S.T.A.L.K.E.R. (series)/YMMV: Difference between revisions

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* [[Adaptation Displacement]]:
* [[Adaptation Displacement]]:* Most players are unaware of the novel and the film. The rest most likely bought it ''because'' of the novel and the film. The rest of us bought the novel and the film because of the game.
** And even less people know, that the game is also partially based on another short story of the [[Strugatsky Brothers (Creator)|Strugatsky Brothers]], ''The Forgotten Experiment'' (which features concepts of {{spoiler|quasi-natural yet explained origin of the Zone}} and scientists working in the Zone).
* [[Demonic Spiders]]: The Poltergeists in the Red Forest mine in ''Clear Sky'' are a subject of many angry message board rants. They basically toss metal water heaters at you which can kill you in one hit and are essentially undodgable.
* [[Demonic Spiders]]:
** Not to mention wild dogs. You could be a top-level Stalker outfitted with exoskeleton armor and the finest of guns, but you'd ''still'' have to make a frenzied dash past the pack of wild dogs in front of the Duty compound to get in.
* [[Demonic Spiders]]:* The Poltergeists in the Red Forest mine in ''Clear Sky'' are a subject of many angry message board rants. They basically toss metal water heaters at you which can kill you in one hit and are essentially undodgable.
*** Alternately you could just shoot one or two. If you kill the pack alpha the rest of them run away.
** Not to mention wild dogs. You could be a top-level Stalker outfitted with exoskeleton armor and the finest of guns, but you'd ''still'' have to make a frenzied dash past the pack of wild dogs in front of the Duty compound to get in. Alternately you could just shoot one or two. If you kill the pack alpha the rest of them run away.
**** The Poltergeists in ''STALKERS.T.A.L.K.E.R.: SOCShadow of Chernobyl'' aren't a bowl of cherries either. Sure, they can't one-hit-kill you, but you can't get rid of most of the stuff they throw, the damned things move FAST, and there are SEVEN OR EIGHT in {{spoiler|X18}}, the first time you'll run into them. Aim for the center of the flying ball of sparks and be ready to heal. It also doesn't help that they can see through walls. Fortunately, The poltergeists were nerfed for ''Call of Pripyat''. Except for one poltergeist towards the end (that has ''Shadow of Chernobyl'''s poltergeists see through walls abilities), ''Call of Pripyat'' poltergeists can only see you if your moving. So all you have to do is stand still, then they will lose sight of you (also works for pyrogeists in ''Call of Pripyat'')
***** It also doesn't help that they can see through walls.
******* Just''Call of Pripyat'' makes up for this by adding psychic dwarves who can telekinetically steal your weapon and then throw it halfway across the map. When they're not throwing gas tanks at you, that is. The burers are easy to deal with when you learn how they act: just use a [[Knife Nut|knife]]. They can't pull the knife out the player's hands and the knife inflicts enough damage to kill it in 6-7 stabs. Just don't try it if there's a second burer nearby. Alternatively, use the RPG.
**** Fortunately, The poltergeists were nerfed for ''Call of Pripyat''. Except for one poltergeist towards the end (that has ''SHOC'''s poltergeists see through walls abilities), ''COP'' poltergeists can only see you if your moving. So all you have to do is stand still, then they will lose sight of you. (Also works for pyrogeists in ''COP'')
** Any enemy packing an RPG in ''Shadow Ofof Chernobyl''. The blast radius is big enough that you will hardly have a chance to dodge, unless you know where they are and start moving the instant they fire. Even if you dodge, you'll still get knocked around by the blast, so good luck seeing clearly enough to return fire. And of course, the RPG is heavy enough and there's little enough ammo that [[Unusable Enemy Equipment|you can't reasonably carry it with you.]]. Your best bet is to quicksave and try to snipe them before they see you.
***** ''COP'' makes up for this by adding psychic dwarves who can telekinetically steal your weapon and then throw it halfway across the map. When they're not throwing gas tanks at you, that is.
* [[Ear Worm]]: Several. The vocal bit for [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgvs6OomdBM "Dirge for the Planet"] is looped endlessly inside Sidorovich's bunker whilst the Bar used to have one of the stalker guitar songs play over and over, and once you hear the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYpSg4n6lGo "Bandit Base Polka"] in ''Clear Sky'', it will never. ''Ever. Stop.''.
