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| From: THQ
List Price: $19.99
Buy New: $12.40
You Save: $7.59 (38%)
New (16) Used (10) from $9.79
Rating:  133 reviews
Sales Rank: 1814
Platforms: Windows Xp, Windows
Genre: shooter_action_games;adventure_games
ESRB: Mature
Media: DVD-ROM
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Number Of Items: 1
Batteries Included: No
Age: 17 - 20 years
Operating System: Windows XP
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.4 x 1.1
Legal Disclaimer: Warranty does not cover misuse of product.
MPN: 49164
UPC: 752919491645
EAN: 0752919491645
ASIN: B0001X5YN4
Release Date: March 20, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 6-10 of 133
 Ambitious, overrated, flawed. March 26, 2007
M. Benigni (United States)
9 out of 15 found this review helpful
I was going to write something clever like "One word review: Uninstall." But that's not really fair, so here's what I really think. And I should preface this by saying that I do tend to be turned off by games that are rough around the edges. Glitchy UI etc. will frustrate me and eventually I'll stop playing - that's just me. So having read other reviews, I probably should have known better than to take my chances with S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
Anyway... There's a lot to like here but its mainly in the way of recognizing what the game is trying to be, rather than what it actually is.
As far as what actually works, the sense of vulnerability in a wide-open hostile environment with LOTS of enemies and realistically fallible weapons... it's great, and probably what's earning the (undeserved?) 8/10 "official" ratings everywhere. This much starts out a little frustrating, but grows on you as you catch the learning curve. There's a real challenge here that blends action and strategy very well.
But that's about all that works. The visuals are pretty lame on my (2G, Athlon 3800, NVidia 6800-based) system because dynamic lighting is out of the question. Anything other than static lighting yields frame rates down around 1 FPS. (That's not a typo.) Sound is sometimes effective, but mix and positioning are often confused, ie. is that ground cover shuffling under my feet or machine gun fire in the distance? Who knows?
The rest is really, really broken. And I'm sure some of it works in some measure because a lot of people are toughing it out and really enjoying themselves. And that's great. But if there's a core story line that makes sense for the very patient, it is absolutely BURIED in content that makes no sense whatsoever. I would write this off as bad translation/localisation, but it is not merely that the dialog is hard to comprehend. It's also that missions begin and end (fail, more often than not) with no apparent reason. When there is an apparent reason - ie. an NPC is completely incompetent - it's every bit as frustrating. The PDA and especially the map are very non-intuitive to navigate. (Maybe it works, but not as I'd expect... not even the 2nd or 3rd way I'd expect.) I could go on and on.
The final deal-breaker for me was the dreaded inventory page. The game is challenging, so you'll hate to leave valuables (namely, ammo and the weapons to deliver it) behind. But you will be forever burdened and wondering what to keep, what you can afford to leave behind. The inventory screen that pops up when you loot a corpse is marginally different than the standard one (not so much that you won't constantly forget) and it somehow makes the process of looting a corpse and unloading the precious bullets from his weapon and then unburdening yourself so you can actually, ahem... walk... very, very tedious (and frequently deadly.)
But maybe that's OK since most other loot is useless. Artifacts offer "tradeoffs" that can consistently be reduced to: using this item will improve armor slightly but also kill you slowly. Hmm, trick question? And saving things for resale is also pointless since, as many have bemoaned, the game's "economy" is non-existent. There are few vendors with nearly nothing of interest, and currency is mostly a non-concern.
Others have complained that the faction system is broken, that the game and the NPCs do not react any differently based on your interactions with others. I can't confirm or deny because I'm never sure who's friend or foe until the first shot has been fired. At me. And that's every bit as much fun as it sounds. And then, sometimes, I'm still not sure.
Sigh. I really wanted to like this game. I already spent the money, already wasted a weekend, and on top of all of that, it's a very cool concept. But there's more bad than good here, plain as that. This game didn't leave me feeling like a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. so much as a S.U... You get the idea.
 Good concept - poor execution... August 9, 2007
Kurt Schulenburg (Lake Zurich, Illinois United States)
9 out of 12 found this review helpful
For years, the gaming industry has gotten away with releasing games to the public that weren't quite finished. Why not? They've got plenty of us Lab Rats who will shell out good money to do the final product testing for them. And... maybe they'll send a patch out to cover the worst of the ills.
This game, as I bought it, is extremely frustrating. No, no, not the gameplay itself. That's a bit more difficult than your standard Doom/Half-Life stye shooter, but a little patience and a little strategy go a long way. The frustration comes from the bugs, particulary the ones that make you do missions again and again - and the inability to figure out where the heck you are because the map system is screwed up and constantly points you in directions that are straight out wrong.
