I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't expecting this game to be like STALKER, because I did; but I was proven wrong.

Chernobylite is a fantastic, story-driven game that is intriguing, exciting and creepy at the same time. When I first tried playing the game, I was confused so I didn't persist. It wasn't until recently that I decided to see it through and found myself immersed in the Zone and a gripping story of love, friendship and betrayal. Not to mention, it ran very smoothly on the highest settings and I didn't experience any bugs or crashes, so it's nicely optimised.

It's not a very long game, granted, or particularly difficult for that matter. There are only five main locations to play in (excluding a couple of bonus areas which are mission related), making it small in comparison to games like STALKER. But, the levels are beautifully designed and make it feel as though you're really exploring the radioactive wastes of the Zone. Additionally, the graphics are phenomenal and really bring everything to life. adding incredible detail to the locations. There are also many points of interest which change and vary between missions and levels, which add substance and exploration value.

Whilst exploring you will encounter different types of enemies such as humans or mutant monsters. Ultimately the game encourages the use of stealth to navigate past enemies or to take them down quietly. Taking them down yields loot, but if you are spotted it will initiate a combat sequence. The combat isn't very good in my opinion. You cannot shoot from the hip and it can feel clunky without properly upgraded weapons or inadequate preparation, which led me to winging it or running. Despite this, Chernobylite does a brilliant job when you are not in combat as the atmosphere is consistently tense due to the setting and music. You never know when a creature or apparition might suddenly lunge at you or drag you away.

Every character is unique and has their own personality and incredible voice acting (I played it with Russian audio and English subtitles). They offer their backstories to you as you begin to know them and take them on. While adding humour with occasional funny stories they also display emotions with traumatic stories or flashbacks. At the beginning of each day, you assign your companions missions and the success rate is determined by their character, their gear and their condition. Feeding them keeps their morale high and making decisions will affect their disposition with you. My only gripe is, that it's difficult keeping everyone happy. Every choice you make is bound to upset one of the five companions you can recruit; and it will positively or negatively affect their relationship status with you. Once you reach low status, they will desert you. Luckily, the game implements a mechanic where you can alter the past and therefore your decisions through some time-space warp. Doing so will change the present and affect other memories and pasts you have played.

Training is quite interesting also. Exploration, mission completion and construction at your base rewards you with experience and skill points. You can spend these skill points with each companion to gain a variety of different skills and abilities. When initiating training, you will be placed in a location with the selected companion and taught by them. This can be a fully interactive sequence where you shoot targets or forage, or it can be an almost cutscene like sequence where the companion walks you through the training through dialogue.

Despite a brilliant story, the game begins to feel sluggish half way through as the gameplay becomes repetitive. Upon completing a mission, you return to your base, build stuff, speak to your companions and then sleep. This is the formula for each day. It can become slow and almost tedious, but is occasionally broken up by events or the provision of new missions. You can choose to complete main missions or side missions which allow free exploration of the levels and also loot. While exploring you can collect clues and notes which provide information to different investigations on your investigation board; which offers simulations into the past to find out the backstory of characters and events as well as the truth. The story is well worth pushing through and finding as much information as possible but it can get to the point where you just want to get on with it, as the main missions count towards being much better prepared for the final mission.

When you do return from missions, you can build items in your base such as crafting stations for weapons and armour and equipment as well as decorate it to appease your companions and make their lives more comfortable. While this is pretty cool, it would be better if you could interact with the things like the TV's or radios or gaming stations (perhaps a meta easter-egg where you can play the game within the game or something). This could add more atmosphere and liveliness to the base.

With all that being said, Chernobylite is great. The game has its flaws but overall delivers with a superb story and atmosphere, coupled with amazing graphics and music as well as having many easter-eggs and references to other games like STALKER and Metro and even popular films and shows. I highly recommend giving it a go if you are a fan of the previously mentioned games, but be ready to expect a different experience altogether.