S.T.A.L.K.E.R - How scary is it?

[joppe_k]

Personally, I wouldn't call Stalker Shadow of Chernobyl a horror game at all. It is a semi-realistic (as in: you have real-life guns and die fast) post-apocalyptic FPS first and foremost. What it is, however, is an extremely atmospheric game.

It's fairly psychological in its approach, in that most of the time, it doesn't actively try to scare you. It just sets you up in this creepy atmospheric environment which manages to get under your skin after awhile. By then you're pretty much scaring yourself and jumping at any little thing. Some part are admittedly creepier than others. Most people having played the game can't help but cringe when you mention the word "Yantar". ;-)

I'd put it up there with System Shock 1 and 2 (damn old titles) or their "spiritual successor" Bioshock (1) in terms of scares.

 

[Bill Bread]

Ha! Couldn't help coming across this thread through a google search. I'm unwilling to go into lab X18 yet out of fear D:

 

[maturin]

Some of the underground labs will scare the shit out of you, judging by your post.

 

[Continuity]

snip

Most of the game isn't scary at all, there are certainly parts that are scary, mostly where you have to go underground somewhere dark, like the labs, but these can be played though with a little grit... if you can complete Fear then you should be able to tackle STALKER, though I think it is scarier in places.

 

[Sleekgiant]

Get Shadow of Chernobyl and play it with Complete 2009, it fixes a lot of bugs.

Also you really should have bought the games in the Steam sale, got two of them for like $5

 

[Continuity]

Get Shadow of Chernobyl and play it with Complete 2009, it fixes a lot of bugs.

Also you really should have bought the games in the Steam sale, got two of them for like $5

Truth! I got got them then too, very good value buy though I haven't played clear sky yet, i've heard its buggy (more buggy than the other two) though Call of pripyat was excellent.

 

[Sleekgiant]

Get Shadow of Chernobyl and play it with Complete 2009, it fixes a lot of bugs.

Also you really should have bought the games in the Steam sale, got two of them for like $5

Truth! I got got them then too, very good value buy though I haven't played clear sky yet, i've heard its buggy (more buggy than the other two) though Call of pripyat was excellent.

I've got Shadow of Chernobyl and Call of Pripyat, I heard Clear Sky is the worst Stalker game :O

 

[Rhinzual26]

Get Shadow of Chernobyl and play it with Complete 2009, it fixes a lot of bugs.

Also you really should have bought the games in the Steam sale, got two of them for like $5

Yes, Complete 2009 fixes bugs that interfere with going the stealth route, and you can also alter the drop rate for the repair kits if a mere 1% drop rate per human corpse is somehow too random for you.

The stealth parts I mentioned are ruined by hostiles having an aggression range of like 8 kilometers and knowing where you are whenever you enter a new area, and every death cry is glitched that everyone in the camp will hear it. The very first bandit camp raid will really show the difference between vanilla and Complete 2009. Vanilla boils down to using the buddies and hoping they don't die too fast, Complete 2009 can be completed at night time, flash light turned off, and the silenced pistol with a bit of patience.

 

[Sleekgiant]

Get Shadow of Chernobyl and play it with Complete 2009, it fixes a lot of bugs.

Also you really should have bought the games in the Steam sale, got two of them for like $5

Yes, Complete 2009 fixes bugs that interfere with going the stealth route, and you can also alter the drop rate for the repair kits if a mere 1% drop rate per human corpse is somehow too random for you.

The stealth parts I mentioned are ruined by hostiles having an aggression range of like 8 kilometers and knowing where you are whenever you enter a new area, and every death cry is glitched that everyone in the camp will hear it. The very first bandit camp raid will really show the difference between vanilla and Complete 2009. Vanilla boils down to using the buddies and hoping they don't die too fast, Complete 2009 can be completed at night time, flash light turned off, and the silenced pistol with a bit of patience.

I think it also fixed some in game menus which was a big help and correct me if I'm wrong...a sleeping bag was added?

