S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow Of Chernobyl Preview

By Kristan Reed Published 5 April, 2004

We went to Chernobyl and came back with a preview. What's this strange lump?

Of all the odd press trips in the world, none can quite come close to the culture shock endured on the THQ-sponsored 'jolly' to GSC's Kiev-based studio in the sunny Ukraine. Of course poker-faced customs officials are par for the course - ever been to the States? Even the legions of furry hat-wearing folk (with no furry hat shops, sadly) and unfeasibly long-legged beautiful women didn't phase us as such, nor the fact that they wired us up to a vodka drip and forced us to eat a selection of some of the most bizarre and inedible 'food' substances ever.

That was all fine. But when they invited us on a cheery tour to go and see Chernobyl for fun, we knew something had gone awry in our lives. Stranger still, during the press conference to promote the much anticipated mutate 'em up S.T.A.L.K.E.R, they wheeled one of the men responsible for the tragedy. I didn't know whether to laugh or throw things. Instead an indignant French journo let THQ have it with both barrels for 'making money out of a tragedy' before storming off in a huff to drink some free Stella.

Can you be beautiful while staggering?

'S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow Of Chernobyl' Screenshot 1

As for the game... well. It looks staggeringly beautiful, and takes PC visuals to a place we've all been looking forward to for a long, long time. In common with Far Cry's stunning views, GSC does it too with an engine that seems capable of rendering an entire sprawling landscape to an almost unbelievable degree of clarity, fidelity and detail. As you will know from the leaked movies and the few official screenshots available, this is a game that takes attention to detail to new levels - if you have the rig, that is. Much like any cutting edge FPS, you'll definitely need the kit, and we're talking high end to do the game justice.

Based - with a degree of artistic license - on the real thing, the small team at GSC actually went themselves down to the stricken reactor to gather source material, and have done a fantastic job of replicating the rust and decay. Every wall is a mass of peeling paint, every structure precarious, dank and twisted with abandonment. Every environment is brought to life with textures that have no right to look that good. The mass of untroubled, tangled vegetation is occasionally interrupted by an ominously towering pylon, and it just looks so good you want to just run around like a kid let loose in a field.

The game itself promises to be a lot more than your average shooter. Based on the premise that you've gone to explore the 20km 'exclusion zone' of Chernobyl, what you do after that is essentially your choice, according to GSC's Oleg Yavorsky: "We made it an open-ended game where each player can become whatever they want to become. He has the freedom to move and act and it's up to him. You can save people; for example, you can rescue scientists, or Stalkers. You can give them a hand in trouble or you could be a murderer - and there are different types of Stalkers who pursue their own goals."

Hostile daughters

'S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow Of Chernobyl' Screenshot 2

So with its Deus Ex-style non linear overtones, S.T.A.L.K.E.R is clearly more than just about the pretty visuals, and the team has let its imagination run riot with thoughts of what the radiation has done to the environment after all these years: "There are mutants, obviously, who are always hostile to you and you can't do anything about - this is a first-person shooter," insists Yavorsky.

"The key message is the player has freedom to act and become - at the end - whatever he wants to, it's up to him. We have over eight different endings," he boasts. This will certainly make a welcome change to the linear 'play once and never again' clutch of games that we've blasted through over the years, giving a degree of replayability not seen too much in modern games, particularly FPS titles.

GSC is strapping its standard firmly to the single-player element as its priority: "Primarily, S.T.A.L.K.E.R, as we see it, is a single-player game where the player lives in this world and the game has multiple endings. Also [he's got] freedom and therefore we do hope that and expect the player to replay because it will be interesting to play through several times seeing as each time you play it the life simulation will make it a different experience - [but although it's] mainly single-player we also care for multiplayer as well."

A mutant's work is never done

'S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow Of Chernobyl' Screenshot 3

With the game just 70 per cent complete when we visited GSC back in late February, there was still plenty of work to be done for the team to hit its September ship date. Having such a small mocked up portion of the game to play did worry us that the game would struggle to hit that date, but THQ's Mike Gamble assures us: "It's hit every milestone we've given them so far."

