S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Multiplayer Beta Hands-On

Don’t know about the rest of you, but I had almost given up on S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Sure, the screenshots looked amazing from day 1, but after hearing time and time again how certain features wouldn’t make it into the final product I was starting to have my doubts. The long development time didn’t help either, and it would be fair to say that the game started looking like another Duke Nukem Forever. Then out of the blue came a finalized release date and a semi-open beta. Our regulars will know that THQ have given GAMING HEAVEN 200 keys to give away to join in the fun online. It’s still too early to tell how the game will turn out, but things look promising. If you haven’t yet won a key be sure to check out the daily competitions on GAMING HEAVEN.

Lightning doesn’t strike twice in the same spot

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is one of those games that look a lot better in motion than they do in still shots. This is due to some very impressive dynamic lighting, which is difficult to capture in still pictures, obviously as we are GAMING HEAVEN we have a ton of videos in this preview article so be sure to check them out.

The levels are also filled with animated flora that reacts to players, explosions and other outside forces. All of these effects can be quite demanding, so we decided to test the game on various graphics cards, taking note at how far we could push it. The system used for all the tests was a Core 2 Duo E6700 with 2 gig of DDR2 memory.

The average frames per second are represented with a single number when static lighting was enabled and with a framerate range for dynamic lighting. This is because when dynamic lights are turned on the framerate varies greatly depending on the day/night cycle and the weather.

Maximum quality (High textures, High shadows, Long draw distance)

Graphics Card	Average FPS	Comments
X1950XTX Toxic	27-45 with dynamic lighting	Resolution used was 1600x1200
X1950Pro	15-20 with dynamic lighting, 30 with static lighting	Resolution used was 1600x1200
X1800XT PE	22-30 with dynamic lighting	Resolution used was 1600x1200
X1650Pro	10-15 with dynamic lighting, 22 with static lighting	Resolution used was 1280x1024

 

Medium quality (Medium textures, Medium Shadows, 75% draw distance)

Graphics Card	Average FPS	Comments
X1950XTX Toxic	30-50 with dynamic lighting	Resolution used was 1600x1200
X1950Pro	17-22 with dynamic lighting 35 with static lighting	Resolution used was 1600x1200
X1800XT PE	25-38 with dynamic lighting	Resolution used was 1600x1200
X1650Pro	10-15 with dynamic lighting, 30 with static lighting	Resolution used was 1280x1024

 

Low quality (Low textures, No Shadows, Lowest draw distance)

Graphics Card	Average FPS	Comments
X1950XTX Toxic	33-50 with dynamic lighting	Resolution used was 1600x1200
X1950Pro	17-22 with dynamic lighting 42 with static lighting	Resolution used was 1600x1200
X1800XT PE	32-40 with dynamic lighting	Resolution used was 1600x1200
X1650Pro	10-15 with dynamic lighting, 40 with static lighting	Resolution used was 1280x1024

 

Screenshots of the various settings (keep in mind that all were taken at 1600x1200 to make the differences more noticeable):

SHADOWS ON (High Settings)	SHADOWS OFF (Low Settings)

Observations

On lower end cards the biggest performance boost we got was when we switched off dynamic lights. This made the game look a lot “flatter” and lifeless, as lightning strikes and weapon fire didn’t cast shadows. Changing the different detail settings didn’t affect the performance nearly as much. The visual difference between low, medium and high settings isn’t very noticeable either, provided you don’t mind using lower resolution textures. Most of the 3d meshes seem to remain unchanged, so even when playing at the lowest settings there is a fair amount of detail displayed on the screen. Resolutions didn’t seem to affect the performance much either, as we only lost 2 fps when moving up from 1600x1200 to 1920x1200.

We came across certain issues during our testing. The most annoying one was a display bug which distorted some of the geometry when the game was forced to continuously render different parts of the maps (such as when speed flying around in spectator mode). The issue looks almost exactly the same as when a card is overheating, but since we experienced it with all four test cards (and 3 of them have 3rd party coolers installed) we know that that is not the case – it could be an ATI display bug though. Unfortunately our Nvidia boards were with other DH reviewers at the time of publication but we can look into this at a later date. Another issue we came across is the high performance drop associated with highly populated servers. As several users around the net are reporting, the performance drops drastically when there are more that 16 people on the server. The current theory is that this is caused by the net code as opposed to the game stressing the hardware.

