STALKER Call Of Pripyat

(2016 Note: In February 2010 I wrote this piece about the third Stalker game intending to post it somewhere but never got around to it. Here it is!)

Call of Pripyat shares none of the frustrations of Clear Sky, it brings back the FUN of the original game, and improves upon it in a multitude of ways.  Yes, this is still Stalker, and the game mechanics are similar: open world, shoot blokes, avoid mutants, hunt anomalies etc.  But the faction wars are toned down, and you feel like you actually stand a chance from the off.  At first you are somewhat fragile, but not stupidly vulnerable.  I started venturing out to places and noticed that, like the better-tuned RPGs, there were areas that I could just about tackle, but others for which I'd have to improve myself before I could return to them.  Feels just right.

Call of Pripyat is designed to be "open world" immediately. The main plot arc isn't entirely linear, the first 5 "quests" for it can be tackled in any order. The "world" comprises 3 large, distinct areas that are naturally shaped and do not feel like long corridors.  Keep walking in any direction and you'll see one completely different thing after another, a wrecked ship, swamps (very scaled down compared to Clear Sky), chasms, bridges, burned farms, anomalies, plateaus, and buildings.

Day and night cycles are still there, and you have a permanent clock in the main hud. There are two weapons slots, in which you can put whatever you like.  This was curiously limited in Clear Sky. CS got one thing right with artifacts: they were hard to find.  This is still the case, and detectors are required, making for a tricky but compelling challenge whenever you attempt it.  Earning money is tough, but a little easier than Clear Sky, and feels about right.  Shotguns are no longer nearly-useless, and the new Protecta is a solid, satisfying weapon.  Weapon upgrades are present again, but futher tuned, and even more essential.  Some of the dread and scares of the original game are present, if not to the same extent.  There are a lot of things that, if not frightening, are certainly odd and will put you on edge.  There's more "weird" in this game than "scary", put simply.  How many FPSs engage your imagination as much as your trigger finger?

And I found it absolutely reliable, too.  No crashes here.

Niggles:
Realistic but frustratingly small carry limit early on.
That damned view-bob.
Vanilla game could do with more AI spawns.
Short, some are saying 20 hours.
Could do with more dungeons!
Weapons degradation is a more prominent factor than Clear Sky, and if anything happend a tad too "rapidly" for my liking.
You'll wish they mapped more of Pripyat (but what's there is fantastic).

To conclude:
One of the best first-person-shooters ever but certainly not perfect.  A unique, compelling and satisfying experience, and recommended to absolutely everyone.  Google for the "SMRTER mod" after you have played the full game, to add more goodies and replayability.

Doom Maps (10-2-2013)

CAFEBRK1.WAD: Coffee Break Episode 1 by Matt Tropiano

I've played a fair few MegaWADs over the years. While it's tempting to assume that a 32-map monster WAD is where most of the fun is to be had in Doom's copious range of fan-made addons, it would be doing many good map authors a disservice to ignore single and "episodic" map packs only because they somehow appear to offer "potentially less" gameplay.

A few days ago I reviewed a couple of standout single WADs, this time I took on Coffee Break which is an 11-map "episode" that's been brewing since 2009. Matt says he decided to release this as is, despite not having a full 32 mapset (his original intention), and it was a damned good thing he did. This is one of the better episodes I've had the pleasure of playing.

Highlights include Map 4 "Toxic", set in a dingy waste processing facility. Featuring a claustrophobic crossroads / hub structure with the usual keycard-locked doors surrounding a central area. In this central area are two conveyor belts pushing toxic barrels, this is one of those cool map features that not only serve to give the player the impression that they are indeed running around a dangerous waste facility, it is tremendously useful in the opening fight!

Map 5 "Control" goes for a more open-plan design, initially challenging the player with multi-directional battles with imps and sergeants and only a minigun to fight with. Starting in a typical base room, the player is then thrust in an outside area surrounding a central room inaccessible at first. Like all the maps, Control features cunning traps and monsters placed at varying levels making good use of height. One of the greatest aspects of Doom's game-play is the challenge of dealing with fire from various directions and distances. This isn't a case of running forward, shooting and hiding behind cover a-la Call of Duty.

Map 9 "Channel" is another highlight. Starting in a room connected to a monster-strewn outside area, this unusual flash of green is connected to an ochre atrium with some challenging rooms, trickily-placed Revenants, and a fair bit of vertical fighting crossed with some touch-and-go monster traps. The final section takes place in a large stream of water dug into some earthy areas. Here the map introduces some high-level firepower and throws a ton of monsters at you, and I found it easier - and more thrilling - to attempt speed-running this section.

Matt peppers his maps with mini set-pieces such as this, but also with small touches and attention to detail. (The aforementioned conveyor belt room in Toxic houses some cool UAC logo windows, through which falling waste can be seen. Such decoration shows a level of map design that borders on the artistic.) Though the maps are generally small, they don't feel claustrophobic and - particularly due to some appropriately clever and unpredictable monster placement - do not ever feel tedious.

I'm not usually fond of "MegaWADs" where pistol starts are suggested, instead preferring to carry over weapons onto maps that "keep this in mind." But I played Coffee Break like this and it kept up a consistent and steadily growing difficulty (at UV -fast, as always), and gradually more intricate level designs with superb visuals and monster placement. Play it as soon as you can.

Doom Maps (7-2-2013)

ADMSM.WAD: Administration Center by Sergeant_Mark_IV

This map has a fairly typical hub-style layout, you begin off one branch, play through some linear rooms leading to a crossroad of sorts, then proceed to find each keycard to open the appropriate doors. The game-play ramps up appropriately swiftly for a single map, and it was only a few minutes running through some imp-infested white corridors before I was greeted by a hell knight in an office!

The main hook of this map isn't just the layout, but the visual style Sergeant goes for: A foyer, filing rooms, office cubicles (this is the area you'll have to cross through a few times - the cubicle walls make for some useful cover), a dimly lit storage room make for a refreshing change from the usual military base designs. It didn't take me very long to finish, perhaps half an hour at most - and I play every map on Ultra Violence with fast monsters - but it was a memorable little journey with a perfect challenge level, a couple of cool traps, and some unpredictable monster placement. For a "speedmap" this is worth your time.

BLRVOUTP.WAD: Bloodriver Outpost by Henri Lehto

Ah, some ZDoom features! I find it makes a pleasant change to play the odd map with slopes, swimmable water and the like. Bloodriver Outpost makes good use of both: this is probably the first occasion I've had to crouch under some slopes to pick up some items, in Doom!

A cramped base entrance opens almost immediately to an open area (shown in the image), though I was already given a super shotgun, I was assaulted on all sides from Cacos, imps, and a few hitscan enemies. A couple of quick runs to pick up some enemies, and peeping my head out of the nearby secret, was enough to get some infighting going amongst the monsters, and this eased things somewhat.

A few button presses and a quick swim later, I reached the other side of the open area, leading into more base rooms and enemies from various directions. The level design move to a more room-based Quake 2-style at this point, punctuated with one or two more outside areas, with varied monster choice and placement keeping things interesting. The only irksome point with this map is that it becomes a button-fest, doors, rooms, floors opening progressively as you kill enough enemies to hit the next button.

Even with the caveat this is strongly recommended, I enjoyed my time with this map and found the difficulty just right. I'm not against using (G)ZDoom features in Doom maps, and in the right hands they augment fun map design with elements that can bring out further diversity in the gameplay. Good job Henri, keep it up.