S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl | |
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Developer(s) | GSC Game World |
Publisher(s) | |
Director(s) | Anton Bolshakov |
Producer(s) | Sergey Grygorovych |
Designer(s) | Andrew Prokhorov Yuriy Negrobov |
Programmer(s) | Oles Shishkovtsov |
Writer(s) | Ernest Adams |
Composer(s) | Vladimir Frey Prague Symphony Orchestra Firelake |
Series | S.T.A.L.K.E.R. |
Engine | X-Ray Engine |
Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows |
Release |
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Genre(s) | First-person shooter, survival horror |
Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl is a first-person shootersurvival horror video game developed by Ukrainian game developer GSC Game World and published by THQ in 2007 following a long development. The game is set in an alternative reality, where a second nuclear disaster occurred at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Exclusion Zone, causing strange changes in the area around it. The game features a non-linear storyline and includes role-playing gameplay elements such as trading and two-way communication with NPCs.
In the game, the player assumes the identity of the Marked One, an amnesiac man trying to find and kill the mysterious Strelok within the Zone, a forbidden territory surrounding the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. It is set after a fictitious second Chernobyl disaster, which further contaminated the surrounding area with radiation, and caused strange otherworldly changes in local fauna, flora, and the laws of physics. The background and some terminology of the game are borrowed from the Russian novella Roadside Picnic and the film Stalker that was based on it.
A prequel, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky, was released in 2008. A sequel, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat, followed in 2010. There are also multiple fan remakes trying to restore the cut content from the original version of the game, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Oblivion Lost.
- 6Reception
- 7Legacy
Setting[edit]
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. takes place in an area called the Zone, which is based on the real-life Chernobyl Exclusion Zone and partly on the settings of the source material, Boris and Arkady Strugatsky's science fiction novella Roadside Picnic and Andrei Tarkovsky's film Stalker, as well as the latter's subsequent novelization by the original authors. The Zone encompasses roughly 30 square kilometers and features a slice of the Chernobyl area extending south from Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant; geographical changes for artistic license include moving the city of Pripyat into this area (it is actually to the north-west of the power station), although the city itself is directly modeled on its real-life counterpart, albeit smaller in size.[1] The term Stalkers was also used for the scientists and engineers who explored the interior of the Chernobyl sarcophagus after its hasty construction in 1986.[2] In addition, the Zone is also a term used to refer to the 30 kilometer Exclusion Zone around the power plant.
In the game's backstory, after the initial Chernobyl disaster, attempts were made to repopulate the area, primarily with scientists and military personnel. However, in 2006, almost 20 years after the first incident, a mysterious second disaster occurred, killing or mutating most of the inhabitants.[3]S.T.A.L.K.E.R. begins years later, after people have begun coming to the Zone in search of money, valuable artifacts, and scientific information. In keeping with the post-nuclear decay within the Zone, extreme radiation has caused mutations among animals and plants in the area.[4] As a result of the second disaster, the Zone is also littered with dangerous small areas of altered physics, known as anomalies. Explorers and scavengers operating withing the Zone, known as Stalkers, possess an anomaly detector, which emits warning beeps of a varying frequency depending on their proximity to an anomaly.
Gameplay[edit]
A screenshot of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl is primarily a first-person shootersurvival horror video game, but it also features many RPG elements. The player does not gain additional abilities or statistics like most RPGs (though the player does level through game play from 'novice' to 'expert' which has slight effects on the ability to aim accurately), but is instead allowed to attach artifacts which can increase or decrease player attributes. Artifacts found within the Zone have both positive and negative effects except for some rare artifacts which have only positive attributes.
There are a large number of items in the game, so the player has customization choices which are constrained primarily by how much exploring they do. The game also attempts to blend the story and character interaction which are commonly associated with RPGs. However, conversation branches are extremely limited and do not significantly influence the course of the game, aside from accepting or declining missions.
Draw the squad 4 people. The Zone itself is a large and varied area, consisting of wilderness, human settlements, and several heavily guarded military bases. However, the game world is not a true contiguous world, but rather 18 different maps separated by loading screens. Transfer from one area to another can only be accomplished at certain specific passageways; wire fences and extreme radiation levels block the player from attempting to cross the map in any other area.
Creatures within The Zone are vastly different from their real-world counterparts: dogs, boars, crows, and many more. Additionally, some areas contain mutated humans who have become affected by the so-called Brain Scorcher. Artificial intelligence of wildlife is highly developed and presents many realistic behaviors, such as fights over food and pack mentality, which can be observed in non-scripted events. The game engine was designed so that animal behavior is calculated even if the player is in a different part of the Zone.
There are several different variations of anomaly, each one having a unique impact upon those who cross its path. They can be potentially deadly to the player and the NPCs, delivering electric shocks, or pulling them into the air and crushing them.[5][6] Most anomalies produce visible air or light distortions and their extent can be determined by throwing bolts (of which the player carries an infinite supply) to trigger them.[7] Artifacts are found scattered throughout the Zone, often near clusters of anomalies. As well as being traded for money, a number of artifacts can be worn so that they provide certain benefits and detriments (for example, increasing a stalker's resistance to gunfire while also contaminating him with small amounts of radiation) although certain rarer artifacts provide benefits without any negative effects.[8]
The game does not feature controllable vehicles (although vehicles are programmed in the game code, they are not available without the use of a third party modification,[9][10] and even if added, they are not entirely stable, as a single knife slash can destroy it completely) and thus players are required to go from place to place on foot. A sprint option using a limited stamina bar can be used to temporarily increase the player's rate of movement, though this is reduced by the weight of objects the player is carrying, and weapons cannot be fired while sprinting. It is possible to sprint indefinitely by using artifacts and keeping below a certain weight limit (50 kg); however, it is impossible to sprint with certain weapons (e.g. RPG-7 and SVD).
