S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat
Encyclopedia
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat is the sequel
to S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
, a first-person shooter
computer game by Ukrainian
developer GSC Game World
. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat is the third game in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series.
. After Strelok disables the Brain Scorcher, many Stalkers rush to the center of the Zone, hoping to find artifacts and treasure. The military decides this is the perfect time to take control of the Zone, and launch "Operation Fairway," a large scale helicopter recon mission intended to scout the area by air. Unfortunately, the mission goes horribly wrong, and all five STINGRAY helicopters crash. The player, Alexander Degtyarev, is sent into the Zone to investigate the crash sites on behalf of the army.
After investigating the five crash sites, Degtyarev confirms via a helicopter black box that the evacuation area is in Pripyat. However, there are no known routes to that area. The Major eventually finds an underground passageway to Pripyat, and gathers a small team of Stalkers to help him traverse this tunnel. After fighting through mutants and the mysterious Monolith faction, they reach Pripyat and link up with the Military survivors from the helicopter crashes.
The player eventually meets Strelok, the protagonist of the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game (Shadow of Chernobyl) and learns of the secrets behind the Zone, including how the anomalies change position after each emission, thus rendering the military's anomaly maps for the mission effectively useless.
The game concludes with the survivors, Strelok, and the player leaving the Zone. Before boarding the helicopter the player is prompted whether he wishes to leave The Zone forever or continue exploring the Zone. If the player decides not to leave the Zone, then the game enters a free-play mode. During free-play mode the player can leave the Zone by NPCs at any time he wants.
The game's ending movie differs depending on the actions of the player during the game. How the player handles in-game missions, and whether certain NPCs are alive or not by the end of the game directly affects the ending sequence.
icon will denote this.
The upgrade system is similar to that of Clear Sky except that the negatives of upgrades are removed.
Upgrading a certain element still makes alternative upgrade options unavailable.
has been overhauled since the previous two games and now offers these creatures advanced and more realistic behavior. One creature in particular, the Snork, a humanoid mutant, focuses on guerrilla-style attacks.
about to eject lethal radiation. The player will be warned two minutes in advance of an upcoming blowout, and must find a predesignated shelter so as not to be exposed to the nuclear fallout. The sky will turn red as the blowout passes through the player's region, killing everything outside of a shelter. The player can, however, survive outside of a shelter during a blowout if he consumes special drugs that temporarily shut down their nervous system, which will cause the player to pass out and wake up after the blowout. Blowouts can cause new artifacts to be spawned in the anomaly fields.
, meaning that Call of Pripyat is also compatible with DirectX 8 through 11.
and a "stalker" lighter, as well as the metal case in which the game is included.
Also another Special Edition, released in the rest of Europe, that includes Art Cards, an A2-sized map of the Zone and the Soundtrack CD, was released.
In the US territories, a Collector's Edition has been released, containing a smaller version of the Zone's map, a tech-tree poster and 5 stickers. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat is also available through multiple digital distribution outlets.
Contrary to its predecessor, Clear Sky
, the game has been lauded for its well optimized gameplay with relatively few bugs and glitches, for example, Gamespot
said, "The most stable S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game yet also happens to be the most atmospheric and compelling."
Other reviews by websites previously opposed to new titles in the series have also given Call of Pripyat positive reviews. While Eurogamer
rated the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. franchise's previous installment (Clear Sky) to be a significant disappointment, they gave more positive feedback in their review of the recent addition, saying "Only the slight sensation of datedness prevents this from scoring higher, and no doubt once the mods start flowing the value for money will get even better. But there's plenty here to keep the faithful feeling extremely optimistic about the prospect of a proper sequel. And there's still nothing out there quite like STALKER."
Though the reviews of the game's Artificial Intelligence
system were positive, Gamespot did note that the Combat AI at times seemed unfairly good, and that "Human enemies facing away from you have the uncanny ability to notice when you peek out a window behind them and are remarkably good shots in the dead of night, even without night vision scopes equipped." However, "[D]espite a bit of cheating, Call of Pripyat rarely feels unfair."
Call of Pripyat was entered in PC Gamer
's Top100 PC games of all time in 2011 , ranked in 38th place.
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
to S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl is a first-person shooter video game by the Ukrainian developer GSC Game World, published in 2007.It features an alternate reality theme, where a second nuclear disaster occurs at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Exclusion Zone in the near future and causes...
