Hey guys the whole Stalker Series is on sale right now! If you were thinking about taking a trip to the zone, now's the time! Stalker SoC - af.gog.com/game/stalker_shadow_of_chernobyl?as=1672895661 Stalker Clear Sky - af.gog.com/game/stalker_clear_sky?as=1672895661 Stalker CoP - af.gog.com/game/stalker_call_of_pripyat?as=1672895661
Hey I'm kinda new to the game I just started playing it absolutely loving it by now but I'm in a bit of a dilemma.I found myself at the army warehouses and kinda want to help duty but every time I do either they all get killed of or somehow it won't let me finish the quest when i need to kill lukash a little help would be appreciated thanks in advance 😊i
Baffles me as well, maybe the games he covers are (sadly) concidered "niche" by average gamers :/ was happy to see he cracked 100k subs lately tho. He will get there eventually
I visited Chornobyl as a student back in 2009 - it was an incredible trip. At the time Stalker was still extremely popular in Ukraine, so you would see some guys from the group taking pictures wearing gas masks and crawling among decrepit buildings like snorks lol. Most memorable places would be Prypiat and Cnpp itself - I have a pic with a Geiger counter in my hand right in front of the 4th reactor - I’ve travelled buttload of places since, but that feeling was kinda unforgettable
@@AvalancheReviews funniest thing, I still remember how much it cost me back in the day… 20 USD! Included transfer from Kyiv and guided tour. Heard they charge enormously when it comes to foreign visitors… such is the old tradition of my homeland. I live in Australia now, but if you need any help while booking your tour, contact me and I will help you
@@sirock7003 no, same price for everyone. Exception - translator, if you require it. Nowadays prices are ~40-50 USD. Went to the Zone last april. Even was invited to work as english-speaking tour guide, but it's scary shit (for health) and you have to live in the Zone for 15 days/month. So i refused(
That awkward and soul destroying moment when you realize you gotta kill the guitar guy, to complete a mission you took on without realizing where it would end. :’(
I didn't realise the Strugatsky brothers wrote the screenplay for Stalker. Or maybe I did? The Zone effects you in strange ways. The story behind the shooting of Stalker is quite mad. The version released was actually the 3rd attempt at filming! There's a short documentary someone made about it on here which is worth a watch. Edit: ua-cam.com/video/lhK7hMBli4s/v-deo.html
Stalker and Metro made me appreciate the extra immersion by having a non english language. It made the alienation and mystery even more immersive. Also learned a bit along the way because of it. svoboda!
@@darkcheaker Well stated. I have sponsored a Russian Festival here in Michigan and I have attended it 5 times and I am always on my best behavior, like everyone there. A nice family atmosphere, with lots of shashlik and pelmeni. I'm of Polish descent and I want peace among the Slavs, so I also don't say KURWA to any Russian I meet.
I bought all 3 Stalker games from a sale years ago and finally got around to play them. I finished Call of Pripyat yesterday and i have to say i absolutely loved them. I played vanilla versions and even tough the jank was there it wasn't as bad as i expected
@@ahugefan7059 Same, for all the research this reviewer did, it's a damn shame he never looked into this myth either. (Even if a lot of it feels like a discount Sseth.)
@@firestarter6488 I can't blame them for the mistake too much, I was under the impression myself because to me the game kinda *felt* that way when playing. Until I saw that one random reddit post which delivered numbers and facts.
I appreciate you getting into Roadside Picnic and Stalker. Stalker is one of my favorite films of all time. If people like it Tarkovsky’s Stalker, they should also check out his Solaris.
@@AvalancheReviews if you appreciate Stalker, then you'll love Solaris. Story wise, it is a little less esoteric than Stalker, but still has a lot of characteric Tarkovsky styling. Visually stunning with every shot clearly thought out fully. Amazing acting. My Russian ex told me the lead is a very famous Soviet actor. Also, if I remember right, The Professor from Stalker is in the film as one of the scientists at the space station.
Let me counterpoint by saying that I found the Stalker film overrated. Interesting and worth a watch for sure - aesthetically it's amazing - but unnecessarily long, slightly pretentious and too much of a pamphlet for the director's own religious beliefs. The book felt brilliantly simple in comparison.
As much as I love SoC the first hour or so of gameplay is absolute torture that I dread going through despite having played the game numerous times. The first bandit camp, the shootout at the salvage yard and the god-awful military base are nothing short of torture. The worst part is when you clear an area, grab the item you came for and the radar bleeps and spawns 20 guys on top of you.
To be honest, that's how it is in vanilla. With a good mod, that first fight with the bandits in cordon is much more fun and fast paced. It's more dynamic and satisfying since enemies can actually reliably be killed by the starting pistol.
Now... let's just hope STALKER 2 is the same but with less bugs. Also (for anyone reading this) play STALKER and once your done go get a mod called Anomaly.
@Brupcat My thing is - there's literally never been a stalker without jank, so will the new game really 'feel' like stalker without these constraints? Kinda a philosophical quandary, be it a dumb one. I don't want them to actively make the game buggy on purpose to fulfill some farcical brand-identity but I've always seen stalker's jank as a side-effect of the sheer magnitude of their ambition with the game, and that sense of cavalier exploration within the industry is something I think IS important to keep - even if the logical conclusion is something like Cyberpunk 2077. People were expecting a polished AAA game with Cyberpunk, hence the fiasco - stalker can afford to have eyes bigger than its stomach since that shouldn't surprise anyone who knows the franchise.
What a banger review, it's hard to explain why so many people love this series, but I think you're finally the one who could put into coherent words I for one fell in love with Stalker because of the visual style, that "Post Soviet, Eastern European, Half Life 2" look is just something special, The Zone feels so alive despite of how dead it looks and it's weather effects and environmental sounds makes modern games with 1000x times the resources look actually dead in comparison I also have Stalker to thank for introducing me to other fantastic media from Eastern Europe like the Metro series, Pathologic, Cryostasis and some others
Its so nostalgic seeing a lot of these mods I remember being part of the discussion back in the old STALKER forum days. I physically did not make any but fondly remember spending hours discussing the mechanics of them with some of the modders. Still in awe how much love and craft these guys put into their work for literally no profit, just love of the games!
STALKER games are the type that just stay installed forever, right up there with Deus Ex and Morrowind. You'll always get the urge to revisit every year or so.
Great video! Been a huge STALKER junkie since early 2007, and it's quite delightful to see it become one of the main pillars of PC gaming. Also, as the creator (or more like assembler) of the very first version STARTER PACK (circa 2011), I'm honestly quite shocked of how the latest iteration looks like. Besides really eating away the vanilla looks, that overkill bloom (dear god those flashlights!) and the de-saturated shadows just kill my eyes. 49:18 that "shadow stretching" issue is easily fixed by typing these two lines into the game's console (~ key in US, § key in Europe): r2_sun_near 20 r2_sun_near_border 1
This mod definitely makes a lot of changes to some pretty core presentation elements. I'd rather have the arsenal and sound effects, along with some of the bug fixes. The new skins and contrast changes are pretty hard to look at sometimes. Also, I'm glad people in the comments told me about those console commands because that problem has been bothering me for years. HA! I thought there was no fix for it.