Radioactive contamination caused by the nuclear incidents at Chernobyl occurs in specific invisible patches throughout the Zone. Although most areas are not contaminated, areas near abandoned construction equipment that was used in the post-accident clean-up, certain military vehicular wreckage and a variety of other locations create fields of radiation of varying intensity and size, some of which cannot be passed through without the proper protective equipment and anti-contaminant agents. The equipment is simplified into various sets of armor that have different levels of radiation protection. Additional radiation resistance may be conferred by some artifacts, and radiation sickness may be treated by medication or by consuming vodka.
When the player enters a highly irradiated area, they will begin to receive radiation poisoning. During this time, a radiation icon appears on the screen and fades through from green to yellow to red, signifying the strength of the poisoning, which grows the longer the player remains present in the affected areas. The stronger the poisoning, the faster the player's health decreases. Unless the player dies from damage caused by radiation poisoning, there are no permanent effects from contracting it other than health loss. However, radiation will persist and continue to drain health until either radiation medication or a substantial amount of vodka is consumed. Radiation can primarily be avoided by wearing certain artifacts that neutralize radiation or more advanced suits that will effectively protect the player from radiation.
In much the same way radiation works as a gameplay mechanic, the player will occasionally become hungry during their travels. During this state, an icon of a crossed fork and spoon will appear. Consuming in-game food items returns the player state from hungry to not hungry, which removes the negative impact on stamina that the hunger status gives. However, if one ignores eating, it will result in the death of the player in a certain amount of time.
As with radiation and hunger, bleeding is another state of detriment which the player must try to avoid or manage while playing the game. Bleeding occurs when the player sustains certain kinds of injuries of certain severity (such as being shot or stabbed). The player will lose the amount of health determined by the landed blow and will continue to lose small amounts of health as they hemorrhage. Bleeding can sometimes stop on its own, but the player can prevent further bleeding by applying bandages or using first aid kits, thereby preventing further health loss.
Plot[edit]
Shadow of Chernobyl offers multiple endings based on the player's choices throughout the game. This section assumes the player achieves the most complete ending.
The game begins with an unconscious, wounded stalker (the player character) being brought to Sidorovich, a black-market trader operating inside the Zone. Sidorovich is able to save his life, but the wounded stalker is amnesic; the only clues to his identity are a tattoo on his arm of the acronym 'S.T.A.L.K.E.R.' and his PDA which contains only one entry in the to-do list: 'Kill Strelok.' The amnesic stalker is dubbed Marked One by Sidorovich.
The Marked One repays Sidorovich by performing certain tasks, and in the process receives information about Strelok's possible whereabouts. With no other leads to his past or the cause of his amnesia, the Marked One follows the information from contact to contact, tracing Strelok's past movements and learning more about his supposed assassination target; the more he learns about him, the more he recovers scattered memories. Eventually, the Marked One follows a lead to a factory in Yantar. Yantar is the home of a Brain Scorcher, a field which effectively destroys the mind of anyone who comes within its range, zombifying and turning them violent and hostile. Scientists studying the phenomenon determine that it is man-made and recruit the Marked One to enter a secret laboratory underneath the factory to disable it.
Information taken from a body in the lab directs the Marked One to track down a member of Strelok's group named Doctor. In an attempt to reach him in Strelok's underground base, the Marked One inadvertently triggers an explosive booby trap and is nearly killed, only to be rescued by a man named Doc. While he is incapacitated Doc speaks to the Marked One about the rumor of a giant artifact known as the Wish Granter located somewhere in the center of the Zone, but also indicates that the Marked One is Strelok, calling him by that name. However, before Strelok can fully recover, Doc leaves.
Further leads send Strelok towards the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, where the Wish Granter is believed to be located. However, the journey to Chernobyl itself has been all but impossible due to the presence of another, larger Brain Scorcher south of Pripyat, as well as the Monolith faction of extremely fanatical stalkers who worship the Wish Granter, referring to it as the Monolith, and kill anyone attempting to access it. Strelok makes his way through a dense forest south of Pripyat and deactivates the second Brain Scorcher, re-opening the path to the abandoned city.
Pripyat is in chaos as stalkers of multiple factions, including the military, clash with the heavily armed and numerous Monolith forces. Strelok eventually makes his way to the Chernobyl facility, also held and viciously fortified by Monolith forces. After fighting his way through both Monolith and military troops, Strelok discovers the giant Wish Granter artifact inside the sarcophagus as well as a secret laboratory underneath it. Inside the heavily defended lab is a large holographic terminal, through which an entity calling itself the C-Consciousness communicates. It readily answers Strelok's questions, revealing what it is, who Strelok is, and the events prior to his amnesia.
In the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster, the Soviet Union decided to use the Exclusion Zone for special research into the human mind. Results included enhanced ESP, psychic weapons, and the eventual formation of a hivemind of seven neurally-linked scientists known as the C-Consciousness. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the self-aware C-Consciousness took control of the Zone and continued its research. It attempted to bring about world peace through global mind-control by directly interacting with the noosphere; however, these attempts resulted in the unintentional twisting of the physical terrain around Chernobyl as well as the mutation of resident life forms, creating the Zone. In an attempt to hide its existence, the C-Consciousness created the two Brain Scorcher fields and erected a Monolith artifact - the Wish Granter - in the center of the Zone, which it uses to brainwash any stalkers who reach it; brainwashed stalkers are tattooed with the 'S.T.A.L.K.E.R.' acronym and reprogrammed to serve the C-Consciousness.
Rumors of the Wish Granter began to spread throughout the Zone. A group of four stalkers, Strelok, Ghost, Fang, and Doc, attempted to reach the Wish Granter by battling on their way to Chernobyl, but after encountering the fanatical Monolith faction and a man named Scar they were forced to retreat. Strelok was knocked unconscious while the others were able to escape. On the way back, Fang was killed by a sniper in Pripyat. Some time later, Ghost was killed in the Brain Scorcher control facility under Yantar. The unconscious Strelok was discovered by the C-Consciousness; unaware of his identity, it had him brainwashed, reprogrammed him and mistakenly assigned him the task of killing himself. On the way out of the Zone, the truck carrying the still unconscious Strelok was destroyed in a lightning storm and he was discovered by another passing stalker, leading to his discovery.
