franchise, set in an alternate reality where a second disaster of mysterious origin occurred at the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, which further contaminated the surrounding area with radiation, and caused strange otherworldly changes in local fauna, flora, and the laws of physics.

The game features a non-linear storyline with 7 different endings and includes role-playing gameplay elements such as trading and two-way communication with non-player characters.

In the game, the player assumes the identity of the Marked One, an amnesiac man trying to find and kill the mysterious Strelok within the Zone, a forbidden territory surrounding the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.

The Zone is based on the real-life Chernobyl Exclusion Zone and is also inspired by fictional works: Boris and Arkady Strugatsky's science fiction novella Roadside Picnic (1972) which was loosely adapted into Andrei Tarkovsky's film Stalker (1979), as well as the film's subsequent novelization by the Strugatsky brothers.

In the game's backstory, after the initial Chernobyl disaster, attempts were made to repopulate the area, primarily with scientists and military personnel.

begins years later, after people have begun coming to the Zone in search of money, valuable artifacts, and scientific information.

[4] As a result of the second disaster, the Zone is also littered with dangerous small areas of altered physics, known as anomalies.

: Shadow of Chernobyl is primarily a first-person shooter survival horror video game, but it also features many RPG elements.

The Zone itself is a large and varied area, consisting of wilderness, human settlements, and several heavily guarded military bases.

Artificial intelligence of wildlife is highly developed and presents many realistic behaviors, such as fights over food and pack mentality, which can be observed in non-scripted events.

[5][6] Most anomalies produce visible air or light distortions and their extent can be determined by throwing bolts (of which the player carries an infinite supply) to trigger them.

During this time, a radiation icon appears on the screen and fades through from green to yellow to red, signifying the strength of the poisoning, which grows the longer the player remains present in the affected areas.

Unless the player dies from damage caused by radiation poisoning, there are no permanent effects from contracting it other than health loss.

The unnamed protagonist is the sole survivor, and regains consciousness in the bunker of a local black marketer named Sidorovich.

However, several militant factions in the Zone, as well as the Security Service of Ukraine, take advantage of this event to enter Pripyat as well and battle for control of the city.

After the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, the Soviet Union used the complete vacancy of the Exclusion Zone for unhindered psionic research purposes.

After fighting his way through large numbers of Monolith gunmen and mutants, Strelok stumbles upon the original seven Soviet scientists, in a state of suspended animation.

The engine features HDR rendering, parallax and normal mapping, soft shadows, motion blur, widescreen support, weather effects and day/night cycles.

[12] As of patch 1.0003 the X-Ray Engine supports "surround screen" monitor setups, including a 16:9 native resolution ratio.

The X-Ray Engine is among the first of its kind to feature real time Global illumination through a method called Photon mapping, the GI system runs entirely through the CPU on one core and was first seen implemented in a beta build as early as 2004 however remained experimental through ShoC development most likely due to its massive performance hit.

Several attack tactics were cut for difficulty reasons, including the ability for enemies to heal wounded allies and give orders.

Bullets are affected by gravity, bounced against solid surfaces at oblique angles, and firearms are highly inaccurate when fired without aiming.

To score consistent hits at medium or long range, players must aim using the iron sights on their guns.

Late-game depends heavily on scoped weaponry due to the well-armed and armored enemies that keep their distance from the player.

[21] In an interview at the Russian Gameland Awards, PR Manager Oleg Yavorsky indicated that release was planned for September 2006.

[23] In February 2009, due to popular demand GSC Game World released "xrCore" build 1935, dated 18 October 2004.

: Shadow of Chernobyl received generally positive reviews, with critics praising the game for its style and depth while criticising technical issues, mentioning the number of bugs present.

It is, however, a respectable and sometimes excellent first-person adventure"[35] whereas GameSpot called it "one of the best ballistics models ever seen in a game, and as a result, firefights feel authentic as you try and hit someone with what can be a wildly inaccurate rifle".

The game features new areas recreated by their true-to-life locales such as Pripyat town, Yanov Railway Station, Jupiter Factory, Kopachi Village and more.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun's Craig Pearson praised many aspects of the 2014 version, but also noted the presence of stability problems and bugs.