Reviews - Kyle_K_ski

What a FANTASTIC mod! Its ambitiousness and passion is tied with other fantastic Doom mods, such as the ones focused on the Aliens franchise, Doom 2-into-Doom 2016, and Brutal Doom.

I've played Xim's terrific work with the levels he's suggested, and they work great.

I really enjoy how he allows us to pick different classes to play with. That instantly delivers a level of satisfaction that ends up showing itself on the huge smile one is wearing.

The textures pack really does the job too.

While we're stuck in a Lucasarts and Disney wasteland, there are GEMS like Xim's work, the Enhancement mods for Jedi Knight/Mysteries of the Sith, and of course the Jedi Academy Movie/Duel mods to save the day.

DOWNLOAD this mod, follow Xim's recommendations, and you'll have a great time.

THANK YOU for your hard work and generosity Xim!!!

First, the positives...

The game is SPLENDID looking, and runs very smoothly even on systems that aren't state-of-the-art. It's a textbook example of how to optimize.

That said, this is The Most on-the-rails shooter ever created. It is SO restrictive in what a player can do, that it makes the Half-Life and Call of Duty single-player series feel like Arma 3.

This game grasps you by the hand, and NEVER let's go. In every sense, it's claustrophobic and allows for no player exploration nor creativity whatsoever.

Do yourself a huge favor, watch a YouTube video of a playthrough, and save yourself some money.

Disappointing gameplay is the only destination for the first two games of this series. One can only dearly hope that the developers open up the gameplay options enormously for the upcoming third release, but I'm not holding my breath.

This is as brainless as it gets.

First, the positives...

The game is SPLENDID looking, and runs very smoothly even on systems that aren't state-of-the-art. It's a textbook example of how to optimize.

That said, this is The Most on-the-rails shooter ever created. It is SO restrictive in what a player can do, that it makes the Half-Life and Call of Duty single-player series feel like Arma 3.

This game grasps you by the hand, and NEVER let's go. In every sense, it's claustrophobic and allows for no player exploration nor creativity whatsoever.

Do yourself a huge favor, watch a YouTube video of a playthrough, and save yourself some money.

Disappointing gameplay is the only destination for the first two games of this series. One can only dearly hope that the developers open up the gameplay options enormously for the upcoming third release, but I'm not holding my breath.

This is as brainless as it gets.

To this day (late 2016...!) this game has some of The Best AI ever created.

Bullet penetration, ricochets, and much more are all modeled here. This is a terrific, nail-biting game. A must have for any fan of the tactical genre such as Rainbow 6 or Ghost Recon.

But it from GOG.com now!
Gog.com

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It's challenging to describe ALL of the LOFTY goals that this mod is striving for. The fact that TeamEPIC is achieving SO many of them so professionally is a testament to their vision, dedication, hard work, and generosity.

I'm going to touch on but a few of the ones that I think are the most important...

(1.) The entire game is open world right from the very beginning. When one reflects on how they've incorporated every single official STALKER map along with several custom ones, that entire open world is just ENORMOUS.

(2.) You may chose what faction that you're a member of, and define broad generalities of your character's appearance.

(3.) The way that they structured the core mod is astounding. It is designed to allow other modders to release focused mods (a.k.a. "addons") that "plug into" the main one. STALKER fans are no longer "stuck" with installing only ONE mod that makes some alterations that they enjoy, and yet also includes changes that they loathe.

Call of Chernobyl's core mod allows for:
*Quests mods
*Faction relationship mods
*Armor mods
*Weapons mods
*Mutant mods
*NPC replacement mods
*Texture mods
*Weather mods
*and MANY more...

This was a GENIUS move on the team's part, because it allows the PLAYER to select which mods they desire to fine tune the world to THEIR personal tastes.

And here's what's also very encouraging, most of the addon makers UNDERSTAND this concept of the flexible addon, they are HONORING that concept, and are putting out TERRIFIC work that, for the most part, tries to AVOID releasing work that conflicts with the other categories of addons. That is, they're trying to honor the FLEXIBILITY to maximize the player's personal choices.

In all of my years in participating in creating and polishing mods, I've never seen anything quite like this. It really is remarkable, and I stand in awe of it.

What is crystal clear, is that the STALKER community is in the midst of a major renaissance, and its quality is just amazing.

