The Marked One pulled the hood of his survival jacket over his head as he slowly approached the military checkpoint at the collapsed bridge. Two soldiers were standing directly in front of the makeshift barricade of old construction equipment and railroad cars from the collapsed bridge behind them. Another was standing on top of a rusted sewer drain pipe. If Sidorovich was wrong about him being able to bribe his way through…

 

Private Efremov spotted the intruder first He brought up his AKM 74/2 and aimed down the sights at the approaching man’s head, safety off and on full auto.

 

“Halt!” Sergeant Gorohin shouted, drawing a bead on the figure with his AKM. The man froze in his tracks and kept his hands up in plain sight.

 

Marked One remained motionless as the Sergeant and Private approached. The other soldier on top of the drain pipe was aiming through the scope of his Obokan rifle right between the Marked One’s eyes.

 

“Well, well,” Gorohin said, glaring up and down at Marked One. “What do we have here? Another Stalker sniffing around in a restricted area looking to get rich quick.”

 

“He must be a newbie, sir,” Efremov said, eyeing Marked One with a mixture of amusement and contempt. “I don’t think he knows how much deep shit he’s in.”

 

“Private, I think you’re absolutely correct.” He stepped up in Marked One’s face, studied him for a moment and frowned. “You know my friend, you look familiar to me. Have we met before?”

 

“I don’t think so.” Marked One told him. If they did, he wouldn’t have remembered anyway. Gorohin’s hard, dark eyes scanned every square inch of Marked One’s steely visage.

 

“Well…fortunately for you, I’m in a good mood, so I’ll give you some advice rather than a bullet. Turn around and go back where you came from. Now!”

 

Marked One didn’t budge or blink. “How much?” he asked.

 

Private Efremov jammed the barrel of his weapon under Marked One’s chin. He didn’t even flinch. “What are you, you stupid sonofabitch—deaf?! The Sergeant told you to get your sorry ass out of here!!” Efremov snarled.

 

Marked One rolled his eyes over towards the Sergeant. “How much?”

 

Gorohin smiled, reached over and pulled the barrel of Efremov’s AKM out from under Marked One’s chin. Efremov lowered his assault rifle, and backed away, jaw clenched in anger. Goddamn Stalkers. He could kill them all. He wanted to kill Marked One. Maybe he would still get a chance to do so.

 

“You got big balls, my friend,” Gorohin laughed. “Five hundred rubles.”

 

Marked One slowly reached in his jacket with two fingers, pulled out the money and gave it to him.

 

“Ahh…Excellent! A pleasure doing business with you, my friend.” He motioned towards the checkpoint with his rifle. “Have a pleasant evening.”

 

Marked One slowly turned and walked towards the checkpoint. He didn’t need eyes in the back of his head to tell him that Gorohin and Efremov were raising their weapons to shoot him in the back. The smirk on the face of the soldier standing on top of the drain pipe as he casually slung his rifle against his shoulder, told him that.

 

That smirk suddenly disappeared—along with a good portion of his head as it was blown off by a hail of gunfire. Marked One dove for cover behind the burned and rusted husk of an old bulldozer, drawing his HPSS-1m 9 millimeter.

 

“Bandits!” Efremov shouted, blasting away at the shadowy figures clad in black leather jackets, hoods and ski masks that were storming the checkpoint. Gorohin took cover behind an embankment, and opened up on them. One spun and danced like a rag doll as Gorohin’s shots found their mark. Another screamed and clutched his chest as blood spurted from it like a fountain. One Bandit fired back wildly with his Viper 5 in one hand as he tried to drag his critically wounded comrade to cover with the other. He didn’t make it. Efremov cut him down with the remainder of his clip. A volley of hot lead sent Efremov flying backwards, dead before he hit the ground.

 

Gorohin slapped a clip into his AKM as the Bandit who had just killed Efremov came running from behind the cover of a boxcar and charged him, yelling as he fired his Viper 5 from the hip. The Sergeant emptied his AKM into the thug, but not before the 9mm slugs from the Viper 5 tore into his guts.

