I’m going to put myself on blast here, even at the risk of getting my “gamer” card revoked: I’ve never played Fallout 3. I’ve never played Bethesda’s widely-renowned post-apocalyptic action RPG from 2008. I’ve never walked through the Capital Wasteland that is crawling with atomically mutated monsters, gangs of raiders, or the legendary Deathclaw (which I have only encountered in meme form) – all of which having been brought about by a nuclear fallout. I’ve played a couple hours of Fallout: New Vegas, but it just didn’t hold my interest. I have no doubt that Fallout 3 is every bit as good as everyone says it is. I just don’t have any real inclination to play it.
It isn’t hard to believe, then, that if I were to have come across Chernobylite while blindly perusing the Steam store, I probably would have kept scrolling right on past the science-fiction survival horror RPG from developer The Farm 51. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case. Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to venture out into the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone as I try to uncover the mystery of my character’s past, and, frankly, I never knew I could have so much fun while trying to survive in a nuclear wasteland. While it has its faults, Chernobylite is an ambitious entry into the survival RPG genre, elevated by its immersive setting and equally as enthralling horror tropes.
Upon starting the game, I was a bit uninspired – immediately comparing the game to Metro Exodus. That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I was very much anticipating a game that plucked elements from other similar post-apocalyptic games and mashed them all together. I was quickly proved wrong, however, as I jumped out of my chair (and nearly out of my skin) with an early and wildly unexpected jumpscare that took place. From that point on, I was hooked. Wide-eyed with a rapid heartbeat, my hesitation was replaced with intrigue; my doubt with the belief that Chernobylite might be something special after all. I was right.
You take on the role of Igor – a physicist and former employee at the Chernobyl Power Plant before its demise – who returns to uncover the mystery behind the disappearance of his fiancée that occured three decades ago. It’s immediately clear that something sinister is at play, primarily related to the Chernobylite fragments that possess the ability to teleport people and… other things… to and from another dimensional plane, leaving Igor and his comrades to not only survive against soldiers and the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone’s devastating levels of radiation, but paranormal threats as well.
You’re thrown into the fray right away as you learn the mechanics of the first-person gameplay, which will undoubtedly come as second nature to you if you’ve ever played an FPS or action RPG. You’ll track and pick up resources that can be used for crafting and healing while you explore the mostly non-linear open world. You’ll encounter enemies – both of the human and non-human variety – with different ways of handling each situation. Do you take out the three guards on patrol one-by-one using stealth kill mechanics, or do you take the more overt approach and run straight in with your guns ablazin’? Do you even make an attempt to kill them at all? Chernobylite provides plenty of options that are sure to suit any style of gameplay, which in turn, offers up a relatively decent replayability factor.
Speaking to that, Igor is presented with different choices throughout his journey, some being far more impactful than others. Many of these choices come in the form of branching dialogue options. Other choices come with how exactly you go about your actual mission to investigate your fiancée’s disappearance, which you determine from your base of operations.
I’m a sucker for a good heist game, and that’s really what Chernobylite builds up to. Of course – just like heist setups in GTA Online – you can’t just jump into action without a plan. You need to prepare for your main objective by performing other tasks that help build towards your goal. In Chernobylite, you’ll build up your team and their resources by venturing into the Exclusion Zone and gathering resources or intel with daily missions. You don’t, however, necessarily have to perform every single quest that’s available to you. While any quests that you go on are entirely up to you and your success, you’re shown a success rate percentage for any NPC members of your team. If the percentage is too low, you risk failing that certain mission. Sometimes, it may just not be worth the risk (which I admittedly managed to find out for myself a few more times than I would have liked). I’ve never particularly been a fan of team management type of games (I was nervous about this dynamic based on my utter hatred of garrisons in World of Warcraft), but Chernobylite does well to make its team management system engaging enough without becoming overly burdensome.
Of course, before you head out to slay monsters or gather resources, you’ll need gear. Good gear. That means crafting and upgrading your weapons, skillsm and equipment to give yourself a fighting chance. Chernobylite’s crafting system goes hand-in-hand with its base-building mechanic. You’ll build up your base as you progress through the game, unlocking recipes to enhance your gear. You can craft while out on missions as well, but there’s something about crafting in your own base that feels very Batman or Green Arrow. That might also be due to the fact that whenever I finished crafting (and before hopping into a quest), I would take a moment to look out upon the eerily gorgeous view from my base that overlooked Chernobyl and the surrounding area.
Chernobylite looks fantastic. Whether you’re in the real world, the paranormal dimensional rift, or lost in a hallucination, Chernobylite’s visuals will pull you right in. Character animations aside, it’s clear that a lot of work went into recreating an accurate Exclusion Zone (which was done via 3D scanning). I’ve previously wondered what it would be like to actually be in Chernobyl as it stands now. I can’t help but feel like Chernobylite provides a great depiction of exactly that, especially with the uneasy, lingering feeling that you’re always being watched, followed, or in danger.
In terms of any negatives, I played a final build that still contained a few issues, but none that were overly egregious or game-breaking. There were some misspellings in some of the subtitles, and there were a few times where I would get stuck in place for a few minutes before eventually being able to wiggle my way out. Other than the game having a good number of loading times, most of my playthrough was breezy enough to keep me engaged.
There’s no question that I should have initially given Chernobylite the benefit of the doubt, primarily because the game – even in Early Access – has already been a hit with players, currently sitting at a “Mostly Positive” Steam User Rating prior to its full release. The past few months, especially, have seen an uptick in positive scores, giving a clear indication that the developers have been taking community feedback to heart and implementing the things that players want to see in the final product (beyond any technical fixes).
Chernobylite is special. If you enjoy RPGs that feature things like crafting, base building, team management, and heists, the ambitious Chernobylite is one that you won’t want to miss.
A PC review code was provided to TheGamer for this review. Chernobylite is available now on PC.