****** The burers are easy to deal with when you learn how they react. Use either of the shotguns that can be made "automatic." Hide it and try to get into medium distance of them, which is where shotguns are best deployed. Pull it out and just keep pumping shot into it, after the first few shells it will do its psychic barrier that reduces incoming damage. Just keep plugging away since it will not stop doing the barrier until you stop shooting. With ammunition upgrades and the automatic upgrade, you essentially barrier lock it to death.
* [[Friendly Fandoms]]: Most fans of the ''S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'' games are also fans of ''[[Metro 2033]]''.
******* Just use a [[Knife Nut|knife]]. They can't pull the knife out the player's hands and the knife inflicts enough damage to kill it in 6-7 stabs. Just don't try it if there's a second burer nearby. Alternatively, use the RPG.
* [[Game Breaker]]: When you do get one, usually mid-to-late game, the VSS Vintorez [[Sniper Rifle]] is one of the best guns in the game for any situation. Its scope lacks nothing compared to that of the two Dragunov variants', its ammo is really cheap by comparison while being every bit as powerful, it's light (more than 1,5kg lighter than an unloaded SVD) and compact enough that you have no penalties in turning speed and can even sprint with it on hand, and as long as you can reliably compensate for the bullet drop, it's ''deadly'' accurate. It helps that General Voronin showers you with high-quality armor-piercing SP-6 rounds for it in exchange for trivial missions in ''Shadow of Chernobyl'', and there are a lot of stashes and stalkers using 9x39mm guns in ''Clear Sky'' and ''Call of Pripyat'', so ammo is never at a premium if you know how and where to get it.
** Any enemy packing an RPG in ''Shadow Of Chernobyl''. The blast radius is big enough that you will hardly have a chance to dodge, unless you know where they are and start moving the instant they fire. Even if you dodge, you'll still get knocked around by the blast, so good luck seeing clearly enough to return fire. And of course, the RPG is heavy enough and there's little enough ammo that [[Unusable Enemy Equipment|you can't reasonably carry it with you.]] Your best bet is to quicksave and try to snipe them before they see you.
* [[Goddamned Bats]]:
* [[Ear Worm]]: Several. The vocal bit for [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgvs6OomdBM Dirge for the Planet] is looped endlessly inside Sidorovich's bunker whilst the Bar used to have one of the stalker guitar songs play over and over and once you hear the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYpSg4n6lGo Bandit Base Polka] in Clear Sky it will never. ''Ever. Stop.''
* [[Goddamned Bats]]:* Blind Dogs and Pseudodogs. Ridiculously hard to get a headshot on, drop near-worthless parts only one trader wants (Sakharov), and TRAVEL IN PACKS. Pack a shotgun and a bunch of medkits, or suffer a death of a thousand cuts.
* [[Game Breaker]]: When you do get one the VSS sniper rifle is one of the best guns in the game (very light, silenced, accurate, can kill most enemies in 1-2 shots, and is the only sniper rifle you can sprint with, and ammunition isn't that hard to find, at least compared to SVD and gauss rifle rounds)
* [[Goddamned Bats]]: Blind Dogs and Pseudodogs. Ridiculously hard to get a headshot on, drop near-worthless parts only one trader wants (Sakharov), and TRAVEL IN PACKS. Pack a shotgun and a bunch of medkits, or suffer a death of a thousand cuts.
** The same goes for the rats.
* [[Good Bad Bugs]]: When Pseudodogs charge towards you and attack, there is a very small chance that the physics engine will glitch and you will be [[Crowning Moment of Funny|propelled several hundred meters straight up at high speed]]. This has never been fixed despite having been present since the game was released.
** There's also the knife's secondary attack (see the [[One-Hit Kill]] entry belowin the main page). Sadly fixed in ''Call of Pripyat''.
*** Sadly fixed in ''Call of Pripyat''.
** If you die just as you are transitioning from one area to the next, you will spawn in dead, unable to use your weapon or access your inventory or talk to people, but mobile and completely immortal.
** The armour repairing trick with four battery artifacts (Collectingcollecting at least 4 artifacts of the flame/electricity battery type, wearing them, then jumping into a fire/electrical surge will restore your HP, and more importantly and absolutely a bug and not a feature, repair your armor, otherwise impossible in the unmodded 'Shadow of Chernobyl'').
