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Came out today Chernobylite . The game promised atmospheric adventures in Chernobyl, survival in a hostile world and an intriguing storyline. But did the developers manage to create a project with whichSTALKER 2 will simply not be needed? Or was Chernobylite a failure? I spent 22 hours in the game, knocked out all the achievements - and I hasten to share my expert opinion.
Waiting for STALKER 2
It all started on October 16, 2019. It's been a year and a half since Grigorovich announced STALKER 2, and gamers still didn't know anything about the game. Even the legendary loaf will appear only a few months later. Fans of the Exclusion Zone languished from the information vacuum and did not know what to do with themselves. On that day, Polish studio The Farm 51 came to their aid and released Chernobylite into early access.
The road to release was long: the project was brought to mind for 1.5 years. Gamers complained about voice acting problems, poor optimization and other shortcomings, but still rated the game highly - 77 percent of reviews on Steam were positive.
Chernobylite pulled out of Early Access today. What was the final version? So you can't tell right away: the game is full of merits, but it seems that none of them have been brought to mind.
Chernobylite plot
The protagonist Igor Khiminyuk and his fiancée Tatiana ride a train through Chernobyl. Outside the window is marvelous nature, dense forests and a clearing where a man proposed to his beloved. The couple has a lot in common: they work together at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, conduct experiments that will ensure the prosperity of the world, and enjoy each other.
Alas, the idyll soon dissipates. It turns out that the train is nothing more than an obsession that haunts Igor. 30 years ago, the same catastrophe occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, and Tatiana disappeared. Recently, the beloved appeared to the hero in a dream, called for a search and even left a couple of sensible instructions - now he is ready to return to Chernobyl.
At the very beginning, Igor and a couple of mercenaries make their way to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and find the mysterious material Chernobyl, with which the hero is able to open portals. Alas, it will not be possible to get out calmly - the Black Stalker comes to the soul of unwanted guests. He easily scatters the mercenaries and is surprised to recognize Igor - only his short confusion allows the hero to open the gap and escape.
Soon Igor gets to the hideout and begins to make a plan. The main goal is to return to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and get answers to all questions. Here are just more security there, and the Black Stalker does not sleep.
You need to prepare for the raid: assemble a team, find the right tools and conduct an investigation that will help you understand what is happening. This is exactly what you will be busy with for about 20 hours.
Chernobylite's plot is simple but acceptable. It has a mad scientist who does not know what he is doing, a powerful corporation that thinks only about money, and twists sucked from the finger in the spirit of Santa Barbara (Santa Barbara). In general, it is interesting to understand history, solve riddles and find out the secret of the Black Stalker.
Chernobylite gameplay
You will spend most of the game on sorties. There are five territories in total to explore.
The authors have been to Pripyat more than once and boast about the reliability of the locations. Gamers will be able to visit the Red Forest, gaze at the famous Ferris wheel and "Dugu", visit an abandoned hospital and other places of worship. Passing Chernobylite will not replace an excursion to Pripyat (and Russians are now, in principle, not allowed there), but the approach of the developers adds atmosphere.
On each sortie, you have a task: to steal resources, help an ally, get to the enemy, and much more. Also, the location has minor points of interest that should be visited. There you can find a merchant, important documents, or a unique experience when some creepy madman scares you.
Sometimes at points of interest you can find an enemy soldier in trouble. It is allowed to throw him, finish off, or pull him out of trouble. The decision may come back to haunt in the future: suddenly one day you will be taken prisoner, and the same soldier decides to return the favor.
And you can also find a gopnik with a column who sells loot boxes. He got out sealed boxes somewhere and exchanges them for rations. What's inside: valuable swag or unnecessary bullshit? You won't know until you open it.
Do not forget that Chernobylite is positioned as a survival horror. If horror is a rare guest here, then you really have to survive. To reach the final, you need to take care of the nutrition of the hero and the team, find stronger armor and a better gun, and also collect a lot of different materials like herbs, mushrooms, scrap metal and other junk. All this is useful for crafting.
The most valuable things usually lie behind a locked door or a Chernobyl barrier. To get through, you will need lockpicks and fuses - at first you will not have such goodness. Do not rush to bite your elbows: you will return to the location more than once and you will be better prepared.
The scanner helps to search for resources: it highlights all objects nearby. At first, the device reboots for a long time, but over time it can be improved - then the scanner will be able to constantly search for resources and even mark enemies. It is with this device in your hands that you will spend most of the game.
Sometimes the environment comes between you and the point of interest. Radiation reduces the hero's health level - it can be restored only with special consumables. Some areas are gassed - you need a gas mask and filters to get there.
