Stalcraft PC

Stalcraft is a free-to-play MMO shooter inspired by the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series and Minecraft. It has been in development since 2015, initially as a modification to Minecraft created by Russian fans of this Ukrainian series about the Chernobyl Zone. However, over time, the project transformed into a stand-alone production, although still drawing heavily on the developers' beloved STALKER series.

Plot

As in the series by GSC Game World studio, the action of Stalcraft takes place in Chernobyl, but in the game world, after the catastrophe of the 1980s, a second, much more serious nuclear reactor failure occurred. A huge Zone, stretching for many kilometers, was created around the nuclear power plant, full of mutated creatures and supernatural anomalies and artifacts. The latter, prized by scientists and collectors alike, attracted stalkers - individuals willing to risk their lives to earn a huge fortune for providing such findings.

We learn the story of Stalcraft through story missions and cutscenes, and during the adventure we meet interesting characters and discover the secrets of the Zone.

Game mechanics

The idea behind Stalcraft was to recreate the atmosphere and gameplay of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series in MMO game convention. So we have an open world full of dangers, secrets, interesting characters and quests, but we explore it all in the company of other players. On the one hand, it allows us to find allies, thanks to which it's easier to survive in the Zone. On the other hand: throughout the game we won't find many safe havens, so nothing stops players from attacking each other almost anywhere. There are also warring factions in the game, which further heats up the atmosphere during expeditions to the Zone.

However, Stalcraft is not just PvP. In the game we find a lot of story missions and tasks with AI enemies, including deadly fauna of the Zone. We look for artifacts, hunt mutants and explore unexplored locations and laboratories full of secrets.

Game modes

Stalcraft is pure online production, although - as mentioned - offers not only PvP clashes, but also PvE content.

Technical aspects

Minecraft inspirations can be seen in Stalcraft graphics. The game uses heavily pixelated and angular visuals, and the character models have similarly caricatured proportions as the heroes in the Mojang studio's game. However, not all graphics are based on cubes. Developers have made efforts to ensure that both animations and sounds of weapons were of the highest quality.

In addition, colorful locations and basically comforting creatures are out of the question here. Stalcraft uses a "dirty" graphic style characteristic of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series and the mutant models are much less angular than the player characters. The whole game runs on a custom graphics engine.

Micropayments

As a free-to-play title, Stalcraft has micropayments, but they are fully optional. Everything in the game can be obtained or completed without spending money, whether during exploration or purchasing from NPCs.

Last updated on 24 January 2022