First Impressions

[PZ]

Wow, you sure do get through things fast - great read, Art!  :-X

[Art Blade]

*Pling* 6,600th post: Now.  ;D (just saw my stats there to the left, hehe)

Thanks, PZ :)

The summary you just read might give you guys the impression I have just entered the second map, "high school," while in fact I am about to leave that map, entering Pripyat hopefully quite soon (well, "varsity") hehe. The guy who will be the guide to there has already left his place where he was like nailed to it all the time. I already know I'll have to use a tunnel, which needs to be cleared of mutants first (job taken, execution pending), and then I'll need a "closed" suit for the violent environment therein, and I shall be gathering people whom I'll lead to Pripyat. I have already befriended Freedom (a faction) so well... just a couple of things to do, like packing for the trip.  ;D

[fragger]

Enjoying your impressions thus far, Art, fun reading :-X

just a couple of things to do, like packing for the trip.

Don't forget to pack plenty of heat and your lead-lined undies ;D

[Art Blade]

more first impressions

Didn't play much yesterday, but today a few hours. I like the game for teasing me so often. Hehe, you know how very much I would have liked to be able to "just" walk to Pripyat, fetch my tools, and go back. Well, the game is not just that easy. It sometimes works like "I want that" and the game goes "alright, under one condition" and then there are sub-conditions... For example, find a way to pripyat. Alright. Oh, the mission goal has changed, because new info has popped up when I visited that place where I was supposed to find out something. Which led from A to B to C... then I had to assemble a team. Minimum three people crazy enough to join me on a suicide mission to Pripyat. I was lucky I met a group of ex-Monoliths which I decided to put under the wings of Freedom (could have been Duty, too). Freedom needed to be friends enough with me to agree.

Fortunately we had some good deals before, so they already were my friends. I could have earned an achievement "friends of Freedom" but that might have caused trouble with those who dislike Freedom (and their friends) so I decided to make a deal with someone else, who was not related to either faction. So far, I am a "friend of Stalkers" which is good, no one taking offense, and just friends with Freedom. I'm still neutral (a bit chilled kind of neutral, though) with Bandits, and I'm neutral with Duty. I can walk among humans (except Monoliths, who are at war with each and everyone but themselves) without getting shot. Mutants are really a force that alone makes life hard enough, I don't need extra enemies, and Monoliths are yet another force I could do without, hehe.

So the leader of Freedom gave me the ex-leader of the ex-Monolith group to join my going-to-be-ex team. I had helped a guy with a bandit problem, so he was the next candidate. Only he needed a closed environmental suit (so did I). Now I had to find that suit. Back to Zaton... get one suit for him (and for me). On my return, I needed a third guy, ex-soldier (well, still soldier, but he lost his group). That guy needed a suit of his own, and the game somehow foresaw that. So of course, I had to do a little sidejob... find a plant for the scientists who would in return give him a suit. I grew slightly impatient when I finally had assembled my team. I thought, "a quicksave, and let's just go and see what happens next" and then I got teleported right into the mission (glad I did a regular save before that, in case I want to replay from there). However, I was planning to just check out what happened, but the mission was intense and interesting. So I kept going. I thought it was just a little tunnel... it was a bloody maze and full of hazardous stuff and mutants and Monoliths and anomalies and a power cut which needed to be fixed etc...

When I finally got to Pripyat, all my men had died along the way. sh!$ happens, lost all my men, so what. It's not exactly a world for pussies. I have to admit, the trip ate up my exo, a wonder it didn't drop off of me. I had ingested ten packs of anti-chemical pills to survive the trip, because I was so loaded with gear I couldn't switch to a SEVA suit (I had it in my rucksack, but while it fitted nicely into my exo, the exo didn't fit into my SEVA, I was packed with around 90kg, couldn't fit that into the soft suit). Then, arrived at Pripyat, I couldn't just go back. I had to accomplish yet another mission, so I decided to go on, and that meant recover a gauss rifle from Monolith. I was part of a new team assembled there, and again, I was the only survivor. We got properly ambushed by Monoliths, and outnumbered, and out-classed regarding weapons. At least at Pripyat repairs cost Zero dough. So I had all my gear repaired and got a couple of rifles with me from the trip, among which a tuned G37 which is really a decent weapon when upgraded to tier2, when we encountered that gang of Monoliths. With that, I killed the remaining bad guys, and I already was aware of the fact that yet again I had lost all my men. Pussies. I got that gauss rifle, returned to base, had my gear repaired, and finally was able to travel back by guide. I had doped myself with a drink that made me carry even more, plus an artefact of +12kg, plus 90kg exo, plus around 10% overweight limit, carrying a total of like 130kg of gear back home lol  ;D

