Mac Gaming

There’s not a lot I can say about S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat that I haven’t already said about S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl. These are open world FPSes that, in turns, terrify and delight. They are games you play with the lights off and your headphones on so that you can soak up every drop of the atmosphere — because, face it, there’s nothing quite like wandering through the pitch of night with a tiny flashlight, while you’re slowly bleeding to death, your ammo is running low, and you can’t sprint because you’re too overloaded with the loot of other fallen Stalkers.

The game engine hasn’t changed much since the original game, so I was able to run Call of Pripyat at about the same settings as Shadow of Chernobyl. Below are the exact settings I used.

My Settings

The Verdict

I didn’t really keep track of the frame rate as I played through the game. Overall, though, the stutters I did encounter didn’t happen during firefights but rather as I was exploring the landscape, sprinting or walking around the large maps. As the vegetation popped in and the areas loaded, there could be some jerkiness, but my enjoyment of the game was never hindered by this.

Overall, Call of Pripyat isn’t as difficult or terrifying as Shadow of Chernobyl, but it’s just as fun. The story is a bit of a throwaway and the voice acting is as bad as ever (“Howdy ho, Stalker!”), but these things are all part of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. charm. If you’re a fan of open world FPSes in general or the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series in particular, this is a must-buy. In fact, if you already own one of the previous games through Steam, you can get Call of Pripyat for $20(!) (the regular price is $30). Since Clear Sky is only $10, I bought both games for $30.

What makes the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games great (well, the first and third games — I haven’t played Clear Sky yet) is the way in which they allow you to create your own stories within the world of the Zone. Every time you leave the safety of a base, anything might happen. In the distance, Stalkers and bandits could be battling over territory or fending off mutants. Mutants could be hunting each other. I’ve seen Snorks feeding off dead dogs or Chimeras devouring NPCs that I had killed days earlier. Every click of the Geiger counter, every growl in the darkness, every blip on your mini-map can indicate the start (or end) of another unscripted and unique Zone adventure.

In other words, you’re not the centre of the universe in these games and I’d love to see this kind of living world applied to other games in the genre. Imagine Far Cry 2, for example, with the A-Life AI system in place: Rivaling factions would explore the map and battle with each other, not just you; wildlife might attack you instead of being part of the scenery; the other foreign mercenaries might compete with you for diamonds or aid you on missions or generally do their own thing; you could be anonymous until you took part in a fight instead of being the enemy of every NPC in Africa. Just imagine…

The S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games scratch an itch that no other series has been able to and I hope they continue to improve and evolve. I hope, too, that other developers will catch on to their appeal and be inspired. Until then, I’ll stock up on vodka and anti-rads and make my way back into the Zone, mindful of the rustling behind me and that long, low growl that means another tale is about to begin.