Here's what I know, or at least think I know, about this game before having played it. It's an FPS set in the exclusion zone after the Chernobyl accident. A bunch of mutant animals, mutant people and nut jobs have moved in. Being an FPS game, I'm going to venture out on a limb and assume I'm supposed to kill the shit out of them with ever increasingly awesome weapons. Eventually I'll acquire some sort of rapidly firing shotgun, which I will shove in the chest of every enemy at point blank range, because that's
70 minutes laterWell that was. . . interesting.
After a bit more than an hour, I'm pretty confused about WTF is going on in this game. I'll try to summarize what I know, which I won't count as spoilers since it's in the fist hour. It's not like I'm revealing the whole Luke/Vader thing. So anyway:
I am a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. I'm not sure why there are periods between the letters some of the time and at other times there are not. Sometimes I'm simply a stalker - little 's', creepin' in your bushes. I also have no idea what S.T.A.L.K.E.R.stands for or, for that matter, what in the bloody hell the designation means. I even watched the intro video! Maybe this will be explained in the future.
I am also the "Marked One", a moniker I earned by virtue of having a tattoo on my arm. Can you guess what it says? If you guessed S.T.A.L.K.E.R., you win! My being a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. seems to have been set in motion simply by a drunken visit to the tattoo parlor while on spring break in Pripyat. If only I knew what a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. was.
I have acquired a breech-loading, double-barreled, sawed-off shotgun. I have used it to kill the following things at very close range:
- Another S.T.A.L.K.E.R. named, and I quote, "bandit, tyro". I almost feel sorry for the bastard's limited career options. Cruel fate.
- A bunch of other bandits that didn't even deserve a name.
- A half dozen horribly ugly wild boar things.
- A blind dog.
Perhaps the biggest ball of what the fuck comes from the game's "anomalies". As you walk around, there are parts where the air gets all bendy like and looks like it's being warped in on itself. I was told over the radio by an NPC that these were anomalies and they can hurt you and that when my PDA starts beeping, I'm too close to the anomalies and the remedy for that is to - get this - throw bolts into them. Just let that simmer for a bit.
Bolts.
This is so very completely out of the blue and not explained anywhere else in the game so far. Why bolts? Who knows! Why is an entire weapon spot, 6 on the keyboard, occupied by bolts? Who knows! Why am I carrying bolts in the first place? Who the fuck knows!
Bolts.
This game is not really what I expected. It's an odd mutant half-breed of FPS with RPGish elements. You run around with guns, but people won't talk to you if your weapon is equipped. Apparently I'm such a bad ass that I don't mind the NPC's assault rifle in my face, but he gets bent about my combat knife. The game suggests that you overcome this problem by hitting good old number 6 and equipping your infinite supply of anomaly busting bolts. See? There is no bound to their bolty utility.
Talking to people matters because you collect missions by talking to some of the NPCs. Some of them have audio track dialog, but for most of them, you have the luxury of
Other S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Greetings comrade.
Me: Give me a mission.
Other S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Some convoluted, 90 word way of saying "fetch quest" with a Russian accent.
Me: I only have one dialog option to click here, so I guess I'll pick that.
Other S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Nazdarovya! I shall reward you with stacking dolls and vodka
Games Played:
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
Achievements:
I'm pretty sure S.T.A.L.K.E.R. has no achievements, but if it did, I'd hope it was for judicious use of bolts.
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