As for "hands-on" experience, each of the assembled press were given just 15 minutes to run around and achieve a few basic objectives to get a feel for the game. Despite the usual ambitious claims that the game would have "the most complex AI system that exists today" with over 200 parameters allowing for a living breathing world, sadly, at this stage the AI was far from finished. Most of the subtleties promised were by GSC's own admission not implemented, and we'll just have to wait and see if they come good. The packs of strange mutant dogs, for example, that roam around were supposed to be avoidable, but instead just savaged us relentlessly whenever we got near. Meanwhile, other strange quirks stopped us from completing the demo goals, so it's definitely too early to tell whether the gameplay is up to scratch at this stage. Consider this a privileged first look at a Work In Progress than a bona fide hands-on preview, because it was far from useful in that respect.

The environments, as we've said, were unquestionably brilliant, with a fantastic day-night cycle to lend the game an even more atmospheric air. GSC didn't show us too much in the way of character models, sadly, limiting us to a hideously mutated dog, a wonderfully detailed old man and a shambling, aggressive Stalker. Certainly, what we've seen so far tends to suggest this could match the heights seen in rival next-gen shooters - but in one of the most elaborate and sprawling environments that lends a bewildering degree of freedom. If we were to raise any doubts, it would be that this 'freedom' could lead to a lack of focus and endless wandering. Even in the 10 minute demo, we were constantly checking our map to see which direction we were wandering off in, but, like we said, the demo laid on for us was way too limited to make an informed report on how the finished article will play.

Bolt thrower

Weapon wise, as well as the usual modern day firearms that you'll all be familiar with, there are a few novelties in the mix, such as the way you're forced to consider the environment's radioactivity. Throwing metal bolts, for example, reacts violently to areas of high radiation. Ignore this and you end up with fuzzy black and white vision before inevitably slumping to the ground. Strange apparitions also appear to chase you down in certain areas, so it's definitely not all about mutants, zombies and mercenary bandits. But whatever they are, it's shaping up to be one of the scariest, most original takes on the increasingly tired FPS genre that we've seen, and will hopefully prove to be the complete package of exceptional visuals married to convincing AI and incredible replayability.

Expect more on S.T.A.L.K.E.R when we get a fully playable build. Until then, read what GSC's Oleg Yavorsky has to say on some of the key points of the game in an interview elsewhere on the site.

Picture of Kristan.

About Kristan Reed

Kristan is a former editor of Eurogamer, dad, Stone Roses bore and Norwich City supporter who sometimes mutters optimistically about Team Silent getting back together.

Read more articles from Kristan by visiting the Kristan Reed archive page.

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Comments (49) Latest comment 8 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • pjmaybe #1 8 years ago

    Shhh don't tell them about Direct X 9!!!

    Peej

  • Errol #2 8 years ago

    2005 will be PC upgrade time I think.

  • TennesseeStiff #3 8 years ago

    TS gets down on his knees and prays?..

    "please don't turn out like FarCry, please don't turn out like Farcry......"

    I have very high hopes for this as a sort of FarCry done right. But hope is all I have at this stage since we haven't seen anything substantive on this one .... However there are a lot of things that cause me to be a little apprehensive about this .... even at this stage . . . . so I'll wait and see how it turns out and hope for the best in the mean time.
    Edited by 1 at 05/04/04 @ 12:19

  • pjmaybe #4 8 years ago

    "However, I strongly suspect you won't forget this site in a hurry. "

    Not with the amount of people posting it and reposting it we won't!

    Peej

  • Dr.Haggard #5 8 years ago

    We have over eight different endings

    So er, 9 then.

    I'm really looking forward to this one, far more than HL2 or Doom 3 if I'm honest. Atmosphere and immersion is what I want in a game, and despite my anticipation for those two games, this one just pips them.

    When I first heard about the game a year or two ago I realised that even though I remember the disaster vividly I never really knew much about it or the effect it had on peoples lives, so I've done a lot of reading up since then. It gives me chills just thinking about it, and I think the setting is going to give the game an extra dimension, an extra emotional hook and creepy atmosphere that not many games can pull off.

    Of course GSC have added a sci-fi twist to the real historical background of the game, taking ideas from 'Roadside Picnic' and the film 'Stalker', but the background is still there.

