Andrei Tarkovsky’s classic 1979 Stalker was a unique masterpiece of cinematography with interesting philosophical and artistic ideas, and one of the few films to have bested the already brilliant 2001: A Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick. If you haven’t seen it, well, do so. What’s more and quite impressively for such a quality movie Stalker has also served as the source of inspiration for a truly rare breed of (first person) shooters: the interesting ones. Or, to be exact, the Ukrainian 2007 open world PC FPS S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl, which incidentally can now be acquired for a very modest price.

Shadow of Chernobyl of course, what with being a video game and thus considering itself a pop offering, doesn’t feature the iconic characters of the Scientist, the Writer or even the oddity that was the filmic Stalker himself, but, make it to the end and you’ll see that the Tarkovsky influence goes beyond aesthetics and a few names. Failing to care about such subtleties, I’m sure you will notice -and appreciate- the game’s amazing atmosphere, moody music, tons of missions, smart AI, huge world, fantastic graphics, excellent combat mechanics and intriguing story. After all, this one could be described as Oblivion with guns.