All that without a single savegame in between and I survived, that's why I decided to continue the game rather than resort to my last quicksave. Because it wasn't meant to be a well-planned journey, I had all that gear with me (two SEVA suits in my luggage, lol) and not exactly the proper weapons I would have taken with me had I planned it.

Then I had to find out about the gauss rifle back in Zaton. Meanwhile I had spent so much on gear, repairs and upgrades, I had easily wasted like 100,000 RU. I was so short of money I couldn't afford a guided trip, so I started selling stuff for that purpose. However, getting info for the gauss rifle, I met some incredible resistant mutant inside an old research site I used up a lot of ammo. Did that three times just to find out if it could be done easier (I reckon it was a pseudo-giant or what it's called, sounds like an old lion and looks a little beefier than a chimaera, thumps the ground occasionally which makes the earth quake and myself squawk huskily). Well, I knifed even that thing and survived ;D

Now I need a break and some sleep, to be continued by tomorrow (weekend is coming) :)

[PZ]

Wow, all that in just a few hours!  Sounds like lots of travel to get things accomplished.  Does it seem lengthy when you are in the game?

[Art Blade]

No. It's all worthwhile :)

[Art Blade]

more first impressions

When I said "a few hours" it meant like 6 or so hours. Now I have added another one or two hours and have finally accomplished what I was waiting for all the time: I found the last toolbox for my mechanic in Zaton. First thing I did was have him upgrade my exoskeleton, especially the ability to sprint and also, two more pouches for artefacts. What I find most useful is the capacity of the cargo bay (lol) of my armour: using two Goldfish (each adds 12kg capacity) together with radioactivity-absorbing Bubble and Wrenched, I can now carry 114kg. I can drink some stuff which enables me to carry even more, didn't try it with the upgrades yet, but with one Goldfish plus drink I was able to carry 130kg, should be 142kg or more by now. That should allow me to carry around the "fruit of the loot" of half a battalion for later sale  ;D

I have seen something really funny and perplexing. I was on my first sight-seeing trip through Pripyat, destination "toolbox," when I came round the building where that toolbox was supposed to be, and I heard some noise and detected anomalies inside. I don't know why I looked up, but I looked at the edge of the roof of that building when exactly that moment I heard the noise of a beaten dog and immediately after that, I saw a massive dog with white glowing eyes which probably got yanked and tossed out of the window of the second floor by god knows what. I watched the dog sail through the window, over my head, and land behind me on its gob, and then it was dead. Hmmm, nice on one hand because I didn't have to worry about that beast, but on the other hand, what on earth kicks a hellhound like that so it whimpers and allows whatever it was to fling it through a window? Dead the instant it left the building rather than breaking its neck during the process of attempting a crash landing on its nose? LOL What a surreal moment that was. I decided to pack in my rifle and whip out my knife. Something that beats a dog to death deserved the Art Blade  ;D

It was a bloody Bad Yoda (burer) so I kept pricking him with the tip of my knife until he sank down on his knees and into his own blood. Cheerio, Mr dwarf, now I'll fetch that toolbox of yours and I shall be off to Zaton... :)

[smg id=2034 align=center width=400]

[RedRaven]

END GAME

Last night / this morning (depending on where you are) I concluded my investigations in the zone relating to operation Fairway.  ;D

Without giving too much away the end section is like running the Gauntlet, countless Zombies and Monolith soldiers ambush you on your way from point A to B. The fire fights are pretty intense, nearly ran out of ammo (set off with around 700 rounds!) and by the time I had got to the extraction point my weapon had degraded by around 40% and my exosuit by about 30%. So before you set off make sure you have more than enough ammo and medkits because you will need them!