New Stalker Game
Once the C-Consciousness has finished answering Strelok's questions he is given a choice: merge with the C-Consciousness to ensure its continued existence, or stop the C-Consciousness from continuing its experiments. Strelok refuses to assist the C-Consciousness. He is transported to the exterior of the Chernobyl plant, where he navigates his way through teleportation anomalies, elite Monolith soldiers, and mutants in order to reach the source of the C-Consciousness. Once inside, Strelok shoots the encapsulated scientists which form the C-Consciousness. Strelok then kills his own C-Consciousness unit and is released out of the nightmare.
Afterwards, Strelok is shown standing in a grassy field, watching the sky as the clouds break and the sun comes out. The Zone is apparently gone. He questions whether or not he made the right decision, but as he lies down in the grass he concludes that while he may never know what was right, he is happy that he survived. He lies down on the grass and falls asleep.
Technical features[edit]
A screenshot demonstrating the abilities of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s rendering engine after enabling anti-aliasing and tone mapping
The X-Ray Engine is a DirectX 8.1/9 Shader Model 3.0 graphics engine. Up to a million polygons can be on-screen at any one time. The engine features HDR rendering, parallax and normal mapping, soft shadows, motion blur, widescreen support, weather effects and day/night cycles. As with other engines that use deferred shading, the X-Ray Engine does not support multisample anti-aliasing with dynamic lighting enabled. However, a different form of anti-aliasing can be enabled with dynamic lighting which utilizes an edge detection algorithm to smooth edges between objects.[11] The game takes place in a thirty square kilometer area, and both the outside and inside of this area are rendered to the same amount of detail. Some textures in the game were photographs of the walls in the developers' studio.[12] As of patch 1.0003 the X-Ray Engine supports 'surround screen' monitor setups, including a 16:9 native resolution ratio.
The X-ray engine uses GSC Game World's proprietary ALife artificial intelligence engine. ALife supports more than one thousand characters inhabiting the Zone. These characters are non-scripted, meaning that AI life can be developed even when not in contact with the player. The NPCs have a full life cycle (task accomplishment, combat, rest, feeding and sleep) and the same applies to the many monsters living in the Zone (hunting, attacking stalkers and other monsters, resting, eating, sleeping). These monsters migrate in large groups. The non-scripted nature of the characters means that there are an unlimited number of random quests. For instance, rescuing stalkers from danger, destroying stalker renegades, protecting or attacking stalker camps or searching for treasure. The AI characters travel around the entire Zone as they see fit. Several attack tactics were cut for difficulty reasons, including the ability for enemies to heal wounded allies and give orders.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. uses a heavily modified version of the ODE physics engine. Ragdoll physics, destructible objects, realistic bullet ballistics and skeletal animation can all be found in the game. Bullets are affected by gravity, bounced against solid surfaces at oblique angles, and firearms are highly inaccurate when fired without aiming. To score consistent hits at medium or long range, players must aim using the iron sights on their guns. Additionally, hit damage is pseudo-realistic, and the player can die after only being shot a few times (although later in the game various armor suits and artifacts can be acquired that increase the player's resistance to damage). Late-game depends heavily on scoped weaponry due to the well-armed and armored enemies that keep their distance from the player.[13]
A weather system is integrated into various parts of the landscape and allows a variety of weather effects, such as sunshine, storms and showers. The weapons available, behavior of the AI, game tactics and ranking systems depend on the weather. Unlike most dynamic weather systems, the game features complete dynamic wet surfaces such as pavement, concrete, brick walls, etc.
The game features ambient music by Frey Vladimir aka 'MoozE'. It also has three songs from the Ukrainian band Firelake.
Development and release[edit]
The game was first announced by GSC Game World in November 2001, as S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Oblivion Lost,[14] although it had been talked about as early as 2000.[15] It had its release date, originally as summer 2003, pushed back several times. Meanwhile, hundreds of screenshots of the game had been released, as well as a dozen preview video clips, accompanied by other forms of promotion by GSC, such as inviting fans to their offices in Kiev to play the current build of the game. However, due to the delays some considered S.T.A.L.K.E.R. to be vaporware.[16]
In late December 2003, a pre-alpha build of the game was leaked to peer-to-peer file sharing networks.[15] This build, marked as version 1096, inadvertently acted as a fully functional tech demo of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s engine, despite its lack of NPC enemies and fauna.[17] After that, with the game missing the 2003 release date and still far from being finished, the publisher THQ sent Dean Sharpe (the later CEO of Metro developer 4A Games, which would be formed by some ex-members of GSC Game World who had worked on Shadow of Chernobyl) to oversee cutting many features and downsizing the overall scale and ambitions to save it from development hell, leaving much of it to be picked up in a sequel.[15]
In February 2005, THQ expressed a desire to see the game released toward the end of its 2006 fiscal year (31 March 2006) but maintained that no release date had been set.[18] In October 2005, THQ confirmed that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. would not be out 'until the second half of THQ's 2007 fiscal year - October 2006 at the earliest.'[19] In February 2006, THQ revised this possible release window, saying the game would not be in stores until the first quarter of 2007.[20] In an interview at the Russian Gameland Awards, PR Manager Oleg Yavorsky indicated that release was planned for September 2006. In 2006, the game came 9th in Wired's Vaporware '06 award.[21]
THQ ran a competition in January 2007 offering the winners the chance to play the beta version of S.T.A.L.K.E.R., in a 24-hour marathon session. The event, scheduled to take place on 24 January 2007, was subsequently changed to a 12-hour session days before it was supposed to occur. On the morning of the event, the winners were met at the venue by the THQ staff that had organized the event, who were embarrassed to report that they had been unable to get any copies of the game. In late February GSC managed to release a public beta. A multiplayer demo was released to the public on 15 March 2007. On 2 March 2007, it was announced that the game went gold.[22]
In February 2009, due to popular, demand GSC Game World released 'xrCore' build 1935, dated 18 October 2004.[23] It uses a completely different physics engine with many cut monsters, levels, and vehicles. It was also significantly larger than the retail release. It is however somewhat unstable, but features the full game along with a 'fully functional ALife system'. It is currently available for free download from the GSC servers and mirrors.[24] Multiple other builds of the game have been since publicly released as well, along with design documents.
