Lost Alpha is a new episode of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series made by dezowave group for free!
5/10 - Agree (37) Disagree (8)
I played the patched game for 15 hours and do not plan to finish it in its current state. I can imagine coming back in a year for fully fixed and OPTIMISED performance, but right now its unplayable.
+ nostalgia
+ new locations
+ maybe storyline, did not get that far to be honest
- INSANE loading times, over 2 mins for each zone (You want to go from Bar somewhere else? Too bad, there are three zones on the way, have a 7 mins of watching loading screen + 7 mins of running).
- Increased map size = vanilla map + 1km of empty fields all around (lol guys seriously?). The feeling when you explore empty map is awesome, why not add 100 km2 desert map with nothing at all?
- The game engine is ancient and does not handle big (yet empty) maps with tons of grass well. CoP engine was much more efficient on even larger maps.
- User Friendly quest design? Nope. You spent 15 minutes to get to target location? Too bad, go fetch a gas mask from another zone far far away.
- Respawn in cleared zones = 0. You want to come back for some straight forward shooting action with bandits? Too bad, they will never come back and the zone will remain empty forever (Except for dogs, they respawn when you turn away for a second).
- The game is too dark. I am in Dark valley at 10 AM and I cant see for 10 meters (Does not limit enemy AI xray vision however). Sure, its "Dark" Valley, but I was standing in the middle of the open field with nothing to cast shadows around.
- Excessive vegetation limits your vision. Usually you have no idea where are those bullets coming from. (Does not limit enemy AI xray vision however).
- Suspicious individuals randomly blocking narrow corridors (ie infamous Hash at bar).
- "Belt" in inventory - useless, complicated and breaks immersion.
Much disappointed, this could have been such a win.