STALKER: Call of Pripyat, I Forgive You
Posted on 10th Jun 2010 at 11:25 by Richard Swinburne with 63 comments
I've had a rocky relationship with STALKER. I loved the original, broken though it was. I even managed to tolerate Clear Sky, mainly by distracting myself with the chance to upgrade weapons and equipment - a feature which, cynically, should have been in the first game. In short, I loved both of the first two games, even though neither had the polish I had hoped for.
Call of Pripyat and I got off on the wrong foot though. Tantrums ensued. I especially didn't like that it started you off in the middle of nowhere, with no clear objective or gear - it made the already formidable difficulty curve even more of a problem. Also, I'd like to be told how to manage basic functions when I start a game - GSC still has to buy the book entitled "101 of game design", it seems.
Strangely though, STALKER's difficulty is also it's biggest strength, because that is STALKER. There's no pussy-footing around - you get in, you deal with (read: avoid) the anomalies and you try to survive while the many mutants want to gnaw at your gizzards. No one tells you how to barter in real-life, or how to survive a radioactive wasteland - STALKER is no different. The patchwork fills in as you go, your skills growing alongside the plot. It's a survival simulator, in many ways.
Call of Pripyat is in some regards better than the other STALKER games, but it's also more broken - but that's OK. The physical code mirrors the zone in how terrible it is, which makes it all oddly acceptable. If you can learn to accept the world for what it is then Call of Pripyat can offer you a lot of fun - provided you have enough luck to survive, anyway.
I can't believe it's taken them three attempts to get the game right and everything kind-of-working: any other game would have been lambasted for the bugs, but GSC continually gets away with it. I know that the next STALKER game will probably be equally buggy and broken...but I still can't wait for it!
It's taken me several weeks on and off to complete Call of Pripyat, and I feel better for it in some ways, but it's still not replicated the intense experience way back in the sarcophagus of the original. It needs more focus and player direction in places - so you know where to go, or, at least, advice on who to talk to to learn more. A couple of times I was left with absolutely nothing to do and scoured the entirety of Pripyat before I realised I had to go back to Zaton.
Going back on yourself and revisiting old zones is great though, .ot only because you get to re-look at all the places you couldn't visit before without the heavy duty gear, but also because you can watch the AI go psychopathic on itself. Everything respawns within a bullets whistle of each other, for some reason, creating quite complex firefights. Again - technically a bug, but do I care? It's fun!
STALKER games continually balance frustration and "working" code with a desire to see it through and even replay them. It's a testament that a strong story and setting can override all else - sometimes even fundamental game design.
Call of Pripyat and I got off on the wrong foot though. Tantrums ensued. I especially didn't like that it started you off in the middle of nowhere, with no clear objective or gear - it made the already formidable difficulty curve even more of a problem. Also, I'd like to be told how to manage basic functions when I start a game - GSC still has to buy the book entitled "101 of game design", it seems.
Strangely though, STALKER's difficulty is also it's biggest strength, because that is STALKER. There's no pussy-footing around - you get in, you deal with (read: avoid) the anomalies and you try to survive while the many mutants want to gnaw at your gizzards. No one tells you how to barter in real-life, or how to survive a radioactive wasteland - STALKER is no different. The patchwork fills in as you go, your skills growing alongside the plot. It's a survival simulator, in many ways.
Call of Pripyat is in some regards better than the other STALKER games, but it's also more broken - but that's OK. The physical code mirrors the zone in how terrible it is, which makes it all oddly acceptable. If you can learn to accept the world for what it is then Call of Pripyat can offer you a lot of fun - provided you have enough luck to survive, anyway.
I can't believe it's taken them three attempts to get the game right and everything kind-of-working: any other game would have been lambasted for the bugs, but GSC continually gets away with it. I know that the next STALKER game will probably be equally buggy and broken...but I still can't wait for it!
It's taken me several weeks on and off to complete Call of Pripyat, and I feel better for it in some ways, but it's still not replicated the intense experience way back in the sarcophagus of the original. It needs more focus and player direction in places - so you know where to go, or, at least, advice on who to talk to to learn more. A couple of times I was left with absolutely nothing to do and scoured the entirety of Pripyat before I realised I had to go back to Zaton.
