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

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl 2007

Shooter by GSC Game World, published by cdp.pl.

80
Critics
aggregate score
81
Players
IGDB rating
6 h to beat
main story, 41 h for everything

About

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl came out on March 23, 2007 for PC, then for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on March 6, 2024 and for Nintendo Switch on October 31, 2024. The main story takes about 6 hours, doing everything about 41 hours.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl is a first-person shooter with role-playing and survival elements, and the first game in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series. It is set in an open, hazardous area known as the Zone, based on the Chernobyl exclusion zone, where players explore wilderness, settlements, and military sites in search of valuable artifacts. Beyond combat against human factions and mutated creatures, players must contend with pockets of altered physics called anomalies, radiation, hunger, and bleeding, managing supplies and equipment to survive. A non-linear storyline offers multiple endings, and limited trading and dialogue with other characters shape the experience.

Story

In an alternate history, a second mysterious disaster strikes the area around the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant years after the original 1986 accident, leaving behind a lethal territory called the Zone that is populated by mutated creatures, deadly anomalies, and scavengers known as stalkers. The player takes the role of the Marked One, a man who survives a crash with no memory of his past. His only clues are a tattoo reading S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and a handheld device carrying a single instruction: kill a man named Strelok. Working for a local trader to repay a debt, the Marked One follows this trail deeper into the Zone, gradually uncovering hints about Strelok and the secrets hidden at its heart.

How long to beat S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl

from 6 players
Main storyrushing through the story
6 h
Main + extrasstory plus side content
17 h
Completionisteverything the game has
41 h

More in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series

All 5 games in order

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Media

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

Releases

Platform
Date
March 23, 2007 (Europe first)
March 6, 2024
March 6, 2024
October 31, 2024

Earliest full release on each platform; regional dates can differ.