And "Call of Chernobyl" is leading The Charge.

A huge "Thank you!" to TeamEPIC, and all of those independent modders honoring the central goals of this massive mod's structure.

Bravo!

10/10

This is a GREAT looking mod. No doubt about it.

I REALLY appreciate the new meshes that replace the NPCs in the game. I wish that there was a bit more variety in their appearance, but all of the new meshes feel far more real and immersive than the default suits found in the series. The new meshes also have NORMAL sized feet too, and not the monstrously large ones that the default stalkers are cursed with.

The whole thing feels and SOUNDS so real. The sound effects are AMAZING. The amount of noise one's body makes now when walking across the Zone is very accurate.

NICE work.

Review for Version 1.3003 - Sept. 30, 2014

Try as I might, I can't bring myself to finish exploring Lost Alpha's greatly expanded Zone. The new scale is staggering - virtually every map that I've been to dwarfs the locations that we frequented in the commercial releases of every STALKER title.

That is both a blessing, and a curse.

It's a blessing in that the scale now feels "reality based," and it's a curse because of how the developers decided to populate it. Or, more accurately, not populate it.

Even before an encounter, the maps are literally kilometer after kilometer of walking. Visually, the sites can, for certain, take one's breath away. But after one has traveled across a map several times, with extremely little/nothing to do? The awe inspiring sites lose their luster very, very quickly.

Anomalies are always in the same location. It would be nice if their presence changed even semi-randomly every 24 hours, so as to keep the player on his toes. Numerous mods have integrated this feature in the past, and it would be nice to have it now. Make sure, of course, that however the randomized system is setup, that it's programed to avoid making it impossible for one to drive an automobile where one needs to go.

Likewise, artifacts seem to always be in the same location. And they rarely, if ever, respawn.

The vehicle that one can attain after 4-5 hours' worth of effort should be made available before one even leaves Cordon for the first time, as many of the maps feature extremely long corridors that greatly restrict exploration. If one can't explore these corridor-like regions, then provide a means to speed the player through them. Even an auto in severe disrepair is far better than nothing at all. And if its suspension system is barely functional, please, oh please, don't make it as bad as in this build, as there is NO way anyone in their right mind would ever drive such a death trap.

And fuel. Please increase its presence, as it's so severe

This is the largest STALKER-world I've ever seen!

I love the new Collector class character one can choose to play, so that one's totally free to go wherever one wants right from the moment the Cordon map loads up.

The HUGE range of weapons and other gear is something to behold.

The effects of the weapons are quite realistic - being smart about using concealment and cover is a must, but if being super-realistic is not desired, one of the other things that I LOVE about this mod is that it supplies several different game setting options, and to say that this is a very thoughtful and generous gesture is an understatement. This is a VERY smart thing to do, and I hope that other STALKER mods follow suit.

They also included a Librarian from Metro 2033, which is a very nice addition to this mod, and really makes it stand out from the others. I hope that they can keep porting over more creatures into it as well.

That said, the crashes to desktop - oh boy, they are FAR too numerous. For me, their frequency declined with playtime, but they're still too frequent, and it's the only reason why I've got the score set at a "7" instead of a 9.

If they can remove the lion's share of these CTD's, this is destined to be a classic.

The Ghost Recon community is exceptionally hard working and generous. There are, literally, THOUSANDS of custom mods/missions to download, the majority of them being well worth playing.

If one had to try just one mod, then this is it. It is a gateway to all that is mentioned above.

TERRIFIC work.

Perhaps one of THE most ground breaking attempts at an infantry simulation ever, this mod has and does it ALL.

Realistic bullet penetration?

Yup!

Realistic ricochet characteristics?

Yup!

A classless system that's still balanced because of its heavy reliance on duplicating real world consequences?

Yup!

Derive support for one's weapon by pressing it against a wide variety of surfaces?

Yup!

Seamlessly switch between multiple views of one's scope, ironsight, and/or collimater?

Yup!

Encumbrance reduced as one drops magazines and throws away grenades?

Yup!

This list is nearly endless.

As I've stated before, this mod has achieved simulating combat options that even the Big Boys like Call of Duty and Battlefield still haven't implemented.

The moments of sheer terror that one will experience in Infiltration are too numerous to count. A cool and sharp mind is the only way to survive.

Download this MASTERPIECE now - you won't be disappointed.