14 DAY TRIAL // Getting to the plateau for the third helicopter is where the game really gets interesting in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat, because your only clue is that you need to talk to other Stalkers and find a path up to the crasher chopper. And by some bizarre twist of events, it looks like this info has leaked to the Stalker encampments, because they all start finding things for you to do, tasks that you believe will reward you with a path toward the helicopter upon completion. But they don't. Most of them are just errands Stalkers make you run after because you're gullible.
I ran into a Stalker base that wouldn't even let me talk to them until I brought them food. It was right next to the plateau, so I really thought they would have some information. They didn't have anything. Literally. They were eight people sitting around an abandoned building, guarding the paint not to chip off. No reward for bringing the food, no information on the plateau, no items to be found in the miniature base. So, I had little choice but to go on and look for the next group of Stalkers to talk to.
The next mission that promised results was a rescue attempt. A fellow Stalker was captured and held captive by a gang of bandits. While a diplomatic solution was present in the options, I voted we took the more direct approach, the aggressive one: get inside, shoot anyone that had a gun, and burn the place down when we left just to make our point. So, with about four Stalkers hiding in the bushes behind me, I casually walked right into the bandit camp, demanding that I was there to negotiate the prisoner's release.
It didn't take long after I got in the base for the Stalker team outside to open fire. With them acting as a distraction, I proceeded towards the captive Stalker, knifed one of the guards and turned the other one into Swiss cheese. With the prisoner freed and armed, we started spreading chaos through the enemy's base. With the rest of the team firing from the outside, and with us two attacking from within, while completely outnumbered, we quickly disposed of all the bandits. While this mission didn't give me any information regarding the plateau, it did prove to be an excellent decision to fight the bandits.
In S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games, as in many other RPGs, you tend to never purchase anything unless it's absolutely necessary. And that works great in Call of Pripyat as well. Be it ammo, weapons or food, the Zone provides for you, as long as you do what you should, and "stalk." And an entire bandit camp filled with corpses spells one thing: free loot. I just had to make haste towards the bodies, since the rest of the Stalkers that came with me and survived also started pillaging the dead. Now with a little bit of gear, and a new tip from the barman about a strange, glowing anomaly, it looks like I have another task ahead of me.