Big Kudos for doing such great in-depth dives into these games, really great stuff. Would be interesting to hear your take on the absolutely insane mods available to the whole series but just seeing my favourite first-person series given love is enough.
This was an amazing game. Got to experience it when it first came out on a pretty beefy rig. Loved it. I remember going and doing a mission for the people at the base camp through the tunnel. When I got back the whole town had been wiped out by dogs! I was blown away that shit like that could happen randomly. Amazing.
5:30 Lol, i visited the Chernobyl exclusion zone illegally and its so true, even the guards who catched us called us stalkers lol, even the news called us stalkers lol
The best part about Stalker is even though we the players walk the same journey to find Strelok,the path that each of us take and the journey that each of us went on will be completely different.You will have a story of your own to tell and to me that's one of the best thing about Stalker.
I bought all 3 games for like $2-3 each during a Steam sale a decade ago. I replay them every year. Hundreds of hours of fantastic gameplay for a few bucks. I play SoC with Autumn Aurora mod.
AA is a great mod. Probably my favorite. If it didn't make changes to the color pallet and environment, I would have used it for this playthrough as well.
@@AvalancheReviews hey dude I was just wondering where you stream? I checked your twitch channel but no activity there it seems. Are they only available to patrons? Thanks for the awesome content!
I will watch just about any review of this series. Such an incredible game. I remember playing it for the first time, turning the lights off, putting my headphones on, and playing all night. This is the first game I remember creating an atmosphere for me where I nearly felt like I was in the world.
I recently bought the STALKER collection on steam but waiting to enjoy them again on the Steam Deck when I have something better than a paperweight with a screen
Let's go, I'm super pumped for this review. I can't think of many other people I'd wanna listen to talk about this game. Started playing this summer and have been having a blast
@@BaldingSasquatch yeah it's super irritating when a stranger thinks that complaining about how saying "let's go" is a worthy use of their time. Just words, shouldn't bother anyone
I played Stalker SoC for the first time when I was 7 or 8 years old at my friends house on his laptop in Russia, when my family and I visited there during summer vacation. I'm 23 now and I'm still playing it every year, trying out some mods (even Russian ones) every now and then. Especially the Anomaly mod is such a great thing to happen to this franchise! Your review is really well made and I can see that you enjoyed your stay in the zone aswell. Loved it!
In my first play through I annihilated duty because they shot one of my buddies. The rankings were dominated by them. Now I own the top spot with loners/freedomers taking the rest of the leaderbourd. Never thought I could destroy a faction that thourgly
The earliest memory I have of STALKER SoC is buying a physical copy at a supermarket. That was in 2009 I think and even back then I bought it for only 10$ or something. Since then I had sold it because I could never really get into it. Fast forward to 2020 during the pandemic. I bought it again on GOG, I fell in love and played through it. When it comes to immersion, no other game (that I've played) even comes close to STALKER for me. These days I play Anomaly when I feel an itch for some STALKER. This game deserves all the love it can get. Great video, dude!
I played it at launch, but I can't for the life of me remember where I got it from. I think somewhere like EB Games in the mall. Either way, yes you are totally correct. Nothing touches it in terms of immersion. I'm playing a bit of Anomaly in between capturing footage of these games right now. I love it!
I played six hours of Anomaly and am shocked that this is the only game world that actually feels like it is living. Like the next town is actually getting invaded by bandits, while im picking flowers somewhere else on the map. Also, I dont know if it was really mentioned, but this is terrifying. Like, weirdly, natrually scary, not relying on planned jumpscares, but just keeping you at butt clenching tension throughout the game.
I started watching you I think back in 2019, around the time some serious shit was going on in my life, and your videos have helped me get by that craziness, even if they were a simple distraction. That being said, your reviews are always very thorough, and I really enjoy them, I hope you keep it up! I'm really glad to see your growth as well!
Not sure if you'll see this mate but I wanted to say THANK YOU for creating this video and for agreeing to dive into the analytical monstrosity that is the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series. You put so much thought and effort into your reviews, and unlike many similar channels you actually provide thorough support for the reasons you view these games in the way that you do. You often reflect on/mention the fact that some aspects of your reviews are more a free-flowing stream of consciousness than anything more simple and precise as you are clearly grappling with the struggle of trying to put your admiration for a game you've always loved into words. I think many of us struggle with this idea of reflecting upon a game we love and always knew we loved, but we can't quite seem to find the perfect words to convey WHY we love said games. Above all else, your love or scorn of the games you review is always readily apparent and clearly conveyed and even for games that I haven't played before, your perspective perfectly illustrates to me the value in revisiting some of these older games. Your level of depth in these retrospective reviews is simply unparalleled and warrants attention as any series you touch upon is blessed by the exceptional level of detail you offer in your reviews.
So glad you mentioned the Tarkovsky film at the beginning. It is such an amazing movie. See also his great, albeit looong, Solaris based on the novel by Stanislaw Lem. Enjoyed the video. Thanks!!!
Been saving good videos like these for when i'm on the exercise bike so sorry i didn't watch it sooner, i love interacting with great channels. I love every aspect of your retrospectives and this is one of my favourite FPS games. There are so many imperfections to this game but they are easily over shadowed by the great stuff. The weapons don't feel vanilla because you feel like you life depends on them. I love the factions, the anomalies, the artefacts, the story progression. There are some memorable areas and missions, but there's something I love about raiding the farm with a pistol, 24 bullets, 6 bandages and a wool jumper. I also loved the Oblivion lost mod, I almost messed my trousers during with the alterations to the X-16 lab mission. Smooth work as always.
Started watching this, and am enjoying learning about the zone some more, though just got to 40:40 and wanted to mention this quickly as I watched another video that disproves this. No, master difficulty does not increase the damage enemies take, it only does so for yourself.
The book is incredible, I just love the descriptions of all the weird stuff and how none of it gets fully explained, it gives a great sense of power to the beings that did all of these weird experiments. Like the incidental detail that everyone near a zone gets quarantined there because if any of them leave the amount of "natural" disasters starts going up with no clear explanation. And it only stops when the people get put back. How does that even happen? What kind of energy could these people be affected by that makes that work? Terrifying.
You know that meme where the kid is sitting on the couch gaming and his parents are fighting/telling him he is useless; then in the next pannel he is gaming and the game says "well done" and he feels validated? That was me with this game for me. An escape. And it will always be (along with oblivion) the game for me, I escaped to the zone from a shitty time in my life. Just hearing the music Makes me feel at peace and slightly sad at the same time.
Very nice! There's so many games I never got because either they're on PC and I don't have one, or they were poorly reviewed at launch and I forgot about them.
There aren't many games that I can think of that demand the player work for success the way that SoC, and the STALKER series as a whole, does. I remember bouncing off it the very first time I played it; the first sortie at the Vehicle Station/Carpark was too tough! Some time later I tried again, defeated the bandits, and felt compelled to continue. Merely surviving the Zone was, and is, immensely satisfying.
