izigame.me

"Come to me. You will get what you deserve."
- The Wishgranter
This is a mixed Review.
For starters, the acronym for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. stands for "Scavengers, Trespassers, Adventurers, Loners, Killers, Explorers, Robbers". These are the kind of figures you'll find in and near the mysterious Zone, looking for fortune and opportunity alike, and nigh indistinguishable in look. Hence, if you're here, you're taken as one of such S.T.A.L.K.E.R.s, and as such, you're also welcome to get out.
Ambitiously dropping in 2007, this game righteously gathered a cult following; a pseudo open-world with some RPG elements, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl (STALKER SOC) landed with a very strong art direction and loaded with several mechanics to take into consideration. However, ambitious as it was, SOC is a prodigy child that may as well have been dropped on its head - It does a lot of technical things, but none of them particularly well. And back in the day, when doing anything at all was considered a lot, it's safe to say this game earned its place as a classic.
This will be an overview of the Vanilla experience, so I urge you to come in. Don't just stand there.

Gameplay

STALKER: SOC stands tall as a classic by its mysteriously daunting experience. Many of its fans never understood, or bothered to understand, its difficulty system. That is because the staple sentiment of the SOC's gameplay pertains to being continuously heeled in the face; by the non playable characters (NPCs), by the environment, by your equipment, by the narrative, by your luck. This frankly happens in any difficulty, as environmental anomalies are deadly and enemies are bullet sponges no matter what; most weapons are pea shooters and any non-headshot damage is almost negligible. The biggest modifier for difficulty is in fact the loot drop table, and I have not noticed any further enjoyment from having this culled in the more difficult modes, so I recommend the easier ones for the first playthrough.
You do not level up in this game, but rather acquire or scavenge new equipment, and come across anomalous artifacts which are, well, anomalously produced by the Zone as you explore it. These give you different stats when equipped. If you perform side quests, it's usually for the money, which quite frankly doesn't have much of a use. Even on lower difficulties, you won't be able to afford anything interesting without grinding, and if still you do, its durability will deteriorate much faster than you can afford to buy a new one of whatever it is; you can't ordinarily repair anything.
As an RPG, the game features a continuously running open-world "simulation" where NPCs go around being their S.T.A.L.K.E.R. selves; that is, looting, wandering, killing each other, ganging up, profiteering, all without your observation or input. I believe SOC invented the concept of "radiant quests", where traders and NPCs will continuously produce fetch and elimination quests for you to farm with. That is, if farming was a good idea in a game with equipment condition and no level ups.
While its simulation aspect is interesting, it is the epitome of jank; often NPCs will complete elimination quests for you by the sheer fact they are trying to stay alive in the affected area, or story critical NPCs roaming about will be Lost to the Zone by random crap happening, locking you out of your own story and forcing you to reload a save. The biggest advice veteran stalkers will give you for this game, is indeed to save often and load again.
As a FPS, the game provides some enjoyment with a large arsenal, binocular scouting identification system, multiple movement options, special weapon mods, ammo types, and NPC tactics. Unfortunately the detection mechanics are often janked which make most of these redundant, so in Vanilla you're playing a linear hallway shooter for half the game. SOC's hallways will intensify and comically turn into a monolithic experience the deeper you get in the Zone, as its RPG open world design falls completely apart. It is not its selling point in the slightest.
Some suggest there are also countless bugs; my most recent playthrough only had up to 2 crashes. But I also saved a lot, and often loaded on reaction, so if something really bad happened, then well it didn't happen!

Art Direction

It's safe to say STALKER: SOC only became a cult classic because of its presentation and atmosphere. Mechanics are not the selling point of SOC but are merely there to complement the gritty, eerie, overwhelming feeling it is going for. This is all made clear by its narrative inspiration, Roadside Picnic and Tarkovsky's 2 hour Stalker film based off the book, which has very strong industrial, existential, and human themes to it.
Presenting night and day mechanics alongside impressive shaders that still hold up in 2024, grainy UI, visual overlay effects, and outsanding use of audio samples, SOC is at its best when you take a moment and allow it to speak through its environment.
https://youtu.be/cSNNuE2eiUQ?si=ASehUJ5xpntjUQNB&t=3422
CGI cutscenes for important narrative events also are mesmerizing and look artistically pleasing, specially for the time, and produce themselves only when appropriate for the theme.

Conclusion

STALKER: SOC is an extremely rough diamond eager to scratch you relentlessly if you grip it the wrong way. Regardless, many contemporary games and artwork have since been inspired by its first shine.
While things tend to be more polished nowadays, STALKER:SOC produced an anomalous impact in gaming culture, so experiencing it first hand is honestly a must if you'd ever like to develop critical outlook for this sort of media. It has good things, it has bad things. It's absolutely not for everyone; many have become lost and crashed in its jank Zone, but those that make it back will understand and appreciate everything they do get to have a little bit more.
As an addendum; the community for this game is still vibrant, there are many full overhaul mods available that tweak, add, or remove mechanics, and there are DRM free versions of this software at GOG.
With all that said you could really play this forever, but is that really what you'd wish for?