S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl - Gameplay

Gameplay

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is primarily a first-person shooter survival horror video game, but it also features many RPG elements. The player does not gain additional abilities or statistics like most RPGs, but is instead allowed to attach artifacts which can increase or decrease player attributes. Artifacts found within the zone have both positive and negative effects except for some rare artifacts which have only positive attributes. There are a large number of items in the game, so the player has customization choices which are constrained primarily by how much exploring they do.

The game also attempts to blend the story and character interaction which are commonly associated with RPGs. However, unlike RPGs, conversation branches are extremely limited and do not significantly influence the course of the game, aside from accepting or declining missions.

It was revealed by the developers that the Artificial Intelligence had to be extremely slimmed down, as it could actually complete the game by itself if given the task, and several attack tactics were cut for difficulty reasons, including the ability for enemies to heal wounded allies, give orders, and throw grenades with pinpoint accuracy.