For everyone, who wants Stalker atmosphere bumped up to 1000%, check out Vector Of Alienation mod. It's branch of Oblivion Lost remake project, which aims to restore original concept of the game from 2002-2003. The Vector itself adds perfected static lighting and OG literature scenario back from 2003. Without a doubt, my best Stalker expirience for now.
Does it have a spawn menu as a default feature? If not, then can it be spliced with Atlas Spawn? That sort of thing is fun for those of us who like to create Zone Sportsmanship Challenges (which I've been trying to resurrect).
@@AvalancheReviews Over 8000 hours in total including Lost Alpha, Misery, Call of Pripyat, Clear Sky, etc. I spent 4 years taking care of my sick dad at home and spent a lot of it in the zone..
I remember playing this before fallout 3 and thinking how much it reminded me of FO1 and 2. I was so hyped to have such amazing systems in an FPS game where I actually had to SURVIVE while maintaining myself and my weaponry. Could go off and explore and do all sorts of cool things in a world SOAKED with atmosphere. To me it essentially was Fallout 3, it's what I wanted from the next game in the series, at least many of these elements. What we got instead was a watered down Oblivion with guns. It was fun, I enjoyed it enough, but it paled horribly in comparison. And yeah, I know Fallout is meant to be more "roleplaying" but in a way... it kinda wasn't. All I know is I was disappointed and the games never really got better. Yeah, New Vegas was "cool" had more elements of 2 thanks to Obsidian, but even still.. Guess what I'm getting at is... I have high hopes for STALKER 2, and have been eagerly awaiting for it. We really haven't had much else that's like this series. All the jank in the world really couldn't stop me from enjoying them.
I was hard into SoC at the time, and when I finally played FO3 I was so disappointed. Stalker had spoiled me, and I could only put like 30 hours into FO3 until I just went back to Stalker. They do different things for sure, but most of what FO3 was trying to accomplish, was already perfected in Stalker.
Fantastic game! Played it and Call of Pripyat for the first time ever in 2018 and thorougly engjoyed them. Very impressed by the graphics and the immersion is really next level.
Excellent retrospective as always Jared! By the way, the Nöosphere was a "field" hypothetized by chemist and geologist Vladimir Vernadsky. Generally speaking, it would be Earth's "thinking stratum", including various components, such as industry, language, and other forms of rational human activity". Very interesting stuff!
Been playing through the Metro series this Christmas and by doing so, I started thinking a lot about Stalker. I played through Shadow of Chernobyl back in 2013 and I remember being both incredibly intimidated but also extremely fascinated. I spent about 27 hours in the zone, but there are a lot of moments etched into my mind. Raiding a bandit infested factory, meeting my first controller and being absolutely terrified, storming the Chernobyl power plant. These past few days I’ve been researching mods, finding out about anomaly and gamma and I’m just awed at what stalker has become. I’m just about to start and play through Metro Exodus, but once that’s wrapped up and finished, I’m going to replay shadow of Chernobyl, and really take my time to discover and experience the zone. Man, I’m really excited
It's really stellar to see a bro with the same passion for STALKER as me. I still watch the movie on every rainy sunday, I've read the book countless times aswell. As for mods, I've played almost every mod there is, when I ran out of ones I could find on the english web, I stepped over to the russian forums and had a field day all over again. There really isn't anything else in the world that delivers the way STALKER and its associated media's do. Excellent video my friend.
Played this for the first time and I love it. Looks great for its time and the gunplay is awesome. Started on veteran and will probably switch to master pretty soon. Can't wait to play the other 2!
I had this random thought pop into my mind that I wondered if there was a STALKER retrospective. Then I forgot. A day later I racked my brain, remembered and looked it up. How lucky it was that 2 months ago you started this series of videos, because if I had this idea before then I would have come out disappointed and probably would have forgotten for good. Thanks for the spectacular video, I'll be watching through all of these. I don't know if I'll ever be playing this, but if I do, this video will be partially responsible.
The Oblivion Lost build was leaked and i remember it was basically just a tiny map showing the engine without npc and it STILL managed to deliver a truly horrifying feeling.
40:30 nonononoono nope The master difficulty = less bullet spongy-ness is now a myth it, maybe true when the SoC first released (couldn't find any proof, and couldn't verify it). Some data miner found out that what it really changes is your ability to take hits and dish out damage, and enemies' accuracy. High difficulty = you die faster, enemy die a bit slower. Low difficulty = you can take more punishment, enemy die a bit faster. Still, Master is the difficulty the game has been adjusted around so once you feel comfortable try out Master
This is the only game that comes close to a little side hobby of mine.I live in east europe and i like exploring abandoned buildings,coal and power plants at night.I know i won't find anything as it's all been stolen years ago,but it's still a bit intense and this game replicates the feeling the best so far.
the difficulty thing has been a debunked myth by those who have modded the game heavily, it doesn't make enemies die faster, the damage amounts are entirely the damage the player takes. idk where this myth started or why it persists but ive even tested it personally. i think why its around is simply the starting guns just suck and cant hit crap, plus the games just hard on any difficulty so one might not notice easier modes being easier right away. this is a great review though but i felt i should state this so new players(or even veterans) don't get a wrong impression. first few times i tried the game i bounced off it cause people kept telling me to play on master, it finally clicked when i disregarded the advice and put it on stalker difficulty and i grew to love it.
From what i hear is something connected with different EN and RU versions of the game, where difficulty placed backwards, so the easiest one became the hardest. Probably a rumor, but i m not sure.
the best way to encapsulate Stalker gameplay is to say it's a survival horror FPS that puts added emphasis on the "survival" part. it isn't the Resident Evil brand of survival horror where you conserve ammo and inventory space. it's more than that. you have to manage your characters stats like health, bleeding, weight, food and water. with every firefight not just challenging your ammo count but also your intuition and medical supplies. you also have an economy to manage so you can get more gear. if you want more out of Stalker i would recommend the Anomaly standalone mod which has it's own story, combines maps from all the games, includes features from other mods, and works on a modified version of the X-Ray Engine called the Monolith 64 Bit Engine which runs much smoother than X-Ray, even when modded like crazy.
You’re one of my fav channels on UA-cam due to your survival horror retrospectives. However, I discovered your channel through a quick review of stalker years ago and I’m glad you’re finally covering it fully:)
stalker series is the greatest video game series ever. period. i played soc in 2009-2010, and was instantly hooked. glad to see this massive rise in the number of people enjoying the game after anomaly.
You do a great job of explaining it and not going too far into detail. I get his hard it can be, but I think you grew this audience because you go over the little details we do love
l also really like this game; but the fact that this is a game that has a huge emphasis on the use of REALlSTlC MECHANlCS- when all of its NPCs have infinite ammo{A MECHANlC THAT lSN'T REALlSTlC lN THE SLlGHTEST}, well- l just can't help but have a L0VE & HATE relationship with the same!