If you survive and reach the extraction point your treated to a short cut-scene then given the option to leave the zone for good or stay.


Upon leaving the zone the story gets wrapped up in the same way it started - Pictures and Narration, and it does a good job of rounding it off and bringing the whole thing to a close.

If you choose to stay then you have to keep fighting until the coast is clear to leave the area. Plenty of guys lurking around or on roof tops with sniper rifles to keep you busy for a while. Then your free to explore the zone in a true openworld fashion.

I will be starting again from the beginning but this time trying out a few good looking mods (which will report on in the mod thread)

Final Conclusion

A really enjoyable game to play, plenty of puzzles to solve, some hard some easy. Plenty of decisions to make along the way relating to the various factions. A good selection of weapons and equipment, all familiar from the previous 2 games plus a couple of nice new toys. Loads of new characters and a few old familiar faces too.

All in All an excellent continuation of the "Zone saga". Well worth playing.

My aim now is to read "Roadside picnic" (the book that started it all), then watch the film, then play all three games in chronological order - Clear Sky, Shadow of Chernobyl then Call of Pripyat. If anything just to see how it actually all flows as a progressive story from one game to the next.

[Art Blade]

Thanks for the info regarding end game, Red  :-X

I'm right now in a situation, I would like to explore but I would also like to go towards finishing the game, meaning I'm not rushing things right now.

Regarding weapons and ammo: The game has them in such a great variety that it is a pain in the neck to decide which weapons to carry around (plus matching ammo) and which to leave in the personal crate. The main problem you have to deal with all the time is carryweight. I have a fully upgraded exo and two goldfish artefacts that allow me to carry 114kg as opposed to 50kg regular carryweight. If I want to carry a variety of weapons plus matching ammo, I easily touch the limit of 114kg. The next problem is, if you have a decent load-out like that, you have no space for good stuff you want to loot. So even if you have loads of packing space, you want to keep some reserve for loot which you will happen upon. Also, there are secret stashes you can find by accident or following map markers you had received as a reward for whatever job well done, so if you are packed to your teeth and then happen upon a stash... you need to sort out your inventory :)

During the game there are three maps with increasingly stronger opponents, so the choice of weapons is roughly matching them against the opponents. While mutants can be killed with a knife (hehe) of course you may also resort to buckshot, shotguns in different flavours are a good choice. Then the human opponents have increasingly more armour you need to penetrate (if you can't take your time for headshots) which means you need armour-piercing ammo. That kind of ammo is more expensive and less easy to come by. The more advanced (expensive) your weapon, the more expensive and less easy to find the ammo.

Weapons do follow the rules of ballistics you need to deal with, but it is not as advanced as for example in OFP2. The more accurate you upgrade your weapon and the flatter the arc a bullet goes, the better you can shoot enemies with farther-reaching bullets. Better scopes, better weapons, better armour... and better enemies. The game does a nice job regarding balance, you get what you expect.

At a higher stage of the game, especially after having delivered the calibration toolbox to your good mate in Zaton, you'll be able to upgrade some of your weapon systems with an automatic target acquisition. This doesn't mean you have an automatic aim system, but it will recognise if living beings are hostile or not, showing a coloured frame around targets. If it is red, there is an enemy, white is neutral or a mutant (dogs, for example). Basically it works exactly the same way your binoculars do. This doesn't sound spectacular, but it is when you consider a pitch black night or a low-contrast image you get when using night vision. The automatic system keeps track of targets even if they hide or move behind obstacles. You can't see through walls, though. It has helped me with a silenced sniper rifle that I had upgraded witht that tracking device, I was able to take out a guard post of around 10 Monolith warriors and Zombies (those are basically armed people that stagger around aimlessly until they spot you, then they will attack) without getting seriously hurt -- they only shot at me twice before I pierced their heads  ;D

This game also has two nice little gimmicks I always liked: Cutscenes, rendered in-game, when you achieved certain mission goals, and an achievement system that resembles decorations in the army. Each achievement is listed in your PDA (stats menu, if you like) and it does encourage you and makes you feel good when you get those achievements. They have a nice picture and a description of why you received it and what the bonus of it is, for example if you manage to surpass 100,000RU cash, you get a reward that traders will occasionally offer you special gear. If you play smart, you get a lot of achievements that reflect your gaming style or match your modus operandi.

