I finished S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat close to two weeks ago now, but I've been busy between work and travel and only just got a chance to put down my thoughts about it.  I will start by saying that the main plotline is pretty weak.  There is a mystery about what took down a number of military helicopters, and the answer is a fairly big letdown.  That being said, pretty much everything else about the game is really well done.  Other than the main storyline, this game is a clear improvement over S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl.  There are a lot fewer bugs, the weapon upgrade system and artifact sensors are both nice new touches, the game is generally clearer about quest objectives, and there is a fast travel element that makes the whole world feel a bit more manageable (but still large).  And the game world is still very immersive, with an item management system that really makes you think carefully about what you want to carry (bullets have weight), and a really good combat dynamic.  It's pretty satisfying to score a headshot here, which is a big difference from Fallout: New Vegas, where I would sometimes fucking unload on a dude's head in VATS and only take off half his health.  I'm not planning on writing a review for this one (I think there are several good ones already on the site), but it's definitely worth playing.

I finished S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat close to two weeks ago now, but I've been busy between work and travel and only just got a chance to put down my thoughts about it.  I will start by saying that the main plotline is pretty weak.  There is a mystery about what took down a number of military helicopters, and the answer is a fairly big letdown.  That being said, pretty much everything else about the game is really well done.  Other than the main storyline, this game is a clear improvement over S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl.  There are a lot fewer bugs, the weapon upgrade system and artifact sensors are both nice new touches, the game is generally clearer about quest objectives, and there is a fast travel element that makes the whole world feel a bit more manageable (but still large).  And the game world is still very immersive, with an item management system that really makes you think carefully about what you want to carry (bullets have weight), and a really good combat dynamic.  It's pretty satisfying to score a headshot here, which is a big difference from Fallout: New Vegas, where I would sometimes fucking unload on a dude's head in VATS and only take off half his health.  I'm not planning on writing a review for this one (I think there are several good ones already on the site), but it's definitely worth playing.

Take a breath. I need to play Call of Pripyat. Hell, I have it.

I agree.
 
Underrated gem.

How creepy is it? Because it seems pretty damn creepy and I cannot handle that, but it seems like my type of game otherwise.

I agree with you about the plot. I was fairly disappointed with the revelation at the end.  
 
The STALKER series is weird for me. There's a lot of stuff in the games that I'm not a fan of, but no game has come close to giving me such an interesting and atmospheric environment to explore, that I can't help but rate it up there with my favourite games of all time. I don't even play the games as they're meant to be played - the first thing I do with each STALKER game is increase my carry-weight limit and just blaze through the entire game with cash or ammo never being a concern. I do this because I think the developers have got a lot of the mechanics/systems very wrong, and I don't really want to play the game in accordance with those systems. They improved a lot with Pripyat, but they're still a long way off what I'd ideally want from their game, and I'm not entirely sure they're going to get it right in time for STALKER 2, which worries me slightly, as it's going to be their console push with that release, and I'm not sure the console market is willing to put up with a lot of the stuff it does. Even if it tanks on consoles, I'd hope they would continue on the PC, but I don't think it's completely certain that they would.

I found Shadow of Chernobyl better.

" @Binman88: I think we play this game very differently.  I actually like the strict weight restrictions, it makes me think long and hard about what I really need to carry (contrast it to the Gothic series, where I find myself picking up literally everything I can get my hands on without even looking at it, which leaves me lugging around like 200 weapons at a time).  I do think the game still has a bit of a rough edge to it, but all in all I was pretty happy with the experience.  Especially when I only paid ten dollars for it. "

You know what stopped me playing-The anomaly that brings HELL ON EARTH MOTHERFUCKER.Besides the enourmous radiation count,blood red sky and creepy iradiated spirits that were floating near me in the cave I was in,it killed me EVERY FUCKING TIME.I tried everything,it was like Satan initiated the end of the world.Can somebody explain that?

" @FirePrince: You had to run and hide indoors - usually you could avoid death by getting as low/underground as possible, so sometimes you could survive in certain dangerous places by crouching in a hole in the ground. You would always get an update letting you know if you were safe or not - when you were safe it would say something like "stay in cover until the storm passes".  "

Aw man, I was hoping this was someone saying that Artistpavel's Call of Pripyat Complete mod was finished. I loved his STALKER Complete 2009 mod for SoC, made that game much better (without changing the core game). I never finished Clear Sky because it bugged out, and haven't finished CoP yet either, but I probably will when that mod comes out. Anyway, grat's, I played about 12 hours of it and had a lot of fun, seemed on par with the first one at least, and certainly better than the second. 
 
also 
 
@FirePrince said:

" @Binman88 said:

" @FirePrince: You had to run and hide indoors - usually you could avoid death by getting as low/underground as possible, so sometimes you could survive in certain dangerous places by crouching in a hole in the ground. You would always get an update letting you know if you were safe or not - when you were safe it would say something like "stay in cover until the storm passes".  "

 From my savegame(the only one) I could not reach any houses in time before 2012 happened, and my futile attempts of hiding in the nearest caves were treated with radiation poisoning and eventually death.I also had very little in terms of supplies,which made everything go even better. "

this was a problem for me in Clear Sky, but I didn't have as much of an issue with it in CoP. (assuming 2012 means a blowout). "

• "I will start by saying that the main plotline is pretty weak  
• That being said, pretty much everything else about the game is really well done.    
• Other than the main storyline, this game is a clear improvement over S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl.    
• There are a lot fewer bugs
• the weapon upgrade system and artifact sensors are both nice new touches
• the game is generally clearer about quest objectives, and there is a fast travel element that makes the whole world feel a bit more manageable (but still large).    
• the game world is still very immersive with an item management system that really makes you think carefully about what you want to carry (bullets have weight), and a really good combat dynamic."

This is pretty much the exactly how I felt about CoP. Gameplay improved across the board, as well as sidequests. Plotline, however, was pretty retarded.
Oh, and the voice acting is much more noticeable in CoP. In a bad way.
  

" This is pretty much the exactly how I felt about CoP. Gameplay improved across the board, as well as sidequests. Plotline, however, was pretty retarded.
Oh, and the voice acting is much more noticeable in CoP. In a bad way.
  

  HOWDY HO "