S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
Developer(s)	GSC Game World
Publisher(s)	WW: THQ; UKR: GSC World Publishing;
Director(s)	Andrii Prokhorov; Anton Bolshakov;
Producer(s)	Anton Bolshakov
Designer(s)	Oleksii Sytianov
Programmer(s)	Oles Shyshkovtsov; Oleksandr Maksymchuk; Dmytro Iasieniev; Andrii Kolomiiets;
Artist(s)	Andrii Prokhorov
Writer(s)	Oleksii Sytianov
Composer(s)	Vladimir "MoozE" Frey
Series	S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
Engine	X-Ray Engine
Platform(s)	Microsoft Windows; PlayStation 4; Xbox One;
Release	Microsoft Windows NA: 20 March 2007; AU: 22 March 2007; EU: 23 March 2007; PS4, Xbox One WW: 6 March 2024;
Genre(s)	First-person shooter, survival horror
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl (titled S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chornobyl on consoles) is a first-person shooter survival horror video game developed by GSC Game World and published by THQ in 2007 following a long development. The game is set in an alternative reality, where a second disaster of mysterious origin occurred at the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, causing strange changes in the area around it. The game features a non-linear storyline 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. It is set after a fictitious second Chernobyl disaster, which further contaminated the surrounding area with radiation, and caused strange otherworldly changes in local fauna, flora, and the laws of physics. The background and some terminology of the game are borrowed from the novella Roadside Picnic and its film adaptation Stalker.

A prequel, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky, was released in 2008. A sequel, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat, followed in 2010. There are also multiple fan remakes trying to restore the cut content from the original version of the game.