, a first-person shooter
First-person shooter
First-person shooter is a video game genre that centers the gameplay on gun and projectile weapon-based combat through first-person perspective; i.e., the player experiences the action through the eyes of a protagonist. Generally speaking, the first-person shooter shares common traits with other...
computer game by Ukrainian
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
developer GSC Game World
GSC Game World
GSC Game World is a Kiev-based computer game developer. Founded in 1995 in Kiev, Ukraine, it released titles such as Cossacks: European Wars, American Conquest, Alexander, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat...
. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat is the third game in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series.
Plot
The game takes place soon after the events of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of ChernobylS.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl is a first-person shooter video game by the Ukrainian developer GSC Game World, published in 2007.It features an alternate reality theme, where a second nuclear disaster occurs at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Exclusion Zone in the near future and causes...
. After Strelok disables the Brain Scorcher, many Stalkers rush to the center of the Zone, hoping to find artifacts and treasure. The military decides this is the perfect time to take control of the Zone, and launch "Operation Fairway," a large scale helicopter recon mission intended to scout the area by air. Unfortunately, the mission goes horribly wrong, and all five STINGRAY helicopters crash. The player, Alexander Degtyarev, is sent into the Zone to investigate the crash sites on behalf of the army.
After investigating the five crash sites, Degtyarev confirms via a helicopter black box that the evacuation area is in Pripyat. However, there are no known routes to that area. The Major eventually finds an underground passageway to Pripyat, and gathers a small team of Stalkers to help him traverse this tunnel. After fighting through mutants and the mysterious Monolith faction, they reach Pripyat and link up with the Military survivors from the helicopter crashes.
The player eventually meets Strelok, the protagonist of the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game (Shadow of Chernobyl) and learns of the secrets behind the Zone, including how the anomalies change position after each emission, thus rendering the military's anomaly maps for the mission effectively useless.
The game concludes with the survivors, Strelok, and the player leaving the Zone. Before boarding the helicopter the player is prompted whether he wishes to leave The Zone forever or continue exploring the Zone. If the player decides not to leave the Zone, then the game enters a free-play mode. During free-play mode the player can leave the Zone by NPCs at any time he wants.
The game's ending movie differs depending on the actions of the player during the game. How the player handles in-game missions, and whether certain NPCs are alive or not by the end of the game directly affects the ending sequence.
Setting
The game takes place in and around the city of Pripyat. The area is divided into three parts known as Zaton, Jupiter, and the city of Pripyat itself. Each of these is a large playable area.Gameplay
The majority of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call of Pripyat's gameplay focuses on a combination of both post apocalyptic horror, as well as tactical role-playing action, mostly revolving around the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Exclusion Zone.Combat
Receiving damage will usually cause bleeding, which the player must take care of with medical supplies. Similarly, unmaintained weapons and some equipment will be damaged from continued use. The condition of an item is displayed as a gauge next to the entry in the player's inventory. If severely damaged or broken, a red HUDHUD (video gaming)
In video gaming, the HUD is the method by which information is visually relayed to the player as part of a game's user interface...
icon will denote this.
Traders
The Zone features a limited economy, with traders and inhabitants exchanging goods and services for money and items. The game's trading system differs from the previous editions in that weapons and armor that have degraded past a certain point are unable to be sold until they are repaired, at which point the repair costs usually offset the sell price. Traders also sell information on missions and are keen to be in receipt of documents.Upgrades
Upgrading has three tiers of improvement, with each one requiring a toolkit to allow for respective tier upgrade/modification. Basic tools will allow the player to access the first tier and fine tools will allow access to the second tier. The calibration tool kits are only found in Pripyat and will give access to the last tier.The upgrade system is similar to that of Clear Sky except that the negatives of upgrades are removed.
Upgrading a certain element still makes alternative upgrade options unavailable.
Mutants
Various mutant creatures roam the Zone, most of which are hostile to Stalkers and will pursue and attack people who get too close. Artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
has been overhauled since the previous two games and now offers these creatures advanced and more realistic behavior. One creature in particular, the Snork, a humanoid mutant, focuses on guerrilla-style attacks.
Factions
Several factions reside in the Zone: Loners, Bandits, Mercenaries, Scientists, Zombified Stalkers, Military, Monolith, Duty, and Freedom, the two latter ones being ideologically motivated; control and anarchy, respectively. Despite the Jupiter cease-fire, fights will occasionally break out outside designated "Safe Zones." At some certain spots of Zaton and Jupiter groups of Mercenaries, both neutral and hostile to the player, appear. The player's relations to the factions are commonly neutral. However, Zombified Stalkers and Monoliths are hostile towards all characters.Emissions
Each day in the game, "emissions" will occur: The ground will shake, an indication of the unstable Chernobyl power plantChernobyl disaster
The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine , which was under the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities in Moscow...
about to eject lethal radiation. The player will be warned two minutes in advance of an upcoming blowout, and must find a predesignated shelter so as not to be exposed to the nuclear fallout. The sky will turn red as the blowout passes through the player's region, killing everything outside of a shelter. The player can, however, survive outside of a shelter during a blowout if he consumes special drugs that temporarily shut down their nervous system, which will cause the player to pass out and wake up after the blowout. Blowouts can cause new artifacts to be spawned in the anomaly fields.
