A game that feels like it’s been in development for an eternity, Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl arrives several years late and therefore has a lot to live up to.

So as with all over-hyped projects, surely it’s an absolute disaster and the bags of development money should have been better spent on buying dinner for the local old folks’ home, right?

Well actually no, Mr Cynical - we’re pleased to say that this dark and nefarious shooter is a visceral gaming treat.

Slightly more complex than your average first-person shooter (FPS), Stalker takes you to the infamous Ukrainian disaster zone where plenty of valuable scraps have been carelessly left around. As you do your bit for the environment by cleaning up such litter, you begin to discover that it’s not quite as deserted as you were led to believe.

When we say more complex than usual, we’re referring to the slight genre hopping within the game; there’re elements of stealth and role-playing in there, and refreshingly it doesn’t follow a linear path and allows you to explore huge chunks of the area.

The attention-grabbing feature is how dark and eerie the playing environment feels. It’s really quite terrifying, and you’ll quickly feel transfixed in an area of Ukraine that 99 per cent of the population would rather not venture to.

The graphics are extremely impressive, with excellent lighting effects and a mixture of run-down buildings and dying forests. Adding to these atmospheric touches is your Geiger counter, which makes that unmistakable sound, alerting you to the level of radioactive danger surrounding you.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a first-person shooter without some bizarre creatures to point your crosshair at, and the combat is inspired fun. Its main strength lies in the artificial intelligence, as the battles are more aggressive than other FPS games.

But in the midst of warfare, the sense of balance between enemies attacking you all-guns-blazing and holding back to assess the situation is beautifully handled. There are plenty of non-playable characters as well, who have decided that living in the midst of a radioactive alien-infested site is the best place for business. Interacting with these oddballs is part of the game’s charm.

Stalker does have its problems though, although one of them is both a strength and weakness. As aforementioned, the size of the area and the non-linear format offers an unusual and unique playing experience, but sometimes it means that you can get a bit baffled as to what you’re meant to be doing. This isn’t too frustrating at first but after playing for a while it begins to gripe.

There are also a few bugs, and we’re not referring to nuclear-resistant cockroaches. Naturally the better the spec, the smoother the gaming - a 1986 Russian PC won’t suffice for this adventure, you’ll need a more potent binary beast to play this.

So it’s not without its flaws but we found ourselves completely hooked by Stalker's twisted world, and any Half Life or Halo fan should snap it up before the next nuclear winter.

Vista compatible: Yes (with downloadable update)