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S.T.A.L.K.E.R Call of Pripyat

polycounter lvl 18
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swampbug polycounter lvl 18
Anyone playing this?


I am enjoying this one even more than the first 2 games. The immersion factor is just much higher this time. It still has its pitfalls that keep it from being a game of complete excellence, but I still love it.

I'm not that far into it, but I've had some wonderful experiences and stories to tell. The thing I like most about the Stalker series is its sense of wonder and mystery, and my imagination is filling in lots of holes. Not many games do that to me. I know that's why I'm hooked. I really dig the new anomaly storm idea and getting to cover, and hunting for artifacts in those cool environments with a detector.

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  • Target_Renegade
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    Target_Renegade polycounter lvl 11
    I played SoC to death, but couldn't get into Clear Sky as much. Is it more similar to SoC?
  • HonkyPunch
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    HonkyPunch polycounter lvl 18
    I got to Pripyat, and I just can't play it anymore.
    Maybe i'll get back to it in a week or so, but I can say that the time I did play it, it was amazing.
    I believe it is closer to the original stalker, yes
  • Havok
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    Havok polycounter lvl 14
    I love this game! I wasn't a fan of Clear Sky either so this one is much better. Well worth my $20!
  • acc
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    acc polycounter lvl 18
    I'm wondering: Is it better to buy this new one, or play the original with that Complete 2009 mod? I borrowed the original from work when it came out but never finished it, then bought and beat Clear Sky later. Not sure whether to go back and pick up the first one modded or just get the new one.

    Would be kind of nice to play one without the ten billion bugs their games have at launch...
  • rooster
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    rooster mod
    i suppose my main problem with the original stalker was it's setting and atmosphere always promised more than it delivered. The scary moments on the way to an underground encounter were infinitely more scary than the actual encounter..

    I think the next interesting thing is that metro 2033.. cant wait to get my hands on that
  • ebagg
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    ebagg polycounter lvl 17
    I recently played thru Clear Sky and about 8 hours into it I hit a game ending bug that booted me to the desktop....otherwise I love Stalker and if you guys are saying this is the best yet I'll definitely have to look into it...
  • undoz
    I have it on queue along with SoC. Now I only have to find some free time ...
  • Xoliul
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    Xoliul polycounter lvl 14
    Wow is this out? Man I love these games. Some of the best i ever played. Clear Sky was inferior to the first one (mostly cuz it was very short and bugged), save for the weapon upgrading, that was SO SWEET, being able to use the first AK-47 you pick up until the end of the game, just by saving hard for upgrades. They put that into this game again, right ?

    edit: shit, so many games to play, Bioshock 2, MW2 and now this :s
  • eld
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    eld polycounter lvl 18
    I'm definately going to get this. Ever since the shock series took a pure shooter path and rid the inventory system, stalke touched the perfect spot, exploration and its inventorysystem, I love grabbing stuff, repairing others, and throwing away the crap.
  • Disco Stu
    Loved the first one even though the weapons felt like they werent even firing bullets.
    Clear sky i got as far as that first tower only to get killed by some blast leaving me
    no chance to escape.
    So... no thanks.
  • LEViATHAN
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    LEViATHAN polycounter lvl 11
    Disco Stu wrote: »
    Clear sky i got as far as that first tower only to get killed by some blast leaving me
    no chance to escape.

    ...That's supposed to happen, you wake up back at the base. :poly142:

    But yeah, Clear Sky was inferior, God I hate the spammy protect this - help those missions. Also encountered a bug which basically prevented me to finish the game, ending was shit anyway.
  • eld
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    eld polycounter lvl 18
    I like its engine improvements and weapon-customizations though, and apparently pripyat has the best of both stalker and clearsky.
  • MALicivs
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    MALicivs polycounter lvl 15
    im loving cop, the whole - 3 huge areas with lots of missions and stuff to explore on your own - thing is great. and the fact that you have to keep going back to the previous areas on important missions helps a lot with the exploration part of it, something that was really lacking in the other two, specially clear sky that was way too linear in comparison. oh and the atmosphere... nothing like cleaning up a building full of monolith worshipers at sunset.
  • Disco Stu
    LEViATHAN wrote: »
    ...That's supposed to happen, you wake up back at the base. :poly142:

    haha!
  • 3DLee
    In case anyone was still in doubt, I love this series. :) I posted this in the Game Screenshot thread a few weeks ago, some of you might find it interesting:

    The newest S.T.A.L.K.E.R. (Call of Pripyat) finally made it to North America on Tuesday. I snagged a copy of the Collector's Edition (just came with nice packaging, a map, and some stickers) for $40 at my local Target. This is by far the most stable S.T.A.L.K.E.R. to date - I haven't had a single crash or broken mission. The maps are much larger, and they've improved on everything from weapon upgrading to mutant animation and sound to artifact collection and unique anomalies.

    The graphics are beginning to show the age of the engine, but I agree with IGN when they said that this is a case where art triumphs over tech.

