Chernobylite

lordkosc · July 28, 2021, 11:56am

It looks great in by backlog. :)

Maybe I’ll have time Sunday.

These developers really nailed what it means to release a game into Early Access and then update/document and show the progress of the project as it headed to 1.0 at least imho.

Missed this one a few days ago:

Rock8man · July 28, 2021, 4:35pm

Eurogamer Recommends it.

I only skimmed the review for fear of spoilers.

TheWombat · July 28, 2021, 5:01pm

Liked what I saw earlier in its life cycle when I picked it up in EA on sale. Have to get back to it for sure.

TimJames · July 28, 2021, 11:00pm

I’m not sure what to make of this game or the reviews. The atmosphere is what made STALKER great, but repetitive crafting missions and (potentially) annoying “larger than life” videogame characters could really drag things down.

I guess I’ll just punt and wait for a sale, which is always the easy way out.

TheWombat · July 28, 2021, 11:05pm

Did you get a chance to play it at all? The one time I fiddled with the EA build it had I thought a good deal of atmosphere, though admittedly the crafting and resource bits sort of stuck out a bit and it sure didn’t have STALKER levels of grittiness.

TimJames · July 28, 2021, 11:21pm

No, I’ve never played it, so I’m relying on confusing trailers and confusing reviews.

TheWombat · July 29, 2021, 1:06am

It’s a confusing game, I found, at least in EA. Part shooter, part exploration and crafting, part mystery solving, part Russian/Ukrainian weirdness.

scharmers · July 30, 2021, 4:28pm

My thoughts, after a whopping couple hours of play:

The environments and presentation are incredible. The recreation of the exclusion zone feels amazingly authentic.
It’s not STALKER. Combat is a part of the game, but creeping around and doing what you can to avoid conflict is usually a better choice. There’s even a game mechanic than punishes killing sprees.
It is the building parts of Fallout 4 in terms of scavenging and base-building…
…but you also need to manage the world, too. I haven’t gotten too far, but from what I can tell, the more you do on the map, the more the map “reacts”. You can build stuff on the maps to counteract those reactions.

Early, early rating: thumbs up. Previous expectations about the game are key. Wanted a STALKERy tactical shooter? Son, I am disappoint. Want a dangerous walking/scavenging sim in a hostile, beautifully-realized environment? Here it is.

lordkosc · July 31, 2021, 1:23am

Well I had time to download and install it today, that’s almost like playing!

Here are some review quotes and scores:

Disavowed_Human_Being · July 31, 2021, 8:16am

Wow, this is the third video game series based on STALKER (Including STALKER), unless we count Metro.

Cool.

Giles_Habibula · July 31, 2021, 8:28am

On the GOG main page for the game, there are a bunch of reviews denigrating the game for its inclusion of a timer in the missions, in which you have like a half-hour or something to complete each mission. Then there a few more reviews stating that while there is a timer, it is only there to alert you of something bad coming…? None of these reviews was very specific, and I got the impression that most of these reviewers hadn’t even played the game, and were just parroting things they had heard elsewhere.

As I generally dislike timers in exploratory games, I’m wondering if you (or anyone else that has played the game) has run across any kind of timer, and if so, what does it do?

scharmers · July 31, 2021, 7:47pm

I assume the “timer” is actually the arrival of the Black Stalker.

He hasn’t shown up in the earlier missions, but I assume, since the environments get deadlier as time goes on, he eventually will. In those earlier missions, however, you’re free to wander as you see fit, with radiation and gas zones the only real limits.

Plus, you can build things in the zones that limit these hazards. Yep, that’s right, not only do you build in your base, but out in the field, as well.

I’m not sure what all the negative reviews are about. Reading some of them, I get the feeling some folks were really expecting STALKER 2.0 or Metro. And as for the time limits, well, see above.

Teiman · July 31, 2021, 8:12pm

I have been watching streams of this game, and I still have no idea what is about. But is crazy and sometimes stressing and a lot of people talk in russian.

I wish this game existed in consoles. Man, consoles suck.

Giles_Habibula · August 1, 2021, 2:41pm

Thanks. I had already bought this in ea, but all those reviews were causing me to have doubts about installing it. I love games that have an exploration element, and having a tension timer attached would have shut me right down. I appreciate the info!