Survarium

Lawnachaun

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJuUo4P2zXU&feature=player_detailpage

Survarium

Release Date: "Late 2013"

Developer / Publisher: Vostok Games

Platforms: PC Exclusive

Price: Free-to-Play

Genre: MMOFPS

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Survarium is the spiritual successor to the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series of PC games. This game started off as the the 4th game in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series, which, strangely, was going to be called S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, even tho it was the 4th game. But that was back when it was still being developed by 'GSC Game World', who made the first 3 games.

GSC Game World was actually going to port S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 (even tho it was part 4), to the Xbox 360. However, the game was later put on hold, and then cancelled, then restarted again, then cancelled again. All because GSC Game World as a company was having issues. They didn't have the manpower to complete the game. Eventually, GSC Game World shut down. However, a lot of the team that was a part of the GSC Game World team created their own, brand new, company, and named it Vostok Games. They retained the rights to the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series, and decided to continue work on the game. However, this new company has made no plans to port the next game in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series to any home consoles. It's sticking with the PC platform.

"S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2" (again, actually S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 4... similar to how the Xbox One is the 3rd Xbox), was started as S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, for a while. However, Vostok Games later cancelled that game all together, and instead just changed it to Survarium. So it's officially not "S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 4" anymore, it's now the first game in a new "spinoff" series. However, the team considers it the "spiritual successor" to the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games.

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For those familiar with the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games, you'll see a lot of similarities, as this game takes place in the same environment, with a lot of the same elements and features. Not exactly 100% the same, but familiar enough.

For those unfamiliar with the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games, here's a quick breakdown of the series. I'll put it in a spoiler, to help separate it from the rest of the text, as this may get a little long.....

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Scavengers, Trespassers, Adventurers, Loners, Killers, Explorers, Robbers
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The background story of this game series is about the real Chernobyl disaster. It's the famous Russian Nuclear Power Plant that had an explosion, which released large qantities of radioactive particles into the atmosphere, and covered the land in radiation. So it uses a famous "backdrop" as part of its story, but it focuses on an "alternate future", where the radioactivity has mutated animals into different, more dangerous, creatures and created environmental anomalies that are also dangerous. However, it also created new artifacts, that are highly valued. So people trek into these dangerous radioactive zones to find hidden treasures. Tho most don't make it out alive. It also has real life locations in the game, including the infamous power plant and other recognizable landmarks and buildings from the region. Interesting story. At least, I thought so.
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Also, besides just the real life Chernobyl incident, this game was also loosely, very loosely, based off of a book, and movie. The book is called "Roadside Picnic", and is about aliens, mostly. Tho there are no aliens in these games. Just mutants. However, the book also has "anomalies", which have a heavy presence in the games. The basic story of the book, in a nut shell, is that aliens come down to Earth, and visit certain areas, and when they leave, they leave behind some of their artifacts, which, to us, have supernatural properties. However, the book likens the idea of these aliens visiting Earth to that of a traditional "picnic". In that, the Aliens come down for a picnic, pay no attention to us, and then leave, much the same as we would go into the wilderness, have a picnic, and not pay attention to the bugs roaming around. That's the idea behind the book, mostly. In both cases, however, we humans would leave trash and things like that left behind, which are foreign to the bugs, much like the aliens would leave stuff behind that are foreign to us. Tho, to be honest, I have not read the book myself.

The "Roadside Picnic" book was then turned into a movie, called "Stalker". Tho that was "loosely based" off of the book. It keeps the anomaly idea, of things being left behind, or created, and combined it with the history of the Chernobyl incident. Making the anomalies created by the Chernobyl incident itself, bot directly and indirectly, and left around all over the area. There is a guy, who is a "Stalker", who is basically a "guide" to the danger zone. This Stalker is hired by 2 people to take them into the "Zone" (radiation zone filled with anomalies). It is rumored that there is a room there that can grant wishes to whoever steps inside. One of the men is a Writer, while the other is a Professor. The professor wants to find out the truth behind the legends of the area, while the writer is there to document everything. The guide helps them evade the military guards roaming around the area, and takes them into the danger zone. There, he tells the 2 men that there are invisible dangers, so they must throw nuts and bolts to move forward. If nothing happens, its safe to move forward. If something reacts to the nuts and bolts, its not safe to go that way. That same mechanic is in the game to. Once they reach the door to the room, you find that the professor actually brought a bomb and wanted to destroy the wish granting room, to prevent evil people from reaching it. But after fighting and arguing, he decides to dismantle the bomb, and nobody enters the room out of fear of the room itself. Back home, the "stalker's" daughter is shown to have some psychokinetic powers. The end. Weird movie. Mostly boring, to be honest. I did see this movie. A LOT of sitting around and talking by the characters. Even when moving through the "danger zone", they spend most of the time just sitting around and talking.

Both the book, and the movie, are Russian made. There was a second book written, however. But it's a novel of the movie, based on an early script for the movie. I didn't read this book either.

