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Had to consistantly flip back and forth to find specifics for even the same section of game. No one-page overview map of the whole game. Overall, not very well organized or of great help. Not a lot of specific help issues. Maps not of great help.
- Shadow of Chernobyl\ directory created at installation. There is some very good artwork in the guide in full color, but really most text in the book is ripped right from the PDA entries. It is basically a hard copy of the guide which is already installed at the \Program Files\THQ\S.T.A.L.K.E.R. What I did like about this guide is that it has a rundown of all the weapons, but since the information is already in the inventory interface, it doesn't warrant purchase for that reason alone. This guide is more buggy than the S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
I simply cannot think of a worse guide then this. The layout of the guide is haphazard at best and downright schizophrenic most of the times with no apparant order that is discernible. Even in that area, the guide furthers the typos inherent in the game and copies them into the guide which had the Obokan rifles description all confused. It also does this with artifacts that sometimes randomly generate and it will say to pick up some artifact at some location only once you arrive - it's either not there or another artifact altogether. It lacks any depth in any area, the weapon, artifact and area descriptions are taken right out of the in-game PDA write up. It states exactly where they will be in the guide and although they are sometimes there, they can be at multiple locations from the random generation. The primary usefulness of this guide is to beginning players, but even then it is hardly worth the effort to get it, never the less the money spent. The other thing that is annoying is that the guide never attempts to shine a light on the broken side quests in the game and is seemingly unaware that item / personnel locations in these types of missions are often randomly generated every time you take a job from a character in the game.
game it purports to bring to light. The combat tips are in the level of explaining straffing and leaning, so if you have ever played another FPS, it is worthless in that purpose as you already know the basics. Players who have gotten even a quarter of the way through the game will not learn anything from it and even newbies should just save their money and read the PDA entries. I will not get into what I think about the game, this review is for the guide and I am trying to save some people a ten spot or more in avoiding this inept work. There are no useable maps and the run down of missions is laughable as they lack the maps and simply give a general theory of completion.
Some of the margin art does show excellent conceptions of what Russian special forces troops, fully loaded with their equipment, might look like in the future. There are no closeups of the knife, binoculars, anti-radition drug kit, or other medical kits, either. The kits are just featureless boxes, so they do not stimulate the imagination or allow you to imagine what is inside. If you are looking for the best path through the game, it may be better to find a free online walkthrough, especially since I heard that there are bugs in many of the side missions, making a fair number of those unstable. Some people might like the pictures of the mutant creatures, if they like violent and horrifying stuff. I'm unsure how well the new patch, or future patches, fix these problems. So, it is possible that some of the book's information about side missions is useless. The character and weapon art in the margins is extremely good, except that there is no closeup drawing of the fascinating gauss rifle, which I *REALLY* wanted to see.
I have horrible lag problems with it and I'm running cable internet with dual 4200 processors, 2 gigs of ram and a x1900 pro video card which leaves me to believe it's simply the servers. It wasn't as open ended as I had hoped but still and amazing game. Buy this game, you won't be disappointed:-D Oh well, single player is definetly enough fun. The atmosphere alone is worth the money. Really sweet concept and monsters however I was really disappointed by the online play.
I sculled around in the game at first and got used to its strange russian ways. This game is unique. Good gun battles - fun wepons - good monsters - the the humanoid phychic mutant has a mind weapon that really puts the wind up you but if you can take it he can be shot in the head dead.It is a big game and some mistakes mean you have to go back to NEW GAME.Great fun and quite a challange. Its a good idea to do this because you then get used to some of the rules and the odd morals of the game. I advise buying the Prima Game Guide and obtain a download of the IGN FAQ on the game. Even with these you will find it a confusing and tough game but it is worth the effort.
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