 

Marked One cautiously peered from the cover of the bulldozer, his HPSS-1m at the ready. It was over. All that was left were the moans of the dying.

 

And in the distance, howling.

 

Marked One raided a stash the soldiers had at the checkpoint. Another Obokan with a scope in excellent condition;  ammo, some food, a Medkit, and two bottles of Vodka. He slug the Obokan around his neck and loaded it.

 

Gorohin rasped in agony as he feebly clutched at the pool of red frothing from his stomach, through the blur of his dying vision, he saw his AKM lying within reach. It was inches away from his trembling fingers when someone picked it up—and yanked his sidearm from his holster. Gorohin’s eyes slipped back into focus. He saw the silhouette of the Marked One against the light of the moon and stars in the night sky, and heard the coldness in his voice as he removed the 500 rubles from his pocket.

 

“Looks like you won’t be needing this—my friend,” Marked One said, gesturing with the money in his hand before slipping it into his jacket, slinging Gorohin’s rifle on his shoulder, and tucking his pistol into his jacket’s side pocket.

 

“You…” Gorohin moaned. “You son…son of a…” The words trailed off.

 

The howling grew closer now. Marked One caught glimpses of huge shapes in the darkness. Shapes with glowing, deathly-pale eyes. The howling suddenly turned into growls. Hungry. Unnatural. Merciless. Gorohin hear it too. He closed his eyes and began to whimper.

 

Marked One turned and walked away.

 

A large part of S.T.A.L.K.E.R., and one of its challenges, is dealing with the various human factions in the game. With fierce competition over artifacts worth a healthy chunk of change to the scientific community outside the Zone and the fight to unlock its strange and horrifying secrets at any cost, it was inevitable that Stalkers would organize into different factions. Not just to increase their chances of survival in the hostile and dangerous environment of the Zone, but to increase their chances of survival against each other.

 

The majority of Stalkers in the Zone, are considered Loners, like the Marked One. Meaning they are not affiliated with the Zone’s other factions (although due to their numbers and inter-group cooperation, Loners could be considered a faction). Loners operate as “independent contractors.” Their relationship to the player in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is that of neutrality, unless the player behaves in a manner to change that. Of course, there are some “neutral” Stalkers who are unsavory and will try to rip you off—and kill you. Be careful.

 

Every frontier has its criminal element, and the Zone is no different. Whether they are there to cash in on artifacts, hide out from the law or find a safe haven for illicit activities where the law fears to tread, Bandits are a menace to just about everyone. They particularly like to prey upon rookie Stalkers entering the Zone. While Bandits will readily attack smaller Stalker camps and communities—especially if they are comprised mostly of rookie Stalkers—they avoid sending raiding parties to any Duty or Freedom encampments or military bases, which consists primarily of veteran and expert fighters. Occasionally, Bandits will attack Duty, Freedom or military patrols, or fight their way through military checkpoints, but the reprisal for such attacks are usually swift and brutal. Needless to say, Bandits have no qualms about going after one particular lone Stalker who has lost his identity and is looking for a mysterious figure named Strelok. Easily recognizable by their black leather jackets and ski masks, though they are not particularly well-armed, their numbers can make life difficult—and short—for the Stalker who underestimates them. Kill them on sight without any hesitation, before they do the same to you.

 

As far as the Military is concerned, Stalkers are a nuisance that must be contained and dealt with. Other Stalkers consider the soldiers operating in the Zone little more than Government-sponsored Bandits. Whether they are regulars or elite Spetsnaz, soldiers are another hostile faction that will shoot you on sight. Yes, you will be told by Sidorovich that he has a “good relationship” with the commander of the army base right down the road from his Stalker camp, and will admonish you to behave yourself and not start anything with the soldiers patrolling the road nearby. And yes, you might be able to bribe your way pass the checkpoint at the onset of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.’s primary campaign.