Going back on yourself and revisiting old zones is great though, .ot only because you get to re-look at all the places you couldn't visit before without the heavy duty gear, but also because you can watch the AI go psychopathic on itself. Everything respawns within a bullets whistle of each other, for some reason, creating quite complex firefights. Again - technically a bug, but do I care? It's fun!
STALKER games continually balance frustration and "working" code with a desire to see it through and even replay them. It's a testament that a strong story and setting can override all else - sometimes even fundamental game design.
63 Comments
Discuss in the forums ReplyThe STALKER series is the gaming equivalent of an abusive relationship. Every time I start out with this great feeling, every time it hurts me, every time I take it back because 1) I'm sure this time everything will be different and 2) deep down I know it's got something really special, it's just that no-one else really understands it.
Oh yeah, and that black eye? I walked into an anomaly.
Didn't like CoP as much as the first two, but still a good game and a great, living, breathing zone.
"Call of Pripyat is in some regards better than the other STALKER games, but it's also more broken"
That is a total load of rubbish, COp was by far stable right from day one, and easily the best Stalker game, read some reviews, they all take note of this. COP was a great game, so was SOC, Clear Sky was a bit of a mess, but Ok with mods.
COP was great, actual role play elements (Choices), larger maps, lots of exploration, Stalker still has that second to none atmosphere. etc...
I just wish i wasn't such a coward i was enjoying it but it got too tense for my sketch nerves
Yeah, those tunnels were ****ing terrifying. Forget F.E.A.R., SOC had the scariest bits in a game ever. Period.
LMAO, yes, the underground in SOC blows away most so called "Scary games". Very creepy, the tension in the underground labs made me jump many times, and i rarely get like that in games.
Am I doing something wrong? Is there a "Quick Travel" Mod?
ArmA II + STALKER Universe + MMO = the best MMO ever, ever!
... it just makes so much sense to me (obviously jokes about both games can be made due to a close relation). Replace the sides in ArmA with Fractions, vehicles are obviously necessary and we're excluded from the original (and latter games) but are in place.
I refuse to pay for an MMO, but if this actually came to light, I would pay a monthly subscription.
Hmmmm.... ArmA Stalker baby.
Here's a great quote from another STALKER thread:
That sums it up very well for me. I love the fact that you (the character) don't level up, but in a sense you (the Human Being) level up in RL so to speak!
Another being Vampire: Bloodlines. For some reason (WoW) I haven't had time to play the next two in the series. Due to consolitist most games today are pretty weak in content/gameplay compared to the older PC exclusives. The STALKER series is a rare gem and all gamers should at least give it a chance.
My only criticism is that even on max difficulty, the game was too easy.
Everything you do in the game affects the ending. The more you do, the better the ending ;)
For instance the only stalker game that wasn't perfectly fine for me was Clear Sky, and that was a cracked russian pre-1.4 release (EU and US release came with 1.4 out of the box)
I expect you guys to know that games don't behave the same on all hardware.
However the interaction with the AI was top this time. Many great missions like "find out what happend to some guy" or "ask around for whatever" or "Find out who stole your gear" (never found it out :/ ). In short, detective stuff, lots of great twists and turns. Also loved how the traders worked, and the black market guys was cool. You had lots of choises of wheter to shoot your designated targets, or speak with them instead.
Game was too easy thats all. Maybee I will revisit all three games when I get a better PC, this one was built for the first game, but sucked bigtime for the purpose, new gpu didn't help either.
You see, in preparation for it, I played through SoC and CS with the 'Complete' mods installed. I have to say, they make good games into great games - SoC now looks like CS and CS just looks amazing.
So, I eagerly fired up CoP - and was immediately disappointed. The graphics were worse than CS (and I have EVERTHING the highest it can go) and it doesn't 'feel' right.
So, the question I'm asking is: do I wait for the Complete mod for CoP, which'll probably take a year?
that is all
The three games are easily amongst my favourite games of all time, but they aren't for the casual gamer. They take comitment and persistence, but reward the effort with a rich experience.
I'd go on and on about how great the stalker games are, but I'm posting from my phone.
So five words: Get out of here, stalker!
Can I ask if you played the original game at launch?
I am more of an RPG type person than an FPS type person, so I was looking forward to playing the game and I am not easily put off by something that takes a while to get into. I think this is more of a case of the game not really being for me rather than it being a bad game though.
Same old story bug ridden to hell.
