Shacks dot the grassy landscapes, cracks open in the earth's crust, and the famed Pripyat Ferris wheel looms beyond a barbed-wire fence. But for the most part, you'll care only about surviving-and thriving-in such bleak, lawless environs.Īnd what environs they are. A few characters, such as an alcoholic technician who will upgrade your weapons only after you give him enough vodka, are interesting or entertaining enough to make you care about their fates.

Unfortunately, there's little to get you invested before that, and the awkward scripted scenes don't communicate a sense of drama as much as they highlight the aging visuals. The plot gets a bit interesting in the final few hours as you find out more about what's going on in Pripyat, the abandoned city closest to the nuclear plant. Call of Pripyat tries a bit harder than its predecessors in the storytelling department the camera pans around your character in cutscenes, the writing is more straightforward, and the climax ties back to Shadow of Chernobyl, the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. A number of military helicopters have crashed in the region devastated by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster-known as The Zone-and you're sent to investigate. series' third installment, you play as Ukrainian security agent Alexander Degtyarev.

Prepare, once again, to face impossible odds as you trudge your way across one of the planet's most dangerous expanses.ĭon't let this gorgeous sunset fool you: Unimaginable horrors await. But Call of Pripyat is an excellent return to form after the uncomfortably buggy, awkwardly paced Clear Sky. The story does little to draw you in until the final hours, and the visuals are showing their age despite some welcome improvements to the graphics engine. These compelling moments don't inspire every aspect of the game, however. This shooter/role-playing hybrid oozes ambience by the bucketful, whether you're traversing marshes or skulking through dark crevasses, and the dread that accumulates makes encounters with all sorts of grotesque freaks feel all the more suspenseful. But it's also erupting with rewards as long as you know where to look. If you've played either of the first two games of the series, you know that The Zone is a harsh mistress, and exploring it requires patience, thoughtful planning, and plenty of ammo.

Like its predecessors, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat is all about stretches of chilling stillness and thick dread, punctuated by the tense thrills of menacing mutants and the rush of discovery.

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