 

But the odds are good that after forking over the 500 rubles, the soldiers at the checkpoint will shoot you anyway just for the hell of it. And the odds are even better that the majority of soldiers you run across could care less that you are, in essence, “working” for Sidorovich or what kind of relationship he may have with one of the army base Honchos. There is more than one way to get past the checkpoint at the bridge that will lead you deeper into the Zone besides paying for the privilege of providing a bunch of obnoxious, trigger-happy yahoos some target practice (one of them doesn’t require that you fire a single shot or risk serious injury). These guys should definitely be placed on your Avoid if possible, Kill if necessary list.

 

Duty is a highly disciplined, organized and well-trained (and armed) paramilitary faction of Stalkers who, having experienced the Zone's dangers and horrors first-hand, believe the outside world must be protected from it and not treat it like some new, "wild frontier." As such, Duty is opposed to sharing any of the Zone's artifacts and other "scientific discoveries" with the outside world, particularly the private sector. In addition to collecting and turning in any artifacts or finds to government scientists, they also carry out operations against the Zone's growing mutant threat. Their ultimate goal is to work with anyone who is trying to find a way to stop the Zone's growing encroachment on the outside world.

 

Also highly disciplined, organized, well-trained (and armed), and at the opposite end of the ideological spectrum, is Stalker faction Freedom. They believe that the Zone, in spite of its inherent dangers, should be harnessed and exploited for its scientific and commercial potential. This of course, puts Freedom in direct—and often violent conflict, with Duty. Both Duty and Freedom are neutral towards you. You have the option of performing a number of assignments for either faction, but take note. Once you start doing jobs for one side, don’t expect the other to embrace you with open arms—particularly if the job involves assaulting one side on behalf of the other. Note that while you can only perform jobs and improve your reputation with Duty or Freedom, unlike Oblivion, you cannot “officially” join either one and become a faction member.

 

Mercenaries work in the Zone for "private" interests who can afford the high price that they charge for their expertise—which is considerable as they are comprised of elite ex-soldiers with some of the best NATO weapons at their disposal that money can buy, Mercs will do whatever it takes and kill whomever it takes to get the job done—including you. One of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s toughest missions is to protect a scientist from these bastards who are after his research, which plays a key role in completing one of your primary mission objectives. Tough, relentless and utterly ruthless, if you’re going to party with them, you’ll need to bring along the following:

 

–        A good suit of armor

–        An assault rifle with a scope

–        Armor piercing rounds

–        Grenades

–        The shotgun or pistol of your choice—so long as it really hurts at close range

 

Not much is known about the mysterious Monolith faction. Decked out in sophisticated combat armor and exoskeletons capable of surviving the harshest and most dangerous parts of the Zone, and armed with some serious hi-tech firepower, Monolith guards and protects the center of the Zone near Chernobyl and its secrets against anyone who somehow manages to live long enough to reach it, with unnerving ferocity and fanaticism. Make sure you have the best kit your rubles can buy before tangling with them.

 

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. offers an extensive range of authentic, ex-USSR and NATO weaponry to choose from (only the names have been changed to protect the innocent and save GSC ridiculous sums of money on licensing fees required to use the real names). When I say authentic, I just don’t mean how the weapon is modeled after its real-world counterpart (which GSC has done quite nicely, by the way). The weapons sound realistic when fired, as opposed to the weak, cheaply recorded sounds guns make in other games. The assault rifles have an intimidating, nasty retort, while the higher-powered sniper rifles have the sharp, reverberating boom! you’d expect from firing a high-velocity bullet that can crack a vehicle’s engine block with the same lethal precision as a human (or mutant) skull. As with any shooter, in the beginning you will start out with the weakest, less desirable weapons before stepping up to the “good stuff.”

 

Also, unlike many shooters, you are not assigned the usual “generic” load-out of pistol, shotgun, machine gun, rocket launcher, BFG, etc., ad nauseum. With the exception of a standard combat knife as a melee weapon and your endless, trusty supply of “Make new friends, win influence and detect anomalies” bolts, the only default load-out in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is the one you select for yourself, based on your personal preferences and style of gameplay.

