First Impressions

[RedRaven]

Got it around midday, installed with no problems, and was straight in at the deep end.

This time round you play a USS special forces operative, under cover in the zone as a Stalker. As soon as the intro is over you get 5 missions instantly.

So far have played for about an hour and died 4 times ;D . Plan on getting stuck into it this evening and tomorrow so will post a full review after I've had a little more time on it. Until then have created a screen-shots thread and put up a few in-game shots of what I've seen so far to give you a quick glimpse.

[Art Blade]

nice, cheers  :-X

[Ricamundo]

Looking forward to your report RR. If i can find this game, i'll probably buy it, as its going to be a while before FO3 NV arrives.

[RedRaven]

Right then, here is my Opinions so far.

Ever since I read about a third instalment to the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series of games I have been eagerly awaiting its release with a mix of child-like excitement and cynical apprehension.


Allow me to explain, Shadow of Chernobyl was the first FPS game I ever purchased, had played a few others a little but never got into them, instead I played RTS / TBS games such as Shogun & Rome Total War and X2 (space based game similar to that old school classic Elite). That was pretty much it.
When I read about SoC it sounded like a very interesting setting so I got it, and after 2 days of getting killed in every way possible gave up on it. A few months later, one bored sunday I decided to give it another try. And BAM I was hooked.
It almost became an obsession, playing as often as I could, and after finishing it immediately started again. Over the course of a year or so I discovered many great mods which made each play-through a different experience. And with 7 possible endings it was almost perfect.
Then Clear Sky was released, and at first was very disappointed by it. The atmosphere was gone, it seemed more linear in its game play and when I reached the end of the game that was it. 1 ending, and not as good as it could of been.
While it is not a terrible game to me it seemed to be more of a step backwards from SoC rather than a step forward. Consequently I only ever played it through twice before it was retired to the shelf to gather dust.


2010 - Call of Pripyat. After reading that it would be released in Germany & CIS months before the rest of the world I decided to purposely avoid all forums, reviews and the like so that when I did get it it would be all new and unkown. The only exposure I allowed myself was the screen shots and benchmark tool from the official GSC site. And those just added to my excited anticipation.

Was it worth the wait = HELL YEAH !

In the first hour of play I died 5 times ! And I was not going to let a little thing like virtual death put me off.


FIRST IMPRESSIONS

No video intro this time, instead there is a series of stills accompanied by a narration giving a brief history of the Zone. Then its straight to it, your character is a Special Forces general posing as a Stalker, your mission to locate and discover what caused the disappearance of several military helicopters.  On that premise you begin better equipped than in both SoC & CS.

The overall look of the landscape is very much the same as the first 2 games, though improved as both CPU's and GPU's have advanced allowing the developers to do more.
The controls, options and interface remain for the most part unchanged. There are a few changes though, for example Armour is now split so you get body armour and helmets, these can be mixed in any way, each armour and helmet providing it own level of protection against a variety of hazards. Also each weapon, armour and helmet displays its condition where as before you had to check it manually.
Another new feature is the 'quick access slots' these appear in the bottom left of the screen and relate to the F1, F2, F3 and F4 keys. you can assign a variety of things from your inventory to them though the default settings are for medkits, bandages, anti-rad meds and food. It also tells you how many you have in your inventory.
Likewise the weapon information in the bottom right has been improved, now at a glance you can see how many rounds in your weapon, as well as how many in your inventory your have. Most weapons have 2 types of ammo available, it also tells you how many of each type you have, as well as current firing mode and where applicable how many grenades for an under-barrel grenade launcher (if you have one that is). Under the weapon info are two bars that display your current health (in red) and stamina (in blue)
The mini-map in the top left is now circular and has a built in display to show how much noise your making and how visible to enemy NPC's and creatures you are. It also has a simple compass and a clock (no more checking the PDA to see what time it is).
Other on-screen indicators appear to show things such as hunger, radiation level, condition of armour, head gear and weapon, as well as if you are over encumbered.

Below are three screen shots, each shows the inventory screen, the first is from SoC, second CS and the third CoP.

[smg id=1954]

[smg id=1955]

[smg id=1956]

As you can see the inventory screen for CoP is an improvement on that used in CS.

