Playing as a Stalker known as the Marked One, you are rescued from a burning vehicle at the start and suffering from amnesia. His only form of information is written on his PDA, an objective that simply says ‘Kill Strelok’. Not knowing anything of his past or why he has anything do with this Strelok, the Marked One must carry out jobs to earn trust, raid bases, search stashes, trade, hunt and investigate before any of the truth gets out. Amnesia is of course a convenient story-telling device, but this tale remains intriguing enough throughout, though the translation from Russian is often lacking.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. plays like a cross between Oblivion and Operation Flashpoint – the majority of the game takes place above surface across vast open areas, and the large-scale gun battles feel authentic, with a real sense of weight behind the weaponry. Thanks to the AI, the battles also feel wonderfully unpredictable. Often there can be ten or so friendly Stalkers defending an area against a similar number of enemy bandits, and it’s quite feasible to just hide and watch the fight take place.

Though Chernobyl and its surrounding towns and outlets provide a pleasingly large game-world, this is still a strangely restrictive non-linear experience. Multiple opposing and friendly factions offer multiple objectives and conflict (and indeed conflicting objectives), yet this huge map is limited by awkward impassable fences. With the majority of a massive game world off-limits for the entirety of the experience, the player is left to explore only the places of genuine interest rather than letting them into the vast wilderness between. This cuts down on the epic sense of adventure that GCG could have created, but it does at least keep the game focused.

The various factions that make up the bulk of the game offer a huge number of Jobs (quests) that reward you with improved items and money. Though the Marked One doesn’t level up as per usual RPG fashion, improvements to weaponry and armour do make noticeable differences to the way the game plays.

The jobs themselves are pleasingly varied, and though the combat is at first immensely overwhelming, a couple of hours in, it should be possible to pick up more powerful weaponry and the difficulty evens out enough to be able to stand your ground. Initial difficulty is ridiculously high, with the first job sending you to eliminate a group of nearby bandits with just a measly pistol and a few bullets. A handful of friendly Stalkers do assist (in fact, you are assisting them) but it can be a struggle to survive even this encounter. It does seem unfair at first, but the game has to be played in a certain way to be effective. It isn’t sneaky peaky like the stealth genre and nor is it run and gun, rather S.T.A.L.K.E.R. requires imagination and awareness. Often, particularly in the first half of the game, there will be a lot of running away. Instigate a battle and run back to a friendly camp to continue the fight with backup. Try and push back the enemy into one of the deadly Anomalies that litter the environment.

The action in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is remarkably intense, the AI is among the best in the genre and genuinely acts naturally, and what sets the game apart from its peers is the unexpected encounters that randomly occur. Through exploring you will often come across a group of Stalkers or the Army fighting each other or even groups of mutants and animals. Though there are scripted events, revisiting what was previously a safe area and finding a huge battle taking place is quite a unique experience. Though other games have tried such a feat, in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. it just feels right. The intensity of action is heightened by the excellent balance of weaponry and rarity of ammunition. It’s virtually impossible to play the game without a gun, but ammo is so short that most of the game is spent scavenging whatever is available from corpses, meaning the player will never get attached to one weapon for a particularly long time. Weight limitation also plays an important factor, and becoming attached to your favourite rifle often spells death.

The atmosphere is also quite an achievement, with a real-time day-to-night cycle and various realistic weather effects. Playing through a storm at night whilst stuck out in the wilderness is almost paralysing, especially with the only light coming from a feeble torch and occasional flash of lightning. When the game sends the player underground for a handful of objectives the whole package runs into overdrive, reminiscent of another awkwardly titled action game, F.E.A.R, in particular the lighting effects.

Regardless of its protracted development period, S.T.A.L.K.E.R delivers a fine experience. The clunky interface, numerous bugs, fractured story telling and underdeveloped ideas do distract from what could well have been a real classic, but the fact that GSC have come through development hell to produce a game as memorable as this is quite an achievement.