Reception[edit]
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Critical reception[edit]
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl received generally positive reviews, with critics praising the game for its style and depth while criticising technical issues, mentioning the number of bugs present. It received a score of 82.70% on GameRankings[25] and 82/100 on Metacritic.[26]
The game design of the Zone was one of the most favored aspects. GameSpot praised the style and level design, stating 'This is a bleak game, but in a good way, as it captures its post apocalyptic setting perfectly',[28] while Eurogamer called it 'one of the scariest games on the PC', going on to say 'Like the mythological Chernobyl zone it is based upon, this game is a treacherous, darkly beautiful terrain.'[27]Game Informer did not find the gameplay particularly innovative, but still complimented the basic FPS design, saying, 'S.T.A.L.K.E.R. isn’t the revolution that we all hoped it would be. It is, however, a respectable and sometimes excellent first-person adventure'[30] whereas GameSpot called it 'one of the best ballistics models ever seen in a game, and as a result, firefights feel authentic as you try and hit someone with what can be a wildly inaccurate rifle'.[28]
Upon release, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. was criticized for having numerous bugs, especially when used with the then-recently released Windows Vista. IGN found the game 'tended to stutter quite often, sometimes pausing for three or four seconds at regular intervals, which occurred on two different Windows XP computers at maximum visual quality,' and some cases of game crashing glitches.[31] Another criticized aspect was the story, which to some reviewers was 'incoherent'[28] and which PC Gamer stated 'fails in the specific story of your character'.[32]
Awards[edit]
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. won the Special Achievement award for Best Atmosphere in GameSpot's Best and Worst 2007, stating that 'S.T.A.L.K.E.R. captures the 'ghost town' nature of the zone, from the abandoned cities to the overgrown wilderness. Then, the game adds its own paranormal elements, which help make a spooky environment almost terrifying at times.'[33]
Sales[edit]
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. received a 'Silver' sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA),[34] indicating sales of at least 100,000 copies in the United Kingdom.[35] As of September 2008, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. has sold 2 million copies worldwide. GSC Game World CEO Sergiy Grygorovych has said 'We are very pleased that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. became so popular among players from all over the world. Financial success will allow us to develop S.T.A.L.K.E.R. in different directions as a brand.'[36]
Legacy[edit]
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky[edit]
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky is a prequel set a year before Shadow of Chernobyl. The game world consists of a mix of old, redesigned areas and completely new levels. The updated engine supports the Inverse Kinematics animation system, allowing more and better animations. New effects such as volumetric lighting were also included. In general, the developers sought to take the basics of everything in Shadow of Chernobyl and enhance them. Better AI, graphics and new game-play additions, such as faction wars, were some of the added features.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat[edit]
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat is a sequel set after the events in Shadow of Chernobyl. The game features new areas recreated by their true-to-life locales such as Pripyat town, Yanov Railway Station, Jupiter Factory, Kopachi Village and more. Other features include an improved A-Life system, a new player interface, a brand-new story and a number of unique characters, two new monsters and behavior and abilities, an extended system of side quests, a sleep function and a free play mode.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Oblivion Lost restoration projects[edit]
In 2014, a mod aimed at restoring cancelled features from the early versions of the game was released as a standalone game titled S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Lost Alpha,[37] development of which has since still continued with Lost Alpha - Developer's Cut released in 2017. Rock, Paper, Shotgun's Craig Pearson praised many aspects of the 2004 version, but also noted the presence of stability problems and bugs.[38] There have been also other similar projects of various scope and scale, including Oblivion Lost,[39]Oblivion Lost Remake,[40]Paradise Lost,[41] and Old Storyline Restoration Mod (RMA).[42]
References[edit]
- ^'S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl'. www.stalker-game.com. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
- ^Kroft, Steve (13 December 1999). 'Chernobyl Revisited'. CBS News.
- ^'S.t.a.l.k.e.r. Zone World'. GSC Game World. Retrieved 24 July 2008.
- ^'S.t.a.l.k.e.r. Zone World'. GSC Game World. Archived from the original on 26 October 2007. Retrieved 24 July 2008.
- ^'Electro'. GSC Game World. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
- ^'Vortex'. GSC Game World. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
- ^'Burner'. GSC Game World. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
- ^'Artefacts'. GSC Game World. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
- ^'STALKER Vehicle-Mod'. pcgames.de. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
- ^'Transport Mod - S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - GameFront'. filefront.com. 8 April 2007. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
- ^Shishkovtsov, Oles. 'Deferred Shading in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.' GSC Game World. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
- ^'PC Gamer UK' (135). May 2004: 38–41.
- ^'Game Review Only' (28 November 2007). 'S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl'. Archived from the original on 12 March 2008. Retrieved 28 November 2007.
- ^Bramwell, Tom (11 November 2002). 'Stalker trails into view'. Eurogamer. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
- ^ abcPurchese, Robert (31 July 2018). 'The Californian sent to save Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl from development hell'. Eurogamer. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
- ^'Top 10 Tuesday: Modern Vaporware'. IGN. Retrieved 31 March 2007.
- ^'STALKER Pre-Alpha Leaked'. MegaGames. 2 January 2004. Archived from the original on 19 June 2008. Retrieved 18 June 2008.
- ^Adams, David. 'S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Delayed'. IGN. Retrieved 31 March 2007.
- ^'Stalker'. GameSpot. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
- ^Sinclair, Brendan (3 February 2006). 'THQ announces holiday results, delays S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'gamespot.com. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
- ^Calore, Michael (27 December 2006). 'Vaporware '06: Return of the King'. Wired. Retrieved 21 January 2011.
- ^''S.T.A.L.K.E.R.' Goes Gold'. GSC Game World. 2 March 2007. Retrieved 13 May 2007.
- ^'S.T.A.L.K.E.R. build 1935 released for free download'Archived 22 June 2009 at the Wayback Machine ClanBase. Retrieved 1 March 2009.