 

Some weapons have been “enhanced” for higher rates of fire, improved handling and accuracy; or to accept ammo that is more widely available, and so on. Naturally these special models cost more to purchase than their “standard” versions. Some can be upgraded with scopes and grenade launchers (both NATO and Warsaw Pact weapons have specific models that are not interchangeable). You can load different types of ammunition for the job—armor-piercing rounds or rounds that maximize damage against “soft” targets, for example. Each weapon is rated by Accuracy, Handling (recoil), Rate of Fire and Damage. As you might expect but rarely experience in the majority of first-person shooters, operating any weapon in a harsh environment such as the Zone for extended periods of time will affect its reliability. In S.T.A.L.K.E.R., your weapon will begin to jam more frequently over time. Jams are cleared by reloading or changing the type of ammo. When the weapon’s health bar in the Inventory Screen starts to get low, it’s time to either sell it for whatever few rubles you can get for it—or dump it. A Stalker with an unreliable rifle or pistol is a dead one.

 

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. doesn't boast a lot of the slick visuals and effects found in the latest titles. Because of a four-year delay, it may even look dated compared to most contemporary PC games. But that has actually worked to the game's advantage in bringing to life the post-nuclear apocalyptic world of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. to life in ways that a more modern, slick and glossy graphics engine could not accomplish. From abandoned and demolished buildings, bizarre and dangerous anomalies, radioactive junkyards, eerie late-night thunderstorms—to the natural “worn” look of the weapons and “grunginess” of the larger Stalker camps and weathered, weary faces of Stalkers of having been in the Zone too long and have seen too much—S.T.A.L.K.E.R. imparts a sense of atmosphere that is almost palatable.

 

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s environment does an incredible job of creating a sense of normalcy in a situation that is anything but—which makes the game even more unsettling and edgy to play. Move to the indoor levels and that sensation gets magnified a hundred fold. Supposedly abandoned laboratories and scientific complexes go from the extreme of deep shadow where its almost impossible to tell who—or what—is hiding in them even if you're wearing a suit equipped with night vision, to being so brightly and harshly-lit that it's nearly distracting. Claustrophobic corridors and passageways lead to huge storage areas filled with crates and equipment that provide plenty of places for an enemy to lie in wait for an unwary Stalker. The sheer amount of variety in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s indoor and massive outdoor levels keeps the game from having the typical "cookie cutter" appearance found in games that recycle their levels with little variation to the point it becomes blatantly obvious. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s method of transitioning between levels is similar to that of Half-Life. The major difference is that you can actually view the level transition points on the PDA’s map (represented by light blue circles). Cut scenes that move the story along are both in-game and full-motion video.

 

The game’s human NPCs flank, use cover and press their attacks when they have the upper hand, though not quite as with much finesse as the Replica Soldiers of F.E.A.R. Still, they’ll make you keep your head down and constantly watch your back, and teach you not to stay in one place too long as you scramble from cover to cover. The lone and pack-hunting AI of the mutated animals is impressive to watch, but is definitely no fun when you’re on the receiving end!

 

I found the Zombies even spookier to deal with that some of the other humanoid mutants. Not so much because they were Zombies—but because they were all humming and singing the same little tune over and over again. Sorry, but singing, humming Zombies just freaks me out! The way they twitch on the ground when you shoot, but don’t kill them, is kind of cool, too. Also, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.’s excellent music really adds to the post-nuclear disaster, survival/horror feeling of the game.

 

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. has a number of “interesting” endings that depend on your actions during the game—though none of them are exactly what you might expect, considering all that you’ve been through in trying to unlock the Zone’s secrets, your identity, and finding the mysterious Strelok. But the real endings to S.T.A.L.K.E.R. depend on you finding and unlocking a particular door near the end of the game and making one of two choices. While one of those choices definitely offers the best possible ending of the game, either way, the events of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and its conclusion will make a lot more sense than the ending of F.E.A.R.—or even the original Half-Life. It appears this won’t be the last we’ll see and hear from either the Marked One, or perhaps even a new S.T.A.L.K.E.R., according to GSC.

