Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:  
Summary: Give it a chance
Comment: My first impression of the game was disapointing but having played the first Stalker it took some time to learn the changes in this game. You can upgrade and repair your weapons and body armor which makes the game more fun. The guides are a good addition also helping you get from place to place quicker. Theres not really any other games out there like it, sort of like Oblivion with guns. Ive got the latest patch and a machine that can run the program with no problems. I like my shooter games and this is worth the price. It will keep me entertained till Fallout 3 is released.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great game but not perfect
Comment: First of all it's not Shadow of Chernobyl. If you liked that game then you may feel there's a lot that's wrong with this game and parts you won't like. In the original, tension grew as you advanced-baddies got tougher-things got weirder,and the game play focused on unravelling the zones secrets. This time the focus is on territorial fighting, your main motivation will lie in upgrading your gear and weapons in order to cope with this. So it's not shadow, won't ever be. So what is it?
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> Well, an awesomely challenging shooter. Stealth is the order of the day-every shot needs to be well placed. Blindly firing at the enemy will just use up precious bullets, and the enemy have excellent aim. Remember there's no shame running away like a big girl. There's some great missions, against ridiculous odds that are quite thrilling.
Of course the huge selling point of this game is the unique setting and atmosphere. I've never been to Chernobyl-but the story of a weird and supernatural place becomes very beleivable when the play area looks like the Scottish Highlands! This is what fans of the original will crave and it does deliver the goods. Gone are the slightly drab looking textures. These have all been sharpened up-and the colour scheme is now much more vibrant.
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> Lots of good ideas-but an uneven feel, as some parts don't quite work as well-showing the short development cycle. Despite this feeling that the actual game itself isn't quite right, some aspects could have been better implemented, and the slight disappointment with the emphasis on fighting wars between the people in the zone rather than survival-horror, you will be drawn back to the zone. The breath taking sunrise/sunsets-pitch black nights create a very believable world which more than makes up for flawed game play aspects.
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> Pros-Highly immersive(seem to have spent a lot of last week staring into space thinking about the game), Nice graphics-not too demanding system wise.
> Cons-A second visit to the zone takes away from the surprise especially as some areas are reused. Bit light on story. The zone is cool-wish there were more cool things to do there.
Customer Rating:
Summary: More of the same.........
Comment: Why have I rated this 5 stars because once you have patched it (Patch it to 1.5.04 or what ever the latest patch is now)and got rid of the bugs, it is another visit to the zone giving you some places you remember and some new ones you dont.
I really liked the first outing and have been looking forward to this one as soon as it was announced. It is interesting to see characters you will see again in shadow in an earlier form.
The game play is still good and I think the artifacts have a much better performance in this game than the first.
All in all if you liked the first one you will like this too.
Customer Rating:
Summary: avoid wasting money on this product
Comment: Avoid this game AT ALL COSTS until you read favourable posts on the net about the patch status. It is clearly unfinished and not tested by the Koch people. Why should we game players have to sponsor game companies to write patches and conduct basic product testing. Very grumpy after wasting many hours with this.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Gorgeous, atmospheric, creepy...
Comment: ... and buggy as hell. I've had the misfortune of having played through the first level of the swamp only to have to patch the game and be forced to restart twice now as the save games weren't compatible. On the plus side this has meant I've experienced the incredible varying weather mixed with the superb day/night cycle (lightning storm at night was simply marvvellous). However, the game is now patched to version 1.5.04 (with patch 1.2) and is still majorly flawed.
The bugs? I have a upgraded rifle in 100% perfect condition that can't shoot as accurately as my pistol; shotguns that seem next to useless; the 'bleeding' indicator constantly showing; but most frustrating are frequent glitches in missions/plot that require multiple attempts at reloading old save games to progress forward.
I will say that it looks so much nicer than the original STALKER and on my modest 8800GTS E6600 Dual Core rig I have managed to get the settings up and preserve my framerates (experiment with the enhanced lighting but with the advanced settings pulled down a bit)
I'll revisit the game once I've played Crisis Warhead (so far so good), FarCry 2, Fallout 3, Dead Space and a few oldies that I missed and really hope that I can change my score of 2 when I come back to this one.
Update: 1.5.05 patch has been released which appears to address some issues that might have been causing me problems - I've applied but I still won't be playing it for a while yet
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