- ^'S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow Of Chernobyl, build 1935, Oct 18, 2004'. gsc-game.com. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
- ^ ab'S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl Reviews'. GameRankings. Retrieved 7 November 2007.
- ^ ab'S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl Reviews'. Metacritic. Retrieved 7 November 2007.
- ^ abRossignol, Jim (7 March 2007). 'Reviews = S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl // PC'. Eurogamer. Retrieved 7 November 2007.
- ^ abcdOcampo, Jason (20 March 2007). 'Reviews = S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl // PC'. GameSpot. Archived from the original on 12 October 2007. Retrieved 7 November 2007.
- ^Kuo, Li (5 February 2007). 'GameSpy: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl'. GameSpy. Retrieved 10 August 2009.
- ^ abBiessener, Adam (March 2007). 'S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl review'. Game Informer. Archived from the original on 27 October 2007. Retrieved 7 November 2007.
- ^ abOnyett, Charles (19 March 2007). 'S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl Review'. IGN. Retrieved 7 November 2007.
- ^'GamesRadar+'. computerandvideogames.com. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
- ^'GameSpot's Best and Worst 2007: Best Atmosphere'. GameSpot. 24 December 2007. Archived from the original on 10 March 2010. Retrieved 24 December 2007.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
- ^'ELSPA Sales Awards: Silver'. Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association. Archived from the original on 21 February 2009.
- ^Caoili, Eric (26 November 2008). 'ELSPA: Wii Fit, Mario Kart Reach Diamond Status In UK'. Gamasutra. Archived from the original on 18 September 2017.
- ^'S.T.A.L.K.E.R. official site'. GSC Game World. 3 September 2008. Retrieved 3 September 2008.
- ^'S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Lost Alpha mod'. Mod DB. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
- ^'Impressions: Stalker: Lost Alpha'. rockpapershotgun.com. 12 May 2014. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
- ^'S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Oblivion Lost 3.1 mod'. Mod DB. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
- ^'Oblivion Lost Remake mod for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl'. Mod DB. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
- ^'Paradise Lost Modification for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl'. Mod DB. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
- ^'Old Storyline Restoration Mod (RMA) for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl'. Mod DB. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl. |
- S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl at MobyGames
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=S.T.A.L.K.E.R.:_Shadow_of_Chernobyl&oldid=904489197'
It’s been nearly a decade since the launch of STALKER: Call of Pripyat, the last of Ukrainian studio GSC Game World’s trilogy of bleak and atmospheric open-world survival shooters. It is memorable for being set in a fictionalised and incredibly haunted vision of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, which is not only irradiated but overrun with reality-warping anomalies and mutant monsters.
The series puts you in the shoes of freelancing mercenaries – the titular STALKERs – wandering this horrific environment in search of fame, glory, or perhaps just a big payout.
STALKER has developed a strong modding scene with an appropriately devil-may-care attitude regarding the reuse of each other’s work, and even the legal status of the games themselves. It would be foolish to try to summarise even half of the mods produced, so instead, let’s take a look at the three titanic projects that define the STALKER mod scene as it stands today, each one built on a foundation of dozens of smaller projects and two standalone releases.
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This should help tide you over to 2021, the year GSC Game World estimates for Stalker 2’s release date. So, here we present, in order of their accessibility to newcomers, the Big Three:
STALKER: Lost Alpha: Developer’s Cut
By Dezowave (ModDB page)
The original STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl was a bit of a mess. The result of years of protracted development hell, it was buggy at launch, and had swathes of planned content left on the cutting room floor. Lost Alpha is a community passion project that picks up the pieces. It is the result of poring over details from leaked test builds of the game, design documents, and early magazine previews, from which the fan team then assembled their own version of the game. This is the game STALKER could have been.
More punishment? Here are the best survival games on PC
Despite retelling the story of the original game, albeit with a few more cutscenes and quests to improve coherence, Lost Alpha introduces a slew of new features. The majority come from later games in the series – Call of Pripyat’s weapon upgrade system, for example – but many are entirely new. The most liberating is the ability to purchase and maintain vehicles to drive around the greatly expanded world map, while the larger environments allow more room for the AI factions to live and breathe, lending the Zone a new and unpredictable edge.
Lost Alpha also tries to increase immersion through basic survival simulation aspects. Food, water and sleep are important, although not as demanding or frustrating as they initially sound. Inventory management is a little more complex too, with your backpack and combat-accessible toolbelt (make sure you put your bullets in there) becoming separate panels.
The end result is both nostalgic and exciting for what it adds, while also becoming more accessible for newcomers – an aspect underscored by the inclusion of a slickly-produced PDF manual. Lost Alpha is a visual treat so long as you’ve got a PC capable of running it. Built on a much later release of the original’s X-Ray engine, you’ll need a beast of a rig to dial the game up to its higher settings, but it is scaleable enough as to run decently on just about any recent gaming PC. That said, an SSD helps mitigate some long load times enormously regardless of your machine.
STALKER: Call of Chernobyl
By Team Epic (ModDB page)
Call of Chernobyl is the most straightforward of the big three STALKER mods. As far as game mechanics go, it is as plain as they come, and no more advanced in the graphics department than Call of Pripyat. But that is not a mark against it given that the main appeal of this mod is found elsewhere: CoC is a huge, non-linear sandbox. It is an ideal next step for players who have completed at least one game in the trilogy and now want to explore.
Call of Chernobyl features a huge non-linear world consisting of every map from all three original games, plus several all-new environments. While there is an optional Story Mode offering some direction, it is easily eschewed in favour of more free-form play. Pick a character from any faction, complete missions, explore, and scavenge. It is the core elements of STALKER without any of the fluff, and lets the AI factions – human, monster, and animal alike – do their thing unrestricted, capturing locations, getting into fights, and generally making the world feel alive.
Call of Chernobyl features a few alternative play modes, including a zombie survival scenario, but the best of them is absolutely Azazel mode. It is part roguelike and part quantum leap, in which dying immediately transplants you into the body of your nearest squadmate – or a random NPC if you haven’t picked up any friends.
