stalker convinces you for an artifact, and the other takes your merits. Naturally, you will restore justice, and there will be a lot of blood. Fourth, there are quests that are connected to each other, and some evidence of these connections does not make them less interesting. Fifth, in GSC they did a good job on the stories - there was even a place for vampirism. Sixth, this time we didn’t forget about humor: after a “walk” on all fours past a flock of sleeping bloodsuckers, your partner exclaims: “Well, what a “quiet hour” for yourself!”. Of course, there are also less interesting quests, but in their main they cause an exclamation of approval to the masses.

Another big plus of the game is the well-developed characters. Many of them have been given detailed looks, with people in the know quickly guessing who is who (“Oh, that airsoft dude! Ha, look, it’s Yasenev, their lead programmer!”). Everyone has their own story and their own goals. Wano, a funny guy who got into trouble with bandits. Noah, a lunatic type who believes in his special destiny. Zulu, man of principles. Cardan, a mechanic who loves to drink, in a drunken delirium remembers the three comrades with whom he quarreled ... One way or another, but you will influence their fate, and they - on yours, so the player, perhaps for the first time in the series, empathizes with the characters - which it’s only worth a run through the dungeons of Pripyat: I’m sure many will try to save their partners’ lives!

Despite the title, Degtyarev is not burdened with a good weapon or a protective suit, therefore, at first, an easy life is not expected. A signature pistol and an AK-47 are not the strongest arguments near the center of the Zone. However, with proper skill, you will surely be able to save money on new weapons for quite a long time, moreover, a curious player will find many interesting things in caches. And there are fewer living creatures in the Zone...

…which is, of course, the main distinctive feature "Call of Pripyat". The gang war idea used in "clear sky", was interesting, but did not fully fit into the original concept of the Zone. IN "Call of Pripyat" inherent "Shadows of Chernobyl" a feeling of frightening emptiness, a feeling that a person is only an uninvited guest, and not the ruler of this world, only now this feeling is deeper. Yes, stalkers sit in a bar, go looking for artifacts and clearing territories, but don't expect them to come across to you after five meters. Each meeting with a group of stalkers is a small joy: after all, they can lead you to the right place, help with fire or buy an artifact from you. Why, even if these stalkers are aggressive: it's still better than stumbling upon mutants.

By the way, the regiment of mutants has arrived. To the "ordinary" creatures of the Zone, they added a chimera, with which a whole storyline is connected, and a burer that flashed in gameplay videos - both mutants are quite strong. Fixed the behavior of other monsters: now they have their own "daily schedule", which determines when they are awake and when they sleep. As before, jerboas and dogs take by numbers, controllers and bloodsuckers - by skills, although there is always a chance to stumble upon a couple of bloodsuckers - here you have to sweat. Usually the creatures can be heard from afar, but most of them are quite cunning and try to attack from behind. Sometimes you can watch how the mutants attack each other - a rather funny sight, which is better not to climb into.

However, the main character "Call of Pripyat" there was a serious argument in the form of the Breaker, a new weapon, which is a very powerful shotgun. Even with a small magazine (12 rounds) and a long reload time, it significantly affects the balance of power, especially in conjunction with any rapid-fire weapon - especially now that we are allowed to put an assault rifle in place of a pistol and thus quickly switch between a shotgun and an assault rifle . Considering that there is a fairly quick way to get hold of the Breaker almost immediately after the appearance on Jupiter, you can blame the developers a little for the balance. As before, weapons are allowed to be repaired and modified, but fans of various modifications will have to sweat a bit in search of the tools needed by mechanics. Toward the end of the game, the gauss cannon familiar to us from the previous parts will also appear. As for protective suits, the most significant change was the separation of the vest and helmet (however, there are also “holistic” copies). I recommend that you take a suit with a night vision device as soon as possible, otherwise you will see no further than your nose at night. In addition to the usual ways to get weapons and armor (purchase, caches, kill-pick) in "Call of Pripyat" there is an opportunity to order the necessary equipment from a stalker with a call sign ... Nimble. Yes, yes, exactly the one we saved in "Shadows of Chernobyl" and who told us about the possibilities of our PDA in "clear sky".

Otherwise, there are changes in small things: you need to eat periodically, you can sleep in order to pass the time, medicines, first-aid kits, etc. are now “attached” to the function keys. In multiplayer - added new maps, introduced a rating system...

At the end, you will be given a choice: leave the Zone or stay. The first option will take us straight to the final cutscene. IN "Call of Pripyat" the ending depends on the actions of the player. Under a beautiful final musical theme, we - again, in pictures stylized as old photos - will be told the further fate of the characters who played a role in our history, and will be shown how the quests we completed and not completed changed the world of the Zone. If you decide to stay, you can go through important quests and, after talking with the guide, "leave the Zone" - in this case, you will see alternative version events.

As for the graphical component, it is no longer impressive, as it used to be, but it still looks very worthy, especially on a sunny day. There are, of course, ugly textures and animation sometimes lame, but in general, visually the game is quite attractive. On the test computer in DX10 mode with maximum settings and a resolution of 1024 * 768, the game ran smoothly, without slowdowns. In DX11 mode, thanks to texture tessellations and correct shadows, the picture looks even more realistic, besides, the performance on the tenth render did not drop on test machines.

Flaws? They are here

As one of the characters says: “Our Skadovsk is always in place, it won’t sail anywhere.” So the shortcomings in the "Stalker" - roam from game to game. These include clumsy animation, annoying phrases and, at times, hopeless dullness of AI. The corridor levels look better than before, but still worse than the "open" part of the game. There is also the traditional "I'm lost" for the series, with running the same corridors of buildings in search of a key point or exit. It is also worth noting the not always well-chosen voices of key characters, especially the main character. Well, we are already so accustomed to all this that we almost do not pay attention.

And the biggest drawback of the game is unique for "Call of Pripyat" and is directly related to its main advantages. Larger levels, fewer stalkers and monsters living according to the laws of A-Life... And you sometimes run carelessly to the other end of the location and feel that life in the Zone is passing you by - these endless expanses where you can’t meet either a stalker or monster, no one and nothing. Perhaps it was worth adding anomalies, because at such moments you start to be frankly bored, and it is not always possible and desirable to use the services of guides. And where then is the notorious “there are no direct ways in the Zone”, if “straight” is almost always the shortest road?

***
Of course, the question of stability, which is of interest to many, cannot be avoided. Honestly, I declare to you that the game is significantly more stable than the previous two parts. For all the time, she didn’t fly out a single time and hung only once (during saving, and the save was working). Accordingly, the cost of testing the game justified. Well, I can't be the only one so lucky?!

Despite the skepticism of many towards the project, "Call of Pripyat" succeeded. Let the developers have something to work on, it is already clear that ZP will not need many patches to work correctly on all systems, and the game itself has something to offer even to a sophisticated player. Considering the colossal pressure from the gaming community, the short development time and the quality of the final product, it is quite possible that "Call of Pripyat" became an important game not only for the series, but also for the company itself.

In three and a half years, we have seen three different faces of the Zone, each of which was another step towards the creation of the Dream Game, which has been raving for many years GSC Game World and an army of millions of fans. The next step seems to be S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2. In the meantime - enjoy "Call of Pripyat". Happy hunting, stalkers!