I think a lot of compromises had to be made not only to make the game fun, but make it stable.....ish. There are all kinds of things that could be done to make it more realistic, but it's still one of the most realistic games ever made.
@@AvalancheReviews Another thing that can be noticed about it is that its NPCs never use melee combat, in fact, the only melee weapon that the player can obtain & use is the knife; the only ones that use melee are some of its mutations; it's a shame really, it could have been so much better than it already is!
@@xd666xd npcs using melee is common in Anomaly wel sort of, the do a push of some sort when they catch you up close, dang annoying too, often it will make you drop your weapon and they pick it up :)
A lot of the info presented in this video is factually incorrect, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. does not stand for anything and only exists to avoid copyright with the Stalker film, and what people believe it stands for was made by fans, the difficulty myth was disproven years ago on a reddit thread on a chart comprised of values taken from the game files, and stealth is a completely and fully intended mechanic that is implemented, and is supposed to be a option in a few places such as the Agroprom Research Institute as soldiers go around in various patrol patterns, with plenty of openings with blind spots to sneak in and get out, its very hard but doable. as a long time fan of the series, this video left me very disappointed and the mantra of mods first isnt helping, the reason all this misinformation has permeated for so long in the first place is because people dont pay attention to the vanilla game, and jump in mods first with massive changes to the gameplay and story additions to the point where nobody can consistently say what is and isnt true to the actual series itself, its gotten to the point theres a diehard part of the Stalker community that is venomous to the mention of mods period, and i gotta say its hard to disagree with some of their points if its been 14 years since SoC released and im still hearing stuff like this.
What initially got me into Stalker and still gets me is that at the time it was the first video game with an immersive post-Soviet post-apocalyptic landscape. Previously there had been selected missions in other FPS games, but none of them pulled off the ambience, the grass, the brick, the paint peeling off the wood. All of them were just "lets put a rusty Soviet car here and voila, Easter Bloc!" But Stalker SoC almost proved that you had to have lived in Eastern Europe to get the whole ambience right, all the little things, but especially the brick walls, the rust, the bogs and the fields of dry grass.
The most immersive memorable game I've ever played. Even after all these years. I came here for nostalgia and because I just started playing Stalker Anomaly.
I do remember those interview, in fact was another that spoke about the realism in the weapons and how loose quality with time, and how are affected by weather, but lot of those features were cut in the final build
I've been thinking about your point about the plot feeling less grounded with the introduction of the noosphere, but in my opinion and to me it had the exact opposite effect. The fact that they invented a whole new anomalous/alien cause for all the weird effects instead of shaping a realistic and grounded thing such as radiation into something it isn't, made me appreciate it more. It also better fit my personal preference for worldbuilding and storytelling, as I've always loved a realistic world with one core thing being fantastic, shaping the whole experience into a realistic one within an almost realistic world. Or maybe STALKER shaped my preferences, who knows.
I tried pirating stalker back in high school when it was newish but my potato pc couldn’t run it. Recently got back into them thanks to your reviews. Picked up all 3 on steam for $13. Amazing series, I’m currently playing clear sky. Thank you!
Great video! I've spent thousand of hours on this game and all its wonderful mods... I will always come back to it. I still have an anomaly playthough pending...
This was one of those games that brought because of the box art alone. I must of tried to play this game a dozen time. The furthest was when I first owned it, back on DVD ROM, with Win XP. Got to a helicopter grave yard. The next time was after I switch up to Win Vista with a Steam copy and just couldn't get the game to work or be stable enough to play. Tried again with Win 7 and it was the same story. Over the last few years I learnt that the GOG version was the better one to try. Been putting off buying it, but I think I may just get it now.
Check out the Anomaly standalone mod. It runs off an updated Stalker engine and combines all 3 game's maps and a lot of additional content. It's pretty stable and has a lot you can tweak.
I have to say, that this review sums up almost every feeling I have for Shadow of Chernobyl, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. in general and your worry that you don't know what's worth knowing and what's gushing is exactly the worry I have when trying to get friends to even try it. There is something you've got wrong, and it's with difficulty.
Stalker from Andrei Tarkovski is one of the most visually stunning films I've ever watched. I remember discovering it during film school and I was absolutely mesmerized by it. Truely a must watch, if you like auteur movies and you're ready for something different. It's a masterpiece
I for sure remember that interview about bullet penetration you mentioned. Back when gametrailers or whatever was a thing. I think even seen it on the old New Mutants Allowed forum back in the day
Hey guys the whole Stalker Series is on sale right now! If you were thinking about taking a trip to the zone, now's the time!
Stalker SoC - af.gog.com/game/stalker_shadow_of_chernobyl?as=1672895661
Stalker Clear Sky - af.gog.com/game/stalker_clear_sky?as=1672895661
Stalker CoP - af.gog.com/game/stalker_call_of_pripyat?as=1672895661
I wish they would do a console version of this
maybe you should add timecodes specifically about mod stuff?
somewhat around 42:30
i recommend the anomaly mod for ppl who have played the originals
Hey I'm kinda new to the game I just started playing it absolutely loving it by now but I'm in a bit of a dilemma.I found myself at the army warehouses and kinda want to help duty but every time I do either they all get killed of or somehow it won't let me finish the quest when i need to kill lukash a little help would be appreciated thanks in advance 😊i
How does this channel not have 500k subs yet? Great work as always, man.
Baffles me as well, maybe the games he covers are (sadly) concidered "niche" by average gamers :/ was happy to see he cracked 100k subs lately tho. He will get there eventually
Fancy seeing the drinker here!
I know it sucks. He is such a talented guy.
Eyy, Drinker!
STALKER 2 is coming out next year so lets hope it’ll be more immersive
Did you meet Tatiana in "The Zone"??
I visited Chornobyl as a student back in 2009 - it was an incredible trip. At the time Stalker was still extremely popular in Ukraine, so you would see some guys from the group taking pictures wearing gas masks and crawling among decrepit buildings like snorks lol. Most memorable places would be Prypiat and Cnpp itself - I have a pic with a Geiger counter in my hand right in front of the 4th reactor - I’ve travelled buttload of places since, but that feeling was kinda unforgettable
I truly want to visit there one day! I've spent so much time in the fictional exclusion zone. it's only fitting I spend a bit in the real one.
@@AvalancheReviews funniest thing, I still remember how much it cost me back in the day… 20 USD! Included transfer from Kyiv and guided tour. Heard they charge enormously when it comes to foreign visitors… such is the old tradition of my homeland. I live in Australia now, but if you need any help while booking your tour, contact me and I will help you
Lies
@@crooked420s5 ok lol
@@sirock7003 no, same price for everyone. Exception - translator, if you require it.
Nowadays prices are ~40-50 USD.
Went to the Zone last april. Even was invited to work as english-speaking tour guide, but it's scary shit (for health) and you have to live in the Zone for 15 days/month. So i refused(
There are fewer things more comfy than having a firefight, winning, then joining your bros at a campfire getting drunk while someone plays the guitar.