 

Unlike the outstanding single-player experience, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.’s multiplayer is pretty much status-quo compared to all the other multiplayer shooters out here. Up to 32 players can play over a LAN or the Internet. You have your typical every-man-for-himself Death Match and Team Death Match where you can play on the Freedom S.T.A.L.K.E.R. team, or the Mercenaries. Freedom is equipped with former Warsaw Pact weapons, while the Mercs are equipped with NATO gear. Artifacts are substituted for flags in Artifact Hunt—S.T.A.L.K.E.R.’s version of Capture the Flag. As players advance in rank and raise more money they get access to better quality weapons and armor.

 

Apparently GSC Game World has spent some time listening to all of those complaints from gamers about those recurring, niggling issues that make most games as fun as getting a root canal with a jackhammer. While S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is not without its faults, it gets a number of things right that a lot of high-profile titles from larger studios can’t seem to get a handle on.

 

First, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. ships on a DVD-ROM, which makes the installation of the game more convenient. Unless a game is an expansion pack that can easily fit on a single 700MB CD-R disc, it just doesn’t make sense to keep dragging people through an install that requires multiple CDs. If you’re looking to hack executables, diddle around with .INI files, or wait for some enterprising soul to whip up a little utility program that will allow you to enjoy S.T.A.L.K.E.R. on your widescreen LCD display, I’m afraid you’re out of luck. You’ll just have to select your preferred widescreen resolution from the Video selection on the Main Menu. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. also allows you to play without having the disc inserted. This is not only convenient, but it saves wear-and-tear on the disc over the long-haul. Kudos to GSC and THQ for having enough respect for their paying customers not to treat them like criminals.

 

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. not only auto-saves your progress at specific intervals, but it also allows you to perform as many quick or full-saves as you want, whenever you want. A PC has a lot more memory and storage space to work with than a console. It never makes sense not to take advantage of that by allowing you to save your game when and how often you choose, for PC games. And I’m sorry, but the usual argument that allowing the player to choose where and how often to save “removes the challenge from the game,” just doesn’t apply to S.T.A.L.K.E.R. You can still get your ass kicked no matter how often you save, if you don’t pay attention to your surroundings, learn to stay mobile and effectively fight from cover, and know when to go in with guns blazing—and when to take a more stealthy approach. Considering that there’s always a possibility that a saved game can get corrupted, relying solely on auto and checkpoint saves serves little purpose than “masochist bragging rights” for those who don’t mind losing most or all of their progress through a game and having to start over again—and again—and again…

 

Approach a ladder and move forward or backward and you’ll automatically holster or shoulder your weapon, mantle on, and can move up and down the ladder without falling to your death. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.’s programmers have also uncovered an incredible, scientific breakthrough that allows you to use your flashlight without the batteries dying and needing to recharge every 15-30 seconds (now there’s a concept)! Mounted to a headband or helmet, having a flashlight that you can leave on without worrying about it going out on you at the worse possible moment, actually presents several real-world challenges that places both you and your enemies at an advantage and disadvantage. First, walking around with your light on makes you as easy to spot in the dark as your enemies. Second, not all of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.’s enemies need a light to see in the dark. While you’re cloaked in shadows or darkness ready to open up a major can of whup-ass on those approaching bandits or soldiers lit up like neon in Vegas, you could also end up being a Mutant Happy Meal if you aren’t careful.

 

My biggest complaint about S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is the poorly implemented Minimap. First, your position is represented at the center of the Minimap as a single grayish-white dot, which can be a real problem as neutral NPCs also show up as grayish-white dots. A single, bright green arrow or triangle would have been much better. I also had problems activating mission waypoints on the PDA, where I would get the red waypoint selected arrow icon next to the mission objective, but not on the Minimap to guide me to the desired waypoint. This was a real pain in ass, particularly when you consider how big the levels S.T.A.L.K.E.R. are, and that many of your missions require a lot of running back and forth to complete. If ever there was a game that makes me really appreciate Oblivion's fast-travel feature, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is it.

