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» MEDIA (1) Hmm, I may be screwed... but quicksave is like Alt-F4!

So, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl is out this week. FPS with RPG quests and free-roaming? Sign me up! Except, I wasn't told it included a free chance to win a CTD every time i try to quicksave... It's a love-hate relationship, for sure. Love the environments, the immersion, and the whole loner-scavenger bit; hate with a passion the hours gone to waste (of which I have lost count) when a crash comes literally out of nowhere. I can be walking along and BAM! Hello, wallpaper. Want to access your PDA or open your inventory? Denied! "You should just save early and often, dummy!" I would, but the aforementioned quicksave bug has me a little gun-shy.

I have to say, I'm quite disappointed that a game in development for as long as this one has such utterly crippling problems with it. It's bad enough when such a highly anticipated title hits the market so late, it's graphics are dated (the lighting is pretty top-notch, though); but you would think that any extra time they had to spend would actually improve the final product. Apparently, THQ put a mandate on this coming out in Q1 '07 and GSC is expected to devote a lot of support and patching for a while. Here's to hoping I can smack my F6 key in a frenzy, real soon.

UPDATE: It seems that turning down graphics options like texture detail and quantity of grass has prevented crashing and a large majority of stuttering. I'm glad I can play uninterrupted, but I shouldn't have to compromise. Bring on the updates!