head to head

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl cover artvsSail Forth cover art

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of ChernobylvsSail Forth

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery); Sail Forth leans Optimization (Practiced Mastery).

EXECUTION5 /10READS1 /10VARIANCE5 /10OPTIMIZATION6 /10
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of ChernobylSail Forth

Axis by axis

Execution5 vs 4

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl leans harder on execution: Ballistic gunplay punishes sloppy aim

Reads1 vs 1

Even - both lean on reads about the same.

Variance5 vs 4

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl leans harder on variance: Anomalies, mutant spawns, and artifact RNG hide information

Optimization6 vs 6

Even - both lean on optimization about the same.

Two games can score the same on an axis and still test it in very different ways - read each rationale, not just the number.

full breakdown

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl

full breakdown

Sail Forth