 

[Mekado]

I loved Stalker (all 3) but my blood pressure was definitely lower during the day than the night, i also absolutely refused to use any suit without nightvision if i was going out at night, seeing about 8 feets up front with the measly headlight is not fun (well it is, but you get the meaning...)

But yes, many people quit at X18, the first famous underground lab, that place is just plain evil, your first controller too.

I'd also add that Call of Prypiat (S3) was the only one were at some point i actually felt invincible, exoskeleton+g36 or F200 means there's not much short of a full 15-man Monolith squad that is ever a problem...

 

[Rhinzual26]

Get Shadow of Chernobyl and play it with Complete 2009, it fixes a lot of bugs.

Also you really should have bought the games in the Steam sale, got two of them for like $5

Yes, Complete 2009 fixes bugs that interfere with going the stealth route, and you can also alter the drop rate for the repair kits if a mere 1% drop rate per human corpse is somehow too random for you.

The stealth parts I mentioned are ruined by hostiles having an aggression range of like 8 kilometers and knowing where you are whenever you enter a new area, and every death cry is glitched that everyone in the camp will hear it. The very first bandit camp raid will really show the difference between vanilla and Complete 2009. Vanilla boils down to using the buddies and hoping they don't die too fast, Complete 2009 can be completed at night time, flash light turned off, and the silenced pistol with a bit of patience.

I think it also fixed some in game menus which was a big help and correct me if I'm wrong...a sleeping bag was added?

Indeed it was, I was just pointing out one thing Complete 2009 did to improve the game.

 

[Mekado]

Hmm. I think I might have to go for it then. I have to save some money first though.
Which one is the best one? I was thinking of getting the last one, since I have heard that is the best.

What I always do in scary games is to sneak. I figure that if I can see the enemy before it sees me, then it won't be as scary. Do sneaking work well in this game?

And to maybe create some kind of discussion in my otherwise pointless thread:
What do you do to make scary games less scary?

I sneak, as I mentioned, because I hate jump scares. I also play with the sound pretty low for the same reason.

(Since so many replied very well I cannot answer everyone. So I won't quote anyone, but rest assured that all of you helped me )

Gameplay-wise the third, Call of Pripyat is the best one, you're going to miss out a litte bit on the story (especially at the end where you might not get some references) but the story pretty much flat-out sucks in this one so you're not missing on much.As far as graphics and actual gameplay fun goes, it's your best bet, sneaking also works really well, for the first shot, after 1 shot unless you're really far and silenced they know where you are.Sneaking at night with night vision googles and a silenced sniper is pretty fun

 

[5t3v0]

Only S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of chernobyl is scary. The others, while awesome too, dont quite have the same atmosphere.

 

[Mekado]

Only S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of chernobyl is scary. The others, while awesome too, dont quite have the same atmosphere.

I'll add SoC had sprawling underground levels that were spooky sorely lacking in the other two, i mean they had undergrounds but they were tiny compared to shadow of Chernobyl.

 

[Wolfram23]

It's not generally scary. It can get intense, though. I mean if you don't head to a safe zone and night falls, the walk back in the dark can be really crazy if you're unlucky. Like suddenly being attacked by one of the invisible guys. Night vision helps tho. There was really only a couple parts that had me going "OMGWTFBBQ!!!" like when I came across my first dwarf...thing... and another time when I decided to explore a dark tunnel at night.

This is in Call of Pripyat btw.

For the most part tho it's just a shooter. I'd say on par with maybe Half Life 2 for scaryness... so yeah it has it's moments

 

[Katana314]

STALKER, compared to other scary games, is scary because little is actually scripted (or feels scripted). Monsters can come at any unpredicted moment, without any change in music, any idea where they are, and often in complete darkness. It doesn't happen so often, but just knowing it COULD happen is what gives it the Amnesia-esque lingering fear.

Also, the environment and its anomalies are often working against you, but at least moving slowly will see you safely through those.