Another obstacle is enemies. They can be divided into two types: soldiers and shadows. Among the soldiers, you will meet both weak recruits and armored elite fighters. Shadows are mysterious creatures that can teleport, hit hard and are also divided into several types of coolness.
Alas, enemies do not shine with intelligence. They see and hear poorly, know nothing about tactics and die quickly - but they hit almost without a miss and by the end of the game they take in numbers.
Despite their stupidity, it is better not to go into trouble. The hero is far from Rimbaud, so it is better to act covertly: hide in the bushes, choke enemies one by one and run for cover if you are spotted.
There are problems with stealth mechanics. Luring the enemy into the bushes is not easy: you need him to notice you out of the corner of his eye and go to check - often this maneuver leads to detection. Alas, the hero does not know how to whistle and throw an attracting coin.
The disadvantages include silent elimination animations - they look clumsy. Also, blind enemies turn into vigilant eagles when you strangle one of them in the distance. Often this oddity frustrates all plans.
Shooting in Chernobylite is also far from ideal. It is somewhat reminiscent of the Metro series: you can, in principle, shoot, but not much pleasant. Recoil is not felt, enemies react poorly to hits, and shot sounds are mediocre. The only good thing is the dismemberment system: the game is far from the great Dead Space, but the limbs of the enemies still fly off spectacularly.
The hero has only five barrels available: a revolver, an AK-47, a shotgun and two futuristic guns. Each weapon can be customized by changing the scope, magazine and other elements. It is possible to create interesting combinations when the energy rifle will shoot through the wall, leaving enemies bewildered. Alas, there is still not enough variety.
In the second half of the game, the Black Stalker will be added to the enemies. According to the logic of the developers, it should become a nightmare, which will, like a Tyrant, chase the hero and keep him in suspense. In fact, by that time, the hero will be too strong to be afraid of anything. One automatic burst - and the sinister enemy runs away, tail between his legs.
Black Stalker is annoying only during a scripted attack on one of the tasks and at the first random appearance. In other cases, you don't even think about him.
Also, during sorties, the hero can erect a couple of buildings. Among them are traps, a device that reduces the number of shadows, and a device that weakens the Black Stalker. In fact, these things are useless: I have never used them.
But the soundtrack should be attributed to the merits of the project. The tunes you explore as you explore the area are enjoyable and invigorating. At ten o'clock they start to tire, but by this moment the whole game begins to break down.
The problem is that there are only five locations, they are small, and you will have to return to them over and over again. New points of interest rarely appear, the map is learned by heart, and changing weather does not help diversify the process. As a result, you just rush to the task, in a hurry do it and return to the base.
The sorties had a lot of potential, but it was only enough for the first ten hours. Then the process becomes boring and monotonous.
Base and craft in Chernobylite
After an unsuccessful sortie at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the hero will be at the base. Devastation reigns there: rubbish is lying everywhere, there is nothing to pump equipment, there is no electricity. You have to turn this place into a cozy home.
For allies to live well, you need to feed them and take care of five important criteria: clean air, electricity, radiation safety, general comfort and the number of beds. In addition to this, you will have to build workbenches on which you can craft armor, first aid kits, guns, lockpicks and everything else. All consumables and equipment can be found both during a sortie and made at home.
The development of the base was clearly spied on in Fallout 4 . Gather the resources you need, choose an item and place it in the right corner - nothing complicated. Some devices increase the load on the power grid and increase radiation, but make life more comfortable. Others reduce comfort but help with air purity. And something badly affects everything, but it is necessary for sorties. At first, there are not enough resources, and you have to think about what to build and how to maintain a balance.
Some of the buildings are especially interesting. For example, one of the devices requires a lot of resources, and in return promises to ... kill you. If, for the sake of curiosity, build it, you will find out that in fact it sends the hero to a mysterious dimension. There you can find all the previously made choices and change them by spending Chernobyl.
At first, the development of the base is fascinating. There are many buildings, few resources, but you want to create everything. Also, the influence of devices on the base must be taken into account.
The problem is that even fans of such management will soon get bored. By the tenth hour, all the units have already been built, the cabinets are bursting with resources, and there is nothing else to do. As a result, you use the base to craft plates for armor and a first-aid kit - everything else is already enough. So in the second half of the game, another mechanic turns into a pumpkin.
Partners and solutions at Chernobylite
There is nothing more valuable in Chernobylite than allies. There are five of them in total, and each with its own cockroaches: there is an experienced soldier, a thief in law, a strong independent woman, a crazy hacker grandfather and an inadequate hustler. They are bright people, and their history is interesting. It's nice to chat with them about life, but most importantly, you can learn a lot from them.
