Digital Nightfall on 25/10/2007 at 14:30
... and I haven't played it myself, so I really can't know if it's right.
I am basically on a food and gas budget until the end of the semester, so my Father's birthday present cannot also be accompanied by "a copy for myself to playtest it". Hahaha. Though I could sneak open the package and decide if he'd like it or not by playing it first myself, and then seal it back up, but I don't have time for that. :laff:
I believe the last 1st person game he played through was Deus Ex 2 which he actually seemed to enjoy, in spite of the fact that he was constantly complaining about it and making fun of it. (He insists on calling it Dooziks, poking fun at the way that the Deus Ex 1 box contained a pronunciation key.) He does that about ALL games though. He did play through Deus Ex 1 at least twice (maybe more) and made fun of it just as much, though maybe didn't complain about it as much. He was also a huge Morrowind nut, which was his one and only game in existence for more than a year.
Thief 1, Gold, 2, and DS as well, of course, though he never got "addicted" to those. He played through each once and then moved on.
Also, he gave Fallout 2 a whirl many times, but every time quitting about half way through, complaining that the game was "too stupid".
He's also the type of gamer who immediately assumes that everything is crap, and continues to protest that it's crap several hours into playing it, but if he even gets that far he'll be playing it solid for the next few months or so (though still every now and then complaining that it's crap.) So I learned a while ago that I can't just show him screenshots or videos of a game to see if he likes it or not. Showing him a game while I am playing it is even worse. That's a surefire way to get him to say that it looks stupid.
He will make any game he plays into a sneaker though, just by pure willpower alone. Hell, he played through Descent 1 as a sneaker. That, combined with his long addiction to both Deus Ex and Morrowind, leads me to suspect that he may like STALKER. It's an affordable option at a time when I can't afford crap.
But mostly I just want him to stop playing Guild Wars for five damn minutes.
Am I way off the mark?
Rogue Keeper on 25/10/2007 at 14:44
Well, it's unfortunate but stealth is rather very unpolished in Stalker. The NPCs are oversensitive of their surroundings and get startled at the slightest noise you make. You have to crouch on the ground and move like a slug. Backstabbing with knife is almost impossible, they normally detect you when you sneak few yards behind, turn around and start shooting. Like if they can sense your breath on their neck from that far. Their eyesight is likewise quite superior and they can spot you sooner than you spot them - this has been adjusted in Realism Mod. They can't be alarmed by just seeing your flashlight at the night. You can however avoid contact with groups of repopulating NPCs if you take alternate route around their usual camps.
It is more action oriented than it was originally intended. You will be shooting a lot and being shoot at regularly and hard.
Hard to say if your father will enjoy Stalker, you may give it a try, but it's possible he'll be pissed at many little bugs in the game, even with current patch. But he may enjoy it if he downloads few interesting mods.
As a plus note, it's an unusual FPS in the flood of traditional US/European production, both in atmosphere, environment, ideology... Different, original school. Some of the most spooky monsters and places in modern FPS games are secured.
JohnnyTheWolf on 25/10/2007 at 14:45
STALKER is a pretty good game. Go for it.
As for stealth, bah, they are a few mods around that can fix that easily (e.g. Redux). Sneaking at night is now totally doable.
Digital Nightfall on 25/10/2007 at 14:54
Father, actually.
It's encouraging to know that some mod-patches have fixed the stealth. I don't know if he'll bother to actually install any of the mods though.
Maybe I should save STALKER for Christmas as I'll be able to better oversee things like mod and patch installation.
The problem is that the game can't simply be good... it has to be something that he'll want to play MORE than Guild Wars! :nono:
Rogue Keeper on 25/10/2007 at 15:17
Answer yourself these questions :
Would he like impressive post-apo settings, detailed decayed suburban and industrial environments, spooky underground military installations?
Would he like Eastern European storytelling, dirty world with some kind of magical or supernatural aura ?
Would he like Russian/Ukrainian speaking dudes on every step, including "stylish" grammar errors in written English dialogues and notes?
Would he like gritty shooter with open-ended sanbox style of gameplay, even if it may seem to be stereotypical at times ?
Would he like travelling by feet from one corner of the game world to another, often backtracking ?
Would he like to replay it in a different way to achieve another of several endings ?
Would he like it even though the RPG system is rather very primitive and there isn't much deep dialogue with options that would have different impact on the central plot development ?
If you answer YES on most questions, that would be a worthwhile gift and he would like it despite number of small technical downers and uncleaned dirt.
D'Arcy on 25/10/2007 at 15:39
The stealth in Stalker isn't unpolished. It's realistic. Too realistic, in fact, and that's why people who are used to stealth games complain about it. It's not realistic to think that, like in Thief, one could aproach someone from behind, stand up, crouch, swap weapons, or pick his pockets without him noticing.
Trappin on 25/10/2007 at 16:02
I found the blend of reality and science fiction helped to increase my interest in the game. Before playing the game read Roadside Picnic*, browse kidofspeed.com** and then brush up on the facts of the Chernobyl nuke accident, the immediate emergency response and the formation of the exclusion zone and whats going on there currently.
Just patch the game to v1.004 - no mods are really necessary.
*Roadside Picnic: Free ebook at russiansciencefiction.com
** kidofspeed: I think she is full of sheete and really didn't do what she claims to have done ( riding the motorcycle inside the exclusion zone and staging the natives/photos). With that said.. its really good fiction and a great pre-stalker primer.
Rogue Keeper on 25/10/2007 at 16:04
Too realistic, to the point of irritation. I didn't feel to be motivated to sneak around, except when I was low on ammo, what doesn't happen since you get rich quickly. I didn't feel to be motivated to kill with my poorly inefficient knife silently and the knife was obviously meant as a traditional last sort of weapon, not as a deadly tool if used correctly. If the stealth alternative was meant seriously, I would be able to more or less problemlessly sneak through the game in Splinter Cell way, but this isn't the case. It looks like wasted potential. The accent on action and firearms usage is obvious.
We may of course argue for long what is realistic in the game and what is not, but I don't want to as such argument would have no end.
242 on 25/10/2007 at 16:09
It's certainly not a stealth game, however it's one of the most atmospheric and unusual games I have played in the last 10 years. It's not a hit for everybody, you either love it or hate it for its unusual game design, it reminds Thief in that regard. As I wrote elsewhere it's unpolished but it has soul. Quite opposite from the EA (big corporate)-style games. If there is a game which I would call a shooter 2.0, it's Stalker.
It's shooter with RPG elements, a simulator, there are quests, sidequests (weak I must say), traders, different endings, some stats, inventory, player's log. Story is delivered in diversified ways, there isn't a forced narrative.
Rogue Keeper on 25/10/2007 at 16:12
I'd say it's Shooter 1.5.
2.0 was the original concept before they realized it would be a too big cookie for them to bake. :(