The load times are a bit long between areas of the map... and there are enough areas that it's a bit easy to get lost. I found myself crossing a checkpoint, waiting for it to load, realizing where I had arrived and having to back to where I just came from (with more load times!) way too often. Part of this is unfamiliarity with the world, but most of it is because the map kept insisting that I had to go back and finish missions that I had already finished!
It's not a bad game, but I grew frustrated enough to stop playing before the patches came out. I suppose that I will get the patches and try again, but I'm still working my way through Painkiller first! (A Great Shoot Everything That Moves sort of shooter!)
 Bleak. Radiation, devastation, isolation, degradation, exploitation, mass mutation. January 9, 2008
DaveTheRed (las vegas, NV, USA)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
I dont know why people have had problems running this game. I bought the game, installed the latest patch of course (1.004), and run the game just fine (1024x768, low graphics settings, max view distance) on a 2.4 ghz dell, 1gbRAM, with a lowly PCI GEFORCE 6200!! No crashes ever! Anyway, on to the review..
I've been an FPS junkie since Wolfenstein 3D. Not since System Shock 2 has an FPS had me this addicted. Anyone looking forward to Fallout III should pray that it turns out this good. It is a genuine open-ended FPS with RP elements, real-world weapons (although w/slightly changed names, they are easily identifiable), challenging AI, realistic physics, HL2-like graphics quality, and an overall immersive atmosphere that makes you feel as if you were really wandering through the bleak wasteland of the forbidden zone surrounding the Chernobyl reactor. (A real place, the zone)..I remember a dark night during a thunderstorm, happening upon a lone figure under a bridge, huddled by a campfire..the sad song he played on his guitar was cut short by my bullets..for he had on his back the first AK i had seen in the game..I remember the twinge of guilt i felt..but thus is life in the zone.
Masterpiece of Immersion March 28, 2007
Game Gourmet (Austin, TX)
7 out of 9 found this review helpful
Having played likely every type of game software available, across PC's and consoles, since the very first plastic overlay sheet on the TV screen in the early 70's ...and done programming across many platforms as well, I can very much appreciate the developers' efforts in this exquisite piece of work!
The game engine is a bit taxing on even newer technology PC systems, but is it ever worth it! There's a lot to load for each area involved, but a bit of patience is well rewarded. Most of the latest graphics technologies, as described already in previous reviews, enables a great real-world experience.
It is, truly, one of those rare games that draws you around every corner, just to 'see the sights' of this graphical wonderland. The detail, especially in the localities of towns or other buildings in this world is quite enjoyable, even in areas which are likely to never be seen during play. Take a few moments and climb, crawl or jump to almost any position and look around. The rich detail exists even on top of the tallest buildings, which will only be seen by the exploring gamer. Oh, you'll have to fend off crafty enemies, who may decide to split up and catch you in a crossfire, or hide behind a pillar until you're close, then jump out and challenge you in melee from a few feet away, or maybe group and attack you relentlessly, taxing your ammo and reflexes. Some of the best AI today can be found here. Most gratefully, I found that the designers included the courtesy of a 'save anywhere' quicksave, in addition to choosing arbitrary multiple fallback points, so that you have a genuine opportunity to try a dozen different tactical approaches ...the true reward for your complete immersion.
The complaints of micro-management are the result of the ability to adjust your personal belongings in semi-RPG style, but this just allows you the option of many, many play styles, from "Deus Ex" type of careful stepping to full-blown "Call Of Duty" action!
Once you get your own PC system synchronized with gameplay options for the best combination and allow a bit more time for all graphics features to load, you're in for a myriad of experiences with military grunts, zombies, mutant creatures ...surprises above and below ground that will eat away at most of your free time. Don't be surprised at four to six hour sessions you have to force yourself away from.
An amazing adventure March 31, 2007
Christopher Warnock (Michigan)
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
I was skeptical when this game first came out because of the six year development process. Games in development for that long are usually cancelled. AS it turns out, those six years produced one of the finest games I have played since the original half-life or better yet, System Shock 2. The enemy variety is excellent. With zombies, mutants, animals and men, The game never seems to get old. I recently forgot to do an important sidequest I had forgotten in a military complex that I had once cleaned out. I returned to the base expecting the level to be empty. When I returned, bandits were roving the countryside and the underground parts of the base had become a mutant nest. Like doom, different enemies will interact with eachother. Nothing felt better in a gunfight I had with mercenaries than the time a Snork (froglike mutant) group attacked them from the side. This game had alot of detail and love coded into it and it shows. Bugs and loadtimes aside, it is more than playable. Each level feels fresh and the developers travelled into the Chernobyl zone to research their level design. Some people compain about the load times but if I have to wait 2 minutes for my computer to render a level (which are huge by the way), I can go to the fridge and grab a snack. You will not be unhappy with this game, especially with its lowered price.
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