That awkward and soul destroying moment when you realize you gotta kill the guitar guy, to complete a mission you took on without realizing where it would end. :’(
A squat by the fire FTW.
@@Kenshiro3rd Sat down,pop a bottle of vodka,wait for him to finish the song then put a clean one on the back of his head.
@@Kenshiro3rd its the sales representative tho, you gotta...
Stalker is a real masterpiece with that delicious slavic flavoring and the jank is part of that flavor
It really is!
So true.
I didn't realise the Strugatsky brothers wrote the screenplay for Stalker. Or maybe I did? The Zone effects you in strange ways.
The story behind the shooting of Stalker is quite mad. The version released was actually the 3rd attempt at filming! There's a short documentary someone made about it on here which is worth a watch.
Edit: ua-cam.com/video/lhK7hMBli4s/v-deo.html
I got into STALKER because of your old video on it! Now I have like 200 hours in Anomaly lol. Thank you!
Legendary! Ever played Pripyat?
@@jdottdeestv8149 yeah I played through all 3 before getting into the mods!
@@julien2983 You legend! Wanted to get into Anomaly but my poor ol' laptop cant handle it. First three games is as far as i can go for now
Stalker and Metro made me appreciate the extra immersion by having a non english language. It made the alienation and mystery even more immersive. Also learned a bit along the way because of it. svoboda!
Lots of bad words and insults to be learned from STALKER. OPA!
That's how I ended up learning English as a Russian, playing Western games with the original voiceover for optimal experience.
@@Psycorde That's great! I have learned a few Russian words from STALKER and Boris: urod, skotina, durak, cyka, sderoge, gazyol, etc.
@@Torgo1969 I wouldn't use those in the conversation with a Russian person, unless you wanna be punched in the liver
@@darkcheaker Well stated. I have sponsored a Russian Festival here in Michigan and I have attended it 5 times and I am always on my best behavior, like everyone there. A nice family atmosphere, with lots of shashlik and pelmeni. I'm of Polish descent and I want peace among the Slavs, so I also don't say KURWA to any Russian I meet.
I bought all 3 Stalker games from a sale years ago and finally got around to play them. I finished Call of Pripyat yesterday and i have to say i absolutely loved them. I played vanilla versions and even tough the jank was there it wasn't as bad as i expected
- sausage : check
- vodka : check
- jank : check
Yep, that's Stalker.
Eurojank is my jam
bolt
sir
you miss the bolt
no artifact for you
you forgot polka
- cheeki breeki: check
@@KapiteinKrentebol ah nu cheeki breeki iv damke!
The difficulty thing is a myth. You can look up the actual stats for difficulties, and your weapon damage doesn't change.
I was looking for someone to mention this.
@@ahugefan7059 Same, for all the research this reviewer did, it's a damn shame he never looked into this myth either. (Even if a lot of it feels like a discount Sseth.)
@@firestarter6488 I can't blame them for the mistake too much, I was under the impression myself because to me the game kinda *felt* that way when playing. Until I saw that one random reddit post which delivered numbers and facts.
@@ahugefan7059 yeah I spent like 4 years in love with stalker completely unaware that the difficulty was a complete myth
Except that it's not. Or it is, but for later versions of SoC. Original launch had that difficulty thing.
I appreciate you getting into Roadside Picnic and Stalker. Stalker is one of my favorite films of all time. If people like it Tarkovsky’s Stalker, they should also check out his Solaris.
Seriously, Solaris is a masterpiece.
I've heard that a lot, but never checked out Solaris. I think it's about time I do.
@@AvalancheReviews if you appreciate Stalker, then you'll love Solaris. Story wise, it is a little less esoteric than Stalker, but still has a lot of characteric Tarkovsky styling. Visually stunning with every shot clearly thought out fully. Amazing acting. My Russian ex told me the lead is a very famous Soviet actor. Also, if I remember right, The Professor from Stalker is in the film as one of the scientists at the space station.
If you do watch it, would love to hear your thoughts. You can respond here if you like.
Let me counterpoint by saying that I found the Stalker film overrated. Interesting and worth a watch for sure - aesthetically it's amazing - but unnecessarily long, slightly pretentious and too much of a pamphlet for the director's own religious beliefs. The book felt brilliantly simple in comparison.
As much as I love SoC the first hour or so of gameplay is absolute torture that I dread going through despite having played the game numerous times. The first bandit camp, the shootout at the salvage yard and the god-awful military base are nothing short of torture. The worst part is when you clear an area, grab the item you came for and the radar bleeps and spawns 20 guys on top of you.
Probably why I could never get in to this game. The first hour is actually terrible.
To be honest, that's how it is in vanilla. With a good mod, that first fight with the bandits in cordon is much more fun and fast paced. It's more dynamic and satisfying since enemies can actually reliably be killed by the starting pistol.
Now... let's just hope STALKER 2 is the same but with less bugs.
Also (for anyone reading this) play STALKER and once your done go get a mod called Anomaly.
or just start the COP instead ?
still away from CS
as that was buggy AF
Those followups almost never live up to the legend.
Stalker without bugs is unfathomable to me. Jank is part of the branding at this point.
I chose to read your second sentence in the voice of the angry and booze-deprived Army commander.
@Brupcat My thing is - there's literally never been a stalker without jank, so will the new game really 'feel' like stalker without these constraints? Kinda a philosophical quandary, be it a dumb one.
I don't want them to actively make the game buggy on purpose to fulfill some farcical brand-identity but I've always seen stalker's jank as a side-effect of the sheer magnitude of their ambition with the game, and that sense of cavalier exploration within the industry is something I think IS important to keep - even if the logical conclusion is something like Cyberpunk 2077.
People were expecting a polished AAA game with Cyberpunk, hence the fiasco - stalker can afford to have eyes bigger than its stomach since that shouldn't surprise anyone who knows the franchise.
What a banger review, it's hard to explain why so many people love this series, but I think you're finally the one who could put into coherent words
I for one fell in love with Stalker because of the visual style, that "Post Soviet, Eastern European, Half Life 2" look is just something special, The Zone feels so alive despite of how dead it looks and it's weather effects and environmental sounds makes modern games with 1000x times the resources look actually dead in comparison
I also have Stalker to thank for introducing me to other fantastic media from Eastern Europe like the Metro series, Pathologic, Cryostasis and some others
Its so nostalgic seeing a lot of these mods I remember being part of the discussion back in the old STALKER forum days.
I physically did not make any but fondly remember spending hours discussing the mechanics of them with some of the modders. Still in awe how much love and craft these guys put into their work for literally no profit, just love of the games!
STALKER games are the type that just stay installed forever, right up there with Deus Ex and Morrowind. You'll always get the urge to revisit every year or so.
Only you
Yeah. For me this is The Witcher 3.
Hell yeah. If my internet or power goes off, my laptop has a installation of stalker on it for when I travel, too
100 %
S.T.A.L.K.E.R., New Vegas, Morrowind and Deus Ex always stay installed, they are my holy quartet
Great video! Been a huge STALKER junkie since early 2007, and it's quite delightful to see it become one of the main pillars of PC gaming.
