S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2

[Animalmother]

My fear is that it just won't click with me and end up like my attempts at the original game. At least with Game Pass I can try it out first. I'm guessing the devs where given a descent amount of cash by Microsoft to get it on day one Game Pass, but if it turns out I love it I'll probably buy it at some point.

[Raid]

It'd be nice to know what exactly the internal funding model was for Gamepass; do the devs receive a single fee or is it based on number of users that download it?

I'll doubtless give it a go via Gamepass myself, but this is a style of game that often doesn't work for me. I never played previous games in the series either (for no particular reason that I can remember, other than it being released when I was at university and was mostly playing on consoles).

[Sly Boots]

I'd definitely give Call of Pripyat a go Raid if you've never played one before, I think it's held up pretty well and is kind of a 'greatest hits' of the other games without some of the idiosyncracies that make the first couple of games a more difficult recommendation (though I enjoyed them a lot at the time). I'd imagine it could be gotten extremely cheaply these days, too.

[Maturin]

Call of Pripyat was genuinely one of my all time top 5 PC games. Perfect marriage of immersive first person atmospheric shooter with a semi-open world approach which actually works, in unison with some emergent/AI enemy encounters. It was easily the best Stalker game. I fondly remember the old Preys World thread, where we would often take turns describing the various unique scenarios we would end up in.

It's unforgiving and doesn't hold your hand though. Sometimes you need to know when to turn and run away from combat encounters to live and fight another day.

[eny]

I bought the best digital edition I could afford. I would love to have bought the recently re-released Ultimate physical edition, too, but that is beyond me. Co-op is something long desired in the community. Hopefully, the modders will be able to get on that. If it's possible, they will make it happen.

[eny]

IMO, the best version of the original SoC is the stand-alone mod Radiophobia 3, that has the original storyline, with excluded content, and a couple of mission threads added for the fun of it, all on a 64-bit engine with some decent weapon mod packs included. Very playable and thorough.

[Snowy]

I'd definitely give Call of Pripyat a go Raid if you've never played one before, I think it's held up pretty well and is kind of a 'greatest hits' of the other games without some of the idiosyncracies that make the first couple of games a more difficult recommendation (though I enjoyed them a lot at the time). I'd imagine it could be gotten extremely cheaply these days, too.

Oh goodness me yes,if you haven't you really should. It's a wonderfully atmospheric game. I still have memories that make my gaming brain quiver of an early mission to go to a farmhouse or something (it was years ago, don't judge me). While I was there the mission triggered what was intended and scripted, but at the same time the A-life system also intervened with a group of dog-pig things getting in the mix attacking the bad guys meant to ambush me. It was so organic and perfect.

Some fantastic mods for it too.

[Maturin]

For me, I still vividly remember getting away from a firefight and hiding in some reeds near a lake, with just a few bullets left in my handgun. But I heard something.

I turned around and there was nothing there, but then I noticed some small splashes in the water that were getting closer. It was only one of those cloaked Bloodsucker enemies and the splashes were its footsteps. I'm struggling to remember what happened next, I think I also had 1 grenade left on me and I managed to escape somehow.

More exciting than any scripted event in any other game.

[eny]

That first bloodsucker down Agroprom underground....hurrrrgi-hurrrrrgii- hurgi HELLO! nom-non-nom-nom-nom....I will remember the terror for ever!

[Snowy]

Yep you could never take anything for granted, the game's spawns could be anywhere at any time. Fabulous game.

[eny]

I remember that first walk back to the Stalker Village at night. I was genuinely super-sensitive to everything in the game in those moments, not a shot fired, not a sound unheard, not a silence unterrified!

[eny]

Fans share their love of the last 17 years of the games:

[Animalmother]

I installed Call of Pripyat yesterday. Within the first 5 minutes I was ambushed by a bloodsucker and had to find shelter from a huge radiation storm. Ran inside a building which had about 8 bandits sitting around a campfire, got utterly shot to shit almost instantly. This is pretty much the same experience I had with the first game.

[Rusty]

I too installed that yesterday. Fought a bloodsucker but luckily had the help of 4 stalkers so we finished it off. I then died in that radiation storm thing.
i then went and looked for mods and found Stalker Anomaly. No idea what it is but it seems like a heavily modded version of the very first game.

[eny]

Anomaly is basically all the maps of the 3 stories stitched together, with EFT micro-management and weapon pack systems, but without the story. It has 7 factions in all, some unlocked by "mission" threads for each faction. It is a STALKER sandbox. If you want an "original" experience, download Radiophobia 3 from the Discord that created and supports it. It is a phenomenal iteration of SoC.

https://discord.gg/fkHNrsAGMT