The majority might not remember the nuclear accident of 1986, heck, some of you were to young to remember or were not even born. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. plays off in the 30 km exclusion zone around Reactor 4 where the worst nuclear accident in history took place.

The game kicks off with a cut scene of a truck travelling through the darkness on a stormy night, with several lifeless bodies on the back. Suddenly a lightning bolt jolts down from above striking the truck which leaves it flying through the air in a ball of flames catapulting the bodies off the back. With daybreak a person shows up looking for possible survivors amongst the bodies scattered across the ground by the events of the previous night. To his own surprise he finds a survivor whom is taken to a local trader, Sidorovich, the who he explains that this one has “the mark”, and names him Marked One. As Sidorovich inspects Marked One for clues about who he might be he stumbles up his PDA, which he switches on and a message is displayed that reads: “KILL THE STRELOK”, when Marked One wakes up grabbing the PDA and goes back to sleep. As you (Marked One) wakes up Sidorovich suggests that you work for him and in return he'll help you find information about the Strelok.

Throughout S.T.A.L.K.E.R. you will work for merchants like Sidorovich who gives you missions and in return you'll be rewarded with money and equipment. But missions are not exclusively available from merchants, other stalkers that you meet on your journey might require your help fighting off a group of bandits or a wild pack of mutants, choosing to help them will earn you great respect. The Zone is also a great research area for scientists who don't always have the necessary combat skills to enter dangerous areas on their own and will require your protection. Different factions are also present in the game, with some being neutral towards you and other have it in for you from the start. Doing mission for the faction leaders will help in that faction becoming friendly towards you, thus resulting in more important missions with bigger rewards.

Completing and taking on new missions will allow you to explore The Zone, discovering new locations, anomalies, mutants and ultimately progressing through the story. As your exploration continues throughout The Zone different types of anomalies and mutants will be encountered. Anomalies are the source of artefacts, which can be carried on the players' belt for the positive and or negative properties of the artefacts to take effect. Throughout The Zone the different enemies encountered will provide you with a good choice of weaponry ranging from pistols, assault and sniper rifles, shotguns, grenades and heavy weapons such as grenade launchers – although they are very rare. Most of the assault weapon class can be fitted the accessories like a grenade launcher for those pack of mutants or a scope for the long distant target.

The atmosphere in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl is very well set and maintained throughout the entire game with the use of image noise when you enter an irradiated area or the lessening of colours into a near complete grey scale scene in haunted areas. Other areas of the game are lush accompanied by the blue sky and other colours that makes beautiful countryside scene that is well kept in context with the history of The Zone. The menus and the incredibly detailed load screens in the game keeps the atmosphere alive even when you're not playing or the game is loading.

The inventory system in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is similar to that of a RPG. Killing an enemy allows you to pick up the dropped items and search their body for other valuables and information. Each item picked up has a certain amount of weight, once more than 50 kg of items are being carried the distance you can run is significantly reduced and you will be unable to move when you attempt to carry more than 60 kg. Early on in the game staying below the limit will be easy, but as more weapons and other items become available choosing what to keep or leave behind becomes a reasonable challenge.

Overall S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl provides a enjoyable gaming experience with good gameplay, graphics and sound effects. But no game is perfect and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is no exception, with the big game enviroment being the cause of an occasional glitch.

Rating: 4/5