I really enjoy this game :)

[RedRaven]

I'm right now in a situation, I would like to explore but I would also like to go towards finishing the game, meaning I'm not rushing things right now.

I know what you mean, I got a little carried away and ended up at the final stages before completing all the side missions fully.

Regarding weapons and ammo: The game has them in such a great variety that it is a pain in the neck to decide which weapons to carry around (plus matching ammo) and which to leave in the personal crate. The main problem you have to deal with all the time is carryweight. I have a fully upgraded exo and two goldfish artefacts that allow me to carry 114kg as opposed to 50kg regular carryweight. If I want to carry a variety of weapons plus matching ammo, I easily touch the limit of 114kg. The next problem is, if you have a decent load-out like that, you have no space for good stuff you want to loot. So even if you have loads of packing space, you want to keep some reserve for loot which you will happen upon. Also, there are secret stashes you can find by accident or following map markers you had received as a reward for whatever job well done, so if you are packed to your teeth and then happen upon a stash... you need to sort out your inventory :)

Indeed, I always made sure I had 4-5 medkits and bandages, 2 antirad syrettes and a couple of tins of cat food. As for ammo would take about 20 spare clips for my main weapon system, 10 for my secondary gun and 4-5 clips for my back up pistol. The image below is my 2 main weapons of choice. Would always use the ammo with the black band around the box for my primary (top), and solid slugs for the secondary (bottom). Generally would set off with around half my weight allowance used, picking up weapons dropped by dead enemies along the way only to empty the ammo out and unless it was in near perfect condition dropping the weapon. Its far easier to build cash up with artefacts than it is selling weapons.

[smg id=2038]

Although when it came to the final stages I left the shotgun in my chest and got 2 of the AS VAL (top image) rifles upgraded to the same spec, with a 30 round clip and fixed 5x scope it was great for quick medium-short range sniping on single shot, and on full auto ideal for quick bursts to the head of any ugly mutant that got too close. The shotgun (bottom image) was not as useful as it was fun to use, had great fun crouching on top of vehicles taking short bursts at mutant and zombie heads but it takes way too long to reload to be of any real practical use. A good last-stand type weapon though.

[Art Blade]

 ;D

The "black belt" bullets are armour-piercing. When you said 10 or 20 clips... I see the amount of bullets in my stack of a certain type of ammo... I carry around like 500+ per type, except buckshot. The Eliminator, your lower gun, takes some time to reload, but so does every buckshot gun. What you might not have known, the Eliminator can be fitted with a big scope, lol  ;D All you need is balls of steel to actually stop, crouch, and aim through the scope... then you can take out a lot of mutants or other people with it.  ;D

The G37 is very interesting. Built-in scope which can be upgraded to a high contrast scope, always has that cool crosshair inside, and further upgrades to either zoom or tracking device, and maxed out it has 100% accuracy. Single shot, burst of three, or fully automatic. It is decent, both as assault and as sniper :)

There are standard scopes in two flavours: cqc x1.6 with only half of the front of the scope showing colour, or 4x regular with the front part of it fully coloured: Either night vision (green) or regular (blue). And those scopes come either as big and short (NATO), or slim and long (Russian).

There are so many ways you can upgrade your guns  :)

A good way of making money with weapons is once you have access to Pripyat, have the army guy repair all your gear for zero, nothing, nada... for free! Then take the guide straigt to Zaton, costs nothing to Jupiter but 1,000 extra for a non-stop travel to Zaton. There you sell your stuff and take a guide to Jupiter for another 1k. At least you get the money for the trips back if you sell some weapons like that :)

[RedRaven]

Tried the Eliminator with a scope but ended up favouring its use up close, mostly just stuck with the AS Val, armour piercing rounds and the fixed 5x optics, did at one point have the scope with enemy Id (same as binoculars) but for some silly reason sold it and never got chance to replace it.

