STALKER: Call of Pripyat Review

Pripyat of Duty

Call of Pripyat isn’t utterly obscure and obtuse though – there are plenty of places where the game does make an effort to introduce new features logically and sensibly.

The upgrade system, which allows you to visit engineers in the Stalker bases and pay them to bolt extras onto your gear, is quite easy to get your head around, and the engineer himself explains the process easily. There are basic improvements that he can make to every weapon, but you can access special improvements by bringing special toolsets back from your adventures.

And we're not being gender-biased by referring to all the engineers as 'he', by the way. It's just that there are apparently no women in The Zone, which probably explains why everyone is so grumpy.

Again, it’s worth emphasising how much more accessible and easy STALKER becomes once you bolt a standard scope on to your weapon of choice. Suddenly the game goes from a lead-flinging frenzy, where you're as likely to shoot your own elbow off as you are hit an enemy, to being an incredibly enjoyable snipe-fest.


The unique feel of the combat in Call of Pripyat is kept totally intact from previous games too, which is fantastic news to anyone who loves the heavy, realistic sensation that STALKER’s fire-fights have previously offered. Bullets ricochet and permeate through the scenery, with ad-hoc battles cropping up as bandits, soldiers and mutants run across each other – usually with you caught in between.

That said, if you’ve never really got to grips with the crudeness of STALKER’s inventory system – which allows you to become over-encumbered all too easily, and which doesn’t pause the game when you delve into you backpack – then don’t expect much to have changed. Every little graze and bruised knee will still see you haemorrhaging vitae like a penguin wrapped in barbed wire, forcing you to constantly apply bandages and medkits in the midst of battle, and usually opening you to attack in the process.


Other familiar gripes reappear as well. Call of Pripyat drains your endurance faster than a politician can empty an expense account, while required tricks like ammo-swapping can be fiddly thanks to a cluttered interface and a lack of actually useful hotkeys. Stealth is still mostly non-existent too, and although silenced weapons are common, enemies will usually magically cotton on when an out-of-sight ally is quietly offed with a single silenced headshot.

It’s getting increasingly frustrating that although the STALKER series is showing gradual improvement, especially in terms of graphics and stability, a lot of the old problems are being ignored. Call of Pripyat is still a lot harder to immerse yourself in than it really needs to be, and, although there’s definitely room in the market for such a hardcore RPG/FPS, there’s little excuse for some of these oversights. Including basic info about the game in the character’s journal would be a start.

Even on lower difficulties the balance and economy of the game systems are tipped noticeably against you, and death can often result from understandable floundering under the pressure of micromanagement in the midst of battle, or simply because important info isn’t communicated clearly enough. Not that we’ve ever died while playing Call of Pripyat (or any other game) though – we’re good at games, honest, despite what all those other sites say about us.