You'll play as a stalker in the game, a scavenger who explores the exclusion zone for artifacts that have been altered by radiation.
As a result of two nuclear meltdowns, the radiation has drastically affected the surrounding environment. is set in and around the real-world exclusion zone around the infamous Chernobyl reactor after a second, fictional meltdown at the cursed plant. Click 'Stream for Free' for higher resolution. We came away impressed with the graphical prowess and smoothness of the game, though we should note that we didn't get a chance to play or see the vaunted single-player campaign. at THQ's press event this evening, which also represented some of our first hands-on time with the game. We had the chance to play some four-player deathmatch of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. will avoid being released next to Doom 3 and (most likely) Half-Life 2. Part of the reason for this was to give GSC some more time to polish this ambitious and beautiful-looking first-person shooter, but it also didn't hurt that by delaying to 2005, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. With Doom 3 and Half-Life 2 dominating the landscape for PC first-person shooters this year, THQ and developer GSC GameWorld recently announced that they were pushing S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl to early 2005.