I recently purchased stalker and although it runs like crap on my computer (which is now 5+ years old), I'd have to say playing it is one of the most enjoyable experiences I've ever had. The AI is utterly insane, and I cant imagine the work the developers went through to produce such madness. In one situation, I had stumbled across a large military base, and one of the watch tower guards spotted me, quickly enabling the alarm--which would surely have meant the end of me. However, I happened to have a silenced weapon with, and took out the alarm system within a couple seconds. Most of the guards went back to what they were doing, however once shots fired, they came after me in full force. As I ran up several stories in a nearby building, hoping to gain some ground to fall back on, I was quickly overcome by the lot of them as they attacked me from all directions, scaling indoor _and_ outdoor stairs and ladders, keeping me busy in all directions before the most of them ran straight up behind me for a wicked flank. This is the _only_ game I have played where the AI truly flanks and gives cover fire with such efficiency. Most games, such as those released with the source engine, require pre-built paths for such things to even occur, and even then, it's usually scripted. In stalker however, it is obvious that such paths cant exist, for the world is far too large. Just processing such paths would slow the game to a crawl.
The game is not without its flaws of course, and there are tricks to defeating the AI. One of which, is simply quick-saving and then quick-loading, which seems to reset the AI systems and shared information among common enemies. Though, they may suddenly spot you too when they wouldn't otherwise. However it should be noted that this game feels more like playing an mmo equivilent of counter-strike than anything else, and the enemies (and weapon mechanics) feel just as realistic. Expect a challenge with this one~:)
Slashdot Mirror
I recently purchased stalker and although it runs like crap on my computer (which is now 5+ years old), I'd have to say playing it is one of the most enjoyable experiences I've ever had. The AI is utterly insane, and I cant imagine the work the developers went through to produce such madness. In one situation, I had stumbled across a large military base, and one of the watch tower guards spotted me, quickly enabling the alarm--which would surely have meant the end of me. However, I happened to have a silenced weapon with, and took out the alarm system within a couple seconds. Most of the guards went back to what they were doing, however once shots fired, they came after me in full force. As I ran up several stories in a nearby building, hoping to gain some ground to fall back on, I was quickly overcome by the lot of them as they attacked me from all directions, scaling indoor _and_ outdoor stairs and ladders, keeping me busy in all directions before the most of them ran straight up behind me for a wicked flank. This is the _only_ game I have played where the AI truly flanks and gives cover fire with such efficiency. Most games, such as those released with the source engine, require pre-built paths for such things to even occur, and even then, it's usually scripted. In stalker however, it is obvious that such paths cant exist, for the world is far too large. Just processing such paths would slow the game to a crawl.
:)
The game is not without its flaws of course, and there are tricks to defeating the AI. One of which, is simply quick-saving and then quick-loading, which seems to reset the AI systems and shared information among common enemies. Though, they may suddenly spot you too when they wouldn't otherwise. However it should be noted that this game feels more like playing an mmo equivilent of counter-strike than anything else, and the enemies (and weapon mechanics) feel just as realistic. Expect a challenge with this one~