Most PC games have bugs that's why there are patches and anyone who says COp was buggy is lying as it was stable from start to finish without a patch. If Cop was buggy your PC just sucks. I played the Russian and U.S. version with no problems.
GSC is like every other developer who makes changes to gameplay in a series just like Bungie just like Epic just like DICE just like IW and Treyarch, some changes good some bad but the STalker series is still top notch.
Solid FPS w/ a LEAN feature and ballistics
full day and night cycle with weather
A.I. that will hunt, kill, and loot other NPC (nothing beats watching a pack of pseudo dogs take down a bunch of zombies or snorks).
Feel the power of the ZOne during a Blowout and then watch your step cause new anomalies have appeared.
The Series is intense as the ZOne has it all. Nothing beats hunting Bloodsuckers (think Predator using stealth mode) in the under labyrinths at night. SCARY!
fun finding the best loadout and completing all the content like x8 labs, ect.. by the time I hit pripyat, I was pretty happy with the game..
your average console guy gets the nuts blown off the sides of his face and roid rage retires- what I love about games like this.. they need more not less saddle popper slappers
some of the missions like protect the researchers was a lot of fun.. pretty much agree with joe on the review.. also liked the ending
couple vids I posted awhile back- the fail one is so embarrassing I had to post it (was going to make a video walkthrough of the x8 labs).. after that I figured I don't have the right to be teaching anyone anything
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The ballistics clashed with the shooting mechanics in the most jarring way I have ever seen in a game. Each gun had its own inherent amount of spread to it, this spread was applied equally whether you used the ironsights or not. Though this is true that using the ironsight on a gun doesn't make the gun any more accurate than it would be fired from he hip. However the game does not take into consideration the innaccuracy of the player's position, shouldered or at the hip. As a result you are better off firing from the hip since you get much better visibility at no cost to accuracy. Plus the ironsights and the guns were poorly modeled anyway.
The last one (2) was fine unless you tried to quickload immediately after dying. Once I worked out what was causing it to crash every time I died it was great :)
And a note to all the people that have given up - can I have your copy?
The ballistics clashed with the shooting mechanics in the most jarring way I have ever seen in a game.
WHOA!! I didn't compare STALKER to ArmA II!! I said "bullet ballistics" as in bullet drop over distance and puncture rate depending on enemy armor and distance.
I always found shooting from the hip inaccurate unless at close range. I understand the scopes are not mil spec accurate and your right the game doesn't come with a wind gauge and a sniper kit but it's still dam fun.
Bullet Spread? is that similar to the West Coast Offense? LOL
And it wasn't just on the same system either.
XP3000/NF2/6600GT - Original Stalker (began it but didn't finish)
4400 X2/NF4/7950GT - Original Stalker and Clear Sky
720 X3/790FX/HD4870 - Original Stalker, Clear Sky and Call of Pripyat
You'd think with all those combinations I'd have wandered into a show stopper, but I have obviously dodged a few bullets.
My friend has played SoC and CS, admittedly a few months after the launch of each, and hasn't had issues either (or at least none that he has complained about ).
12, 3, 6, 15, 10, 22, 18, 7, 14
These feel lucky to me, so choose the numbers appropriate for your local game.
Remember, I don't take a flat fee but a percentage of earnings, and not a meagre, size zero 10% but a robust, full-figured 25%. I'm a socialist in that way (redistribute the wealth...to me).
The only thing bugged to hell is your PC, COP was way more stable at launch then many AAA PC games (Fallout 3, GTA 4, etc...), your loss, as it is truly a unique and grand experience in the face of casual, dumbed down games. Best stalker game out of the bunch.
Let's not start a flame fest here. It's well documented that STALKER games are not the most compatible or stable. Some people are lucky and don't have any issues.
I suggest you do some research, it's well documented COP was NOT like the first 2 stalekrs and was very stable at launch.
I admit it was far more stable, true, but bug free? Very much not. Claiming it's more stable than other triple A titles is a little far fetched. Maybe he needed to update his DirectX or something? I found the benchmark wouldn't work before without a DX update.
COP was good, but it still lacked a bit. At least this time around the UI is bearable.
Played 4 hours of the original after it was deemed "stable", and hated it
That to me is a bit of the charm of the game, the absolute lack of hand holding, all it tells you are locations to the next mission in the storyline, but even then getting there is all on your own. Although it may be a bit twisted to say so, the reason this game keeps me coming back is that it is a bit like an emulation of how it would be if you were in that situation, well respawning deaths aside.
