S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat Review (MaDDoT)
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat (2010)
How about that name of this title, huh? Call of Pripyat. Just hearing that should spark your imagination. But i'm slightly getting ahead of myself.
You play as Major Alexander Degtyarev, a Security Service of Ukraine agent who is sent to the Zone to investigate why the helicopters crashed and why Operation Fairway failed as a result. This is the most basic breakdown of the story, anymore than that goes into spoiler territory. CoP is the third Stalker game, so you should really start with Shadow of Chernobyl (the first released Stalker game) or Clear Sky (The second stalker game released, but it's story takes place before SoC.) I'm not going to go into which game you should play first, there are enough hour long video reviews and breakdowns on Youtube if you wish to delve into that philosophy. Logically you should play Shadow of Chernobyl before playing Call of Pripyat. You can play this one on its own, but I don't recommend doing so as you will miss important story setting and the overall feel of the Stalker games.
I know for a lot of people if you ask them which of the Stalker games is their favourite they will most likely say Shadow of Chernobyl and that makes sense, it's a very good and classic game by today's standards. I have to say my favourite is Call of Pripyat. The game runs extremely well and the guns are less janky then the guns in SoC. The guns are pretty bad is SoC, there are times where you will stand against a bandit and empty your clip into his head and he will not go down. Now it feels if your bullets actually make contact with what you are shooting, so that's a welcome change.
It took me a while to understand the map as this was also changed compared to the previous titles. You have three massive maps to explore. In the previous titles you traveled from map to map with loading screens, now you can go where you want to without that unless you enter an area. This open map feeling was a good change. To add a ever present feeling of dread, there are emissions that happen in the Zone. I'm going to describe it as an angry dangerous shockwave of Zone energy that wishes to kill all who don't seek shelter immediately. Let me tell you - being out in the field while you are fighting mutants and you hear the guy over the radio telling you to find shelter and you see your nearest shelter is quite a way off is not fun.
There is plenty to do in the game, lots of quests to complete. They added an achievement system in the game, where if you perform certain quests with certain outcomes you will receive an achievement and it gives you some gameplay benefits for doing so. Unfortunately you do not get a Steam achievement as well as CoP does not have any, it would be cool though. The game's ending is much like the Fallout games - the narrator will go through all your actions and comment on it, what you do and what you didn't do. You can collect artefacts to increase your stats. You find these buy exploring anomalies. Dangerous, but worth it as artefacts are extremely good to have and you can sell the ones you don't want or need for a lot money.
Call of Pripyat's final map to explore is... well, the city of Pripyat. You do get to explore the city in SoC, but for me personally it never sat right. It feels more like a detour there. I know my opinion will be different here compared to most people but I always felt that Pripyat deserved more then quick detour you take through it in SoC. This game breaks it down a bit, they give you a reason to explore the town with points of interest. This game made it truly special to be there. I have to add that I love history, so to be able to walk around Pripyat felt special - yes, it is a video game and not the real city, but who cares? I get to explore.
Call of Pripyat at the end of the day is just more Stalker if that makes sense, If you loved the previous games, I have no doubt you will find something to enjoy in this one. If you are preparing for Stalker 2, please give all the previous Stalker games a go. They are old and clunky compared to the games of today but hell are they worth it. I only recall watching a teaser trailer for CoP and was sceptical back in the day, but now that I have played it myself I have to admit this is a really good and fun game.
9/10
Normally this would be where I end my review but I have to give a shoutout to a very special mod. The mod is called Stalker Anomaly. There is really no better place to talk about it then here. This is a mod that combines all three Stalker game's map into one map, connecting them all. You can choose which faction you want to play as, and let me tell you, all the factions are there. They added like a thousand new items to the game, new ammo types, new food, new medicine. They improved the crafting and armour upgrade system. The Zone feels alive and changes with each new game you play. The graphics is improved to the max, it looks amazing. They have their own story you can choose to follow. This mod is free to download, I highly recommend you check it out if you finished the Stalker games and want more of that Stalker experience, but on your terms. Happy hunting, Stalker.