Then, the games came, which are loosely based on the ideas from the movie. The games I enjoyed much, much more...

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(S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 1) - (spoiler free)
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl - In this game, you play as a character who has woken up from after an incident, and thus, you have no memory of who you are, where you are, or what's happened. Upon regaining consciousness, you find orders on your PDA (where you get all of your missions from), to kill a person named Strelok. So, since that's the only clue or information that you have to go on, you set out on your journey to kill Strelok. Along the way, you learn about the "Zone", and it's many hidden dangers, as well as all of the different creatures and warring factions, as well as all of the hidden treasures, where you can make lots of money off of. The more you help each faction, the higher your reputation gets with each faction, and thus, the more access they give you to their weapons and equipment. However, the factions are mostly against each other, so if you help one, by hurting another, you lose reputation with the one you hurt. Damage your reputation with them enough, and not only will they not help you, and not talk to you, but they can actually turn on you, and attack you, without any questions asked anytime they see you. All the while, going from place to place, trying to survive everything, you're also trying to find this Strelok person. There are different army factions, who control different regions, who hate each other, and other Stalkers, who are out for themselves, and even Bandits, who don't like anybody. So, lots of fighting and surviving. Different people lead you in different directions, telling you they think they heard that Strelok went here, or he went there, or he was there at some point. Strelok, you find, is a legendary "Stalker", who has been to, and seen, some unreachable and forbidden places. The forbidden place is rumored to have a room with a wish granter, what will grant the wishes of whoever steps inside. But it's all a legend. And then, you work your way to find out what's really happened and what's really going on. All the while, finding and collecting new gear and weapons, to survive not only the environment, but against the other human factions and evil creatures.

------- Very, very good game, overall. A little buggy at times, but, overall, one of my all time favorite PC games. I loved the atmosphere and environment. I loved the controls. I loved the story. I had a very, very good time playing this game. And, there are 6 different endings, depending on what you do in the game. So it definitely has replay value. Also, there are many mods to help make this game better too, including improving it's performance, as well as graphics, as well as adding new weapons and things like that.

(S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2) - (spoiler free)
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky - This game was the weakest of the trilogy, in my opinion. Not "bad", just not as good as the others. It's also a Prequel to Shadow of Chernobyl. As a prequel, obviously, it takes place before the events of the first game. This time, you are a guy named Scar. He, too, survives an incident (although different incident), at the beginning of the game, before you take control. Only, he doesn't lose his memory. In this game, you survive another incident early on, and the faction that rescued you after the first incident is named Clear Sky (which is not a faction that is present in the first game, although, they are also stationed in a new section of the game that wasn't in the first game, either). This group, since you seem to survive these environmental emissions, tasks you with finding out the source of these emissions, and trying to stabilizing them, before they get out of hand. So you have to survive this land, just like the first game. There are some new areas. However, at least have of the game takes place in the exact same areas as the first game. Tho, slight changes made here and there. Just minor stuff, mostly. Anyways, while trying to find your way to the source of these emissions, you hear about the legend of Strelok, from the first game. You hear about him reaching the unreachable forbidden section of the "zone", which is the exact same area as the first game, and you decide to try and track him down to find your way to the same area. In the end, the ending of this game leads to the beginning of the first game.

---------By and large, this game felt like part 1, as you had to do, and go, to a lot of the same places. Which is why it felt weaker, as you felt like you were playing the same game half of the time. The first area is vastly different from anything in the first game. And, there's a new weapon for you to use too. However, once you get to the next area, you find your in the same starting area as the first game, and it's a lot of repetitive things. Tho, there were some new areas or paths here and there. But still. There were the same or similar factions, same or similar areas, same or similar objectives. Only this time, you know who you are, however, again, you are still trying to find or hunt down Strelok, only this time, to try and save the land. Good game, but not great. I felt part 1 was better.

(S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 3) - (spoiler free)
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat - This game is the proper sequel to Shadow of Chernobyl. Some like this game better than part 1. Others like part 1 a little better. But everybody (the vast majority, anyways), all consider 1 and 3 to be better than 2. Me included. In this game, the events of the first two games have already happened. The government then decides to send in their military to investigate exactly what is going on in this "zone". After the Chernobyl incident, the government had evacuated and quarantined off the area. However, because of the riches that could be found there, many people decided to enter the "zone" at their own risk. Creating their own military factions, and Stalkers, and what not. The government, up to this point, had no involvement with the area. Just letting the area be a free for all, every man for themselves area. However, after word of everything that's been happening in the "zone", and the artifacts that can be found, and what not, the government, in this game, has finally decided to send it's own military into the safe areas of the "zone" in order to figure out what's going on there. However, all of their military helicopters that they sent into the safe zones were all taken down somehow. The government doesn't know how, or why, they went down, or what the status of their men are. So, they hire an 'ex-Stalker', named "Major Degtyarev" (which is you), into the zone. They figure, you are an ex-Stalker, so you know the land and how dangerous it is. So you are tasked with going into the zone, and investigating what happened to their military units. And that's what you do. You get dropped off on the outskirts of the land, with the roughly known last location of each of the helicopters. All spread out throughout the "zone". So, you work your way to each of the helicopter crash sites, trying to find out how, or what, took them down, and where the crew are, or what happened to them. All the while, trying to survive the harsh environment, and the different factions and creatures in the game. Tho, there are new weapons, and, those weapons are now upgrade-able and customize-able. You also meet new people along the way, and there are multiple endings to this game too. All depending on how you treat different people, what their status is at the end of the game, and what you do yourself. After fighting your way into the zone in order to investigate what has happened, you then have to fight your way out.

