S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call of Pripyat VS S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl Thread

Hello everyone i am a long time Shadow of Chernobyl fan (with L.U.R.K. mod), & i would like to know how Call of Pripyat compares with the Rest of the series...

My main worry after reading up on Call of Pripyat is a very feeble storyline.

Also while im at it i would also like to know which of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games is your favorite

I never managed to get the first one to run for long enough to actually play it as it was so damned buggy, and thus never got into any of the series at all.

awwwh thats a shame, apart from yes the major bug probs & rather old fashioned graphics it is really something you can get into.

Regarding CoP, I'm about half way through it (at a guess) and while the scripted bits aren't as memorable as the best bits of SoC, the freeform play is vastly better. If that sounds like the sort of evolution of STALKER that you'd like, go buy CoP now

hahahah awwwh but i like stories....whats all this about picking the traits you liked the most in the prior games & crafting ur character to suit you??

A big concern for me is the graphic quality in CoP, i mean the trailer was a flop in true stalker fashion & revealed piddle all about the actual game.

L.U.R.K. did a super job of SoC that i thoroughly love ( cant wait for 1.1 btw).

But Free roaming & excessive freedom (not the faction) is nice too.

However. Aliens Vs Predator does come first on my shopping cart.

I've played Stalker SHOC through (as best I could) Vanilla; I've played it with LURK. And I love it to death. However; I'd love to see Lurk on COP God now -that- would be badass beyond all reason as far as stalker games go.

I tend to agree however on the Free Roam in SHOC vs COP; SHOC it felt very..constricted, due to the layout of the maps feeling very very north/south, one road type thing. I feel actually CS Captured the whole 'free roam' thing far better then SHOC, now, I'd literally cut my right hand off to get the Faction Wars into COP, as well as maybe 1-2 more maps to enhance that flavor.

Side note; Metro 2033, Heavy Story, Medium Quality Gameplay; Stalker 'Air' but fails (maybe that's a good thing) at knocking stalker out of my all time favorite Post-Apocalyptic Eastern-Bloc-Setting Games. But I do loves that as-val..oh, so, so much...

Edited by: Kalenov

yes i was going to ask about Metro, I have to agree with CS free roaming, there is a lot of variety in where you go.

does CoP have the same maps as SoC with 1 addition, or does it have less from the south but also that 1 extra city map i think it is.?

CoP is all new areas based (i think) North East of Chernobyl NPP

ohhhhh all newwy, that should be interesting.

dam I'll have to get it now hahahaha after avp tho

CoP is much better than the first two.

Compared to SoC it doesn't crash as often and is more enjoyable to play. You can (not) quite literally shoot yourself in the foot and only explore half of what you should, so I'm playing it a second time with a little more patience.

Compared to CS it's basically longer and a little more polished.

SoC takes the cake because of its superior sense of mystery, the player interpreted the story rather than it being poorly told with bad voice acting. Can't say I was a fan of the journal entries though, I'm not saying it didn't have its flaws.
Also, CoP and CS are far too dry looking. As I understand it, Chernobyl is quite green; so SoC wins in the atmosphere department as well.

I still think CoP is excellent, it had better characters and that helped with the believeability of the Zone. I mean, a place like that - there would definately be some comradery between Stalkers. Also the side missions were definately better, there was an actual sense of accomplishment rather than the randomised spawning.
I just feel that STALKER's philisophical and interperative atmosphere was dropped for a more mainstream appeal in regards to CS and CoP.
So for future of STALKER, all I really want is better voice acting, story and more GREEEEN.

nice sp0rk, you've given me some better understanding of CoP. Well i hope they really try hard for a 4th S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Hopefully a perfect mix of the qualities of the 3 so far.

I find that the more depressing a game is, like the suffering & sadness of the characters, rather then glorifying killing, the more i like it.
Or maybe thats just me being depressed.

