S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl 2007 science fiction game

Ukrainian science fiction

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl (2007, Ukraine)

2007Ukraine

Categories: alien artifactshorror science fictionmystery science fictionsurvival science fiction2000s sci-fi

Locations: the story takes place in PripyatKievUkraine
the story takes place in ChernobylKievUkraine

After the 1986 radioactive leak in Chernobyl around the unused nuclear power plant the exclusion zone (simply called The Zone) was formed to keep the people out of the contaminated area. Nearly 20 years later the government decided to repopulate the area since level of radiation has dropped in most of the areas to safe level, but then another disaster has occurred - C-consciousness program that was went horribly wrong and lead to a death of mutation of all the inhabitants of the Zone (human and animal).

But when strange (and valuable) artifacts were found in the Zone more and more people, called stalkers, tried to sneak into area through the border guarded by army and get rich quickly. But the Zone has more to offer than the artifacts: mutated animals, strange creatures lurking in the abandoned laboratories, anomalies that can kill anyone who will step in them and the most dangerous creatures of them all - greedy people.

Years later we start in the Zone as a stalker, who has amnesia and the only thing that he remembers is that he has to find and kill someone called Strelok. Without any weapon or equipment we would not last long in the area, so we have to take up missions from people around in exchange we can gain money or items. Searching for Strelok or any informations about him we have to go deeper and deeper into the Zone, which means that we have to take more and more risks.

What awaits us is a journey through the abandoned industrial complexes, secret underground labs and the other creepy places. The Zone is not actually deserted - there are few factions of people wandering through the areas, some of them defending their territories or attacking other factions. With mutants prowling through the area and deadly anomalies we have to be sure of every step we take. Just like in RPG games we have inventory and limited weight of items we can take with us, which means we also have to plan our journey to the last detail - each weapon needs different ammo and will deteriorate with each shot taken, which means you can’t just take one gun with you, you need backup. Each weapon and each bit of ammo has its weight, we also have to carry some food, alcohol (to deal with radiation), medicine, bandage, etc. Some of the artifacts that we found can affect our performance or overcome the influence of environment, which means they could be useful as well.

Set in the area around the former Chernobyl nuclear power plant the game is using heavily from Roadside Picnic novel by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, but offers many layers of informations that we can gather, many shreds of storyline spread in the area and a great survival elements in the unusual surroundings.

Full S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl

There are areas on Earth where things happen that are escaping any logical explanation - tiny little crystals that are able to give energy to start the car, gravity traps that can kill or mutilate human being within second, unexplained phenomena inviting and dangerous at the same time.

Post-apocalyptic survival for dummies

Alicia Witt new album
Actress and musician Alicia Witt - new album