    I did a exploration video that you can see here: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNTI9FOrSb4[/ame]

    And, I have a few screenshots uploaded here: http://s209.photobucket.com/albums/bb134/EvilViking13/STALKER%20Call%20of%20Pripyat/

    But here are some of my favorites:

    xrEngine-2010-02-06-19-34-17-73.jpg

    xrEngine-2010-02-06-02-33-59-59.jpg

    xrEngine-2010-02-04-23-08-01-20.jpg
  • Bal
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    Bal polycounter lvl 17
    Yeah Pripyat is very nice, the world isn't quite as vast as the other two games, but there are more buildings to visit, and they are more diverse, wandering around feels alot more interesting.

    As 3DLee said, the graphics aren't always so awesome, but the atmosphere is so right, and the structures feel very real.
    I reached Pripyat a day ago, and I'm still really enjoying it, I've had a few pretty scary experiences in some of the underground areas (I agree with rooster though, most times you scare yourself more than the actual scare deserves, but that's still fun).

    Oh and yeah, only had one crash (and it was after loading a zone, it had auto-saved just before), very impressed by the stability, and the lack of scripting bugs, compared to the 2 previews titles.
  • firestarter
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    firestarter polycounter lvl 18
    Enjoying the shit out of it! Almost to fanatical levels... best fps since Quake, creepiest game... EVER!

    I feel the game really does make you forget that the engine is a little dated, and then again once the modders give it a scrubbing it looks a whole bunch better too.

    It's a great shame that the dev team lack decent publishing support, and thus potential players, CoP in particular has suffered a really shoddy release.
  • kaptainkernals
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    kaptainkernals polycounter lvl 12
    There is an english version!? And here i was trying to play the russian version that my brother picked up for me - having to use a cruddy english conversion mod(which was done with google translate so the dialect is broken :( )
  • 3DLee
    I've already found a few must-have mods for CoP:

    CoP Variation mod
    Call of Pripyat Variation mod adds new skins & meshes to the variation of Stalkers in Call of Pripyat, no gameplay changes have been made and is meant to be used with vanilla just to add new skins and variations to the world.

    Better Flashlight
    This mod adds in a better flashlight, that has new textures and configs. It also replaces the rain particle texture that makes it a bit larger than the normal rain and re-sizes the binoculars.

    AtmosFear
    ATMOSFEAR is a mod for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Call Of Pripyat that tweaks and expands the vanilla weather system to be more realistic and various.
  • mickyg
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    mickyg polycounter lvl 7
    Absolutely loving this game. It boggles the mind to go on Metacritic and see that is has received 65, a few 70s etc (avg 80).

    In my opinion, few other games immerse you in the world as much as CoP. I'd go as far as to say it's the most immersive game I've ever played. All you need is a bit of imagination and you'll be forgetting it's a game in no time.

    My Advice? But it! It is so much better than Clear Sky, and probably represents what the dev team wanted the original Stalker to be. I have a feeling this game will turn out to have a massive cult following in the future...
  • konstruct
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    konstruct polycounter lvl 18
    rooster wrote: »
    i suppose my main problem with the original stalker was it's setting and atmosphere always promised more than it delivered. The scary moments on the way to an underground encounter were infinitely more scary than the actual encounter..

    This is actually really interesting that you say that. Like in films, what you can imagine in your head is always far more frightening than any realized creature effect, CG or real.

    Its always said that stalker nails the setting, and that probably why it resonates with so many people. Stalker is one of those games that really gets into your head. I just wish is played a bit smoother.

    I agree with you that the creatures, or climax`s to those sequences were always a letdown in one way or another.

    I just gave clear skies a run through a month ago and was pleased with the updates, but it still felt disjointed and broken - I also missed the removal of the freaky scripted sequences. It was nice to have that dynamic clan system, but I want my monster moments dammit!

    does C.O.P. have these?
  • shotgun
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    shotgun polycounter lvl 19
    I'm playing these games now and absolutely loving it. I started with Pripyat and just couldn't get enough so I went back to SoC (+complete mod). As everyone's been saying, the atmosphere is soooo good. I'm not a fan of realism, I'm not a fan of stalker's physics engine and the AI isn't that great either, but fuck... any game that can be so entertaining simply by walking in it, looking around, not even shooting or anything... is just a true gem. They've really achieved something here as far as immersion goes.
    Now let's see what they're cooking with the next (real full) sequel!

    Btw, for those of u debating, Paripyat has the move cohesive, bug-free and user-friendly game design, and is mostly focused on exploration and atmosphere. The second game (clear sky) is mostly about fighting, and the first is somewhere in between, altho certainly has more bugs (crashes and whatnot). Still, the best parts really are simply scouring the land (at night!) walking around between random side-quests and enjoying the dreamy scenery.
  • 3DLee
    Ahh, another convert! :) I actually haven't finished CoP yet, as I only play at night with the lights off when I have time, and the last few months have been hectic.

    No other games immerse like the STALKER series!
  • shotgun
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    shotgun polycounter lvl 19
    Heh, I do the past-midnight-only-no-lights thing too. Only way to go!
    There was one other game tho that received such dedication and delivered such atmosphere... Thief.
  • rolfness
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    rolfness polycounter lvl 18
    looks awesome played the first, didnt bother with clear sky, will have a go at this when I get through a bunch of other stuff that Im playing now.
  • ZacD
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    ZacD ngon master
    I've heard a lot of good things about this game, but I haven't tried it yet, I've kinda heard you need a few good mods and it makes the game a lot better.

    I guess I should try it out sometime
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