    Personally I think to argue that they're cashing in on the tragedy is pathetic. If anything a game like this will open peoples eyes to it, like it has mine. Knowing a lot more about the disaster now than I learned at the time has added another draw to this game for me, giving the whole environment in the game a creepy, tragic ambience.

  • Errol #6 8 years ago

    please don't turn out like FarCry, please don't turn out like Farcry

    So you don't want STALKER to turn out to be a 90%+ game recieving rave reviews from all quarters and being hailed as the best fps since Halflife ?

  • Rahul #7 8 years ago

    Kristan, one thing I really wondered is whether the skies actually animate - eg, moving clouds and the like, along the course of the day - or do they just fade from texture of clouds 1 to texture of clouds 2? That's what it seems like from the trailers I have. Of course, the former would be more impressive, but it seems like generating a fulfilling variety of such skies would tax the environment quite a bit... and it can hardly be dynamic clouds such as those used in GTA, right?

    Hmm.

  • pjmaybe #8 8 years ago

    I must say though, the more screenies I see, the more I think my PC is going to need s serious overhaul in time for its release...

    Peej

  • Chris Gardiner #9 8 years ago

    Thanks for that link, Realist. Entrancing stuff.

  • krudster #10 8 years ago

    I didn't see the sky change, but I wasn't really looking tbh. We got kicked off the machines before we had a chance to appreciate subtleties.

  • Errol #11 8 years ago

    Says you.

  • MikeD #12 8 years ago

    annoyingly linear?

    heh, right.

  • UncleLou #13 8 years ago

    stalker has that trespasser feeling...

    Now wait, you think Far Cry is annoyingly linear, but Stalker will somehow be better because it reminds you of, of all games, Trespasser?

    /slowly backs out of thread

    ;-)

  • Kami #14 8 years ago

    Looks good.

    But Far Cry was a little linear... not so much a bad thing, but when you render a huge landscape the least you expect is a little more diversity. It was a great, playable title, but it was still rough at the edges. Stalker is looking great, a lot more moody and atmospheric. So I'm kinda keen to see how this turns out...


    Another title to see if my rig can cope.

  • azz0r #15 8 years ago

    far cry sucked, its one of the most boring linear, generic games with a few dx9 effects, nothing to get your knickers off for.

  • deadlock #16 8 years ago

    Hurrah for the jaded crew! Why do you guys even play games any more?

    Also, re: STALKER...

    'Cheap holiday in other people's miseryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!'

  • jiroczech #17 8 years ago

    Peej: Don't worry about system specs.. I've played the leaked code on a 1.4 Athlon + GeForce 4200 Ti and it was smooth. Really looking forward to this - hope they've fixed the dodgy character animation though.

  • Whizzo #18 8 years ago

    The leaked code was supposed to be pretty ancient so it's likely to be much improved now.

    I can't see how GSC are trivialising the Chernobyl disaster, they're the nutters that actually visited the zone to get the feel right and they're Ukrainians too.

    The plotline isn't saying the zone ended up like it is in the game just because of what happened in 1986 either.

  • deadlock #19 8 years ago

    There's a difference between setting a game in a real world location or using real world events to inform it, and wheeling out one of the people responsible for what is possibly the single biggest catastrophe in the history of mankind. I say props to the French journalistic for having the principles and the integrity to do what he did.

  • merlin #20 8 years ago

    me hoping it turns out to be Gothic + Fallout

  • 3william56 #21 8 years ago

    D.O.D.G.Y. F.O.R.C.E.D. A.C.R.O.N.Y.M.S. S.U.C.K.

  • 3william56 #22 8 years ago

    Agree with deadlock. This is pretty pointlessly offensive. It could have been set in a fictional nuclear incident with no problems (and more artistic freedom) - it's not as if Chernobyl is a real franchise to cash in on, or that the game has anything to do with the real events anyway.

    Can't wait for Escape The World Trade Centre Attack next year, and the new Resident Evil: Bhopal. I hear the Dunblane FPS is looking good too.

    Idiots.

  • Angrydarren #23 8 years ago

    "Agree with deadlock. This is pretty pointlessly offensive"

    What is more offensive - people who were actually affected by the tragedy using the defining moment in their recent history to prick the world's conscience, or the outpouring of mock indignation by disinterested people telling them that they should know better?