A huge, non-linear world
It is not uncommon to find yourself on the opposite side of a battle after death, or even in the shoes of the man who just killed you. Dying in games is very rarely this exciting: one untimely death might lead into a dangerous (and potentially ironically lethal) quest to find your previous loot-laden corpse.
Rather pleasingly, Call of Chernobyl also has a burgeoning mod scene of its own, with add-ons ranging from weapon packs to AI overhauls, and quite a few rebalances. You are free to tweak, tinker, and tune until you get the STALKER sandbox you are happiest with.
MISERY
By Misery Development Ltd (ModDB page)
Billed as a ‘full-concept modification’, Misery lives up to its name. Picture it as a gruelling depiction of a life scavenging for money, ammunition, and meaning in a hellish wasteland that chews up and spits out human spirit. Get used to seeing the world through the grimy, damp visor of your helmet, with only the barest hints of a HUD to orient you in the world and help you manage the minutiae of daily life in the Zone.
Misery is a gorgeous-looking mod
As depressing and bleak as Misery is, it is an often gorgeous-looking mod, especially in terms of texture detail and lighting. This comes at the cost of higher detail settings absolutely trashing even high-end gaming PCs – beyond even Lost Alpha’s efforts. But at least you can watch the developers’ live-action intro video before your rig crashes. The short further drives home the desperate, lonely atmosphere of Misery, instilling a sense that the devs have suffered to create this art, and want you to suffer with them.
The STALKER games were never easy, but Misery is positively cruel. For less masochistic players, the mod does offer reduced difficulty with ‘Rookie’ mode, which you can choose during installation. Lower AI weapon accuracy, reduced damage taken, and a slightly less brutal economy does drastically raise your survivability, but only to the point of it taking two or three solid bursts of gunfire to kill you instead of just one.
To enjoy Misery you must immerse yourself totally in the harrowing situation, both in and out of combat. Long-term survival requires you to strip old weapons for parts and use precious glue and fabric to maintain your own equipment. There are a thousand fiddly pieces added here and an absurd number of new items to use or sell. It is intense and demanding, but given that it is currently ranked as the single most popular mod on ModDB, there is clearly a market for this bleak survivalist simulation.
The Misery team’s ambitions don’t end there, either – with the release of version 2.2, they now plan on officially porting their mod to support Call of Chernobyl, in all its free, standalone enormity, effectively creating a sprawling gestalt hybrid. A true standalone sandbox simulation of life in one of the worst places on Earth imaginable. If nothing else, Azazel mode will help the bitter pill of sudden death go down a little easier.
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So, I have been waiting to finally play the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Series, and it would be logical to start with SOC, and I know that it would be certainly better if I play it with mods to enhance the overall experience.
So, I would really appreciate some advice about what mods I should choose to play with from the following list I made and categorized according to everything I have heard.
The subtle Graphical and Bug-fixing ones:
Xhorse mvci driver for toyota. Starter Pack
So, this is a combination of Zone Reclamation Project, which fixes most bugs, and several small Graphical Mods that enhance the experiece. Overall, this seems like the perfect Vanilla mod, which does not add anything substantially new, just fixes the old.
Stalker Complete
Seems to be the most popular Vanilla-like Mod, improves the Game graphically and fixes bugs, though is often rightfully critisized for making the Game too easy by messing with Game Mechanics a bit too much, as well as it's graphical improvements being rather minor and outdated, so to speak.
Autumn Aurora 2
Being probably the best Graphical Mod for SOC, it makes the Game kinda beautiful, it also fixes bugs, slightly enhances Gameplay in a number of ways.
Content Mods:
Oblivion Lost
A Content Mod that seems to add quite a few new cool substantial Mechanics to the Game. The quality of this Mod is of rather high standard, so it seems. It also seems to be featured in many Modpacks. If so, what are some of the best ones?
Oblivion Lost Remake
This Content Mod aims to bring us the Scrapped Stalker experience, based on early builds of SOC. Seems to be kinda polished too, which is surprising to say the least. And I've heard Version 3.0 is coming out, so even more room for greatness. Also, it is Standalone.
Lost Alpha: DC
Another Content Mod that tries to bring us the early Stalker experience, but seems to be somewhat disliked due to some Fan-fictiony directions of the new Plot, as well as adding useless/unfun mechanics. The good thing is that the development seems alive and existant, unlike for some other Stalker Mods. Is also Standalone, which is nice.
Paradise Lost
Yet another Old Stalker Restoration Project, though still in Heavy Development, looks really promising, excited to see it grow.
RMA
And another Old Content Restoration Mod. Seems to be smaller than LA and OLR, but still carries the same premise. Overall, a nice mix of Vanilla and OLR. Seems to have a few cool Addons.
OGSE
A HUGE Content Mod that enhances the Game in every way possible, while also being of respectable quaility. Is likely one of the most well-regarded Mods in the Stalker Community. Is also Standalone???
AMK Autumn Edition
A Meaty Content Mod + A Beautiful Graphical Mod seems like a generally great Combo. AMK is also one of those Grandpa Mods, so it is supposedly quite stable and polished. It should be noted AMK has a lot of other Editions.
RadioPhobia 2
Another Graphical + Content Mod, seems to be pretty interesting, but a bit light on new Content. Has a couple of Addons.
L.U.R.K.
Another big Content Mod, though with a goal to make the Game much harder and more realistic, which, from what I've heard, can go too far.. Also, it removes the whole Artifact Mechanic, which is a definite 'No-no!' for me.
N.L.C. 7
And yet another big Content Mod that makes SOC much more difficult, though this Mod specifially is sometimes compared to MISERY in that regard, being unfairly hard. Though the Content added seems to be pretty neat.
O.F.F.L.I.F.E.
A Freeplay Mod that creates probably the most Live Version of the Zone yet. It feels truly Alive and Dynamic.
Narodnaya Solyanka/Stalker Soup/It's Versions
Basically giant Modpacks, each containing like hundreds of Mods. Has hundreds of quests, weapons, mutants, new Mechanics. The thing is, it doesn't seem to mesh together all that well, the amazing atmosphere of SOC is damaged and even ruined.
So, what do You think?