I did really enjoy dropping bullets down onto a distant target before getting all the available Flatness upgrades. And every now and then using hard surfaces to ricochet a round into place. It is a bit hit & miss but very satisfying when the target drops  dead after bouncing a few shots off concrete pillars and big ship hulls.

There are a couple of mods that improve the realism of the in-game ballistics so will check them out and post a comparison. As Art says the ballistics are not as true to life as say OFP2 or Arma2, but they are an improvement on the physics in the first two.

[Art Blade]

Haha, billard with bullets?  ;D :-X Got to try that. Never occurred to me :)

[Art Blade]

more impressions

The game offers a lot of different combat styles. Today I have played a mission that required me to clean a high building, every floor accessible, including roof and basement/cellar. Another mission reminded of the one in CoD4 which incidentally plays in or near Pripyat, and it is a sniper mission, too.

The high building (X8 Lab) is, on the floors above ground, both infested with militant Zombie soldiers and fanatic Monoliths, and below ground inhabited by mutants and ghosts. I found out I can kill a ghost with my blade  ;D

Because of the variety of weapons and upgrades of those, you can play as you wish: Stealth, Sniper, full assault, or a combination of those tactics. Erm... right now I feel an imperative urge to get a coffee into my system, I'll be right back  ;D

[Art Blade]

Much better now :)

Alright, so the game allows you to play the way you like it. In my case, the building was something I wanted to observe first, rather than enter and get killed. First I noticed the count of people somewhere around me (indicator top left of the screen shows humans and zombies and sums them up, and it indicates people that are a little outside the visual info of the map in the same HUD location) without actually seeing anyone. The weapon system of my suppressed sniper immediately reacted when I put the scope to my eye. I had those frames already in sight while the matching people were yet out of sight. Once they came into my sight, they lost their mind and head :) I must have sniped like 20 zombies that way, all inside the building, yet visible through windows. Indeed, when I entered the building, there were corpses everywhere  ;D

Then the Monoliths (or mercs, I don't remember) entered the scene and gave me the impression they wanted me to soak up all their ammo. I didn't like that idea, of course, and tried to kill them in a maze of rooms, broken stair cases and floors. I reckon those were another ten or so enemies but those are tougher than most people you encounter.

So I had sniper fun, stealth fun, and close quarters combat fun. And a slightly worn down armour. The rest was mutants and ghosts in the cellar and a few anomalies and artefacts on the roof. Nice :)

By the way, I don't know why, but I find myself doing all those fights at night. I like to sneak around at night, no stalkers around (they stay inside at night) so I can shoot, bomb, stab and hunt everything that moves  ;D

[PZ]

Excellent synopses fellows  :-X

Your descriptions give readers a good idea about how the game plays.

[Art Blade]

Here is a view through a high contrast scope with automatic target tracker. You can hardly see it, it's far away, but it's one of those massive dogs with white glowing eyes running from left to right, around it an imaginary box of which you can only see the white corners. It's my Lynx sniper rifle, maximum upgrades, it has 100% accuracy and 100% damage.

[smg id=2041 align=center width=400]

The next pic is that dog, I decided to kill it with my knife (two of those dogs took 17 hits from the Lynx until they croaked! But only four or five slashes from the knife...)

[smg id=2042 align=center width=400]

[Art Blade]

DONE  ;D

I've finished the main mission and I checked the "are you ready to leave the zone? (cannot return)" first with yes, and as Red mentioned, a nice slideshow with narrated events that depend on what you did finish the game. Then I reloaded and watched those helos fly away and I was left with a few Monoliths.

The first end did almost not harm my armour and I noticed the gauss rifle was the only rifle I needed, so the next turn (into free play) I grabbed all batteries I had for the gauss rifle (as someone once said, it is the perfect "one shot, one kill" weapon). But this time my exo got eaten halfways through, so I whipped out my fresh and polished second exo suit  ;D I must have used only like 50 shots during the entire show with the gauss and then the endgame was over. The place where I am now stranded is covered with bodies, I guess around 20 or 30... I need a truck for all that loot  ;D And I hope that I still have a base and someone who repairs my gear for free.