* [[Hell Is That Noise]]: The distinctive wheeze-pant of Bloodsuckers, which due to their cloaking ability is the best (and often only) way to determine their location. Even hardened, seasoned players are easily unnerved by the sound, and the first time a player meets a Bloodsucker can lead to full-blown panic attacks. Also the voice of {{spoiler|the Wish Granter, which continuously calls out to you in Chernobyl NPP.}}.
** Usually the first sign that there is a Controller around is a growl, followed by a tone which sounds like a tinnitus episode. Then comes the [[Interface Screw]]...
** The low, rumbling sound that precedes any blowout in ''Call of Pripyat'' is always unsettling, ''and'' an indication that you have only a minute or two to get somewhere safe.
* [[Internet Backdraft]]: O sweet, merciful God. Never ever bring ''STALKERS.T.A.L.K.E.R.'' up in forums not dedicated to it. ''Especially'' [[Obvious Beta|the second game]].
* [[Memetic Mutation]]: Get out of here stalker
** "Get out of here, stalker."
** "I said come in, don't stand there! I said come in, don't stand there! [[Most Annoying Sound|I said come in, don't stand there! I said come in, don't stand there! I said come in, don't stand there! I said come in, don't stand there! I said-]]"
** [http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/6308/1253342933371.jpg "Blowout soon fellow stalker!" "Oh really? when?"] [[Schmuck Bait|"NOW."]]
** "Buzz off, Stalker. We don't let every ''loser'' through." Less known than DON'T STAND THERE, though.
* [[Narm]]: The English voice acting can get rather... enthusiastic. Fortunately, it's fairly easy to change all the non-essential spoken dialogue back to the (far better) Russian originals.
* [[Nightmare Fuel]]: Has [[Nightmare Fuel/STALKER|its own page]], which it ''earned''.
* [[Special Effects Failure]]: For some reason, the sound of choppers overhead can be interrupted by breaking [[Crate Expectations|crates]]. Also the glowing eyes of the mutants can look a bit weird up close, for some reason the same effect is used for actual lights.
* [[Narm]]: The English voice acting can get rather...enthusiastic. Fortunately, it's fairly easy to change all the non-essential spoken dialogue back to the (far better) Russian originals.
* [[Spiritual Licensee]] There's no official connection to either ''[[Roadside Picnic (Literature)|Roadside Picnic]]'' or ''Stalker'', but so much is clearly lifted from them, it's often assumed the game is licensed.
* [[Special Effects Failure]]: For some reason the sound of choppers overhead can be interrupted by breaking [[Crate Expectations|crates]]. Also the glowing eyes of the mutants can look a bit weird up close, for some reason the same effect is used for actual lights.
* [[Surprisingly Improved Sequel]]: ''Call of Pripyat'' is noticeably more polished than the [[Obvious Beta|previous two games]], adding multiple UI improvements, removing ''Clear Sky's''s infamous [[The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard|homing grenades]] and bug-ridden Faction Wars, giving the player decent equipment from the beginning and (most importantly) making the game playable out of the box without the need for multiple patches and bug-fixing mods.
* [[Spiritual Licensee]] There's no official connection to either ''[[Roadside Picnic (Literature)|Roadside Picnic]]'' or ''Stalker'', but so much is clearly lifted from them it's often assumed the game is licensed.
* [[That One Level]]: WhileThe almostsecond the entiretylevel of all three games qualifies, this troper's hat goes off to the rudeness displayed in the 2nd level of 'Clear Sky'', where crossing into the new area by the only available route has you coming out behind a boulder, on the other side of which is a mounted machine gun in the possession of the military. ''Well at least they don't know I'm here'' -... wrong; they know you're there and tell you so. ''Well I'll be safe behind this rock'' -... wrong again; after a few quick bursts, they send a number of better-armed and better-armoured soldiers after you. If you manage to dispatch them, you then have to figure out which way you can safely leg it.
* [[Surprisingly Improved Sequel]]: ''Call of Pripyat'' is noticeably more polished than the [[Obvious Beta|previous two games]], adding multiple UI improvements, removing ''Clear Sky's'' infamous [[The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard|homing grenades]] and bug-ridden Faction Wars, giving the player decent equipment from the beginning and (most importantly) making the game playable out of the box without the need for multiple patches and bug-fixing mods.