7 comments
Since GSC Game World’s S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl was released back in 2007, the game has stayed alive through its healthy modding community. Popular modding site ModDB offers hundreds of mods for Shadow of Chernobyl and its sequels, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat.
There are mods offering everything from slight tweaks to full-blown, standalone adventures set the chilling, post-apocalyptic universe. If you don’t want to wait for the supposed 2021 release of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, we’ve chosen our favorite mods to the base series. Get ready to get reacquainted with this classic first-person shooter as The Zone changes before your eyes.
Lost Alpha: Developer’s Cut
Requires: No S.T.A.L.K.E.R. version required
Lost Alpha is a mod which lovingly recreates what developer dez0wave considers, “the original version of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.” The game as it was originally back in 2002, years prior to Shadow of Chernobyl’s release. Lost Alpha features an expansive world built with many of the game’s original assets, including both remade versions of levels from the original game as well as all-new levels to explore. It’s worth noting that Lost Alpha is a standalone mod, and doesn’t actually require any version of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. This means you don’t even have to own the game to play Lost Alpha.
Call of Chernobyl
Requires: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call of Pripyat
TeamEPIC’s Call of Chernobyl is a massive mod for the third game in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series, Call of Pripyat. Many new customizations options have been added, allowing you to customize everything from your character to the weather in each of the game’s 32 maps. Call of Chernobyl features an excellent “Freeplay mode,” offering an open world similar to Bethesda’s Fallout 3 or The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. There’s also welcome UI changes, visual improvements, and an overhaul of the game’s AI and A-Life event system. It’s easy to see why Call of Chernobyl was selected as ModDB’s 2016 Mod of the Year.
Dead Air
Requires: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat
Dead Air builds on Call of Chernobyl’s massive world and offers an all-new S.T.A.L.K.E.R. experience, improving nearly every aspect of Call of Pripyat. Dead Air lets you customize your S.T.A.L.K.E.R. experience right from the start, offering character customization, allowing you to select perks to tweak your character’s ability. Dead Air features a huge graphical overhaul, offering the ability to adjust the scenery, in case fog is really your thing. If you’re new to the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series, Dead Air might not be the best place to start, as it can be mercilessly unforgiving. If you are up to the challenge, Redditor HuntyDaPro offers some great tips to help you get started.
AMK: Autumn Edition
Requires: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl
AMK: Autumn Edition combines two separate mods, AMK and Autumn Aurora, to offer a visually pleasing, improved Shadow of Chernobyl experience. In AMK, guns look (and function) better, enemy spawns are increased, economy is improved, new quests are available, and other quality of life changes have been introduced. AMK improves many aspects of the vanilla game without changing too much. Autumn Aurora drastically improves Shadow of Chernobyl’s atmosphere, creating an immersive new world featuring overhauled graphics as well as improved sound and music. AA also features some fairly drastic gameplay changes, making surviving Chernobyl’s harsh world quite a bit more difficult. However, if you’re looking for a great “all in one” mod, look no further.
Radiophobia 2
Requires: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl
Radiophobia 2 is a newer addition to S.T.A.L.K.E.R.’s catalogue of mods, and one of few receiving regular updates in 2018. Radiophobia 2 overhauls the base game’s combat system while also introducing notable graphical improvements, overall improving the atmosphere of the game. There are a handful of modifications to the difficulty as well, through improved AI and increased spawn rates.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. | |
---|---|
Genre(s) | First-person shooter Survival horror |
Developer(s) | GSC Game World |
Publisher(s) | |
Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows |
First release | Shadow of Chernobyl 20 March 2007 |
Latest release | Call of Pripyat 2 October 2009 |
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. (Scavengers, Trespassers, Adventurers, Loners, Killers, Explorers and Robbers) is a series of first-person shootersurvival horror video games developed by Ukrainian video game developer GSC Game World for Microsoft Windows. The games are set in the area surrounding the Chernobyl disaster site, colloquially known as the Zone, in an alternative reality where a second explosion occurs at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant some time after the first and causes strange changes in the area around it.
- 2Plot
Setting[edit]
2007 | S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl |
2008 | S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky |
2009 | S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat |
2010 | |
2011 | |
2012 | |
2013 | |
2014 | |
2015 | |
2016 | |
2017 | |
2018 | |
2019 | |
2020 | |
2021 | S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 |
Attendees of fan festival Stalker-Fest 2009
Based loosely on the novel Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky and its film adaptation Stalker by Andrei Tarkovsky,[1] the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games take place within the Zone, an alternate history version of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. In the world of the games, experimental labs were made in the Exclusion Zone which allowed scientists to experiment with psychic abilities which arose following the disaster. Their experimentation resulted in a second disaster, causing physical and meteorological phenomena to manifest throughout the Zone, as well as the mutation of fauna and some humans.[2] The Zone is littered with such anomalies: hazardous entities which seemingly defy physics, having various effects on any object entering them.[3]
Anomalies also often produce items known as artifacts, objects with special physical properties such as anti-gravity, or absorbing radiation.[4] People known as stalkers enter the Zone in hopes of finding such items for personal financial gain. While a great number of stalkers work alone, various factions populate the Zone, each with their own philosophies and goals. For example, the Duty faction believe that the Zone is the greatest threat to humanity on the planet and are intent on destroying it by any means possible; by contrast, the Freedom faction believe the Zone should be accessible to all.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine maintain a cordon around the Zone, attempting to prevent any unauthorised personnel from entering. Additionally, Ukrainian Spetsnaz units conduct special operations within the Zone such as surgical strikes on stalkers or to secure specific targets. Other hostile entities within the Zone include humans and other creatures mutated following the two disasters, many of them possessing aggressive psionic abilities.
The protagonists of each game have their own goals separate to those of the various factions, however they are presented opportunities to aid in the plans of others. Generally, the ultimate objective of each game involves reaching the centre of the Zone, a task complicated by the various threats and hazards present therein.
