Настроение сейчас - =)This was an exceptionally brutal category this year, full of extremely worthy nominees. Assassin's Creed puts you in the middle of the 12th century, letting you explore entire medieval cities. Crysis immerses you in a tropical paradise so lush that you'd be forgiven for putting the assault rifle down and basking in the sun. The Orange Box's troika of Half-Life 2, Team Fortress 2, and Portal provide a variety of incredibly memorable settings. And last but not least, there's BioShock, with its incredible underwater city under siege. However, we have to give this award to S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl for providing a world that's so tangibly dreary and sad that it makes Half-Life's City 17 and BioShock's Rapture look like Disneyland in comparison.
Part of the reason that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is creepy is because it's based on a very real and disturbing place: the radioactive exclusion zone that surrounds the infamous nuclear power plant at Chernobyl in the Ukraine. It's a place where humans aren't allowed to live, or even visit for long, because it's simply too "hot" for their safety. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. captures the "ghost town" nature of the zone, from the abandoned cities to the overgrown wilderness. Then, the game adds its own paranormal elements, which help make a spooky environment almost terrifying at times. There are so many exceptional little moments that help make the game feel alive, such as getting caught in a sudden thunderstorm with the wind gusting or stumbling upon a small group of scavengers huddled around a small fire, while one of them quietly plays a guitar. The developers at GSC Game World deserve credit for letting us feel like we're exploring Chernobyl without exposing us to all that dangerous radiation.
[700x525]