Will end saying that so far it's like they have taken the best elements from the previous 2 games to create a game that surpasses them both, it is definitely greater than the sum of its parts.
I'm going finish here for now (off out into the real world for a bit ! ). Will probably add more over the next few days as I explore and experience more of the game.

[JRD]

Hehehehehe... fells so good when we put our hands in an anticipated game and its keeps up to expectations!! 8)

I can feel the excitement in your words Red, and I totally undernstand you... the more I play SoC the more impressed I get.

OK, graphics are outdated and all, but gameplay is unique... the Zone is completely odd in all its aspects... the landscape, creatures, factions, anomalies etc... a truly unique game for sure.

I'm glad you are enjoying it... so far, SoC has raised the hair of my neck a dozen times, even when I lower the volume and play during the day  :-[

Keep up the impressions mate... I'm looking forward to more of it  :-X

[Art Blade]

nice review, Red, and good idea to compare the inventories with screenshots. Have fun mate  :)

[RedRaven]

FIRST IMPRESSIONS  (continued) A few more points of interest.

The A.I. so far is impressive, seen different groups of animals attack each other - best was 3 dogs, 2 psuedo-dogs and 2 boars in a feral 3 way battle of tooth & claw.

Just after searching one of the helicopter crash sites got a radio warning about an incoming Blow-out, it took 6 reloads to get to safety in one piece! Each re-load played out differently even though I ran in the same direction each time.
1 > didn't get to a safe area in time as I spent too long messing about with the map!
2 > stopped to help 2 Stalkers fend off some dogs and got shot for my efforts.
3 > got ambushed by 3 Snorks.
4 > fell down a crack in the ground.
5 > tried to evade some creatures only to stray into a heavy rad area and died from the exposure.
6 > made it to the door of the safe area to get a face full of buck-shot when opened the door.


The Blow-out waves are more deadly than those in CS. On the plus side, if you survive it the wave causes Artefacts to randomly spawn (so far all in anomaly heavy areas). They also cause the birds to drop dead out of the sky.


Artefacts
So far similar in appearance to the previous games. In SoC they are usually found on the ground close to the anomaly that created them. In CoP a detector is needed to reveal them like in CS but they have been easier to find so far. The benefits and penalties are nice and straight forward, most if not all give you points of radiation (+1 to +4).  The benefits are a little different, some increase your weight allowance (which is still 50kg). There are the usual resistance boosting ones (psi, thermal, chemical etc). And ones that increase wound healing and energy recovery.

Weapons & Equipment
The weapons are the same selection you get in SoC/CS and you begin with the same basic pistol (99% sure its a 9mm makarov) AND an AK74su, good job to because your going to need it. Bandits & Stalkers carry a mixture of guns, mostly makarov pistols, sawn-off & winchesters, viper smg (H&K mp5) and of course the AK74. So as the game progresses bigger and better weapons will appear in the same way as the previous games.
There is still the choice of 2 ammo types for the guns. They have revised the upgrading system from CS, now instead of countless flash drives there are 3 tool kits to find and give to a mechanic, Basic, Fine and Calibration. 6 kits to find, 2 technicians to give them to (you are not able to use them).
Silencers and the under-barrel grenade launchers (M203, GP-25) are still there. The 2 scope types (PSO / Susat) are there but with a twist. Both scopes are now available in a variety of different settings. There is the standard fixed rate magnification at several settings, and now some have a variable zoom like binoculars, some have night vision, also thermal imaging. This gives 4 or 5 different scopes to choose from (not yet tried them all but I think it's a great little touch.
I mentioned in the initial first impressions post that there is now Armour and Head gear. These can all be upgraded in the same way as the weapons. Upgrade bonuses get listed at the bottom of the gears stat info.

A new addition to the equipment you can use is a selection of pharmaceuticals / drugs. Each gives a set bonus for a limited period of time (almost like temporary artefacts). One increases weight allowance for 5 minutes, one increases chemical resistance for 20 or 30 seconds. And these can be assigned to the F1-F4 quick keys. 


Will end it there for now, part 3 to follow in a day or so.

[Art Blade]

looks like you had an adventurous night, Red  ;D Very funny, your six trials and LOL @ faceful of buckshot  ;D

In CS, dead birds came raining down, too. I remember the first time I realised that, because of the sound they produced when smacking the ground by the dozen  ;D

[RedRaven]

FIRST IMPRESSIONS  (continued) Yet more points of interest.


