Often compared with Far Cry in the years of developing, the game was meant to be very promising. The Ukrainian developer GSC Game World was promising the largest environment and the best A.I. on the market. With a mixture of FPS and RPG (you can talk and trade with NPC's, you have an inventory, and can use different artifacts for some abilities boosts), the developer thought that he can create a masterpiece. But working in an east-European-rhythm, the game became a joke just like Duke Nukem Forever. In the beginning it was meant to be a much more futuristic game, but GSC decided that a more post apocalyptic approach would be much interesting. And Chernobyl with its recent but dark history, was the perfect location. The story uses as a background the fiction book Roadside Picnic by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky which had a big success in Eastern Europe countries back in the seventies. Terms like "Stalker", "The Zone" and the idea of anomalies are directly imported from the book .

Who am I?

In the game you play as an amnesic Stalker (a bounty and artifact hunter) who is the only survivor of a Death Truck (a truck which is transporting brainwashed Stalkers out of the C-Consciousness lab area) accident. You are found by a tribe of free artifact hunters who are located in the south of The Zone. Here is where you take contact with the first inhabitants of The Zone and learn the basic things about surviving in this region. The story is very blurry at the beginning challenging you to start your journey of discovering your true identity. What is C-Consciousness lab and what is your true identity I let you discover alone.

The Zone

The Zone is a fictive 30 km square area around the Chernobyl Power Plant and is the "playground" for every Stalker consisting in human settlements, several military bases and wilderness.

But the real playing area is not a continuous one, but a package of several huge maps connected through loading screens. Because of their huge dimensions, the game gives you the impression of unlimited environment, but if you begin to explore the whole map you will realize that you are limited by fences or other natural obstacles. The transitions between areas can be made only through specific passageways. In the game The Zone suffered a second nuclear explosion, after the one we all know back in 1986. This explosion was much more powerful than the first one and caused radical changes in fauna, flora, and in the laws of physics.

Anomalies

Those changes in the laws of physics are called anomalies and are present randomly across the region. An anomaly measures a few meters, and entering in this area can be dangerous for every living creature. These places can be detected by different signs such as floating leaves, heat, winds or by discharges of electricity or by dead creatures around it.

In the middle of every anomaly there is an artifact. These artifacts are used by Stalkers as currency objects, but also for boosting several abilities (radiation resistance, low bleeding, agility, etc). Every ability boost comes with a price. You can take an artifact that is boosting your radiation resistance, but can increase every damage taken by your body from bullets. Radiation is another factor that can kill any living being and can be detected by your Geiger counter. You can avoid it by using artifacts, anti-radiation serum or anti-radiation suit.

Transport

The game was initially designed to support also controllable vehicles, but the hurry of ending the game made the GSC team to give up this ability. Your trusted foot is the only transport meaning. If you really need to run, a stamina bar will let do this for a short while. Unfortunately you cannot shoot while you are sprinting and if your inventory is too heavy your stamina will be over very soon. The game let's you carry up to 50 kilo of weapons, artifacts, armors and different other objects. You can exceed this weight with 9 kilo, but every kilo will represent an impediment in your movement. Over 60 kilo you cannot move anymore, so you need to drop something from your inventory.