---- Another fun game. I liked that it had the same great gameplay, but they mixed it up a bit. All brand new areas. No area in this game was in the first or second game. So that was nice. Also, they upgraded the interactions with the different factions, and, upgraded the whole weapon and gear system, for the better. It has a lot of the same enemy creatures, but, also some brand new creatures too. New anomalies and artifacts, as well as the old ones. And, above all, it wasn't the same story. You are a character who doesn't care about the zone (which is why he left), who doesn't care about what's happening there, and isn't trying to know more about the area. He's just concerned with getting in, completing his mission, staying alive, and getting out of there. So it plays out more like a rescue and survival game than an exploring and scavenging game. Tho, it still has lots of exploring and scavenging as well.

(S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 4)
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 - Why they were going to call this game, "Stalker 2", I have no idea. "Stalker 2" makes about a much sense as Microsoft naming the 3rd Xbox, Xbox One. Seems completely random, and completely out of place. Oh well, I guess we'll never know, as the game is no longer "Stalker 2", as that game as been officially canceled, and turned into what is now known as Survarium.


Survarium - This game a "spiritual sequel" to the Stalker series. It's not a direct Stalker game, but it does have the same atmosphere, and a lot of similar looking areas. However, this game doesn't seem to be a singleplayer game, like the previous Stalker games. All of the previous Stalker games had both, a singleplayer offline mode, and, an multiplayer online mode. Survarium, on the other hand, is solely an online only game, with different game modes. Here is an exert from the official website....


Survive!

Survarium is an online massive multiplayer shooter with first-person view. The events take place in the near future in the aftermath of an ecological catastrophe, in a world where only one man out of a hundred survived, in a world where anarchy and chaos reign, where every step can kill you, where every hour you have to prove your right to live!

The game takes place on dedicated maps offering the survivors a variety of tactical options, secrets and valuable story-related information. Deadly traps await the unwary players among you. It is time to adapt to the conditions of a new world and to survive!

Fight!

Survarium offers several game modes designed for both veterans of online shooters and newcomers just revealing in the atmosphere of the captivating virtual world.

Team play. It won’t take long before an anomalous storm starts, so your team needs to hurry and get prepared. Explore the location, find objects/items that will help your team survive, deliver those to the base and protect them from the enemy. The variety of tactical options, interesting maps and unique play-mode await you and your teammates!

Co-operative playthrough.. The new world withholds multiple mysteries. Will you be able to solve those and shed light on the reasons behind the catastrophe? Complete a string of in-depth missions designed specifically for co-operative playthrough; learn the interesting background story to the world that barely survived the apocalypse.

Free play. Will you be able to survive, to fulfill your mission alongside other adventurers, when everyone is out for themselves? An unpredictable struggle for survival among perished cities, locations and towns. Dive into virtual reality where you are not alone. Explore to accomplish tasks on a big map alone or with allies, the choice is yours.

Explore!

The new world hides many secrets. Some may kill you and
some may indeed save you. Research the mysterious anomalies, procure and collect artifacts, which in tough moments, can save you from inevitable death.

Use the data from scanners, detectors and various other devices that have survived in the new world, in order to assist research in being more effective and raise your chances of survival.

Evolve!

With every situation your character increases his experience and gets stronger. Develop your hero by improving his skills in any of the five directions available: firearm training, physical training, technical skills, medical skills and the art of survival. Discover unique abilities to help you tip the balance of power in your favor. Who will you become? – A keen sniper, a fearless assault fighter, a scout, an artifact seeker or a master of them all? – It’s up to you.


Personally, I would of loved a "Stalker 4" singleplayer/multiplayer game. However, because I still like the gameplay of the Stalker franchise, I might try this game out, just out of loyalty to the brand, even tho this isn't exactly a Stalker game, but more of a spin-off. I don't have an exact launch date, but it should be relatively soon. Before the end of the year, at least. So, if you're interested, or loved the Stalker games, this game might be for you. If you haven't played any of the Stalker games, go back and play them. I highly enjoyed them. hopefully, you will too. Either way, where you jump into this new Suvarium, or if you go back to the older S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games,... enjoy.
 

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