MutantsThe mutants in CoP will be familiar to those who have played either of the previous games in appearance but with some that is where the similarity ends. In SoC & CS the mutants are relative to your progression through the Story (at the start they are quite mundane and easy to deal with). Not any more ! Right from the start you will encounter the usual lower level mutants such as Dogs, Boars and Flesh's just as you do in SoC/CS. AND in the short time I've been playing and within the small area that I've moved through and explored I have encountered -

Dogs, Boars, Pseudodogs and Flesh are near enough the same as before. The animation of the boars appears to of been improved but they still die after a few hits, Pseudodogs don't seem quite as tough as they were (was able to kill 2 of them easily with just a pistol). Flesh are more aggressive. And Dogs now jump up to bite and claw at your face instead of going for your ankles.

Snorks in small packs of 2 - 4 at a time. They can be hard enough to deal with one on one, now that they are roaming around in packs they are a very deadly thing to face.

Spotted a lone Bloodsucker, I had got as high as possible on the dock - cranes and saw it crouched behind a rock. A lot of ammo later it was dead, usually they turn invisible when attacked but this one never spotted me, reckon thats the only reason I lived to tell of it.

In the centre of the Circus anomaly there is a Pyrogeist, first time I walked past that area I was spotted by something but after much looking around didn't see any creature so I ran away, when I looked at circus through the binoculars it showed a red frame around what appeared to be part of the anomaly, creeping to a good vantage point I was able to shoot and kill it without it detecting me again.

Have also read that there is a Controller in a tunnel in the area I'm in. Needless to say I'm avoiding that bit until I have better armour and weapons.

And it gets worse, I have read that there are several types of Bloodsucker's, and 2 new mutants to deal with. Chimera and Burer, both are also in some of the mods for SoC but until a face one don't know if they are the same or if they have new / different abilities. (in the mods for SoC the Chimera is bigger than a flesh and has a really long leap distance. The Burer - sometimes called a Dwarf - is about a mans height but at least twice as broad, it wears what looks like a brown robe and has some very nasty psionic powers <@JRD - and you thought the controller has mean! >. Will report back on how they both are in CoP when I encounter them.

One of the biggest changes made to ALL mutants is that you can no longer search their corpses, and there are no mutant body parts to be had either.

[JRD]

Great,  Red... thanks for the heads up on mutants.  :-X

Is there a way to deal with psionic powers? Any helmet with some sort of protection against psionic attacks?
(I just remember Magneto and his protective helmet)  ;)

[RedRaven]

I just remember Magneto and his protective helmet

X-men comics are great :-X .

Sir Ian Mckellen played Magneto in the film, as well as Gandalf in Lord of the Rings so now I always get a weird mental image of both the characters mixed into one whenver they are mentioned ;D


In answer to you question - can't say for sure what's what at the moment but it will be that some Armour / Head gear has better psi protection than others, and maybe Artefacts & Drugs will give bonuses too. Will confirm as and when I find out.

[RedRaven]

Is there a way to deal with psionic powers? Any helmet with some sort of protection against psionic attacks?

Yes, some of the upgrades for Armour suits increase Psi resistance, which I now need desperately, just been mind-raped by a controller :( .

Had just completed a short yet intense mission (the vid below shows the last part of it, which even though it only lasted 70 seconds it was 70 seconds of nerve wracking tension).

[smg id=1962 type=av]

After the stairs was safe (ish), and very shortly stood out on a hill. All I needed to do was get back to the Ice breaker ship which serves as a base to operate from. Quickly checking the map and compass then off I go. Had taken less than 10 steps when a warning comes through on the radio - An emission is imminent, get to cover and wait for it to pass. When you get these warnings the nearest safe spot gets marked on your PDA map, quick look shows its near some cracks in the ground, these often lead to underground caves.

Fell down one yesterday then was jumped by Snorks as I tried to get out. So I'm running a little, then walking till my energy builds up enough to run again. The warning comes through again and I'm running out of time to find shelter. Eventually I get to the cave entrance just as the Blowout or Emission starts.

After my earlier encounter with the cave dwelling Snorks I bring my rifle to the ready and slowly enter. Then a deep voice tells me to leave. As if, I know the emission will kill me so I decide to take my chances against whoever is already in the cave.....