I don't think that GSC were trying to chase mainstream appeal post SoC, I reckon they simply faced the problem of having already told their story. From there you have to either stretch the backstory to accommodate an even bigger mystery, which easily starts to look rediculous, or move on to a different focus. They chose to move on. There's also the small matter of their team splitting in two - I think the more narrative-focused guys were in the group that went off to make Metro 2033, and the guys who stayed at GSC were the ones who want to push the Alife and emergent behaviour side.

Still, it would be interesting to see what they could do with a new setting and story using similar gameplay and AI - with the technology and experience they have now, but without having to squeeze a plot around the existing history, they could really do something special

edit @Clarky - you're not alone. I find gung-ho 'heroes' tacky and tasteless, so the more complex and inglorious settings just feel a lot less vulgar to me. I prefer many moral shades of grey to some naive good vs evil cliche

Edited by: Gibberstein

nice final words gibber, don't understand it completely but i get the idea.

Lets all hope for a 4th stalker, & a good one at that!

Team_Clarky wrote: I find that the more depressing a game is, like the suffering & sadness of the characters, rather then glorifying killing, the more i like it.
Or maybe thats just me being depressed.

Yeah I'm in complete agreement, I don't know how but STALKER managed to humanise the people you were fighting. You often found yourself killing people for plain survival, rather than them being an evil enemy force.
I mean I still remember the first time I wounded a bandit and actually had a bit of conflict in finishing him off. (Come to think of it, it'd be pretty cool to have the choice to give a medkit to people you'd wounded)

The thing about STALKER is that I don't think they need to add too much to the mystery of the Zone; they could just make a story based around insignificant Stalkers trying to survive and doing their thing. That could have a much more personal story, it doesn't need to be an epic fact-finding adventure - any interpretation of the purpose of the Zone can be left to the player.

ye i totally agree with you. Why don't we get together with GSC & have a chat with what the 4th S.T.A.L.K.E.R. should be like. oh if only.

& survival is the best kind of story, its emotional, it makes a connection with you..also i find it very hard to finish off someone that I've injured & they're on the ground. I rarely do it, & i like to give them a 2nd chance at life.

& i think that the less you know about the Zone, the better & more mysterious & Malevolent it is...thats like my favorite word, had to use it

I think I'm gonna post another topic calling for all S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s to give us their ideas of what would make the next S.T.A.L.K.E.R. perfect.

My personal favourite has always been SHOC - the first game that got me into the Zone, and had the best atmosphere of all.

If you're looking for a COP mod that's attempting to bring back the SHOC feel and make the game the best it can be, check out Call of Pripyat: Redux.

I just released beta v0.8, and you're very welcome to try it out.

- Beacon

Edited by: Beac

My fauvorite one has always been SHOC.

This was the first STALKER game I played, it has a fantastic atmosphere, and I really like it. This one make you a real feeling like you were in the Zone. It's one of my fauvorite games. And one of the best games ever made. Comparing it with COP would be stupid - well, COP doesn't have this hmm... "climate", which is in the first game. And the story is much better. Anyway, if I should choose one of the games, I would surely choose SHOC.

Edited by: Raith88

I seriously thought this Forum was dead, but it's alive & for that i am amazed.

I agree, SHOC is the most atmospheric & has the most immersive climate. But there was just something about the Swamp on CS that i fell in love with, those sunsets over the water, that utter feeling of loneliness.

I hope both my S.T.A.L.K.E.R. forums come back with a heartbeat, until now they've been dead for a month or so.

Also a P.S. for any Rammstein listeners, i also have a forum on what Rammstein song is your fav, i haven't had many or any replies, I'd be interested to know.

As gamer with decades of exp points, [Level 51] SoC has it for story while CoP has it as more open sandbox.
Both are head and shoulders above such tripe as Flashpoint Dragon Rising and The over scripted bad/no story of CoD Mw2.
About to try out Faction mod for SoC while replaying CoP.. What i miss is the sound of weps in SoC .. they were very realistic.. toned down heavily in CoP .pity
Also agree with Spork. Morality has me healing all who are allies. And coup de grace for wounded enemy.. THATS immersion

Edited by: J4Boaz