S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - I waited 5 years for this?

Wow, does this game suck! I go into everything new with an open mind, but this game truly bites! I find it hard to believe that this game took 5 years to complete, especially considering it took Valve the same amount of time to create Half-Life 2, which still blows my mind to this day.

They offered a "closed" beta of STALKER, which was released to the "lucky" few who got keys a couple days ago. I was able to locate a legit copy on Bittorrent, so I grabbed it and played this morning. I will now list the reasons why this highly anticipated game completely disappointed me.

1.) Graphics - Wow, these graphics are really bad. When you watch trailers for other games coming out this year like Crysis, Cell Factor, Shadowrun etc. you wonder if these guys who made STALKER really think they can compete or even keep someones interest past the demo! I'm going to make a bold statement here, but I honestly feel like I am playing Medal of Honor Allied Assault. I have all the settings cranked as high as they can go, and it still looks grotesque by todays standards.

2.) Physics - Non-Existent

3.) Gameplay - Very archaic feeling. I constantly feel like I don't have any precise control over my character. The movements are very sloppy, and having said that this game is more "run and gun" style reminiscent of the original DOOM circa 1993 .

4.) Sound - What horrible sound effects! Not even a Sound Blaster X-Fi and Logitech THX speakers can save this one!

I am a tough critic, but I am also fair. I know a lot of people who were looking forward to this game, and they are in for big disappointment. To be air, this IS a beta build, but considering the game will be released in just about 1 month I doubt they could polish it much more by that time. Do yourself a favor, and play the demo before you commit to anything. I guess I will have to wait for Crysis or HL2 Ep 2. before I can be blown away again.