 

Speaking of levels, you may want to sneak off and grab your favorite beverage and give yourself a quick break while playing S.T.A.L.K.E.R.  Levels take awhile to load, even on  high end systems (Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 2.93  & AMD Athlon 64 FX-62, both with 2GB RAM)—even with a fully defragmented pair of Western Digital 150GB Raptor 10,000 RPM Hard Drives with 16MB caches in a RAID 0 stripe. There was even an instance where two level transition points were practically on top of one another. I also found myself armed with binoculars rather than my rifle when moving between levels more than once. For the most part, I was lucky that there weren’t any hostiles near the start of the next level waiting for me. On the other hand, there was that one embarrassing moment when I entered a level and tried to shoot a pack of Pseudo Dogs with my binoculars rather than the SGI Assault Rifle I was armed with at the previous level, and ended up being a mutant doggy chew toy…

 

One mission where you meet a member of the Duty faction who asks you to follow him to set up an ambush of Bandits who have captured his friend, immediately fails after the conversation is finished before you even get a chance to do anything. More than a few of the optional side-missions are "broken" in this manner, and it's fortunate that you are not required to successfully complete any of them to advance in the game, or complete S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s primary mission. Some side-missions also show up in your PDA even if you didn't sign up for them and are nowhere near the trigger points that initiate them.

 

But S.T.A.L.K.E.R.’s secondary missions aren’t the only ones with glitches. The primary mission where you must first rescue a scientist from mercenaries who are after information he has that you also need—then escort him through a Zombie-infested region to take some readings to complete a protective device for you, was particularly frustrating with its own set of bugs. If the scientist wasn’t busy running ahead of you into enemies and getting himself killed, he was getting stuck in a particular spot and refusing to move so you could complete the mission. Luckily, the game does not come to a screeching halt and forces your to reload from a save and restart over again if the scientist does get killed. You can proceed with the mission, though things will be more difficult for you as a result. GSC’s decision to provide you with “Time for Plan B” alternatives that allow you to shift gears and move on when things don’t work out the way they should, is certainly an admirable one.

 

When firing from cover, friendly NPCs would often come up behind me and push me out into the open, rather than move around me to seek nearby cover on their own. Some of them box you in so you can’t move, forcing you to reload the game from a recent save. In spite of the rule of not walking around a Stalker camp with your weapon drawn, I observed a number of Stalkers who were walking around normally suddenly go into "combat mode," drawing their weapon and running around wildly, taking cover and aiming at threats that weren't there. Some NPCs also walk around and mindlessly repeat the same lines over and over again. Too much time in the Zone, perhaps? S.T.A.L.K.E.R. also has the tendency of spawning enemies out of thin air in places where they weren't seconds ago, which doesn't really make the combat any more challenging when it happens. It does spoil some of the immersive realism GSC was aiming for (aside from being just plain annoying).

 

The "deferred" rendering technique of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s proprietary X-Ray graphics engine makes anti-aliasing—directly in the game or through in the driver control panel—an exercise in futility. Not even "Enhance the Application Setting" and "Override the Application Setting" on the ForceWare 158.22 driver control panel on the GeForce 8800 GTX card could clear up the jaggies in S.T.A.L.K.E.R., which weren't that bad at 1900x1200, but definitely noticeable. Still, no one should have to go without the benefits of true, full-screen antialiasing with the kind of hardware available these days.

 

If your rig is powerful enough to run S.T.A.L.K.E.R. with Full Dynamic Lighting enabled at the highest possible resolution your display can handle with all of the visual effects sliders maxed out, I recommend you do so to get the game to look as good as possible. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. looks flat and lifeless with Static Lighting enabled. Also, if you purchase the game, don’t play it until you’ve applied the latest patch. A patch was released to fix many issues with the un-patched version on the game. Unfortunately, any games saved with the un-patched version of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. are unplayable once the game has been patched.

 

In spite of a four year delay and some rough edges, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. steps out of the typical first-person shooter framework of going from Point A to Point B and killing everything in between by also giving the player choices usually reserved for Role-playing games. For a genre where hype, half-assed console porting, and over-the-top visuals takes precedence over substance and solid gameplay, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl is certainly a welcome “change of clothing” for a game that is ambitious enough to break with convention and embrace “the best of both worlds.”