It’s no secret that I have quite the interest in the Chernobyl Disaster and that the STALKER series, which happens to be set in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, is a favorite game series of mine. I’ve been re-playing the games off and on since December of last year, as well as playing the massive mod / stand alone fangame Stalker: Anomaly. While they are set in the Zone, their stories go beyond the setting and I find myself incredibly immersed in the terrifying world they present.
Thus it’s only natural that I’d at least consider a game like Chernobylite. It, too, is set in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, but with its own horror take on the Zone as well as a different overall gameplay style built more around stealth, scavenging, crafting, and a base building mechanic. The First Person Shooter elements really come secondary to the former, and for me it quite works.
The super condensed story is you’re a scientist who formerly worked in the CNPP who’s returned to the Zone to hunt for his missing fiance. In this universe, however, the Zone isn’t just the location of the worst nuclear disaster in history; it’s also a quasi-supernatural hellscape due to the presence of a mysterious substance known as Chernobylite. Yeah, we’re talking magic green rock, but this stuff has an odd way of, for lack of a better phrase, creeping around the Zone.
Along with the Chernobylite some creatures, known as shadows, have appeared in the Zone, terrifying its few occupants which, in this case, beyond a few Stalkers (people who illegally enter the Zone) but also the NAR — the company which owns the rights to the Zone and the Chernobylite within.
Take all that and throw in a RBMK reactors weight worth of creepy atmosphere and you have quite the experience. With the game incorporating 3D scans of the actual Chernobyl Exclusion Zone as the basis for levels and you have a very unique experience. That’s not to say that the STALKER series doesn’t have accuracy in it — it does in some sections, certainly, but accuracy was more of a focus in the design of Chernobylite. It’s not 1 for 1, liberties have been taken for the sake of gameplay, and that’s fine — the game needs to play well first and foremost.
I know I’m comparing it quite a bit to Stalker but that’s truly the closest comparison one can make — both are survival horror set in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Even with some similar story elements they do diverge quite a bit, and their gameplay is certainly different, but they compliment each other well as a fan of this particular subgenre of a subgenre.
It isn’t all sunshine and magic crystals, however. Chernobylite, as a piece of software, is a bit temperamental. Sure, my system is on the lower end for being able to run the game, but I am one of the many people who suffers from it randomly crashing and, often times, taking the whole system with it. It’s sadly a bit common, but not enough to stop me from playing. Thankfully I finally upgraded to an SSD a few weeks ago so my system is no longer slow as hell when rebooting. It still is often enough to be very annoying, but hopefully I’ll find a solution soon enough. Maybe I’ll file a bug report just to see, since the devs are apparently pretty responsive.
That’s another thing — the devs, they actually have a YouTube channel by the same name as the game, where they discuss the Chernobyl disaster in a concise, but still almost clinical detail. That’s actually how I finally made the decision to give the game a go — seeing their passion for the story of Chernobyl made me feel that I should at least look into the game and, yesterday, I decided to give it a go and honestly, even with the system-crippling crashes, I don’t regret the purchase. I’ve put in about 8 hours, and while there’s been frustrations, when the game doesn’t act up on me I’m loving it.
I honestly have to say I like the fact that combat is outright brutal in it — you can, and will, get killed quick and, if you know what you’re doing, you can take down most enemies just as easily. Of course, you’re not supposed to go in guns blazing — that’s detrimental to your characters mental health, which I find to be a very nice touch. Otherwise, you do have a system for armor, and can craft healing items for both your physical and mental health, as well as medicine to counter the ever present effect of radiation. This is the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, after all.
Between staying alive, savaging for resources, and crafting equipment for field work and for your base, you stay pretty active when playing, but everything is nicely segmented so you never feel overwhelmed. At least, I don’t, but I’ve seen others complain about the base building mechanic. I don’t know, it works for me, and while I normally find crafting and survival mechanics in most games to just be a chore, I actually enjoy them here — it all feels balanced and mostly fair. Difficult at times, but fair.
Right, I never intended for this to be as long an entry as it was. It suffices to say I’m enjoying myself, and while the game isn’t perfect, it’s got enough to keep me enthralled. At least, for now it does — we’ll see when I reach the end of it… if I do. I have a nasty habit of never finishing games when I should, but I digress.
See you in the Zone.