    These people are at the centre of what happened and if anyone has the right to use the events at Chernobyl in this manner, it is them. I didn't see too much Chernobyl discussion prior to this game becoming publicised, so the Daily Mail style condemnations are a little one eyed and hypocritical.

    Where was the outrage at Conflict Desert Storm, Black Hawk Down or for that matter Medal Of Honour? The biggest conflict in history is repeatedly used and presented in a less than sensitive manner so let's stop being so prissy about this game!!!!

  • ralphwolfenstein #24 8 years ago

    "Idiots"

    Wanker

    :¬)

  • deadlock #25 8 years ago

    Angrydarren:

    Where was the outrage at Conflict Desert Storm, Black Hawk Down or for that matter Medal Of Honour? The biggest conflict in history is repeatedly used and presented in a less than sensitive manner so let's stop being so prissy about this game!!!!

    To be fair, I'm not entirely comfortable with the idea of using wars as a source of entertainment either, particularly ones that were as bloody as World War II - or as recent as either of the Gulf Wars. Especially when the presentation is skewed and the reasons for the conflicts are only touched upon, if they're even mentioned at all.

    And I don't necessarily find the game itself offensive. But like I said previously, I don't agree with trivialising it by wheeling out one of the chief protagonists of the catastrophe and I think that saying that it's OK for GSC to do so, because they are Ukrainina as both simplistic and stupid. If I, as an Irish man, were to create a game based on the Omagh bombing and then roll out one of the bombers in my press events, people would cry foul, obviously.
    Edited by 1 at 06/04/04 @ 13:22

  • Whizzo #26 8 years ago

    If I, as an Irish man, were to create a game based on the Omagh bombing and then roll out one of the bombers in my press events, people would cry foul, obviously.

    What happened in Chernobyl was an accident, whether it was due to poor design, negligence or anything else, it wasn't a deliberate act. If you don't see the difference I'm amazed.

    It would have at least been nice if we knew who it was the GSC had brought in from Chernobyl and what he had to say. I'm sure he wasn't saying how marvelous it was that part of his homeland got turned into a rad-zone for hundreds of years.

  • frod. #27 8 years ago

    I also think people should "go play barbies", whatever their opinions on stalker.
    Edited by 1 at 07/04/04 @ 03:22

  • 3william56 #28 8 years ago

    Being written by Ukranians doesn't stop it being a juvenile explotative waste of talent worthy of Running With Scissors. Could have been entirely fictional based (like, oh, Half Life), and lost nothing. Making a disaster into a license is just crass publicity seeking.

    Whether the accident was deliberate or not is irrelevant; real people still died, and kids still got born with real deformaties. And you think it's funny to have a game based on going in and shooting the victims? Cute. And yep, I think the Iraq based games are pretty lame too.

    A "stalker" in russian is not an english "stalker".
    Oh. Silly me. Does "Shadows" mean something else in Russian as well? Maybe "Offensive to all victims" - that'd make the title make more sense.

  • Whizzo #29 8 years ago

    And you think it's funny to have a game based on going in and shooting the victims?

    What victims? Every human in the zone is another Stalker, there for their own reasons to make money or perform other goals. There aren't any radinfected civilians pleading for mercy in the game.

  • ssuellid #30 8 years ago

    More shouts of moral outrage from people who know fuck all about the game then?

    Or have they played the completed code and therefore know what they are talking about?

  • Angrydarren #31 8 years ago

    Listen, 3Williams56, without wanting to lurch too much into pretentiousness I think you'll find that almost all forms of media/art derive from great human tragedy. What is your opinion on Guernica? Schindlers Ark? (which before you get pedantic is the name of the book that Schindlers List was based on) Doctor Zhivago? Platoon? The Wall? All of which are based on war - a deliberate act I might add.
    Chernobyl was an accident which the world has forgot. It's a sadly typical atttitude of us in the West - out of sight, out of mind, so please don't get so indignant. If you REALLY want to get your enormous morality bubbling check out what happened at Semipalatinsk ( http://www.isar.org/isar/archive/ST/Semipalatinsk.html ). In fact check out how utterly fucked up Kazakhstan is thanks to years of nuclear tests and the biological weapons facility at Vozrozhdeniye Island.
    Meanwhile (and back on topic) I find the fact that you're basing your indignation on incorrect game information a big dent in your credibility.
    Edited by 1 at 07/04/04 @ 10:54

  • jimmyjimbob #32 8 years ago

    Must say that I am quite looking forward to this one, sounds like it could be a good game to me

  • deadlock #33 8 years ago

    Whizzo:

    What happened in Chernobyl was an accident, whether it was due to poor design, negligence or anything else, it wasn't a deliberate act. If you don't see the difference I'm amazed.