Also, as the creator (or more like assembler) of the very first version STARTER PACK (circa 2011), I'm honestly quite shocked of how the latest iteration looks like.
Besides really eating away the vanilla looks, that overkill bloom (dear god those flashlights!) and the de-saturated shadows just kill my eyes.
49:18 that "shadow stretching" issue is easily fixed by typing these two lines into the game's console (~ key in US, § key in Europe):
r2_sun_near 20
r2_sun_near_border 1
This mod definitely makes a lot of changes to some pretty core presentation elements. I'd rather have the arsenal and sound effects, along with some of the bug fixes. The new skins and contrast changes are pretty hard to look at sometimes. Also, I'm glad people in the comments told me about those console commands because that problem has been bothering me for years. HA! I thought there was no fix for it.
Big Kudos for doing such great in-depth dives into these games, really great stuff. Would be interesting to hear your take on the absolutely insane mods available to the whole series but just seeing my favourite first-person series given love is enough.
This was an amazing game. Got to experience it when it first came out on a pretty beefy rig. Loved it.
I remember going and doing a mission for the people at the base camp through the tunnel. When I got back the whole town had been wiped out by dogs! I was blown away that shit like that could happen randomly. Amazing.
Right!!??!! So damn cool! I wish more games would accept randomness the way Stalker did.
@@AvalancheReviews Absolutely. Your retrospective put into words my exact feelings on this game. Good work and eloquently put.
played the hell out of all three games and call of pripyat. now i’m playing stalker anamoly and it never gets old. the zone keeps calling
ua-cam.com/video/hwMsRuKZKxw/v-deo.html
5:30 Lol, i visited the Chernobyl exclusion zone illegally and its so true, even the guards who catched us called us stalkers lol, even the news called us stalkers lol
Those little beeps during the video scared the shit out of me, lol.
What a great feeling when you wake up at 3 o clock and you have avalanche review video ready .
The best part about Stalker is even though we the players walk the same journey to find Strelok,the path that each of us take and the journey that each of us went on will be completely different.You will have a story of your own to tell and to me that's one of the best thing about Stalker.
This is so true! I played the game several times, and it was never the same!
I bought all 3 games for like $2-3 each during a Steam sale a decade ago. I replay them every year. Hundreds of hours of fantastic gameplay for a few bucks.
I play SoC with Autumn Aurora mod.
Very good mod choice, my friend ;)
AA is a great mod. Probably my favorite. If it didn't make changes to the color pallet and environment, I would have used it for this playthrough as well.
@@AvalancheReviews yeah i like the dead look more but it IS called Autumn
Jared, really appreciate your content. I watched you stream this live and it was chill and polite. Thank you!
I'm glad to hear that. Those streams are like therapy for me.
@@AvalancheReviews hey dude I was just wondering where you stream? I checked your twitch channel but no activity there it seems. Are they only available to patrons? Thanks for the awesome content!
I will watch just about any review of this series. Such an incredible game. I remember playing it for the first time, turning the lights off, putting my headphones on, and playing all night.
This is the first game I remember creating an atmosphere for me where I nearly felt like I was in the world.
ONE HOUR!!! Cracking open a cold beer and watching this after work. I'll be back!
I recently bought the STALKER collection on steam but waiting to enjoy them again on the Steam Deck when I have something better than a paperweight with a screen
The story of Stalker for me is my adventures with Yurik. RIP Yurik, you were a good man.
Let's go, I'm super pumped for this review. I can't think of many other people I'd wanna listen to talk about this game. Started playing this summer and have been having a blast
@@BaldingSasquatch yeah it's super irritating when a stranger thinks that complaining about how saying "let's go" is a worthy use of their time. Just words, shouldn't bother anyone
@@crispy_asch7110 You should have used "Lessgo" or "Leggo", comrade.
@@BaldingSasquatch let’s go
i remember i got yelled at for commenting about how much i wanted a stalker vid from you again lolllllll
56:40 - YES, it is music. Dark Drone Ambient / Industrial Noise. And this soundtrack is one of the best works in those genres.
also Hildur Guðnadóttir's work for Chernobyl mini-series has some similar approaches to sound design in some moments / tracks.
I played Stalker SoC for the first time when I was 7 or 8 years old at my friends house on his laptop in Russia, when my family and I visited there during summer vacation. I'm 23 now and I'm still playing it every year, trying out some mods (even Russian ones) every now and then. Especially the Anomaly mod is such a great thing to happen to this franchise!
Your review is really well made and I can see that you enjoyed your stay in the zone aswell. Loved it!
In my first play through I annihilated duty because they shot one of my buddies.
The rankings were dominated by them.
Now I own the top spot with loners/freedomers taking the rest of the leaderbourd. Never thought I could destroy a faction that thourgly
Ha! God I love the zone!
The earliest memory I have of STALKER SoC is buying a physical copy at a supermarket. That was in 2009 I think and even back then I bought it for only 10$ or something. Since then I had sold it because I could never really get into it. Fast forward to 2020 during the pandemic. I bought it again on GOG, I fell in love and played through it. When it comes to immersion, no other game (that I've played) even comes close to STALKER for me. These days I play Anomaly when I feel an itch for some STALKER.
This game deserves all the love it can get. Great video, dude!
I played it at launch, but I can't for the life of me remember where I got it from. I think somewhere like EB Games in the mall. Either way, yes you are totally correct. Nothing touches it in terms of immersion. I'm playing a bit of Anomaly in between capturing footage of these games right now. I love it!
I played six hours of Anomaly and am shocked that this is the only game world that actually feels like it is living. Like the next town is actually getting invaded by bandits, while im picking flowers somewhere else on the map.
Also, I dont know if it was really mentioned, but this is terrifying. Like, weirdly, natrually scary, not relying on planned jumpscares, but just keeping you at butt clenching tension throughout the game.
Indeed, just a constant fear of death isn't it wonderful? Just don't get too good armor or that will go away :)
"Gateway drug of a video game", I like that, if you like SoC it's only the beginning.
I started watching you I think back in 2019, around the time some serious shit was going on in my life, and your videos have helped me get by that craziness, even if they were a simple distraction.
That being said, your reviews are always very thorough, and I really enjoy them, I hope you keep it up! I'm really glad to see your growth as well!
Завсегдатай с SG, рад видеть!)
Not sure if you'll see this mate but I wanted to say THANK YOU for creating this video and for agreeing to dive into the analytical monstrosity that is the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series. You put so much thought and effort into your reviews, and unlike many similar channels you actually provide thorough support for the reasons you view these games in the way that you do. You often reflect on/mention the fact that some aspects of your reviews are more a free-flowing stream of consciousness than anything more simple and precise as you are clearly grappling with the struggle of trying to put your admiration for a game you've always loved into words. I think many of us struggle with this idea of reflecting upon a game we love and always knew we loved, but we can't quite seem to find the perfect words to convey WHY we love said games. Above all else, your love or scorn of the games you review is always readily apparent and clearly conveyed and even for games that I haven't played before, your perspective perfectly illustrates to me the value in revisiting some of these older games. Your level of depth in these retrospective reviews is simply unparalleled and warrants attention as any series you touch upon is blessed by the exceptional level of detail you offer in your reviews.