Artifacts
Artifacts are found in or around anomalies. Players have to use special detectors to bring artifacts into the visible spectrum, as they are naturally invisible. Every time a blowout occurs, each anomaly field has a chance of creating a new artifact within its wake. These artifacts can be sold, be put into artifact slots that are incorporated into suits that the player can wear and are occasionally given as rewards for services rendered. Primarily, artifacts serve as a means to enhance the player's abilities, dependent on which artifact the player has put into his artifact slot. Most are modular and can be used in conjunction with other artifacts, or multiple artifacts of the same kind can be used to multiply their effects. Most of these artifacts emit harmful radiation, limiting their usage to short periods of time. Radiation-reducing artifacts can be used to counter this effect.Free play
In the free play mode, the player may traverse the zone and finish all of the missions that were not finished. The player is also able to obtain hidden artifacts and unlock achievements.Graphics
Call of Pripyat utilizes the X-Ray Engine 1.6, allowing advanced modern graphical features through the use of DirectX 11 to be fully intregrated; one outstanding feature being the inclusion of real-time GPU tesselation. Regions and maps feature photo realistic scenes of the region it is made to represent. There is also extensive support for older versions of DirectXDirectX
Microsoft DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video, on Microsoft platforms. Originally, the names of these APIs all began with Direct, such as Direct3D, DirectDraw, DirectMusic, DirectPlay,...
, meaning that Call of Pripyat is also compatible with DirectX 8 through 11.
Editions
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat has a Limited Special Edition, released only in Germany, that features an A3-sized map of the Zone, 2 faction patches, a stalker bandanaBandana
Bandana can refer to:*Another name for a kerchief*Bandana *Bandana *Bandana, Kentucky, a small town in the United States*Y Bandana, a Welsh alternative rock band.**Y Bandana , their self-titled debut album....
and a "stalker" lighter, as well as the metal case in which the game is included.
Also another Special Edition, released in the rest of Europe, that includes Art Cards, an A2-sized map of the Zone and the Soundtrack CD, was released.
In the US territories, a Collector's Edition has been released, containing a smaller version of the Zone's map, a tech-tree poster and 5 stickers. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat is also available through multiple digital distribution outlets.
Reception
Call of Pripyat has received generally favorable reviews.Contrary to its predecessor, Clear Sky
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky, is the prequel to S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, a first-person shooter video game by Ukrainian developer GSC Game World. The game consists of a roughly 50/50 mix of new areas and old, remodeled areas from the previous game...
, the game has been lauded for its well optimized gameplay with relatively few bugs and glitches, for example, Gamespot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
said, "The most stable S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game yet also happens to be the most atmospheric and compelling."
Other reviews by websites previously opposed to new titles in the series have also given Call of Pripyat positive reviews. While Eurogamer
Eurogamer
Eurogamer is a Brighton-based website focused on video games news, reviews, previews and interviews. It is operated by Eurogamer Network Ltd., which was formed in 1999 by brothers Rupert and Nick Loman. Eurogamer has grown to become one of the most important European-based websites focused on...
rated the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. franchise's previous installment (Clear Sky) to be a significant disappointment, they gave more positive feedback in their review of the recent addition, saying "Only the slight sensation of datedness prevents this from scoring higher, and no doubt once the mods start flowing the value for money will get even better. But there's plenty here to keep the faithful feeling extremely optimistic about the prospect of a proper sequel. And there's still nothing out there quite like STALKER."
Though the reviews of the game's Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
system were positive, Gamespot did note that the Combat AI at times seemed unfairly good, and that "Human enemies facing away from you have the uncanny ability to notice when you peek out a window behind them and are remarkably good shots in the dead of night, even without night vision scopes equipped." However, "[D]espite a bit of cheating, Call of Pripyat rarely feels unfair."
Call of Pripyat was entered in PC Gamer
PC Gamer
PC Gamer is a magazine founded in Britain in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future Publishing. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games magazines in their respective countries...
's Top100 PC games of all time in 2011 , ranked in 38th place.