    Of course I see the difference; but you're not seeing the point that I am making; you're focussing on the content, rather than the message. I wasn't comparing the tragedies, I was just making the point that arguing that it's OK for someone to publicise a game based on a real-life tragedy in a certain fashion purely because they come from the part of the world in which the tragedy occurred is facile and smacks of hand-wringing.

    And again, I must make the point that I'm not against the game per se; I just think that some of the publicity and marketing surrounding it is a bit insensitive and trivialises the event somewhat. In a broader sense, I think that games set in real-world locations smack of a lack of imagination.

    Incidentally, Chernobyl and its after effects receive plenty of coverage in this neck of the woods for two reasons:

    a) the work of Adi Roche and Ali Hewson (wife of Paul 'Bono' Hewson) and their Chernobyl Childrens' Project charity and
    b) the threat to Ireland's eastern seaboard that is posed by the vicinity of Sellafield.
    Edited by 1 at 07/04/04 @ 12:56

  • Angrydarren #34 8 years ago

    Exactly what marketing are you referring to though? Other than screens and movies online I've not seen any advertising or tacky PR tricks that can be accused of exploiting the tragedy. Has anyone seen any ads for this game?
    There are however plenty of ill-informed opinions claiming (incorrectly) that the game is based around killing chernobyl victims.

  • deadlock #35 8 years ago

    Angrydarren:

    As if this needs any further clarification that actual, you know, written comprehension wouldn't provide... From the outset I have been saying that I am commenting specifically on the tacky PR stunt of wheeling out one of the technicians repsonsible for the disaster, at the press conference that Kristan attended. As I have said several times, I have no particular gripe with the game itself or its content, since no one really seems to know what it entails.

    Edit: I've just read back over my last post and I'll concede that I shouldn't have said 'publicity and marketing' - I should simply have said 'publicity'.
    Edited by 1 at 07/04/04 @ 15:33

  • pjmaybe #36 8 years ago

    Political Correctness gone mad, pictures at 11.

    Peej

  • deadlock #37 8 years ago

    Whatever. There's a difference between 'political correctness' and being able to recognise tackiness when one sees it.

  • deadlock #38 8 years ago

    ZeTimbo:

    Just for the illiterates at the front, here's my original post, in all its regurgitated glory:

    There's a difference between setting a game in a real world location or using real world events to inform it, and wheeling out one of the people responsible for what is possibly the single biggest catastrophe in the history of mankind. I say props to the French journalistic for having the principles and the integrity to do what he did.
    Edited by 2 at 07/04/04 @ 17:20

  • Whizzo #39 8 years ago

    From the outset I have been saying that I am commenting specifically on the tacky PR stunt of wheeling out one of the technicians repsonsible for the disaster

    So why did your first post contain this :-

    'Cheap holiday in other people's miseryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!'

    I see no comment on the PR.

    We don't know who it was that was brought out, Kirstan's article isn't very specific, the people at the scene of the accident are all long dead.

    For crying out loud it's a game set in the future, after a second incident at the Chernobyl site which is obviously fictional.

    What happened at Chernobyl was a bad thing, people died or had their lives changed forever, no-one is trivialising it and making a game set in the future in the same place isn't either.

    Better not play Medievel: Total War as that obviously trivialises the many thousands of deaths during the Crusades which of course still have echoes in today's events in the Middle East...

  • deadlock #40 8 years ago

    'Cheap holiday in other people's misery'

    The opening salvo from the Sex Pistol's 'Holidays in the Sun', used here for sarcastic effect.

    From the article (emphasis mine):

    Stranger still, during the press conference to promote the much anticipated mutate 'em up S.T.A.L.K.E.R, they wheeled one of the men responsible for the tragedy.