I didn't even make it into the safe zone in the cave. A controller stood between me and safety from the blowout. Do or die time, fired a full clip on full auto at it, most hit though it did little to stop the controller from raising his hand and blasting me. The psychic assault knocked me backwards, struggling to get my bearings and get it in my sights again I started to reload, looking all around until i see it. Just in time to see his out stretched arm directing a second blast to my brain. Now I really am between a rock and a hard place because as my vision clears I can see that the emission has started. Its too late to run and hope to find another safe haven so once again I turn to face my foe, bringing my gun up I pull the trigger only to hear a hollow click just before the third attack knocks me back again. I turn to face it again, head spinning as if had drunk several bottles of vodka. In a last ditch attempt to kill him and reach the safety of the cave I pull out my pistol. Didn't even get chance to fire it as yet another blast to my now shattered mind sends me back to the floor, the noise of the emission drowning out all sound, the last thing I see is the sky, and its on fire as if the gods themselves are at war.

As the blowout ends I am staring down at my lifeless corpse being eaten by the Controller.

[fragger]

Great reads so far, Red, and a terrific report :-X

I never played any of these games, so I have a question about that clip - do those nasties not know you're there if you're sneaking around? Is that what was happening there? Please forgive my ignorance.

I sensed a good quality of tension all right, just watching the clip. Nice :-X

Is there a way to deal with psionic powers? Any helmet with some sort of protection against psionic attacks?

Foil? ;D

[RedRaven]

That clip shows me sneaking through a nest of Bloodsuckers whilst they are asleep (would seem that big nasty tentacle faced monsters with the power of invisibility sleep stood up like horses).
How they stayed asleep through the noise of automatic gunfire 1 floor up I don't know. Often one of them on its own can give you good fight for your life, most I ever faced in the other games was 3, but I was hiding in a tower with lots of grenades.
There was about a dozen all taking a nap, and had to move through them all without making any sound at all. But before you go down and sneak past that lot there are 2 or 3 awake upstairs and I died twice trying to get rid of them! If that bunch had woke up wouldn't of stood a chance, they can move pretty quick when they attack.

[Ricamundo]

Great reports and vid RR. What about respawn times? When you clear an area, do they respawn in a few minutes, or is it clear for longer?

[JRD]

Thats a good question Ricamundo... in Shadow of Chernobyl, the only game of the series I have experience with since I`m playing it now, I cleared some tough areas and saw no respawn. When you move from one big area to another (tha whole map isn`t loaded at once, unlike FC2) you pass through a bottleneck in the form of a guardpost. After clearing the place and returning there I saw some guards respawning, but no big deal, just two or three of them and with regular guns, so it`s just an ordinary day at the office when you face them!  ;)
I still have lots of walking to do in The Zone, so I might be speaking too soon... RedRaven will certainly give us a better answer
One thing is for sure... even if there is no respawn in tough areas like tunnels or enemy bases, The Zone is populated with factions, creatures and anomalies, so whenever you are wandering around, you will bump into trouble!!  ;D ;D


By the way Red... nice new avatar... is it the kind of helmet that prevents your brain to turn into pudding when facing a controller? Looks like made of foil heh?  ;D  ;D ;D

[RedRaven]

 Was thinking about that very topic this morning.  :)

At the moment No Idea, (and before Art or JRD start cracking the whip :P ) I can explain why I do not yet know, and why it may be hard to pin down. Just bear with me as you read on.

In Farcry 2 we pretty much knew where to expect the presence of hostile mercs, even without the great maps from Dweller_Benthos, partly because the guard posts were all marked on the map we just didnt know if it was ammo, fuel or explosives till we got there. Same with the towns and the smaller target areas like the fort and oasis, they had a boundary around them. And thanks to his maps we got to know the patrol routes used by merc vehicles. The two factions didn't go out of their way to attack the other, if not for Artblades 'Merc war' discovery it appeared to be more of a stand-off or Cold war. The mercs didn't do much and unless provoked and taunted didn't move far from the area they spawned in.

