S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky sure feels like an RPG

[King Crispy]

Yeah, it's primarily a shooter and I know that. But S.T.A.K.E.R. brings a very sandboxy and free-form playstyle to the market, possibly even turning off many of the hardcore FPS-only twitchboys.

Clear Sky takes it a step further by introducing weapons and equipment upgrades and customization, which is a very RPG-like feature. There are no experience points or levelling, but there are factions whom you can join with and influence, to the point of affecting the wars that spring up between them in one way or the other.

I'd say if there were any stats for the player that it would be fair to categorize it as a full-on CRPG. As it is, I'd say it's an RPG-shooter.

Please not in the groin. Thanks.

 

[racofer]

I disagree. Just another shooter, like your all time favorite Oblivion.

 

[King Crispy]

Have you played it?

Stealth edit: Nice new av there, jacofer. Very apropos.

 

[racofer]

I don't have to. It simply is.

 

[King Crispy]

Then your version should be customized as F.U.C.K.I.N.G. I.D.I.O.T.

How about some constructive content, jacofer?

 

[Burning Bridges]

It could be an RPG, and they have taken some inspiration, but the focus is elsewhere. For a fps, it's still pretty unique.

 

[xuerebx]

I've just got STALKER. I don't play FPS games as my twitch skill is insanely crap, but SoC I really liked so I wanted to try Clear Sky. Yes it's a shooter with some small RPG elements, probably the reason why I like it. Does it need to have RPG elements? No, the game's primarily a shooter and if their next installment doesn't have these RPG elements it won't really matter, the game's advertised as a shooter.

Of course, it's crashing every 20mins with the latest patch, and they better sort these bugs out for fuck's sake. Goodnight.

 

[King Crispy]

It could be an RPG, and they have taken some inspiration, but the focus is elsewhere. For a fps, it's still pretty unique.

Exactly. My point was that it's enough like an RPG to appeal to those kind of fans. There are twitch skills needed, yes, but to be fair the difficulty can be dialed down at any time so it's bearable.

Large, open world; great, dark atmosphere; somewhat interesting story. You can trade, explore, interact, and loot stuff. It's fun and quite RPG-ish.

Probably better then Fallout 3, anyway...

Edit: Also, importantly, there are several different ways to solve most problems. One example: you get told to talk to someone in the Cordon, and are sent through a tunnel and are supposed to make your way to a camp. Trouble is, there's a military base between you and the camp. They have a very big machine gun which cuts you down almost immediately. Solution? Sneak around if you can, sprint your way through it while healing with kits and bandages, or simply go back through the tunnel, back up north through the swamps that you came from, and approach the camp from the north instead. Choices are usually not an ingredient for most shooters.

 

[Burning Bridges]

Probably better then Fallout 3, anyway...

Definitely.

I'd rate Stalker a post-apocalyptic fps with great athmosphere and a lot of missed potential. Then I'd still prefer it to have real stats, real trading, real dialogues and most importantly real free roaming, but I can enjoy it for what it is. I dont have CS yet but I could enjoy SoC until it got too unbalanced and depressing.

 

[keppj0nes]

Yea Clear Sky is a lot more like an rpg than shadow of chernobyl was. The dialogues are much larger, which was the first thing I liked about Clear Sky. But Clear sky has put too much time into scripted battles, shoot-outs, and fps elements than I can really tolerate. I was hoping the gameworld would be much larger and exploration would be emphasized, but this doesn't seem to be the case, although I do like the anomaly gadgets, this should have been the direction they spent more time on.

 

[JrK]

Choices are usually not an ingredient for most shooters.

Except that in this case the choices spring from the non-linear nature of the game.

To be fair to your analysis, it does have some RPG elements. But that's a bit too obvious to my taste. It doesn't make the RPG in my books for the following reasons:
- Stats don't determine character success
- There is no room to play a character through choices & consequences

The first point must be obvious; success of the game is solely determined by the player's skill of aiming properly and moving as to not be nadebait.

The second point requires some elaboration: There are choices like the ones you described above, but these are pure gameplay choices, and the outcome is the same. So there might be choices, but no consequences. Furthermore, while you can join different factions and gain the resulting enemies, this has hardly any effect on the core of the game. You still shoot some guys to get where you want. A proper RPG has at least another option like hiring goons to do the fighting for you, talking your way through shit, sneaking or being too respected to be attacked.

That said, the RPG elements that are in the game sure make it an interesting shooter, where most are boring.

 

[Burning Bridges]

Unfortunately publisher pressure precludes it to become that kind of game, I think GSC have already got away with a lot of liberties. If you compare it to the competition Bioshock, Crysis etc and it doesnt look that bad anymore.