    Whizzo:

    Better not play Medievel: Total War as that obviously trivialises the many thousands of deaths during the Crusades which of course still have echoes in today's events in the Middle East...

    Look, I really don't see why you have such great difficulty understanding this - it's not like I'm speaking a different language, or using archaic words, or even just not expressing myself properly, but here goes, once more: I don't give a flying fuck about the game; I'm commenting solely on the fact that, to my mind, using one of the people who allegedly was responsible for possibly the single biggest tragedy in human history to promote a game based on that tragedy, is a little insensitive. And as far as I'm concerned, it removes any moral superiority that GSC could have claimed on account of their nationality.

    But ultimately this is just my opinion, so, you know... whatever! It actually annoys me more that you're arguing with me over something completely different to what I'm actually talking about!

  • Whizzo #41 8 years ago

    they wheeled one of the men responsible for the tragedy.

    And I'm saying we have absolutely no idea who it was or how they were involved in the disaster. So condemning GSC for bringing someone who had some connection to Chernobyl without knowing who they are is stupid. Is that understandable enough?

    Kristan, who was it that was brought out and what was their function at the plant?

  • deadlock #42 8 years ago

    I dunno, it still seems to me that the intention was to use someone who had some connection to the tragedy as a publicity ploy. And yes, I know, I keep saying that I don't really care and yet I can't stop posting! What can I say, I'm a sucker for pointless internet arguments!

    Also, I forgot to mention that I haven't played Medieval: Total War, for exactly the reason that you specified.
    Edited by 1 at 07/04/04 @ 22:02

  • striker #43 8 years ago

    I.T.'S. A. G.A.M.E.

    You don't play Medieval because it trivialises crusades.... so I assume:

    -you don't play Mario as it ridicularises plumbers
    -You don't play anything in which you kill because it trivialises death
    -And of course no Monkey Island because it doesn't represent correctly pirate culture...
    Edited by 1 at 08/04/04 @ 00:04

  • deadlock #44 8 years ago

    At this point I'm just going to assume that I'm speaking an arcane dialect of English, because it seems to me that absolutely no one here seems to capable of recognising:

    a) the fact that I am not talking about the game or its content. I have only ever referred to the PUBLICITY PLOY.

    b) sarcasm when you see it. I don't play Medieval: Total War because I have absolutely no interest in playing it. Just to clarify, in case anyone didn't get that I was joking.

  • Angrydarren #45 8 years ago

    Perhaps you can explain, in simple terms for us semantically and linguistically challenged buffoons explain:

    1) Who the person was that was wheeled out in front of the press.
    2) What his job at Chernobyl exactly was.
    3) What level of complicity he had in the disaster.

    When you are so inclined to provide this level of information to us unwashed and ignorant proles then we can gladly bow down before you and your boundless wisdom.

    However while you continue spouting conjecture and half truths and presenting them as facts, you will continue to receive opposing views from this board.

  • deadlock #46 8 years ago

    With the what now? What 'conjecture and half truths' am I misrepresenting as fact? I didn't claim that the person that GSC rolled out for the press conference was complicit in the accident at Chernobyl; they/he did and Kristan reported it as such. All that I have done is expressed an opinion based on the information to hand; nothing more. How that constitutes 'conjecture and half-truths' is totally beyond me. But, you know, whatever. Keep up the good work, you're a good dog, Whacker.

  • krudster #47 8 years ago

    In the name of accuracy and all that, I'm finding out exactly who this fellow that was wheeled out was, and what role he played in the accident.

  • UncleLou #48 8 years ago

    Hm, deadlock has raised an arguable point, but somehow the discussion got out of control. Shame on all of you!

    :-)

  • addam12 #49 8 years ago

    This is a GAME! If you don't like the subject matter, DON'T PLAY IT!
    It's like making a documentary on real events (World War II ect...)
    Or not letting your kids watch a show thats adult material.

    It's your choice to play or not to play. Your intitled to your opinion
    but this is out of control. I've been ready these posts trying to find
    opinions that refer to the actual GAME and not Politics.

    Anyone have an opinion on what minimum system requirments will
    be?