Technically speaking the beta is very impressive and we expected to have more issues with it. The net code is not perfect yet and there are some weird performance drops in certain areas of the maps, but considering this is a work in progress things look very promising.

Gameplay

The game plays similarly to Counter-Strike, as you have to buy your equipment when you spawn. At the beginning of a match you can only choose between some basic weapons, but rising up in ranks (by killing enemies) will grant you access to higher tier weaponry. You also gain access to flashlights, armors, silencers and some other cool gadgets, which can make a huge difference later on.

The pace is somewhat slower than usual and most gung-ho tactics will get you killed. Currently the best way to stay alive is to remain safely behind cover and hope nobody manages to sneak up on you. In regular team deathmatch games I had the highest success rate by staying out of sight and eliminating enemies from afar. Free for all deathmatches proved to be a bit more difficult, as being a lonely camper usually only grants you a kill or two before you are found.

The main focus is on the Artifact Hunt mode though, which is basically a one-flag CTF match. Two teams battle it out, trying to bring the randomly spawning artifact into their base. Here you’ll often be forced to raid a building to get to the artifact and than fight your way out, as your opponents try to prevent your team from getting away with the artifact. Other games had this gamemode before, but I never had as much fun as here, mostly due to the well designed maps and slower gameplay.

Both of the two maps available in the beta are filled with details and are completely open-ended, so you can freely move around the map area. There are plenty of sniper nests placed around the maps, but they are almost always very vulnerable to flank attacks. It also helps that there is plenty of cover everywhere, so you’ll mostly be able to hide from unseen enemies if you are quick enough.

The game offers some interesting gameplay mechanics such as radiation (preventing campers from staying too long in one place) and anomalies. The later range from deadly electric blasts to more harmless gravitational vortexes. A nice touch that affects gameplay is the day/night cycle and the weather system. During the day it can be quite difficult to sneak up to a sniper, but when night falls things are different. Unless you are unlucky and lightning strikes just as you enter the snipers field of view you should be able to come very near without revealing your presence.

There are currently some smaller issues mainly due to latency on highly populated servers, but playing on a 2mbit connection I almost didn’t notice them (the occasional enemy skipped a step or two, but that was it). Other than that the experience is fairly problem free and the money system forces people to behave (as in, it prevents team-killers from ruining everybody’s experience). It’s been a while since I had so much fun in an online FPS - hiding in an abandoned warehouse in the middle of a stormy night and noticing a shadowy silhouette on the wall was quite possibly the best online moment I have ever experienced.

Another Take by Sandok

The multiplayer beta for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. has left me with some very mixed feelings. On the plus side, even after the numerous delays, this game still looks gorgeous, with fully dynamic shadows and great level design, creating a wonderful oppressive atmosphere that fits the game perfectly. I really felt as if I was in the middle of Ukraine, inside a dangerous radioactive zone on the outskirts of Chernobyl, killing other stalkers for my survival. As for the gameplay itself, I was surprised to find a very realistic shooter that required an impressive amount of skill. If you wanted to score kills, each gun needed to be shot in short bursts because of the recoil and given that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is trying to be realistic, only a couple of bullets were required to down enemies.

However, there were a couple of problems during my gaming sessions, most notably a lot of crashing to the desktop. While I do understand that this is a beta, after four years of development, I would have expected something a little more stable. But worse than the annoying crashes was the multiplayer gaming, which lacked finesse and polish. This is mostly due to the netcode, which still needs plenty of work before the game gets ready for production. Then again, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is mostly going to be a singleplayer game, and from what I’ve seen and experienced today, GSC Game World seems to be going in the right direction with their game.

Remember if you want to join in beta testing this game, there are still chances to win KEYS on GAMING HEAVEN, so be sure to visit here for updates and announcements. Discuss the beta on our forums, with tips, screenshots, mirror downloads and other info over here