Plot[edit]
Shadow of Chernobyl (2007)[edit]
In the first game of the series, the player takes on the role of an amnesiac stalker referred to as the 'Marked One', who is tasked with killing another stalker named Strelok. During the course of the game, the protagonist uncovers clues to his past and true identity while helping other stalkers and fighting the mutated creatures that inhabit the Zone. Shadow of Chernobyl features multiple endings, all of which are dependent on multiple controllable factors, such as money earned during the game, or how much of the protagonist's memory was pieced together.
Clear Sky (2008)[edit]
Clear Sky, the second game released of the series, is a prequel to Shadow of Chernobyl. The player assumes the role of Scar, a veteran mercenary. The lone survivor following a huge energy emission he was caught in while guiding a group of scientists through the Zone, he is rescued by and works with Clear Sky, a faction dedicated to researching and understanding the nature of the Zone.[5] Throughout the game, the player can choose to have Scar side with or against certain factions in the area to help achieve Clear Sky's goal.
Call of Pripyat (2009)[edit]
The third game in the series, Call of Pripyat takes place shortly after the events of Shadow of Chernobyl. Having discovered the open path to the center of the Zone, the government decides to take control of it via 'Operation Fairway', in which they plan to thoroughly investigate the territory before dispatching the main military force. Despite these preparations, the military operation fails, with all helicopters crashing. In order to determine the cause of the crashes, the Security Service of Ukraine sends former stalker Major Degtyarev into the Zone.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2[edit]
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 was announced in August 2010, with a release date scheduled for 2012.[6] Sergiy Grygorovych, CEO of GSC Game World, specified that the video game featured a completely new multi-platform engine, written by GSC itself.[7] On 23 December 2011, GSC Game World announced they would be continuing development of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, despite an earlier announcement pointing to its cancellation.[8] However, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 was cancelled yet again by GSC Game World through a Twitter post on 25 April 2012.[9]
Development of a new S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 was announced on 15 May 2018 with a post on the Cossacks 3 Facebook page.[10] The post links to a site[11] that displays the text 'S.T.A.L.K.E.R.2 2.0.2.1', implying a planned release year of 2021 powered by the Unreal Engine 4.[12] In May 2018, Sergey Galyonkin, the creator of Steam Spy, tweeted that GSC Game World would create a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, using Unreal Engine 4.[13] Shortly the GSC website mentioned that the company was working on S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, and a teaser website appeared mentioning the release date of 2021.[14] It was suggested that the game was still in the design phase, and was announced just before E3 2018 so it could find a publisher.[15]
Related games[edit]
Metro, another series of Ukrainian first-person shooter games based on Russian post-apocalyptic science fiction literature, was created by some ex-members of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. development team who have left to form 4A Games in 2006 before the release of Shadows of Chernobyl.
The former S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 team opened a new studio, Vostok Games, in 2012. In 2015, they released a free-to-play massively multiplayer online first-person shooter game titled Survarium in the spirit of the franchise, using ideas they created for the cancelled sequel.[16] Their new project is a battle royale game set in Chernobyl, titled Fear the Wolves.
In 2014, West-Games, which claimed to be composed of former S.T.A.L.K.E.R. core developers (according to both GSC Game World[17] and Vostok Games,[18] falsely) launched a Kickstarter campaign for a spiritual successor to S.T.A.L.K.E.R. called first Areal[19] and then STALKER Apocalypse. While it managed to reach its goal of $50,000, multiple concerns were raised throughout the campaign about the project being a possible scam, and Kickstarter eventually suspended the campaign two days before its deadline, for undisclosed reasons.[20][21]
Reception[edit]
The S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series has received favorable reviews from gaming websites. By August 2010, the franchise had sold over 4 million copies.[22]
References[edit]
- ^'In the Zone of Alienation: Tarkovsky as Video Game'. 1 May 2012. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
- ^'S.t.a.l.k.e.r. Zone World'. GSC Game World. Archived from the original on 26 October 2007. Retrieved 24 July 2008.
- ^'S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl Review - IGN'. 19 March 2007. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
- ^'Retrospective: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl'. 13 September 2009. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
- ^More details for S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky
- ^'S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 studio facing uncertain future'. GameSpot. 12 December 2011. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
- ^'S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 official announcement'.
- ^'STALKER 2 Still In Development; GSC Working To Get The Game Released'. Cinemablend.com. 23 December 2011. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
- ^S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 canceled - GameSpot.com
- ^'Facebook'. www.facebook.com. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
- ^'S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2'. www.stalker2.com. Retrieved 16 May 2018.
- ^'N4G'. www.n4g.com. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
- ^'STALKER 2 announced, scheduled for 2021 release'. Polygon. 15 May 2018. Retrieved 16 May 2008.
- ^'S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is coming in 2021, apparently'. Destructoid. 15 May 2018. Retrieved 16 May 2008.
- ^'STALKER 2 was only announced so the devs could find a publisher'. PCGamesN. 29 May 2018. Retrieved 17 June 2008.
the game is currently in the design doc phase, and developers GSC GameWorld are hoping to secure a publisher at E3.(..)Galyonkin, however, suggests that that date could be wishful thinking, as the game doesn’t actually have a publisher at this point.
- ^'STALKER 2 Gets Cancelled, Developers Open New Studio'. Cinemablend.com. 25 April 2012. Retrieved 22 May 2012.
- ^Hall, Charlie (22 December 2014). 'The original developer of STALKER re-opens, has a good laugh, announces new game'. Polygon. Retrieved 16 June 2015.
- ^Purchese, Robert (25 June 2014). ''Definitive spiritual successor' to S.T.A.L.K.E.R. hits Kickstarter'. Eurogamer. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
- ^Tach, Dave (24 June 2014). 'STALKER devs working on survival horror spiritual successor Areal'. Polygon. Vox Media. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
- ^Andy Chalk (19 December 2014). 'Crowd funding firm denies links with STALKER Apocalypse studio'. PC Gamer. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
- ^Kain, Erik. 'Kickstarter 'Areal' Scam Is Back With 'STALKER Apocalypse' On Shady New Crowdfunding Site'. Forbes. Retrieved 17 May 2019.
- ^http://gsc-game.com/index.php?t=news
External links[edit]
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