So glad you mentioned the Tarkovsky film at the beginning. It is such an amazing movie. See also his great, albeit looong, Solaris based on the novel by Stanislaw Lem. Enjoyed the video. Thanks!!!
Two of my favorite films. Stalker is my favorite of the two but both are so beautiful.
I've gotten that recommendation a few time in this comment section. Look like I have a new movie to watch.
Been saving good videos like these for when i'm on the exercise bike so sorry i didn't watch it sooner, i love interacting with great channels. I love every aspect of your retrospectives and this is one of my favourite FPS games. There are so many imperfections to this game but they are easily over shadowed by the great stuff. The weapons don't feel vanilla because you feel like you life depends on them. I love the factions, the anomalies, the artefacts, the story progression. There are some memorable areas and missions, but there's something I love about raiding the farm with a pistol, 24 bullets, 6 bandages and a wool jumper. I also loved the Oblivion lost mod, I almost messed my trousers during with the alterations to the X-16 lab mission. Smooth work as always.
Started watching this, and am enjoying learning about the zone some more, though just got to 40:40 and wanted to mention this quickly as I watched another video that disproves this. No, master difficulty does not increase the damage enemies take, it only does so for yourself.
The book is incredible, I just love the descriptions of all the weird stuff and how none of it gets fully explained, it gives a great sense of power to the beings that did all of these weird experiments.
Like the incidental detail that everyone near a zone gets quarantined there because if any of them leave the amount of "natural" disasters starts going up with no clear explanation. And it only stops when the people get put back.
How does that even happen? What kind of energy could these people be affected by that makes that work? Terrifying.
The game itslef is an artifact, that's why it's the best game ever made.
Well said.
@@AvalancheReviews lplppplp.lp
L
.
.
.
.pl
F.E.A.R ai baby 😊
You know that meme where the kid is sitting on the couch gaming and his parents are fighting/telling him he is useless; then in the next pannel he is gaming and the game says "well done" and he feels validated? That was me with this game for me. An escape. And it will always be (along with oblivion) the game for me, I escaped to the zone from a shitty time in my life. Just hearing the music Makes me feel at peace and slightly sad at the same time.
Very nice! There's so many games I never got because either they're on PC and I don't have one, or they were poorly reviewed at launch and I forgot about them.
There aren't many games that I can think of that demand the player work for success the way that SoC, and the STALKER series as a whole, does. I remember bouncing off it the very first time I played it; the first sortie at the Vehicle Station/Carpark was too tough! Some time later I tried again, defeated the bandits, and felt compelled to continue. Merely surviving the Zone was, and is, immensely satisfying.
For everyone, who wants Stalker atmosphere bumped up to 1000%, check out Vector Of Alienation mod. It's branch of Oblivion Lost remake project, which aims to restore original concept of the game from 2002-2003. The Vector itself adds perfected static lighting and OG literature scenario back from 2003. Without a doubt, my best Stalker expirience for now.
Never even heard of that one, but it sounds killer.
Does it have a spawn menu as a default feature? If not, then can it be spliced with Atlas Spawn? That sort of thing is fun for those of us who like to create Zone Sportsmanship Challenges (which I've been trying to resurrect).
@@AvalancheReviews Wanna try some Zone Sportsmanship Challenges?
*cough* ANOMALY *cough*...
I have over 2000+ hours in the zone. Pistol is one of my favorite weapon.
Damn! I'm no where near that level.
@@AvalancheReviews Over 8000 hours in total including Lost Alpha, Misery, Call of Pripyat, Clear Sky, etc. I spent 4 years taking care of my sick dad at home and spent a lot of it in the zone..
I remember playing this before fallout 3 and thinking how much it reminded me of FO1 and 2. I was so hyped to have such amazing systems in an FPS game where I actually had to SURVIVE while maintaining myself and my weaponry. Could go off and explore and do all sorts of cool things in a world SOAKED with atmosphere. To me it essentially was Fallout 3, it's what I wanted from the next game in the series, at least many of these elements.
What we got instead was a watered down Oblivion with guns. It was fun, I enjoyed it enough, but it paled horribly in comparison. And yeah, I know Fallout is meant to be more "roleplaying" but in a way... it kinda wasn't. All I know is I was disappointed and the games never really got better. Yeah, New Vegas was "cool" had more elements of 2 thanks to Obsidian, but even still..
Guess what I'm getting at is... I have high hopes for STALKER 2, and have been eagerly awaiting for it. We really haven't had much else that's like this series. All the jank in the world really couldn't stop me from enjoying them.
I was hard into SoC at the time, and when I finally played FO3 I was so disappointed. Stalker had spoiled me, and I could only put like 30 hours into FO3 until I just went back to Stalker. They do different things for sure, but most of what FO3 was trying to accomplish, was already perfected in Stalker.
While more linear and more story driven, you should play All the metro games
Literal reaction to seeing this in my feed: "OOOOOH, SHIIIIIT!" Followed by mashing the thumbnail.
Fantastic game! Played it and Call of Pripyat for the first time ever in 2018 and thorougly engjoyed them. Very impressed by the graphics and the immersion is really next level.
OMG your name is kinda like a hilarious dad joke, which checks out.
50:19 "a lot of mods nowadays seem to add more colours to it"
>misery
>autumn aurora
>dead air
>radiophobia
*doing the exact opposite*
Excellent retrospective as always Jared! By the way, the Nöosphere was a "field" hypothetized by chemist and geologist Vladimir Vernadsky. Generally speaking, it would be Earth's "thinking stratum", including various components, such as industry, language, and other forms of rational human activity". Very interesting stuff!
One of my absolute favorite franchises of all time. I always have at least one Stalker game installed, usually 2.
I can't wait for stalker 2. I love this genre 🔥
April 2022. Not sure which day though
@@dylanbourassa4507
It's pushed to December 2022, cyka blyat
@@zeonmx I know :(
Been playing through the Metro series this Christmas and by doing so, I started thinking a lot about Stalker. I played through Shadow of Chernobyl back in 2013 and I remember being both incredibly intimidated but also extremely fascinated. I spent about 27 hours in the zone, but there are a lot of moments etched into my mind. Raiding a bandit infested factory, meeting my first controller and being absolutely terrified, storming the Chernobyl power plant. These past few days I’ve been researching mods, finding out about anomaly and gamma and I’m just awed at what stalker has become. I’m just about to start and play through Metro Exodus, but once that’s wrapped up and finished, I’m going to replay shadow of Chernobyl, and really take my time to discover and experience the zone. Man, I’m really excited
their not glitches, their anomolies
It's really stellar to see a bro with the same passion for STALKER as me. I still watch the movie on every rainy sunday, I've read the book countless times aswell. As for mods, I've played almost every mod there is, when I ran out of ones I could find on the english web, I stepped over to the russian forums and had a field day all over again. There really isn't anything else in the world that delivers the way STALKER and its associated media's do. Excellent video my friend.