For each action, the hero is rewarded with experience. With each new level, he gets points that can be spent on pumping. It is the partners who act as teachers who will make Igor stronger. With their help, he will become more invisible, learn to carry more things, or increase the damage of guns. There are many skills, and there are no useless ones.
Also, partners can be sent on a sortie. There they will either find valuable loot and return in a good mood, or they will catch an olive tree. The probability of success is assessed when the fighters are assigned to tasks. To reduce the risk, colleagues should be given better weapons and stronger armor.
To earn the trust of an ally and invite to the team, you have to try. Usually a cycle of tasks is associated with them - only in the final will the fighters join your gang. However, if the base is terrible, there is no food, and you do not listen to advice, they will get upset and go into the sunset.
In most assignments, you will have to make choices. Here you have found a pile of valuable documents, but the enemy soldiers are on their heels. One partner demands to burn them immediately so that the secret data does not fall into the wrong hands, while the other offers to delve into them, find out something valuable and escape in time. It depends on the decision who will begin to treat you better, and who will harbor resentment.
The system is interesting, but controversial. Each partner plays an important role in the final raid, so losing them is scary. Once, in order not to bring a shocking companion to white heat, I had to sacrifice my principles and undermine a detachment of enemies right with a civilian.
But not every requirement needs to be met. While some decisions only affect relationships with friends, others have serious consequences. Even a series of elections undesirable to colleagues can go a plus and make life easier in the final.
The system of partners and solutions is not without flaws, but, on the whole, it is implemented with dignity. Puzzling over moral dilemmas and holding on to friends is fun.
Raid on Chernobylite
Raid is the final mission. You can go to it at any time: even if there are no cartridges in your inventory, and there are no friends behind your back. Nothing good, however, it will not end.
It is better to go on the final mission when you have collected all your partners, prepared tools and conducted four investigations. With a careful approach, this will take about 20 hours.
When everything is ready, you start assigning roles. Some of your partners will go with you, others will cover you from a sniper position, monitor the activity of enemies and hack electronics. Each companion must be in his place - otherwise, not everyone will survive until the finals.
If you go to the raid unprepared, you will end up in a cruel meat grinder. If you didn't just wind up kilometers around Pripyat, then the task will become an easy walk. Found an officer's uniform? You will be able to enter the territory without arousing suspicion. Have you found a map of the area? So you know about a secret passage that will help you avoid trouble. The entire task consists of similar options.
At the end, a boss fight awaits you. If you have not forgotten about pumping, then there will be no difficulties. I came to the mahach in the best armor, with a huge supply of consumables and an AK-47 with 50% increased damage - as a result, the fight turned out to be easy.
Overall, the raid lives up to expectations. If we evaluate it as a separate task, then it turned out to be unimportant. But if you look at the raid as a summing up of a long adventure, then you will be satisfied. The game will remember all decisions, point out mistakes and thank you for your wisdom.
Chernobylite has three endings, and now they no longer depend on what you have been doing throughout the game. In the finale, you make a major decision that will determine how things will end. The options are standard: everything is good, everything is average, and everything goes to hell.
Chernobylite system requirements and graphics
Chernobylite is powered by Unreal Engine 4. The developers managed to make good use of the engine and produce an excellent picture. Whether you find yourself in a port, forest, abandoned hospital or collapsed basement, the game will look beautiful.
The authors also want to shake hands for the design. The grief of Pripyat is felt behind the devastation, but at the same time an elusive sense of hope soars in the air. The game seems to say that everything is not lost yet, and you need to hurry.
Combined with a pleasant soundtrack, the picture captivates. It is a pity that there are so few places where you can admire it - after all, for the fifth time it gets boring to look at even the most wondrous places.
There is good news for owners of not the most powerful hardware. I ran Chernobylite on a laptop with a GTX 1650 Ti, 16GB RAM, and an AMD Ryzen 5 3550H. This configuration made it possible to turn on the highest settings and comfortably enjoy all the beauties of Pripyat. FPS drawdowns occasionally happened, but it was not critical.
***
The brainchild of The Farm 51 will not become the "killer" of STALKER 2. There are many interesting mechanics in Chernobylite, but almost none of them is perfected, and sometimes the game makes you frankly bored. However, in the end it still leaves a pleasant impression. Now the game can be bought for 629 rubles - and it will work 100 percent of this money.
What do you think of Chernobylite? Write in the comments!
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