STALKER: Lost Alpha

1. Pleased
2. "Achivka" edition
3. Verdict

STALKER: Lost Alpha returned almost everything that the GSC had cut off from the long development process. Shadow of Chernobyl . But this is not a simple amateur modification, of which there are hundreds, Lost Alpha shook the original so much that we simply could not pass by.

This is the second part of our special material dedicated to STALKER: Lost Alpha. Before you review and our impressions. How the project was created, you can find out here .

That was the Lost Alpha three years ago.

Leaving Sidorovich's bunker to the Cordon, you unwittingly blink and feel timidity and excitement - what is there, outside the cozy underground shelter?

When the sun's rays make their way through the faded foliage, the sound of a guitar is heard in the distance, and overgrown, dilapidated huts around a long, long-abandoned village rise around, you know - you're home. A military spinner draws a circle above the head, but something compresses inside. No, this is not the Cordon that we remembered, but its spirit remained unchanged.

... But what would really be worth changing is stalker extras, tightly sticking to their places around the fire and repeating for days the same strained jokes about the Zone, which stopped being funny even during Shadow of Chernobyl. Here is a contradictory first impression.

► Artifacts can be combined, but for now this feature is very buggy and strives to constantly “hang” the game.

Native Cordon grew to some indecent size. To run it from south to north along the main road, across the famous destroyed railway bridge, it will take about ten to fifteen minutes of uninterrupted running - not counting the branches from the route, the military base and abandoned farms, the hidden tunnel with anomalies and the whole underground complex that runs under the railroad tracks. But this, by the way, is only the first location (out of twenty seven!).

Yes, the first thing to say is that the Zone will have to be settled again.

► With the help of a PDA, you can search for stalkers in the vicinity, ask for their help, or offer your services. Unfortunately, this function is also badly flawed.

That is why the cars returned from the original were returned to the game - a four-wheeled friend will be an indispensable helper in the Zone and a faithful donkey for carrying the precious swag. The choice is more than varied - from the Zaporozhets, rotted to the ground, and to a brilliant armored personnel carrier: everything to your taste and color, just pay. Without a car case pipe.

► Recreated from scratch "Dead City". Fascinates and scares no less than Pripyat.

When we complete the first quest - cleaning up the plant from the gangsters, and get at least some useful weapon, it seems like it is time to conquer the Zone, but it was not there. Attempts to break out of the shackles of developers will end in fiasco. Having tried to get out of the Cordon, you get a nose and a clue on the screen - it's too early for you, my friend, have moved into adulthood, while you sit in the sandbox. So much for freedom.

However, the first time such paternal care really comes to the benefit - the intoxicating spaces of Lost Alpha threaten to once and for all knock the player off the plot. You will grow up, get a weapon and walk on your health - after passing the main storyline, the “Sandbox” mode will open, which will allow you to explore the Zone as much as you want.

► All pipe. From the clutches of the bloodsucker is almost impossible to escape.

But it’s hard to say that big open spaces often go to the benefit of the game - you constantly catch yourself thinking: “ Why is it somehow sad? "And the fact is that, with the exception of story missions, there is nothing special to occupy yourself with. As part of the entertainment missions, chickens do not bite: they can escape from a military helicopter on the half-ruined "Niva" and dress up with gangsters to play.

But it is worth a little to loosen the collar that enveloped your neck, as the cardboard decorations collapse one after another. You can spend hours picking at the Landfill, explore the underground laboratories of the Agricultural Industry, slowly wade through the thorns and anomalies in Dark Valley and quietly shoot the gangsters, hunt artifacts and perform “give-and-bring” sample quests, but ... why? For what purpose? So you will remain a hostage to the huge and empty Zone of Alienation.

Perhaps, we managed to blast away for so many years, having seen enough of the inconceivable number of various sandboxes. Perhaps the GSC were right in cutting back the world and thereby guaranteeing that there will always be something to do in it . We cut off additional paths so that the player accidentally did not get lost and did not get bored ... Who knows.

► If you do not look closely, you might think that this is not a screenshot from the game, but a photograph of a provincial town.

However, these thoughts come far from immediately - at the forefront is still a matter of survival. Tagged became more like a person and got needs - in food, water and a healthy sleep. If one of these parameters falls below a critical level, and if there is no can of canned food, a bottle of water, or a quiet place to sleep at hand, you are lost. The hero becomes completely helpless, his eyes darken, and his hands begin to treacherously tremble.

► DirectX 10 and dynamic lighting work wonders - Lost Alpha looks no worse than some Far Cry 3.

Survive difficult. A dark night in the Zone is not a test for the faint of heart. The former neat and sleek paths are overgrown with impassable bushes, which are another challenge to wade through. True flashlight, the only thing that accelerates the darkness, eats batteries like seeds, and to remain without light at the most inopportune moment - just spit. And if in open spaces it is still possible to survive, then what to do in the dungeons of the Agricultural Industry or the Sin caves?

► Abandoned Pripyat is still fraught with many dangers.

Lost Alpha turned out not without flaws. The shadowed legacy of Shadow of Chernobyl climbs out of all the cracks - the game constantly breaks down and crashes, many story quests do not always work, because of which you have to load the old preservation, and the system requirements have increased by an order of magnitude compared to the original (the added support for DirectX 10), but even the recommended configuration does not always save from the brakes.

However, it is quite possible to put up with it and get pleasure - experienced then, survive and now. Perhaps, if the team lived not only on donations from fans, there would be less problems, but in the end we have what we have. The project saw the light, voluminous patches come to it, which cure a lot of problems and add new content, so you can live.

Read our special material on Lost Alpha on this page .

Pleased

Grieved

• the incredible scale of the Zone;
• the atmosphere of STALKER is still fascinating;
• almost everything that was cut off from the original version was returned to the game;
• The game is completely free and does not require the original.

• incredible system requirements;
• life simulation works so badly;
• anthill bugs, from small and annoying to insurmountable. We are waiting for patches.

8/10

Visual row

7/10

Interface and Management

7/10

Sound and music

"Achivka" edition

This is not the STALKER!

Find a thousand and one reasons for discontent and return to the world of Shadow of Chernobyl.

10/10

I'm in Soviet times, oh-oh!

STALKER: Lost Alpha fully satisfies the passion of our people for retro-eskapizmu and shows the very reality in which many have grown (and continue to live, something there) - the ruins of the former great empire, in an instant left without a rudder and wind. And nature does not tolerate emptiness and begins to set its own rules.

Site rating

8, 0

fine

Verdict

Despite everything, they did it. Playing Lost Alpha is worth every STALKER fan, since the project is completely free and does not require the original. Forget summer sunburn, beach holidays and family holidays. Download Lost Alpha and go to conquer the Zone - it began to play with new bright colors.