S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl is set in a future Russia where Chernobyl has suffered a second disaster. Twenty square kilometers of ruined laboratories and irradiated military bases, scorched earth and poisonous fog--"now referred to only as "The Zone"--are cordoned off by the army, and twenty years later only "stalkers" dare breach the boundaries in search of black-market artifacts and to engage in more than a little bloodshed.

Freedom of action and accuracy of environment are the elaborate hallmarks of this ambitious effort from GSC Games. Members of the development team visited Chernobyl, and obvious effort has gone into depicting all the detail of the doomed nuclear plant and its surroundings. The on-demand loading scheme means no jarring, disjointed jump from level to level, and the open-ended environmental design fosters an explorative feeling of open space, vast and dangerous.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. hasn't been in the public eye for long, but has already fostered lots of breathless anticipation, thanks in large part to the incredible level of detail evident in every screenshot. Get up close to friend or foe, and you can read his expression. Gone are the glorified placeholder sprites some games insist oncalling "trees." Hell, the texture work displayed here makes some games look like they were finger painted. Developed in the proprietary "X-Ray" engine, the deadly, detailed characters that infest The Zone will move with fluid, (in)human grace. And as the 3D HRTF aural environment envelopes you, the treacherous wastes of The Zone oscillate from day to night and back again.

GSC Games is clearly interested in sustaining a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. community as well: check out their Web site for more details on the game world, and to get involved in their fan fiction "Literary Creations" contest. Excerpts of the ten best stories will even make it into the finished game!