You do have your right in hating the game, and I can see why, the utter lack of direction in terms of instruction is appalling. But appreciate that it doesn't prod you with a stick and lead you to the end, it let's you get there at your own pace, albeit set to their parameters of easy, which to be honest is blisteringly hard on a 1st run.
Ideal game flow:
Tutorial(optional, or lots of small tutorials throughout the game when you reach that part of the gameplay)
Easy start (first 10% of game - to get one familiar with game mechanics and interested with what the game has to offer, i.e story)
Main game (not easy, curve to get harder throughout - maybe with varying diffculties - to allow more people to play)
End Game (hard boss?... i dunno)
Credits
Re-playability Factors
maybe thats a template not all games can fit, but stalker should be able to
In other words it has a very steep difficulty curve, which is futher catalyzed by it's own difficulty settings. Also note that on Novice difficulty it gives you more gear.
That is the ideal flow. Somehow I'm pretty sure that GSC meant for the game to be difficult. Because once you actually get into it and employ the use of it's many mechanics(bolts, stashes, etc) the game flows pretty well outside of a real lack of a final boss, and the lack of a rising difficulty favoring an already difficult game.
I actually enjoyed the game more as the difficulty rised. For instance, I was on my way to the Nuclear plant about 20-30 hours into the game, but on the way I realized I didn't have a good enough protection against radiation, and actually had to turn around somewhere, in the process using up most of my medkits and rad-pills. This led me to finish lots of sidemissions and gather up more money and visit new places, so I could afford a better suit and find more health-packs.
I miss the difficulty of the first game, and partly the second game, last time around I just wandered and explored. Had 100s of thousands of cash and bought everything I needed.
Crap! I also have Metro 2033 to play, hopefully by the time I've finished the Stalker series I'll be able to afford a decent DX11 card.
:P
unlike farcry 2 where I was master of turning a bolt under the hood on my jeep (wtf is that) after driving through a zone I just cleared 2 minutes ago.. it was pretty cool in some ways
fallout 3 was way better though.. I mean you had the dog in the junkyard and even the goonies drama
i was massively dissapointed with the 2nd though, nice start both plot and gameplay-wise but the holes in the AI quickly became apparent, important NPC's can die far too easily and barely an hour in the scripting bugged and left me unable to advance the plot after fighting some bandit checkpoint even after 2 restarts.
CoP i am enjoying though, the changes to scenery and anomalies as well as the AI and the fully developed weapon upgrade system, as well as mutants really being something to fear, kept me amused but i've not been inclined to put time in to advance as the story has been too loose (especially after a poor start and the games difficulty till you get a good scoped gun)
GSC really have a brilliant setting and a solid frame for a game here but as fan patches such as the original oblivion lost show they need to get their **** together and do it properly. features such as repair/upgrading and CoP's more detailed quests (i dare anyone to say the bloodsucker quest didn't scare em) as well as the wonderful graphics and especially the new anomaly effects and sceneries are all wonderful additions to the genre but the games had fundamental flaws since the start and won't really go anywhere till they are sorted.
tl;dr : great graphics (if aging now), great ideas, good story and even the bugs are mostly sorted now, but you can't help but wish GSC could do it all again with what they now know and a larger budget
CS weapon system, SOC's gameplay and extras, and COPs Graphics.
The graphics engine is actually incredibly impressive for a relatively small company, not to mention it's incredibly scalable, I mean you can get Crysis style graphics on SOC..
Of course it could be a Diablo esque thing where the guys who pay get cooler stuff, but then again..
Ladder players too I guess. But a STALKER MMO is epic.
I refuse to pay to play - but if the brain-fart I had in my head where ArmA and STALKER f*ck and they have an MMO child exactly as I envision it, then I would happy pay £8 a month to play it. I could give up smoking and play that instead.
Faction Wars would really play out well as Mercs, Monolith, Duty, Freedom, Military, Stalkers, and Bandits race to control the brain scorcher.
Exactly!
My friends and I were discussing how it just makes so much sense one evening when playing ArmA II. I think we were slagging off WoW and EVE or some other MMO and I bollocked on about how I longed for STALKER and ArmA II to have a MMO babeh.
GSC has to make this happen as a STALKER MMO would be great as every Blowout would change the whole landscape allowing new areas to open up.