In Call of Pripyat there are 8 factions, Military and Monolith will attack everyone not in their faction, Bandits and Loners (or Stalkers) are enemies, Duty and Freedom are enemies, Mercenaries w@&k for who ever pays them and Scientists (or Ecologists) dont really have a specific enemy and use Mercenaries for firepower.
This is where it gets hard to say about respawn, even if a faction has a permanent base of operations and claims to certain areas there are also smaller, more independent 'cells' that will travel around, even going from map to map. For example if you were to kill a group of 2 or 3 Bandits as you see them following a road it is near on impossible to know where they came from, what their destination was or if it was a foot patrol doing it rounds.   Also these wandering groups of NPC's will fight their enemies when they see them, and there is also roving groups of mutants who will attack any human or mutant not of there kind.

The image below shows the Marsh Ice Breaker, on the minimap in the top left it shows yellow dots or stars. Unless you make enemies with one faction or another they are all neutral toward you, with the exception of Monolith (but who cares what lunatic cultists think of them). At the 3 o'clock position on the side of the minimap it says 17 , when I took that image there were 17 NPC's in my immediate vicinity, they are a mixture of Stalkers and Mercs, the boat is neutral ground to all and has a trader, medic, mechanic and beds to sleep in. (you cant even draw a weapon when you get within a few feet of it, if some one starts a fight outside it all the doors get locked for a short while too).

[smg id=1967]

Things are constantly happening. Unless you pause the game the A.I. does what it does and life goes on.People and mutants must spawn somewhere otherwise within a short space of time there would be nothing left alive, but as to where and how I'm clueless.
At various points have seen the number of people in or very close to the Ice breaker be as low as 12 and as high as 33. Went to sleep in it for 6 hours and when I left there was hardly anyone around, came back about 3 hours later and there were different people stood about.
At the moment there are several dead boars and a dead person about 50-60 meters behind me from where I took that screen shot, planning to observe them to see how long bodies remain in the game.

There may well be some type of pattern or schedule for things like respawns, or it could all be random factors. Could even be a bit of both. This game is less populated than the previous 2, but they have made up for that by making some things tougher - Mutants and anomolies are an ever present hazard too. And dont forget the Blowout emissions too.  There is a slight benefit as a result of the blowouts, they can cause anomolies to spwan artefacts after each wave, staying alive long enough to get them is whole new story.


Not really the answer you were probably after, but all this chaos and A.I. activity should make the open world side of it pretty interesting, and make it more enjoyable to play through more than once.

Will post any further observations as I'm playing. Cant see me playing anything else for a while, at least until Metro 2033 comes out near end of March ;D

[JRD]

OK... thanks for the detailed description of the dynamics of The Zone in CoP  :-X

I reckon that as you wander around, you will find some company, more likely not a pleasant one though! Thats one cool side of STALKER... The Zone is alive and things happens regardless of you. You will hear and see gunfights ensuing somewhere far away and thats not just sound effects, these are NPCs reacting to each others presence, be it mutant or other factions. Since they are there with somewhat of an objective like you (gather artifacts, ammo, guns or just eliminate rival factions or mutants) the term respawn does not apply to the open landscapes of The Zone.

But here`s a straightforward question: If I clear a facility or a specific area, like Agroprom or Garbage, from all its inhabitants and leave the map, when I get back... will be someone there? Will I have to shoot them all again?

[RedRaven]

NPC's who show on the minimap as a yellow or green star are 'squad leaders', some of them will provide a service same as the guides in Clear sky, only this time they have a posse.  And at some point you get to create your own little gang of hellraisers, not sure how it works yet but should be fun.

Some npc's will move from map to map just like you can, a few times I went through the border / gateway bit between two areas to find myself surrounded by people who were going the other way. Not so bad if they are neutral or friendly but its hard w@&k escaping from the middle of half a dozen bandits.

One example of clearing an area is the bandits at the start when you have to get the flash drive from nimble, usually after a short while some more bandits come down the road that leads out eastwards towards the dark valley, kill them and either some more come down and try to occupy the car park, after clearing them out a few times there is a chance that some Stalkers from the village / rookie camp where you start the game will make there way up to it and hold the fort so to speak. Same thing happens at the checkpoint transition between the Cordon and the Garbage.

But when you kill the 5 or 6 Soldiers under the railway bridge thats that, no one else comes to claim it.

