I downloaded the video for this a few weeks ago and watched it and didn't really give it much thought... I just watched it again and it started to tug a bit of interest out of me, so I searched out some info on it. It seems to be about a fictional scenario taking place in a real location... Chernobyl. The video has a sweeping camera that goes over the terrain to give you an idea of the scope of this area. The graphics are quite stunning and the level of detail is pretty intense too. At first it looked alot like a few military games I had played before, but this isn't a military game. This is something else.

It's touted by the developers as something like "Adventure/RPG/Action/blah blah", but it's basically a FPS (like Metroid ). You play a character that has to go into this hostile territory to collect artifacts that you can later sell... you're armed to the teeth though and you'll encounter mutants as well as human enemies. There will also be a few NPCs to talk to and vehicles to drive. It's almost post-apocalyptic. Very cool.

It's being developed by the Ukrainian studio GSC Game World. This is so far looking like it's only coming out for the PC. If there's any chance it will make it to a console, it'll be Xbox or nothing. The developer is partnered with nVidia for this venture, so it's possible (although not probable) that this will make it to Xbox. It sounds really cool to me - it's almost like Half-Life meets Unreal meets Operation Flashpoint. You guys should check it out if you haven't.

Here's the official site with links to the 3 minute video:

http://www.stalker-game.com/index_eng.html

And here's an IGN interview:

http://actionvault.ign.com/features/.../stalker.shtml

I'm surprised nobody really cares about this game... maybe it's the lame title. You ought to download the video and check it out.

No, I've heard about this game. The concept is neat... you can only go so far into the irradiated zone each time before returning because your equipment will only protect you so much, but the more you progress, the better shielding you find. So no real "levels" to speak of, but the areas you can access are more naturally delineated. And it looks very, very pretty.

Any idea on the release date?

Wow, I wonder if they had to pay Andrei Tarkovsky anything? Hopefully their next release will be a sci-fi FPS called S.O.L.A.R.I.S.

Anyway, this shot just makes me feel funny in a good way. There's a strange atmosphere to image, almost melancholy. Which is perfect for post-apoc games. It's hard to look moody in broad daylight and they pull it off. Also, it looks like you can see really really far into the distance, makes me want to play it badly.

http://stalker.msrootserve.com/downl...sb_xray_21.jpg

Yeah - in the video they seem to handle the binoculars pretty well. I'm glad someone's interested besides me. I'm really excited to play it - I don't know what the release date is - so far it's TBA. There's a link to the STALKER forum on the main site. There's some cool info and new screenshots there.

I've never experienced anything from Andrei Tarkovsky, so this will be new to me. I never saw SOLARIS either, but I plan to see the original before watching this new one.

The interview says Q1 2003 is possible.

That's soon then... I'm excited. This probably won't be a surprise hit or anything, but it looks like it might be a sleeper that people will play and talk about like crazy fanatics and most people will just look at them like they're lunatics.

here's a little interview on this game from last week.

http://www.tactical-squad.com/articl...?id_article=48

if you haven't seen the video, you really must.

As basically the only person interested in this game and PC gaming in general... I present myself with a few screenshots that just went up a few days ago at the stalker official site.

Oh wow, Trigger - those shots look gorgeous... thanks for sharing them with me.

Someone call the funny farm, he's finally gone cuckoo!

The FAQ says Q4 2003 - they recently did a tech demo for the unveiling of the GeForce FX and were met with "oohs and ahhs"

Wow that looks awesome, hopefully it plays as well as it looks.
Thanks for the pics and info trigger.

I just watched a couple movies. The newest trailer sure shows off some nice visuals although there isn't much action. In the action clips that I watched, the enemy AI seems retarded. There are 3 guards and not one of them fires. They all keep their back turned even though there are machine guns going off within 20 feet of them. A lot of the sounds are the same ones in Counter-Strike. I'm not sure if CS used original sounds at all or if these are all archived sound effects.

Holy balls! That "sun through the clouds" shot is freaking gorgeous.

I like the weapon modeling too.

Yeah, I think I might use that as my wallpaper.

I would be all over this if it came out for Xbox.

If they can keep this level of visual quality and "atmosphere" in a huge free-roaming environment then I'll be all over it. Ever since Operation Flashpoint, I've been looking for another game with such an awesome sense of freedom. I'm sick of the 'run around the maze box and fetch some cheese' style games.

There's been new screenshots since the last time I posted... here's a few. This game is going to help re-define PC gaming and bring it back to glory along with Half-Life 2, Doom 3 Deus Ex 2 and possibly Duke Nukem Forever. I seriously think people are going to be surprised by this game... I hope I see it at E3.







Sorry in advance to all you low-bandwidth folks.

I recently heard about this game and took a look through the website. It still sounds like it's a ways off, but boy does it look beautiful. I plan to upgrade soon so I can run HL2 an Doom 3 well... I hop the same machine can handle this... the level of detail is unreal.

Brian

Not to steal Trigger's thunder... but there are plenty of interesting new screenshots up now...





We can finally see who we're up against...ugly ZOMBIE DUDES! *

Check out the lightning effects... cool!

* may or may not be true

To me it looks a cut above the level that Doom3 and HL2 are pushing right now (particularly with those glorious outdoor environments). Of course I wonder if I'll actually be able to run it .

There seems to be a lot of atmosphere potential in the game, and I can't wait to see a proper single player trailer that reflects what the game will play like (rather than the tech demos we've mainly seen so far).

That game looks awesome. What is the current release date?

How come no press? Don't remember seeing much in PC Gamer or Comp Games.

Feel free to post new screenshots or info if you like... I just kinda got tired of updating this since there wasn't much interest before.

I'm still anxiously awaiting this title. They made a small showing at E3 last year with a video on display in the main hall and they also had a PC set up with the game that you could check out, but it wasn't where the main action was happening... they also had some promo stuff at the nVidia booth I think. Otherwise, there hasn't been much press on this game beyond my touting the game as the next big thing for the last year and a half. I've seen a few small articles on it in various PC magazines here and there.