So a few more things after a few more hours -- still no errors for me, which is a good thing, and the game's fun factor keeps going up. The world really does feel quite alive. The day/night cycle is quite slow, so you don't feel like things are rapidly passing you by, and that's a good thing, as some missions have time limits. Stalker rookies from the gateway camp wander to outposts and do their thing, killing off threats as they see fit, and bandit raiders run around trying to kill them and (presumably) take their stuff. It works really nicely, as you can get drawn into random fights just to help out your buddies or snag some weapons and food, stuff to sell, whatever. Mutant creatures wander around. Sometimes they fight people, sometimes each other. They can be totally in the background or pretty entertaining depending on the situation. The missions are pretty varied and fun, generally just asking you to go kill shit, talk to somebody, get something, whatever. But it's a shooter, so you wouldn't expect much else. The weapon list isn't growing too fast (four weapons so far... one pistol, a sawed-off, two assault rifles), so they're pacing it well enough, but they keep giving you little rewards and incentives to continue, not the least of those being the incentive to see new things. So far there really hasn't been anything scary at all. The game is very atmospheric and moody, but you just know crazy stuff is going to happen as you get nearer to the center of the exclusion zone. And that's great, because it makes the beginning stuff feel alien, cool, and interesting, but still like a walk in the park compared to what may happen later. Of course, I don't know this for certain, but the feeling is right. I can't wait to get in deeper, but I'm taking my time getting outfitted and earning money.
Apparently one problem is the money is fairly useless in the game as you always have way more than you need, which is kind of a shame. Maybe they can balance it in a patch or somebody will hack it.
Also keebs, I don't find this game to be a system hog *at all*. It runs far, far better than Oblivion or FEAR, say. I'm running it at 1280x1024 with basically everything cranked (barring too much AF and any AA) and it runs smooth as butter pretty much all the time. I haven't had any hitching at all except for the occasional jump when it's streaming a new area or whatever, and when the "drunk" effect did some stuff to the screen. Otherwise it's been perfect. And believe me, I don't get perfect at those settings with either of the other aforementioned games.
Lastly, just because I remembered to mention it, the game feels much more heavily tactical even though it really isn't. Movement will scatter your shots like mad, and that really matters because the guns are, thus far at least, *far* from accurate. Even a pistol doesn't give you anywhere near a guarantee of a good hit, even if you aim properly. Despite initial misgivings, I actually rather like it. The firefights last longer and feel more intense, and when you manage to drop a guy it's quite satisfying. I feel like it's actually *too* much on the side of difficult aiming, etc., but it does help give the game a more tactical feel. The AI isn't too shabby either, and while it's far from the best I've ever seen, it's not stupid. The guys use cover, flank you, and appear to work pretty well as a team. It's good that they work well, because you do almost as much "team" fighting as you do solo.
So... yeah. Good stuff!
