Wraith
Bettyswollocks
Well I've been here a while now and other than dipping my toe into writing news threads and creating a few "how to guides" I've never done a review and so I thought it was about time I did, so here goes.. buckle up this might be a long one.
I figured for my first review I should review my ultimate gaming Achilles heal Which is S.T.A.L.K.E.R, namely the recently released Lost Alpha, now there are many many Mods for the Stalker games franchise, but this one is different as it's, wait for it... a free stand alone!
But before we get to the nitty gritty of Lost Alpha I should first explain to those who have been living under a rock for the last 7 years, just what is S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
Now back in 2008 a small group of modders got together and formed the Dezowave group who collectively decided that they would build a mod which would put back all the lost original content which was missing from the final cut of Shadow of Chernobyl, well this project became more than just a mod but a labour of love which transformed into a full blown game project and what a job they have done!
Overview.
For those familiar with the original SoC, all I can say is "you wish" the whole game has been revamped and re-rendered, with a brand new story, side quests, factions, weapons, enemies and even new maps including Rostock factory, Sarcofag, Radar, Outskirts and "Darkscape" which contains a mine, several villages, bus depot and very long lonely roads, if that's not enough to wet your appetite how about vehicles? Yes you can now use vehicles, provided you have the fuel to run them which is easily acquired from most main traders. I've been playing Lost Alpha now for just over 4 hours and all I have to say is, Wow! the atmospherics are even more immersive than they were before, I found myself constantly checking behind me for fear of being attacked and checking my magazine constantly ready for ambush.
Graphics.
Now bearing in mind this game is based on the 2007 vanilla Shadow of Chernobyl it looks nothing like the original, the whole game has received a complete graphics overhaul, vegetation is now much denser, all new weather and lighting effects too which when combined come together to create a much more claustrophobic feel adding to that horror element.
Sound.
The audio is deep and there solely to unnerve you, and it does this brilliantly whether it's the ambience of the surroundings or the growl of the beast that is right behind you.. you truly feel right there.
AI.
Now those that played any of the previous S.T.A.L.K.E.R franchise will know you could pretty much work out what the NPCs were going to do after about an hour of gameplay and adjust their play style accordingly, but Lost Alpha surprised me here, NPCs will either flank you rather smartly or run and regroup then stalk you later.. NPCs now engage you correctly rather than shoot first ask questions later, wild life will actually hunt you now rather than just run straight at you or in silly circles like bullet magnets.
Control.
Nothing has changed from the original it's all the same, but that's what we want, if it ain't broke don't fix it. I'm glad it was kept the same, anything else or 360 controller support would have ruined it.
Conclusion.
My over all conclusion is, why are you still reading this, get downloading and get playing, you will not regret it! Lost Alphas gets a massive thumbs up from me. Now "Get out of here Stalker" the zone is calling.
If you enjoyed the originals as much as I did and were thinking of making a return to the Zone for some nostalgia I highly recommend you get this added to your stalker library and play a whole new zone the way it was meant to be played.
You can download the whole stand alone game here, no original game disks required. You can either download Lost Alpha in 4 separate parts or complete via the torrent link (much quicker).
Download Link
Patch
Sources: Dezowave, Moddb, GSC & Stalker wikia.
I figured for my first review I should review my ultimate gaming Achilles heal Which is S.T.A.L.K.E.R, namely the recently released Lost Alpha, now there are many many Mods for the Stalker games franchise, but this one is different as it's, wait for it... a free stand alone!
But before we get to the nitty gritty of Lost Alpha I should first explain to those who have been living under a rock for the last 7 years, just what is S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
Now back in 2008 a small group of modders got together and formed the Dezowave group who collectively decided that they would build a mod which would put back all the lost original content which was missing from the final cut of Shadow of Chernobyl, well this project became more than just a mod but a labour of love which transformed into a full blown game project and what a job they have done!
Overview.
For those familiar with the original SoC, all I can say is "you wish" the whole game has been revamped and re-rendered, with a brand new story, side quests, factions, weapons, enemies and even new maps including Rostock factory, Sarcofag, Radar, Outskirts and "Darkscape" which contains a mine, several villages, bus depot and very long lonely roads, if that's not enough to wet your appetite how about vehicles? Yes you can now use vehicles, provided you have the fuel to run them which is easily acquired from most main traders. I've been playing Lost Alpha now for just over 4 hours and all I have to say is, Wow! the atmospherics are even more immersive than they were before, I found myself constantly checking behind me for fear of being attacked and checking my magazine constantly ready for ambush.
Graphics.
Now bearing in mind this game is based on the 2007 vanilla Shadow of Chernobyl it looks nothing like the original, the whole game has received a complete graphics overhaul, vegetation is now much denser, all new weather and lighting effects too which when combined come together to create a much more claustrophobic feel adding to that horror element.
Sound.
The audio is deep and there solely to unnerve you, and it does this brilliantly whether it's the ambience of the surroundings or the growl of the beast that is right behind you.. you truly feel right there.
AI.
Now those that played any of the previous S.T.A.L.K.E.R franchise will know you could pretty much work out what the NPCs were going to do after about an hour of gameplay and adjust their play style accordingly, but Lost Alpha surprised me here, NPCs will either flank you rather smartly or run and regroup then stalk you later.. NPCs now engage you correctly rather than shoot first ask questions later, wild life will actually hunt you now rather than just run straight at you or in silly circles like bullet magnets.
Control.
Nothing has changed from the original it's all the same, but that's what we want, if it ain't broke don't fix it. I'm glad it was kept the same, anything else or 360 controller support would have ruined it.
Conclusion.
My over all conclusion is, why are you still reading this, get downloading and get playing, you will not regret it! Lost Alphas gets a massive thumbs up from me. Now "Get out of here Stalker" the zone is calling.
If you enjoyed the originals as much as I did and were thinking of making a return to the Zone for some nostalgia I highly recommend you get this added to your stalker library and play a whole new zone the way it was meant to be played.
You can download the whole stand alone game here, no original game disks required. You can either download Lost Alpha in 4 separate parts or complete via the torrent link (much quicker).
Download Link
Patch
Sources: Dezowave, Moddb, GSC & Stalker wikia.
~Wraithguard~
Last edited:
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I'm running it on Windows 7 64, but no one on the game forum is experiencing windows 8 issues.