** Once you realize that this is essentially a death-trap unless you've got at least a dozen spare medkits in your inventory (even after knocking off the squad of heavily-armored soldiers, that MG still has a ridiculous field of fire), your best bet is to just turn around, go back to the Swamps, and enter the Cordon from the northern entrance. Sure, you wind up next to a group of Loners that get pissy if you get too close, but it's the easier way in.
* [[That One Level]]: While almost the entirety of all three games qualifies, this troper's hat goes off to the rudeness displayed in the 2nd level of Clear Sky, where crossing into the new area by the only available route has you coming out behind a boulder, on the other side of which is a mounted machine gun in the possession of the military. ''Well at least they don't know I'm here'' - wrong; they know you're there and tell you so. ''Well I'll be safe behind this rock'' - wrong again; after a few quick bursts, they send a number of better-armed and better-armoured soldiers after you. If you manage to dispatch them, you then have to figure out which way you can safely leg it.
** ''Shadow of Chernobyl'' has the Red Forest where nearly everything is radioactive, making it much harder to take cover properly. The vast majority of the trouble in that level can be bypassed if you don't follow the road and cut through the forest instead, because ninety percent of the Monolith or zombie enemies on that level are waiting for you on the road, and with the way it curves it's nearly impossible to get a shot off without taking loads of return fire. Cutting through the forest makes the level far easier, especially if you've packed a sniper rifle. Plus, once you've gotten to the other side, you can cut back and take all the Monolith troops from behind, netting yourself loads of equipment.
** In ''Shadow of Chernobyl'' it's probably the Red Forest where nearly everything is radioactive, which makes it much harder to take cover properly.
* [[That One Sidequest]]: In ''Call of Pripyat'', [[Escort Mission|babysitting a scientist as he takes readings of anomalies]]. A [[Schizophrenic Difficulty|teeth-gnashingly difficult mission]] that comes out of nowhere in an otherwise well-balanced game. It takes the eggheadeggheads the better part of 5 minutes to do histheir science and throughout that time you are attacked by ''hordes'' of monsters coming in from all directions. The scientistscientists isare armed but tendstend to die ifpretty heeasily. suffersAnd soyou muchhave asto ado papercutit twice. EvenIt's ifa youcase manageof to[[Unstable saveEquilibrium]] him,in that the stalkers escorting you willthe havefirst expendedtime acome horrendousback amountfor ofthe ammosecond andif potentiallythey're incurredstill aalive five-digitby repairthe billend of it. Oh,The only thing that makes it even vaguely easier is if you know the locations ahead of time and ingo orderthere to completeclean out the missionmutants youthat needare already there, leaving you to dodeal allwith ofthe this(relatively) smaller amount that spawn in while they''twice''re taking the measurements.
* [[Ugly Cute]]: Pseudodog puppies. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwWCLLXSeh0&t=4m51s Dawwww].
** If this happens, [[Epic Fail|You're Doing It Wrong]]. {{spoiler|The two escort missions follow an initial mission with the Stalker squad working for the scientists. Any member of the squad that survives this initial mission will be available for the escort missions. Having the full squad available cuts the the mission time from A Lesser Eternity to A Tolerable Slog, though both escort missions still consume tons of ammo, particularly the swamp. If all of the squad members survive all three missions, the squad is given an equipment upgrade. Useless to you, but a nice reward for them! This troper discovered this on his second playthrough, and has yet to see if this impacts the ending.}}
*** The swamp part is particularly hard not only because they come from all directions, but also because the thick brush and foliage effectively conceal their approach. While the other mission involves using large amounts of ammunition as well, it's much easier: you start off positioned on higher ground and holding off hordes of slow-moving enemies below.
*** Actually, if you talk to the leader of the Stalker squad after they get upgraded equipment, they will give you some since all their success was thanks to you. It consists of the dome shield helmet, med kits and meds, as well as some money and ammunition. Not so bad after some of the pain from the quest line.
*** The quest can be easy. If you've saved the aforementioned Stalker squad, they'll come with you. If you're '''really''' lucky, there'll be a squad or two of helpful NPCs sitting there already, who'll be very happy to help you hunt down the mutants.
* [[Ugly Cute]]: Pseudodog puppies. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwWCLLXSeh0&t=4m51s Dawwww]
 
{{reflist}}
[[Category:STALKER]]
[[Category:YMMV]]
[[Category:S.T.A.L.K.E.R. (series)]]