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[Bebpo]

Ok I bought this on Steam and tried playing it and...how do you play this game!?!

I meet the guys at the beginning and go to rescue the dude (1st battle) and I'm getting owned everytime. It takes me like a full pistol clip to down a guy and they kill me ridiculously fast. I kill like 1 guy and die on the 2nd. This + no respawning health has be getting killed non-stop. I even tried it on the easiest difficulty and I was still getting killed while fighting with my buddies. Why am I dying on the first gunfight of the entire game? How the hell do you play this game?

Also what are the good points about the game? I didn't follow it much other than hear it was an FPS rpg. The gunplay (at least with pistol and shotgun so far) seems like a relic of a decade ago and the visuals only look great when the Dynamic lighting is on max with full textures and stuff, but the framerate bogs (7600).

 

[Teknopathetic]

You're dying on the first gunfight because the gun you start off with is really weak and you're probably trying to go at the game as if it's Serious Sam, Doom, Quake, anything etc. *It's not.* You can't go gung ho, you have to be a lot more careful.

 

[Bebpo]

You're dying on the first gunfight because the gun you start off with is really weak and you're probably trying to go at the game as if it's Serious Sam, Doom, Quake, anything etc. *It's not.*

You can't go gung ho in STALKER. Hang behind cover, scavenge the bodies of the fallen bandits for their weapons (the shotgun they carry is quite an upgrade), etc.

I try hiding behind stuff and peaking out but shots from a distance with that pistol take forever to take one guy down. Then I run up and grab his weapon and I have a bunch of new guys all over me.

One thing I'm having trouble with is running over to a body and grabbing stuff without taking so long I start getting shot (since time doesn't freeze) in the process. Is there a shortcut key to take all? Because right now I'm having to move to the button and press it and then hit "F" to exit. Also is there a quick key for using bandages or health? Again hitting "I" and doing it manually while enemies are firing at me is kind of tough

 

[Mau ®]

The game is incredibly flawed and a technical mess all around. But the potential is definetely there. I really like it and Im hopeful the prequel is stable.

 

[Diatribe1974]

You can actually get the game NEW from places like EB or Wal-Mart for about 29.99 AND you have a disc, manual and the ability to play it offline and never get into that situation like I did awhile back where my account *somehow* got disabled and I lost 100% access to all my Steam games. Took me 2 weeks to get it finally squared away and never got an explaination or an apology for the fekkup on their part.

 

[Bebpo]

Finally passed the first battle while abusing quick-save after every kill. Even with a shotgun and full health vs. only 1 enemy with a shotgun it took me 3-4 tries to win as he'd kill me in 2 shots while my shots weren't dead on and didn't do full damage to him

The rain is glitching like hell graphically on my machine though. polygonal shapes appearing everywhere.

You can actually get the game NEW from places like EB or Wal-Mart for about 29.99 AND you have a disc, manual and the ability to play it offline and never get into that situation like I did awhile back where my account *somehow* got disabled and I lost 100% access to all my Steam games. Took me 2 weeks to get it finally squared away and never got an explaination or an apology for the fekkup on their part.

I only buy PC games on Steam because the thing with PC games, unlike console games, is that 50% of the time my current PC really can't run it at a satisfying level so either I don't actually end up playing it much or I play it with all the visuals down. Then 5 years later when I get a new PC, now that I have steam suddenly I'll have all these great games available to just instantly grab on my new PC and run them all super perfect.

For me PC gaming (which I do very rarely) is all about future-proofing and STEAM gives me that. I probably wont ever buy a PC game again if it's not on steam, well outside of a good point n' click adventure game like Sam & Max.

 

[probune]

I died quite a bit on the first encounter too, until someone (can't remember if it was friend or foe) dropped some awesome gun that made it easier. Then I went around the side while all the enemies were preoccupied with the other guys and killed them all.

I do agree though that it's tuned a little difficult. I'm bad at FPS so with each encounter it usually takes me a few reloads.

Oh and I'm not running into tech issues oddly enough even though my graphics card is a shitty 6800. I have to run the game on low lol.

 

[Aaron]

First fight you join up with the stalkers waiting to take the bandits down, and let them do most of the work. Of course, the game is open to the point where you can search around, running from enemies, and get equipment elsewhere to become a badass to take down the bandits yourself. Quick tip. Up the road from the first camp is a farm house. There's bandit armor in there, which is better than what you're wearing. Just watch out for the soldier patrols.

STALKER has a hard start no matter how you slice it, but once you start getting the rifles, learn how to duck and cover, make sure to actually aim (something people who play console shooters seem to forget), and have a few magic rocks the game becomes much better. I'm at the mid-point now, and everything has been fantastic. So many great gun battles, frantic moments, freaky surprises... truly amazing game. It's not very accessable, but it has to be that way to do what it does.

 

[madmook]

Yeah I think that first gunfight is tough for everyone starting out. Mostly cause the game has its own style of gunplay (lolz missing from 10 feet away with the crosshair dead on the guy) that takes getting used to. But please stick with it, the game is very fun, and eventually you know how to play it and the gunfights turn from seemingly broken to visceral and satisfying. FYI, left bracket [ is to use a med kit and right bracket ] is for bandage (assuming you have either item in your inventory).

Having been through the game, I can start up a new game and breeze through that area just pulverizing everyone with the pistol you get from Wolf. I also died several times at that part when I first got the game and was playing for the first time. Also, you're gonna get pwnerized quite a bit at the military checkpoint you'll be coming up against shortly... :lol

 

[Aaron]

Also, you're gonna get pwnerized quite a bit at the military checkpoint you'll be coming up against shortly... :lol

I didn't. By that time, I had a rifle and they were busy fighting bandits, so I grenaded a few and just ran past them. Cleared them out later when I had better gear. You also bribe them or risk the tunnel. One thing STALKER does well is if you're running into a brick wall with one method, there's usually another solution. Like you don't have to clear out those bandits right away. You don't really have to do any of the storyline mission until you feel up for it.

 

[Diatribe1974]

Finally passed the first battle while abusing quick-save after every kill. Even with a shotgun and full health vs. only 1 enemy with a shotgun it took me 3-4 tries to win as he'd kill me in 2 shots while my shots weren't dead on and didn't do full damage to him

The rain is glitching like hell graphically on my machine though. polygonal shapes appearing everywhere.



I only buy PC games on Steam because the thing with PC games, unlike console games, is that 50% of the time my current PC really can't run it at a satisfying level so either I don't actually end up playing it much or I play it with all the visuals down. Then 5 years later when I get a new PC, now that I have steam suddenly I'll have all these great games available to just instantly grab on my new PC and run them all super perfect.

For me PC gaming (which I do very rarely) is all about future-proofing and STEAM gives me that. I probably wont ever buy a PC game again if it's not on steam, well outside of a good point n' click adventure game like Sam & Max.

Well, Sam & Max is the exception to the rule, I generally will prefer to buy my games from a brick-and-morter store than the online one. Steam is really great, don't get me wrong, I've bought about a half dozen or so games from them, but I just prefer to have the disc in my hand, where I too can load the game back up 5 years later if I want after upgrading my PC.