SoC is honestly a unique experience that I recommend to anyone that is a fan of shooters. You always hear people say that the early game sucks and well, they're right. Once you get past the garbage (the area) the game gets real good and hard to put down. The guns start feeling strong and the fights can be intense, especially later on in the game. The lore is super intriguing and the atmosphere is almost unmatched.

For a game made in 2007, the gameplay is still so good. Highly recommend.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R Shadow of Chernoby one of the best game i grow up with as a kid and man did it drive you insane but that is the best part of this franchise its hard as ♥♥♥♥ and i love it but never forget to cheeki breeki

I ignored this game for a few years after release because I considered it an average mainstream game about weird men in gas masks and hoods. What a fool I was..
After a first meeting Stalker starts to tightly integrating in my life. After a few replays I found out that I like autumn’s cloudiness and steady oppressiveness. I learned a lot of phrases and jokes from an NPCs and sometimes I use it in a real-life communication.
Each time I launch a new game and find myself in a village of newbies, I feel vibes like back to something native or even to home. It reminds me my teen age when my friends and I wandered in abandoned places. Those ordinary Eastern Europe terrains look a little ugly but at the same time it’s painfully familiar to me.
I fell in love with Stalker’s atmosphere. What can be better than a pause by the fire in a company of guys with guitar after walking in a dangerous world? Or back to the bar after a hard raid and listen to Dirge for the Planet.
My first playing was like a usual shooter: run and kill. Since the second replaying I found some quests and lore in the game. Actually, I don’t really like fantasy but Stalker’s story has a real-life justification like radiation impact on a fauna and flora or a noosphere theory. So, it raises in me a desire to solve the riddle of the Zone.
Of course, the game isn’t perfect and it’s clear for me. It has outdated graphics, pinched mechanics, and some bugs. But I hope it will never get a remaster or remake because I’m afraid it will loose this depressive but congenial atmosphere. This game is amazing in its current form.
Thank you Grygorovich and team, thank you GSC.