(Review of v0.16c)
This is one of those games that are very highly ranked but if you're as skeptical as myself you are prepared to be disappointed when you finally get around to check by yourself what the hype is all about. Well, I can confirm Desert Stalker deserves all the praise I've read so far and then some.
For starters the novella is influenced by the STALKER and Fallout series, and it shows. You are a desert stalker, a seasoned scavenger collecting rare artifacts for the Queen, a spoiled brat ruling the most important settlement in Egypt and its outskirts. Besides the people working for the Queen there are several other factions in this world, including mutants (mostly human members, hidden underground), raiders (pretty much the same as the raiders in Fallout) and the decayed, a bunch of cannibals with bodies deformed by the radiation that happen to control several important resources.
Pretty early in the story you get to decide if you keep being a lapdog for the Queen or if you're rather put her in her place. If you follow the latter path it's quite evident that you are placing yourself and your loved ones in danger, a bit like Maximus in Gladiator, counting mostly on your reputation and skill to press forward and stay alive against all odds.
The first thing to like in Desert Stalker is the setting, the arid Egypt in a post-apocalyptic world where resources are scarce and the rest of the world is gone. You live with your wife and two stepdaughters in a quite impressive homestead given the circumstances. This is the main place that is handled by the sandbox: you select which place to go as new events become available, or you can go outside and travel to new destinations as they become known as part of the story, switching back to novella mode.
As I said, the setting is one of the first things to like. While barren and dangerous, the desert also offers some impressive sunsets, and the developer puts them to excellent use with a few renders sometimes without even printing a single word, giving a masterclass in narrative.
The next thing could be the models. All of your three family members have breathtaking beauty. In your travels you will find other people that you can decide to save from their fate and eventually may help you in several ways; in fact, NOT saving them will change the story significantly, but I'm not spoiling the story for you.
Slavery and brutality is your bread and butter in this world. Any people you "recruit" will technically become your slaves, but you are free to treat them the way you want. Your youngest stepdaughter also doubles as your sex toy right from the start; the local customs allow you to even fuck her in front of a guest visiting your home.
Another influence from the STALKER series is the existence of "zones". As part of the storyline you have trained your older stepdaughter to follow your steps and become a desert stalker like yourself. But she still has to survive a final test: visit one of these zones by herself, complete a mission there and come back alive. The implementation of this part is another great feature of the game because it works in a similar fashion to the character switch in GTA V: by clicking an icon you switch MCs between the main character and your stepdaughter.
As I see it, the blend of experiences from those great games couldn't have resulted in a better novella. From the moment you open the main menu and start listening to the music you know you're about to play something special, and as the minutes and hours pass things only get better and better. The sandbox part has zero grinding because it's limited to only secluded areas instead of spanning the whole game; is also supports repeatable events, so you get to fool around with LIs at home and elsewhere as much as you want as new scenes become unlocked. Considering the premise of the story and the way the game is designed, the possibilities are only limited by the imagination of the developer.
The sound department is also worth mentioning, coming with very fitting tunes. I didn't even check if they're original, I only know that Desert Stalker has great music and good SFX too.
Renders are phenomenal. Models range from great to awesome and the environments in general are outstanding. Animations don't disappoint either; some may be a bit jerky depending on your rig, but even so they are still much more enjoyable and inspired than the average.
Even the amount of content is very generous for such an early version. For me this is one the top 10 games here and I can only congratulate the developer team and everyone who made possible this masterpiece.
