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

Worth buying? What 300 Steam reviews say.Worth buying? Here’s what 300 Steam reviews actually say.

Very Positive · 95%Very Positive · 95%2007

The verdict

A legendary, grim open-world shooter with unmatched atmosphere and living-world AI, but janky, crash-prone and punishing. Skip it if you hate old-school shooting and save-scumming.

Great for

Players who love bleak atmosphere, survival and hard immersive shooters, and don't mind mods or jank

Main risk

Crashes, broken saves and quests, plus inaccurate gunplay that feels dated

What players love

Unmatched atmosphere

Mentioned in ~1 in 4 positive reviews

“The atmosphere is unmatched, trudging through irradiated marshes at 2am while the wind howls is genuinely unsettling.”
Steam review · 41.8 h played ↗

“This game has a unique and incredibly compelling atmosphere, which is really its biggest strength.”
Steam review · 21.1 h played ↗

“Incredible atmosphere of the Zone, abandoned locations, dangerous mutants, firefights and sitting by the campfire with a guitar.”
Steam review · translated · 1.9 h played ↗

Nostalgic classic that still holds up

Mentioned in ~1 in 8 positive reviews

“Almost 20 years later and this game is still peak and looks better than most triple AAA titles.”
Steam review · 18.8 h played ↗

“Amazing. Completely and utterly stands the test of time.”
Steam review · 19.4 h played ↗

Great story, endings and lore

Mentioned in ~1 in 9 positive reviews

“the story is absolutely fantastic with a share of unique ideas that I'll remember for a very long time”
Steam review · 19.6 h played ↗

Deep survival mechanics and detail

Mentioned in ~1 in 17 positive reviews

“For a game so old there's soooo much attention to detail it's crazy.”
Steam review · 20.9 h played ↗

“It has so much depth and it really shows with how you interact with the world.”
Steam review · 29.6 h played ↗

A-Life makes the world feel alive

Mentioned in ~1 in 19 positive reviews

“The A-Life system makes the world feel alive in ways modern games still can't replicate.”
Steam review · 41.8 h played ↗

“the whole game is a huge ecosystem of NPCs living their lives.”
Steam review · 3.6 h played ↗

Smart, challenging enemy AI and tactical combat

Mentioned in ~1 in 25 positive reviews

“the ai is absolutely complex and incredible in comparison to modern ai in many FPS shooters”
Steam review · 23.9 h played ↗

“the NPCs are all just quite smart, they don't just run at you or stand there and shoot you.”
Steam review · 3.6 h played ↗

What players complain about

Crashes and game won't run reliably

Mentioned in ~1 in 8 negative reviews

“Constant game crashes!!!”
Steam review · translated · 63.6 h played ↗

“Lags, freezes, crashes - that's what awaits you in the Steam version, good luck!”
Steam review · translated · 26.6 h played ↗

“The game frequently crashes on my Windoes 10 22H2 Build 19045.6466”
Steam review · 3.7 h played ↗

Inaccurate, unsatisfying gunplay

Mentioned in ~1 in 8 negative reviews

“Hitting your target is 100% a roll of the dice.”
Steam review · 10 h played ↗

“the guns are so obnoxiously inaccurate to the point where its unfun to fight any ranged enemy”
Steam review · 6 h played ↗

“Shooting is super hard and unclear; you aim steadily at the head and the bullet can fly anywhere.”
Steam review · translated · 7 h played ↗

Bugs and broken quests

Mentioned in ~1 in 9 negative reviews

“Game is so fkn broken.”
Steam review · 5.3 h played ↗

“So buggy and you can't complete the game due to radiation - regardless of suit”
Steam review · 80.2 h played ↗

Aged, dull world and repetitive side quests

Mentioned in ~1 in 10 negative reviews

“Side missions suck. Just a bunch of radiant fetch quests without interesting story telling.”
Steam review · 6.9 h played ↗

“There are no real side quests, only randomly generated fake kill/fetch quests.”
Steam review · translated · 18.6 h played ↗

Bullet-sponge enemies and unfair AI

Mentioned in ~1 in 13 negative reviews

“Can shoot people in the heart multiple times and they still keep coming at you.”
Steam review · 1.4 h played ↗

“Empty entire clips on people, they don't flinch. One shot from them, death to you.”
Steam review · 2.3 h played ↗

Lost or corrupted saves

Mentioned in ~1 in 21 negative reviews

“Twice the game somehow deleted my saves by itself.”
Steam review · translated · 6.7 h played ↗

System requirements

From the Steam store page

Steam Deck: Unsupported

Minimum

ProcessorIntel Pentium 4 2.0 Ghz / AMD XP 2200+

Memory512 MB RAM

Graphics128 MB DirectX® 8.0 compatible card / nVIDIA® GeForce™ 5700 / ATI Radeon® 9600

Storage6 GB free hard disc space

Recommended

ProcessorIntel Core 2 Duo E6400 / AMD 64 X2 4200+

Memory2 GB RAM

Graphics256 MB DirectX® 9.0c compatible card* / nVIDIA® GeForce™ 8800 GT / ATI Radeon® HD 2900 XT

Storage10 GB free hard disc space

ProcessorIntel Pentium 4 2.0 Ghz / AMD XP 2200+

Memory512 MB RAM

Graphics128 MB DirectX® 8.0 compatible card / nVIDIA® GeForce™ 5700 / ATI Radeon® 9600

Storage6 GB free hard disc space

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