S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl Reviews

always got time for some SOC. Would strongly recommend playing with the L.U.R.K. mod, as it significantly boosts the gameplay experience

Really enjoyed it. Gun-play can be very frustrating, along with some other little things but it boils down to the age of the game, but besides that a very enjoyable low-end game to kill time.

Absolutely fantastic cocacolalistic game. made me cum

Honestly? Not a big fan of this one. Doing everything I can to minimise bullet spread, and I still have atrocious accuracy, so the next course of action is to "get closer" which means leaving cover and almost certainly dying. Very rarely did "sneaking" actually accomplish anything stealth related. Sure, I get it; its an old game, but this was a crazy experience that Im probably never going to repeat.

Great game, holds up well in 2025, was super surprised.....graphics are fine actually.

A great open-ended exploration/narrative driven FPS. For those who want something similar to the new Fallouts (with that post-apocalyptic veneer), with the same level of immersion and dense sense of atmosphere, but with sharp, much more enjoyable combat (featuring some of the most fun enemy AI to face at the time), without all the bureaucracy of generic crafting and boring upgrade systems, this is the game for you. An intuitive, easy-to-pick-up, inexpensive game that's consistently good from start to finish. From the vast and desolate fields and forests, the darkest undergrounds, to the forgotten husks of buildings, it's a radioactive, surreal, and violent adventure, full of loud, intense clashes against armed factions, bandits, and mutants, elegantly contrasted with calm, introspective moments where you simply soak up the atmosphere and explore the scenery. And get spooked every now and then by apparitions or other supernatural anomalies. It's the kind of experience that doesn't feel forced, and progression feels organic. Although you're being guided and pointed in the right direction, you never feel like you're being led by the hand or that the game is playing you, rather than the other way around. You discover and digest the world naturally, fueled by your curiosity, and you're always free to deviate from the path laid out, being rewarded or punished for being bold and curious. The game features large open spaces, with a good dose of realistic architecture and a sense of natural scale and redundancy, with empty fields punctuated by eye-catching buildings, structures and complexes, yet executed in a thoughtful manner that never becomes inconvenient to navigate. The game captures a slightly unsettling feeling of being isolated in a vast, abandoned place, aware that dangers are always lurking. The realistic geometry of the buildings and environments, perfectly matches the game's dynamic encounters, generating an immersive stimulus, where you begin to consider the game's physical space in a practical way, where every window, every crack becomes a firing line, and every environment object a piece of cover. When combat does occur, it feels raw and unpredictable, with all the tactical advantages and disadvantages that cramped or wide-open spaces can offer, supplemented by the convenience of playing a video game. If a game can make a shootout happen in a doorway and feel organic and tense, it's probably good. They also ensured that each map felt distinct and did a great job of sprinkling additional rewards and optional challenges into the zone's more monotonous and uninhabited locations. So you always have something to do without it ever feeling overwhelming. It's a game to get lost in, with all the care and creative energy you'd find in Valve productions. It's a world that feels alive and dynamic. As oppressive and terrifying as it is beautiful to behold. Save for a handful of odd little quirks and a healthy dose of jank, it seems they had all the right ideas and built a gameplay experience that will never loses its appeal, because it works so consistently. The game was also created at a time when the combination of high fidelity and strong art direction still resulted in more distinctive visuals, with perfectly legible and immersive environments with enough detail to be memorable and present a satisfying visual narrative, without flooding the screen with clutter. Couple this with the very effective use of ambient effects, lighting, and shadows, and an excellent sound design, and you have a game that has aged extremely well, both mechanically and visually. Solid, intuitive gameplay complemented by a strong presentation. Need anything else? Nope. It's a testament to the game's quality and reputation that it's still so fun all these years later, even without mods. It has always been a pleasure to revisit this gem. P.S.: Definitely play on Veteran or Master if you want to fully enjoy the game. Playing the game on normal or lower will make things feel quite strange. P.S.2: Hoarding everything you see isn't a good idea in this game. Carry only what you need. Prioritize earning money through missions or selling artifacts.

STALKER Chernobyl One of the best survival shooters ever made that set the bar so high, so many games tried to reach it. It's a unique experience, hard, punishing, immersive. It's outdated but still firmly stands its ground against newer games - the Zone feels so eerie, so quiet, so empty... and the moment it's no longer empty, you wish it was empty again. Danger lurks at every corner, every shadow, keeping you on edge as a wrong step can mean the end. The RPG/survival elements are perfectly balanced with the FPS gameplay, so you have that constant sense of reward. I came to this game after playing newer games and I did struggle a bit with the UI at first and might have complained a bit about the AI - but polished or not, this is just such a great atmospheric experience that I had to buy the game again on Steam just to replay it one more time.

''man, S.T.A.L.K.E.R has just been sitting in my library for ages, i should play it'' >boot up game >talk to wolf >kill bandits >bribe army >die to bandits bc radiation took half my hp >restart game again because there was no save (despite save icon in corner many times) >talk to wolf >kill bandits >''Anu cheeki breeki iv damke!'' >loot bandit, crash to desktop 10/10 would talk to sidorovich again

It's got some quirks, but S.T.A.L.K.E.R. delivers radioactivefirst-person gameplay like nothing else out there, there's barely any S.T.A.L.K.E.R-likes

This was my first STALKER game. The underground sections were more terrifying than the outside. 10/10 My information might well be of use to you stalker...