A couple of weeks ago I stumbled across the website for a game called S.T.A.L.K.E.R. , apparently in development by a German game company. At first, it looked like just another graphics-laden shooter, but after looking at some of the features and the background, found it to be more than just another clone.
The game is scheduled to come out in about <strike>57 years</strike> 2 months (according to the site’s handy countdown timer), and boasts graphics and physics that rival games like Half-Life 2 and Doom III. Supposedly, it takes place in 2006, after a second disaster occurs at the infamous Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The game world is modeled after the real-life (or real-dead) area of Chernobyl, and includes not only scores of maladjusted mutants, but also the elite mercenaries known as Stalkers (one of which you play in the game).
Yeah, there are a number of odd things I’ve seen in the screenshots: a herd of mutant rats chasing a player, a grossly-oversized mutant rat sitting on and eating a player’s head simultaneously, <strike>stolen HL2 textures</strike>, and some kind of deformed cow dragging a dead body hanging out of its ass.
Overall, I think i’ll probably grab the demo and try it out once it’s released. Right after I buy a new computer that can run it.
Originally, it was on the HL1 engine. Now they’re using the HL2 engine. Now they’re copying. HL2 wins, Valve loses, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. gets a nice carrot for trying to be cool.
