It's been a long, long old wait, but S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is now very nearly upon us. March 23, its launch day, is marked in big red felt tip pen in our diaries. Will the survival-shooter be worth the wait, exciting our hard drives with its gameplay? It's seeming so...
With the game about to hit, we cornered GSC's senior PR manager and very friendly chap Oleg Yavorsky for a chat about stalking through the nuclear wasteland. Part one of the interview is presented below, and we'll be bringing you more shortly, so stay tuned.
First question, kind of back to basics: please sum up S.T.A.L.K.E.R. in 200 words or less...
Yavorsky: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is a Survival FPS game set in the near-future Chernobyl exclusion zone. According to the game story, there happens a second explosion in the heart of Chernobyl to generate the Zone - a 30-sq-km area of the game - the place plentiful not only of radiation, but also of weird deadly anomalous energy, mutants, hostile NPCs and more.
The player assumes the role of a stalker - a guy roaming the Zone, risking his life, in search of artifacts (generated by anomalies) to sell them later to scientists, dealers etc. The ultimate player's goal is to reveal the mystery behind the Zone - what generated it and why it exists at all.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is a difficult game to label, but the best we can come up with is GTA meets Fallout meets Doom meets Resident Evil. Is that a fair approximation?
Yavorsky: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. has been created with big freedom in mind. The player is entrusted with a vast territory and huge world populated by a variety of creatures impacted by bizarre and unknown laws, bearing both peril and glory. The player is also entrusted with a minimal set of items and hinted upon a storyline intrigue. From now on, he's on his own, exploring and fighting against the odds.
The gameplay will be structured in accordance with the way the player constructs it - be it secretive, stealthy operations full of ambushing or lightning-fast assaults. Some players may opt for exploration and trading, while others will become a warrior. It is the freedom that provides a platform for a game you cannot play the same way twice.
Originally, as a stalker, we had to both survive in and live off the environment, and could suffer the effects of hunger, exhaustion, radiation and health...
Yavorsky: After a series of play-tests we decided to simplify the micromanagement of the player's survival parameters and make it all less complicated compared to the original implementation. Thus, we removed the need to sleep and eat. Food, however, remains in the game and serves specifically to restore your health a bit (a kind of alternative to medkits). Exhaustion comes if you are carrying too much weight - getting overloaded with weapons, items, artefacts, food etc (each object in the game has weight) does not let you run or even walk (depending on the weight you're trying to carry).
Keeping an eye on your health bar and staying away from radiation and anomalies remains very important. Radiation sickness (you will see a characteristic visual effect and radiation sign on screen) makes you lose health very quickly, so make sure you've got anti-rad pills or vodka with you to cure the wounds.
Speaking about wounds, depending on the injury type, you may start bleeding (apply bandages to stop it), so watch out as other NPCs/creatures may hunt you down by traces of blood on the ground (you may do the same to them).
A stalker's main role is to scavenge artefacts from the environment to sell on to scientists and corporations. What types of artefacts are we talking about here, and can they be used by the player?
Yavorsky: Artefacts are items which absorbed the energy of the anomalous spots generating around them. In the game, we provide for a number of different types of anomalies (such as gravitational, electric, radioactive etc). Artefacts also differ in terms of rareness: very common artefacts have low price, while the rare ones can be sold for a very good penny.
Apart from their monetary value, artefacts may come in handy to the player in tough situations. Each of the artefacts is characterized by certain abilities which the player may apply in need. To apply an artefact, the player simply needs to put it on his belt. The abilities of artefacts, however, do both good and bad on the player, so make sure you clarify what effects it will have on you before using the artefact.
Let me give you a couple of artefact examples. 'Stone blood' is an artefact generated by a 'whirligig' anomaly. Visually, it is a deformed, reddish object made of compressed, oddly twisted, polymerized scraps of plants, soil and bones. It is believed that the strength of people perished in the anomaly is contained in the artefact. As the Zone is plentiful of dangers, you wouldn't be surprised to hear that 'stone blood' is quite common, and hence is not very pricy. The artefact is able to speed up healing of your wounds, but at the same time softens your flesh and hence makes you more susceptible to damage.
'Flash', another artefact example, is formed in the 'Electro' anomaly. It is a translucent, amorphous object with light beams pulsating under the surface, occasionally generating miniature lightning-sparks. 'Flash' can help boost your stamina and provide some resistance to electricity, however at the same time makes you highly vulnerable to radiation. The artefact is of primary interest to scientific organizations, collectors and jewellers.
There's a strong horror element to the game, right?
Yavorsky: Absolutely. To create a truly 'warning' kind of a game we tried to create a 'what if' Chernobyl story, using real facts and rumours, but applying a good deal of imagination on top (such as mutants, deadly anomalies etc.). S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is a spooky game, no doubt.
What can you tell us about the game's RPG-style elements?
Yavorsky: As opposed to the modern understanding of the RPG term, we tried to focus on the classic role-playing side of the matter, i.e. each player can play a certain role of his liking in the game. The key idea is, as in real life, by playing a certain role in the game you will provoke the correspondent reaction of the surrounding society. For example, being greedy, helpful to stalkers in need or being evil to everyone will affect the reactions and attitude of other NPCs in the game. Moreover, the way you play the game will affect the ending you reach.
Among other standard RPG elements are communication with NPCs, inventory with item management, item trading and exchange, collecting information and more. What the game doesn't provide for, though, is level-ups - the player will have to develop skills of his own, rather than those of his character in the game.
Tune back in soon for the next part of our interview with Oleg on S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
This game just gets more and more interesting to me the more information is eked out about it. It looks like there's some really cool gameplay elements going down here and I will be looking out for the reviews to make my final decision about whether or not to buy it ( with thanks to all the early-adopters and CVG reviewers ^^, ).
I'm still not sure of the back-to-basics approach. I don't see why this couldn't have been done a bit more in an Oblivion style with a bit of stats going on and so forth. However the freedom of the game sounds good, and I'd be much more likely to try something like this (with a very interesting setting) than tired old GTA or clones.
To go along with ptechg's comments, really, but what's mod support likely to amount to for STALKER? Because that, to me, is where we'd start to see features put back in that the developer decided to cut, perhaps to the dedicated fan of the project's dismay.
I hope they go big on atmosphere, and I actually get the impression that survival is an issue to be concerned about constantly in this hostile Zone (the blasts that everything must shelter from in the single player sound really encouraging, as well as how the environment reacts, and preempts these events seems cool.) I'm really looking for a realistic, tense and raw experience from STALKER. I hope it delivers, and that the multiplayer will see a good extent of support, as that seems fun.
Am I the only one thinking that this concept in the future could make a fantastic MMO? This, and Hellgate: London are the PC games I'm really looking forward to this year.
I'm really looking for a realistic, tense and raw experience from STALKER. I hope it delivers, and that the multiplayer will see a good extent of support, as that seems fun.
Precisely, as am I. Rarely does a game turn up that can achieve a unique and atmospheric quality, why tarnish it with a bloody set of stats?
I'm looking forward to this one. Its been in development for such a long time, and it seems like they've set themselves high standards in terms of athmosphere and gameplay. My only worry is that the engine/graphics are a little old.
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This, and Hellgate: London are the PC games I'm really looking forward to this year. 