 

[racofer]

Then your version should be customized as F.U.C.K.I.N.G. I.D.I.O.T.

Actually it's called RELOADED.

How about some constructive content, jacofer?

How about not?

 

[Burning Bridges]

The first point must be obvious; success of the game is solely determined by the player's skill of aiming properly and moving as to not be nadebait.

Not saying Stalker is an RPG, but what you said also applies to System Shock, which I would say is considered some kind of RPG, or to Bloodlines, or to UW.

But you're of course right, Stalker isn't an RPG, I don't think any of the posts made that assumption.

RPG, no RPG, what does it really matter when it gets an acedemic discussion. It doesnt bother me if a story driven fps still appeals to a typical person that also plays RPGs, for story / dialogues / trading / strategy etc.

And in that respect I think there should be more games of that kind. I really liked Hidden and Dangerous 1+2 for the same reasons, working RPG elements in an athmosphere rich fps.

 

[Quigs]

Character development/progression isn't a unique fixture of the RPG genre.

 

[King Crispy]

The first point must be obvious; success of the game is solely determined by the player's skill of aiming properly and moving as to not be nadebait.

I'm not sure I completely agree with this. In most shooters, you simply get 'TEH BESTEST GUN' and go on your merry, killin' way. There really are no other considerations. But in Clear Sky, you got techs that can be paid to improve whatever gear you've got, such as adding kevlar implants into your armor, adding extra pockets to be able to utilize more artifacts, and improvements such as better sights, etc to your weapons. Ignoring these decisions will seriously hamper your ability to deal with the in-game obstacles (both mobile and immobile). That along with the other things I mentioned, the wide, explorable areas, well there you go.

So there's more depth to it than point and shoot. Not much more, but some. There are choices to make, and though this doesn't make CS a full-fledged RPG, I think it does elevate it from the stinking mudpit that is most cookie-cutter shooters.

 

[Raapys]

It's not an RPG because of the simple fact that it's lacking stats, the only true RPG feature.

That said, as far as shooters go it's pretty much the best there is these days. Just needs less bugs.

 

[elander_]

I'd say if there were any stats for the player that it would be fair to categorize it as a full-on CRPG. As it is, I'd say it's an RPG-shooter.

Later versions of PnP systems like GURPS added faction stats for the player to record his stance with the different social groups, so this certainly counts as a crpg feature and one that adds more to role-playing than personal stats.

 

[flabbyjack]

It's not an RPG because of the simple fact that it's lacking stats, the only true RPG feature.

That said, as far as shooters go it's pretty much the best there is these days. Just needs less bugs.

Concur. We'll classify this as 'FPS with RPG elements' due to an inventory system, weapon upgrades, the generous amount of voiced and un-voiced dialogue, story, non-linear nature of the levels and factions. Can anyone come up with examples of RPGs without stats? Didn't think so.

As a shooter it's very unique, but some of the levels(hospital) seem half-assed compared to other FPS games(EG Call of Duty 1 + 2). Overall Clear Sky is a big improvement over Shadows of Chernobyl.

 

[Xi]

If it has C&C(Faction choice), Progression(Weapon upgrades), and a story with alternate endings(maybe?) I don't see why it couldn't be considered RPGish. How does it compare to say Deus Ex though? I bet it has more emphasis on the "FPS" aspects than the RPG elements.(Concur.)

Pretty cool though, nothing wrong with a hybrid that includes aspects of our beloved genre.

 

[JrK]

I'm not sure I completely agree with this.

That just makes it a better shooter. I wouldn't say STALKER is an RPG just because the rest of the shooters suck ass bigtime. :wink:

 

[Micmu]

Have you played it?

Yes, I have, and it doesn't feel like an RPG at all.

 

[ricolikesrice]

How does it compare to say Deus Ex though?

Deus Ex = you can stealth, use the environment and all kinds of gadgets to complete your missions. heck most of the time you can avoid firing a single shot ... making every level high replay- and enjoyable - i m not sure what you guys loved about DX but that was it for me.

how does stalker have anything in common with DX in that regard ... is it because its a shooter with dialogue (shitty fedex quests) ? the mentioned DX gameplay it isnt for sure, heck the closest to that i ve seen recently is actually crysis and certainly not stalker.

as for RPG or not..... given stalkers gameplay is pretty much oblivion with guns... whether stalker is an RPG merely depends on whether you think oblivion is one.

 

[Kingston]

STALKER: Clear Sky does not resemble an RPG. Period.

 

[DarkUnderlord]

Clearly I must review this title for the good of the Codex.