[Art Blade]

In CS I cleared out the flea market at Garbage once, as well as the train depot. The depot got re-populated quickly, bandits did spawn there. The flea marked got conquered a couple of times by different factions and sometimes was left deserted. So, what I remember from CS, roaming faction groups came from other parts of the map (passing through checkpoints) which you could not see, and started occupying locations, if necessary they fought their way in. I suspect that the respawn takes place in parts of the map you don't see, and if you go there, other entrances from different parts of the world would allow people to pass through and start wandering the part of the world you just left. Quite good solution, you could never "catch" the game spawning entities (creatures, factions) and the game left you guessing those people went in through different entrances while you were away.

[RedRaven]

It is most probably an evolution of that. The odd thing is that even though they are at war with each other Duty & Freedom share the same building for their HQ.

[RedRaven]

Witnessed an incident of NPC's spawning at last :-X .
Was all a bit odd and chaotic. As the map I'm currently in has loads of marshy area with very long grass and clumps of bushes visibility often poor.
If you can Imagine the longest grassland / savannah parts of FC2 swapping the blazing sun for skies filled with dark, brooding clouds, usually raining too (seems to be rather a lot of that in the games I've been playing recently), with darker earth-tone colours you will get the general idea. The mutants blend in well, they are also lower to the ground too which adds to the difficulty of spotting them from more than 20-30 meters away.
As a result of this I've taken to getting on yop of any vantage point available as soon as I can. It was from the top of one such large rock formation that I spied a couple of Stalkers finishing of a Snork with many shotgun blasts. They put away there weapons and set off along the bridge when 3 Bandits appeared from nowhere about 10 foot behind them. The outcome was pretty inevitable, the new group were already shooting before the original 2 had noticed their presence. They did manage to take one guy down before getting cut down by the other 2 bandits.
As they made their way to the bodies to loot them I did what any self respecting under cover special forces general would do, crouching down as low as possible raised my Vintar BC and took careful aim through the scope at the head of the bandit furthest away. 3 quick shots and they were on the road as dead as the corpses they intended to loot. Naturally I went running over after making sure the way was clear to loot all 5 bodies myself ;D

The game must be set to spawn certain factions or mutants either at random intervals or after specified events, but as they A.I. has many groups wandering around this group was unfortunate to of been in that area at that time. Have looked around all the game files could find relating to spawning but most of it is way over my head.
Did kill dozen or so zombies in one area and when returned after 3 days game time it was over run with dogs so some groups look to be scripted recurringly and others as one of encounters. Lots of mutants have been spawned so far and a lot of them are still on the ground where they were killed.
It is reasonably sparsely populated, can walk for a long while without encountering anything, though sometimes there are little fire-fights going on near every building or place of interest. Random enough to keep me on my toes, approaching everywhere cautiously with gun in hand.

[Ricamundo]

Great research RR. 8) I have a couple more questions for ya. You mentioned a neutral place where the player can buy ammo, get food and sleep. Can you manipulate the time of day or night this way, as in FC2 or FO3, so you can essentially play at your prefferred time of day?

My other query is about how the game runs while you're out in the wastes. FC2 was very smooth, even with all kinds of explosions, etc going on. FO3, however had a lot of random frame judder while outside. it didnt seem to matter how powerful your GPU was or how low you set the graphics. How smooth is CoP?

[RedRaven]

In the Marsh Ice Breaker, which is the neutral area in Zaton, there is a room upstairs with a few beds in it, as soon as you enter the room text comes up on the screen saying "sleep (f)" hit f and it brings up a sleep  bar that works in pretty much the same way as FO3.
As for stuttering frame rates, I did suffer from it a few times at first but there are plenty of graphic's settings and resolution sizes to choose from so it was just a case of finding the optimum balance for your system set up, the biggest factor in this is the light setting, there are a few to select Static lighting, Dynamic object lighting, Full dynamic lighting, Improved full lighting and DirectX 10 dynamic lighting.
Static uses DirectX8, the other DirectX9, though for Improved full you need 3.0 shader support. There are also options for view distance, texture detail, shadow quality etc. And things like being able to turn off NPC's flashlights. After a few hours play with an emission and several encounters of various sizes I had got it set to run at 1280x800 resolution with high detail, the only thing I always keep low or off in any game is shadow settings. But all this depends upon your system setup.

[JRD]

..the only thing I always keep low or off in any game is shadow settings. But all this depends upon your system setup.

Really? Even in FC2?  :o

I love the shadow effects they created...