Excellent game  :-X

[Art Blade]

Haha, Uncle Jar is my new medic and mechanic, and he doesn't want money... repairs for an exo that is say 30% damaged easily cost around 8,000 RU and mine was down to 30% lol, for 0,00RU I won't complain  ;D

Cool was, when I returned to Pripyat base (here called Waschsalon = launderette) I met other stalkers, and one of them said "Wow, so you have returned?"  :-X :)

[Art Blade]

One more thing: After finishing the official part, the free play has considerably relaxed myself. I had my gear repaired by uncle Jar, stashed most of my stuff away and only took the Lynx (special SVDm-2), the SVU2-A (Max' silenced sniper), my gauss and a G37 with me. And the backup exo :) However, I pulled out my G37 and just went for a walk to the extraction point to see if there were still bodies to loot. On my way I encountered some animal mutant, a couple of Zombies and a handful of Monoliths who had taken their guard post back. I was so chillaxed that I slowly crouched, fire mode single shot, and took every oponent down with neat headshots, then continued looting as if nothing had happened. Had to use a stalker energy drink so I was able to carry around my almost 140kg of loot haha :) Going to do some trading in Zaton next, then try to finish unfinished jobs.

Really a nice game :)

[deadman1]

Well I finally got around to installing and starting CoP. So far I have found 2 choppers, survived an emission, found a couple of stashes and done a few missions. what strikes me is how huge the map is, you can easily find yourself walking for real hours when getting around. since I played both SOC and CS all the controls are familiar, however the graphics are as you would expect far better. It´s a little early to really review the game but sofar it looks really good.  :-X

[Art Blade]

wahey! Cool, deadman  :-X Enjoy and have fun  :)

[RedRaven]

Beware the Snorks!

[Art Blade]

About the End (no spoilers intended)

I read on a different forum how some people were more or less disappointed by the finale of the game. I think this finale is just logical, if you remember your mission: Get into the zone and find out what had happened to the helicopters. Well, once you know that, you report and get out, don't you? It is exactly what happens. Investigate, find out the reasons, report, and get the hell out (and take fellow soldiers who got stuck in the zone with you). The option to say "I want to stay" or simple not to leave the zone is another cool option that fits into the game.

When I was through with the mission, I had spent one month (that's what it reads on my PDA) in the zone, got to know many people and was fascinated by all the strange stuff. No different than many other stalkers. So I decided to stay...

Since I got there, I had three bases, starting on that wrecked ship, moving to a worn-down railway station, and finally moved to a nuked launderette. I had my stuff all across the zone, if you like, and once I made my decision to stay, I organised my stuff. Making money is easy now, I don't need to sell artefacts any more, I can easily make 20 or 30k  cash out of selling weapons, ammo and pharmaceuticals to the right people. Stalkers and Freedom are friends and make better offers, Bandits and Duty are neutral, so are their deals, maybe a bit less. Travelling from Pripyat to Jupiter is free, from there to Zaton is 1k (or go straight from Pripyat to Zaton for 1k), and from Zaton to Pripyat is 5k. From Pripayt to Zaton is only 4k, and from Jupiter to Pripyat 5k. So if you take that into account, and only travel when you have stuff to sell, you can get around for little money. If you consider that people you like don't travel at night, you can time each travel (always four hours in-game) so that you meet them at night (they stay in stations until 8 o'clock sharp, then they run outdoors and do what they have to do) and if you make deals with people you are friends with, you can get a huge chunk of money out of them with pharmaceuticals and ammo. Weapons and other gear I sell to Owl at Zaton, and once there, I buy batteries for my gauss rifle from Cordon. That ba$t@rd, 2k for six batteries means 333,33 RU per shot I fire with my gauss... if you think about it, my endgame, I blew about 50 batteries, roughly 17k on ammo during a single battle, LOL  ;D But it was well worth it.

So now I'll have time to find secrets or whatever, and kick some butt  ;D

[JRD]

So, it's a hell of a game, isn't it?  ;)

Devs made an excellent w@&k creating and balancing The Zone with all its inhabitants and relationships... it is trully a living world they got out there...