Game Is Lyf

Developer(s): UkraineGSC Game World
Publisher(s): GSC World Publishing (CIS)bitComposer Games (Europe, USA)Viva Media (North America)
Distributor(s): Koch Media (UK)
Engine: X-Ray V1.6
Platform(s): Microsoft Windows
Release date(s): CIS October 2, 2009
NA February 2, 2010
EU February 5, 2010
AUS February 23, 2010
Genre(s): First-person shooter, role-playing, survival horror
Mode(s): Single-player, Multi-player
Rating(s): ESRB: M
Media: DVD

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat is the sequel to S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, a first-person shooter computer game by Ukrainian developer GSC Game World. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat is the third game in the survival FPS S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series.


Plot

The events of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat unfold shortly after the end of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl following the ending in which Strelok destroys the C-Consciousness. Having discovered the open path to the Zone's center, the government decides to stage a large-scale operation to take control of the Chernobyl nuclear plant.

According to the operation's plan, the first military group is to conduct an air scouting of the territory to map the anomalous fields. Thereafter, making use of the maps, the main military forces are to be dispatched.

Despite thorough preparations, the operation fails. Most of the advanced helicopters crash. In order to collect information on the reasons for the operation's failure, Ukraine's Security Service send their agent (protagonist - Alexander Degtyarev) into the Zone. From now on everything depends on the player.

The player must traverse through the Zone and investigate the crash sites. As the player progresses he starts learning why the helicopters crashed. The climax of the story begins when the player reaches Pripyat to find survivors of the helicopter crashes. The player eventually meets Strelok from the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game (Shadow of Chernobyl) and learns of the secrets behind the Zone.

The game concludes with the survivors, Strelok, and the player leaving the Zone. Before boarding the helicopter the player is prompted whether he wishes to leave The Zone forever or continue exploring the Zone. If the player decides not to leave the Zone, then the game enters a free-play mode. During free-play mode the player can leave the Zone by NPCs at any time he wants.

Gameplay

The majority of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call of Pripyat's [commonly abbreviated as "CoP"] gameplay focuses on a unique combination of both post apocalyptic horror, as well as tactical role-playing action, mostly revolving around the the "Chernobyl zone of exclusion".



Combat

Receiving damage will usually cause bleeding, which the player must take care of with medical supplies. Similarly, unmaintained weapons and some equipment will be damaged from continued use. The condition of an item is displayed as a gauge next to the entry in the player's inventory. If severely damaged or broken, a red HUD icon will denote this.

Traders

The Zone features a limited economy, with traders and inhabitants exchanging goods and services for money and items. The game's trading system differs from the previous editions in that weapons and armor that have degraded past a certain point are unable to be sold until they are repaired, at which point the repair costs usually offset the sell price. Traders also sell information on missions and are keen to be in receipt of documents.

Upgrades

Upgrading has three tiers of improvement, with each one requiring a toolkit to allow for respective tier upgrade/modification. Rough tools will allow the player to access the first tier and fine tools will allow access to the second tier. The calibration tool kits are only found in Pripyat and will give access to the last tier. The upgrade system is similar to that of Clear Sky except that the negatives of upgrades are removed. Upgrading a certain element still causes other options to be possibly canceled.

Mutants

Various mutant creatures roam the Zone, most of which are hostile to Stalkers and will pursue and attack people who get too close. Artificial intelligence has been overhauled since the previous two games and now offers these creatures advanced and more realistic behavior. One creature in particular, the Snork, a humanoid-hybrid, focuses on guerrilla-style attacks.

Factions

Several factions reside in the Zone: Loners, Bandits, Mercenaries, Scientists, Zombified Stalkers, Military, Monolith, Duty, and Freedom, the two latter ones being ideologically motivated; Control and anarchy, respectively. Although not at war, fights will occasionally break out outside designated "Safe Zones". At some certain spots of Zaton and Jupiter Neighbourhood groups of Mercenaries, both neutral and hostile to the player, appear.
The player's relations to the factions are commonly neutral. However, Zombified Stalkers and Monoliths are hostile towards the player.

Emissions

Each day in the game, "emissions" will occur: The ground will shake, an indication of the unstable Chernobyl power plant about to eject lethal radiation. The player will be warned two minutes in advance of an upcoming blowout, and must find a predesignated shelter so as not to be exposed to the nuclear fallout. The sky will turn red as the blowout passes through the player's region, killing everything outside of a shelter. The player can, however, survive outside of a shelter during a blowout if he consumes anti-radiation drugs, in which case he will pass out and wake up after the blowout. Blowouts can cause new artifacts to be spawned in the anomaly fields.

Artifacts

Artifacts are found in or around anomalies. Players have to use special detectors to bring artifacts into the visible spectrum, as they are naturally invisible. Every time a blowout occurs, each anomaly field has a chance of creating a new artifact within its wake. These artifacts can be sold, be put into artifact slots that are incorporated into suits that the player can wear and are occasionally given as rewards for services rendered. Primarily, artifacts serve as a means to enhance the player's abilities, dependent on which artifact the player has put into his artifact slot. Most are modular and can be used in conjunction with other artifacts, or multiple artifacts of the same kind can be used to multiply their effects. Most of these artifacts emit harmful radiation, limiting their usage to short periods of time. Radiation-reducing artifacts can be used to counter this effect.

Free play

In the free play mode, the player may traverse the zone and finish all of the missions that were not finished. The player is also able to obtain hidden artifacts and unlock achievements.

Minimum System Requirements

Intel Pentium IV 2 GHz/AMD Athlon XP 2200+
512 MB RAM
nVidia GeForce 5900/ATI Radeon 9600/128MB DirectX 8 compatible video card


Recommended System Requirements

Intel Core 2 Duo E7400/AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+
2GB RAM
nVidia GeForce 9800 GTX/ATI Radeon HD 4850/512 MB DirectX 9 or 10 compatible video card