Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

20 to 40 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Mixed reactions"

I really liked this game. But, it has a few hindrances that keep me from thinking it was as good as STALKER.

First, the storyline and atmosphere are awesome. Not too many games get it right. At least, I don't think. And it's definitely worth playing just for this. In the beginning, the storyline hints at more than it actually delivers, but the atmosphere is so strong you will not care. Besides, if you want a deeper story then read the book. Video games are about gameplay, storyline and atmosphere are gravy.

Unfortunately, I have a few problems with this game. One being that you can only change the graphic settings to anything but low, medium, high, etc. You cannot switch on and off individual settings. I realize that some people don't know what all the switches do and having generic settings are good for those players. But, I like to switch certain settings off that I don't like and some settings to max. Like, I don't care for AA, so I like to switch that off and max out textures. But you can't do that. It's either very high (max textures and max AA) or it's high (medium textures and medium AA). But I can look over this issue. I suppose if I had a better graphics card I wouldn't care.

Another problem, is the lack of shops in certain areas. Sometimes you wanted to stock up on filters or ammo, but could not because there were no shops. But I suppose that part of the challenge was stretching out your resources, so I can see why this was done. The problem is that some weapons are terrible for certain sequences. There's a section towards the end with these exploding balls, and the electric gun is completely useless. Unless, you came prepared with the auto-shotgun and plenty of ammo this section is near impossible. I had to use the unlimited ammo cheat to make it past, because there just wasn't enough 545 ammo in that section to kill all the creatures. But, again, I can really look past this issue.

Another problem, and this is my main issue with this game, is that you can't use iron sights on half the weapons. I could forgive the previous two problems, but this is unforgivable. This isn't some Doom style blaster with unlimited ammo, so iron sights are necessary. This made the shooting sequence, which is pretty much the entire game, as it is a shooting game, incredibly awkward. My favorite weapon, the electric gun (whatever it's called), does a melee attack when you press the right mouse button. Same with the shotgun. But, that type of attack is just out of place in semi-realistic shooter. Something I'd only expect in a Doom style FPS. So the gameplay was somewhat schizophrenic in this respect and kept it from being really immersive. Now, I know that there are weapons that allow iron sights, but there is no reason there could not have been a melee button on the keyboard and use the right mouse button to aim with the electric gun. Maybe this was done because it was ported to console?

Those are my three main gripes about this game that I hope are addressed in Last Light. These gripes don't kill the game outright, but they keep it from being a solid experience. Ideally I would like to see Last Light be a sandbox type game like STALKER was, but I'll pick it up regardless.

I would definitely pick this game up, only after you have played all three of the STALKER games to death. If you haven't played STALKER, then play that first. I liked Clear Sky the best, but maybe I'm just weird because most people say Shadows of Chernobyl is better.