Played this for the first time and I love it. Looks great for its time and the gunplay is awesome.
Started on veteran and will probably switch to master pretty soon. Can't wait to play the other 2!
I had this random thought pop into my mind that I wondered if there was a STALKER retrospective. Then I forgot. A day later I racked my brain, remembered and looked it up. How lucky it was that 2 months ago you started this series of videos, because if I had this idea before then I would have come out disappointed and probably would have forgotten for good.
Thanks for the spectacular video, I'll be watching through all of these. I don't know if I'll ever be playing this, but if I do, this video will be partially responsible.
YESSS, I love your videos and I love stalker! This video is just meant to be
A match made in heaven!
The Oblivion Lost build was leaked and i remember it was basically just a tiny map showing the engine without npc and it STILL managed to deliver a truly horrifying feeling.
Yaaay, more Avalanche Reviews!
We can all agree avalanche reviews is criminally underrated along with salt factory 🤘🤘🤘
40:30 nonononoono nope
The master difficulty = less bullet spongy-ness is now a myth it, maybe true when the SoC first released (couldn't find any proof, and couldn't verify it).
Some data miner found out that what it really changes is your ability to take hits and dish out damage, and enemies' accuracy. High difficulty = you die faster, enemy die a bit slower. Low difficulty = you can take more punishment, enemy die a bit faster.
Still, Master is the difficulty the game has been adjusted around so once you feel comfortable try out Master
The master difficulty myth was never true.
No way you're doing this, I love this channel so much.
ua-cam.com/video/hwMsRuKZKxw/v-deo.html
Hot off the goddamn presses! Let's do this
This is the only game that comes close to a little side hobby of mine.I live in east europe and i like exploring abandoned buildings,coal and power plants at night.I know i won't find anything as it's all been stolen years ago,but it's still a bit intense and this game replicates the feeling the best so far.
the difficulty thing has been a debunked myth by those who have modded the game heavily, it doesn't make enemies die faster, the damage amounts are entirely the damage the player takes.
idk where this myth started or why it persists but ive even tested it personally.
i think why its around is simply the starting guns just suck and cant hit crap, plus the games just hard on any difficulty so one might not notice easier modes being easier right away.
this is a great review though but i felt i should state this so new players(or even veterans) don't get a wrong impression. first few times i tried the game i bounced off it cause people kept telling me to play on master, it finally clicked when i disregarded the advice and put it on stalker difficulty and i grew to love it.
From what i hear is something connected with different EN and RU versions of the game, where difficulty placed backwards, so the easiest one became the hardest.
Probably a rumor, but i m not sure.
the best way to encapsulate Stalker gameplay is to say it's a survival horror FPS that puts added emphasis on the "survival" part. it isn't the Resident Evil brand of survival horror where you conserve ammo and inventory space. it's more than that. you have to manage your characters stats like health, bleeding, weight, food and water. with every firefight not just challenging your ammo count but also your intuition and medical supplies. you also have an economy to manage so you can get more gear.
if you want more out of Stalker i would recommend the Anomaly standalone mod which has it's own story, combines maps from all the games, includes features from other mods, and works on a modified version of the X-Ray Engine called the Monolith 64 Bit Engine which runs much smoother than X-Ray, even when modded like crazy.
I'm playing Anomaly as I make these videos and I'm already in love with it. Took me too long, but I'm finally all about it.
@@AvalancheReviews glad you're enjoying it. do you want any recommendations for mods for Anomaly?
You’re one of my fav channels on UA-cam due to your survival horror retrospectives. However, I discovered your channel through a quick review of stalker years ago and I’m glad you’re finally covering it fully:)
Hell yeah! I figured it's time to update those videos. Really get in deep and make something I'm satisfied with.
I SAID COME IN, DONT STAND THERE!
GET OUT OF HERE STALKER!
Black raven, black raven circling above the grave.
@@AvalancheReviews not sure about the base games but if you kill that dude his corpse will still keep saying that until you leave Rostok lol
stalker series is the greatest video game series ever. period. i played soc in 2009-2010, and was instantly hooked. glad to see this massive rise in the number of people enjoying the game after anomaly.
Ah, my comfort food!!
Your bi-weekly dose
The line about buying a plane ticket to Ukraine hasn't aged well.
You do a great job of explaining it and not going too far into detail. I get his hard it can be, but I think you grew this audience because you go over the little details we do love
l also really like this game; but the fact that this is a game that has a huge emphasis on the use of REALlSTlC MECHANlCS- when all of its NPCs have infinite ammo{A MECHANlC THAT lSN'T REALlSTlC lN THE SLlGHTEST}, well- l just can't help but have a L0VE & HATE relationship with the same!
I think a lot of compromises had to be made not only to make the game fun, but make it stable.....ish. There are all kinds of things that could be done to make it more realistic, but it's still one of the most realistic games ever made.
@@AvalancheReviews Another thing that can be noticed about it is that its NPCs never use melee combat, in fact, the only melee weapon that the player can obtain & use is the knife; the only ones that use melee are some of its mutations; it's a shame really, it could have been so much better than it already is!
@@xd666xd npcs using melee is common in Anomaly wel sort of, the do a push of some sort when they catch you up close, dang annoying too, often it will make you drop your weapon and they pick it up :)
@@lukasgroot 🤔 Anomaly? Is that a mod?? Since the matter was obviously limited to the base game; it was not about a modded STALKER: SOC.
@@xd666xd yeah it's a dirty stinking mod don't try it, really don't, it will never let you go.
Not since RE (and REesque) and SH have I been this excited for an Avalanche video. :)
I love how so many people who watch these video have such similar tastes to me.
A lot of the info presented in this video is factually incorrect, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. does not stand for anything and only exists to avoid copyright with the Stalker film, and what people believe it stands for was made by fans, the difficulty myth was disproven years ago on a reddit thread on a chart comprised of values taken from the game files, and stealth is a completely and fully intended mechanic that is implemented, and is supposed to be a option in a few places such as the Agroprom Research Institute as soldiers go around in various patrol patterns, with plenty of openings with blind spots to sneak in and get out, its very hard but doable.
as a long time fan of the series, this video left me very disappointed and the mantra of mods first isnt helping, the reason all this misinformation has permeated for so long in the first place is because people dont pay attention to the vanilla game, and jump in mods first with massive changes to the gameplay and story additions to the point where nobody can consistently say what is and isnt true to the actual series itself, its gotten to the point theres a diehard part of the Stalker community that is venomous to the mention of mods period, and i gotta say its hard to disagree with some of their points if its been 14 years since SoC released and im still hearing stuff like this.
I really like your voice. Very easy to listen to.
I personally recomend Autumn Aurora mod for Shadow of Chernobyl. A very hardcore and beatiful texture pack too
What initially got me into Stalker and still gets me is that at the time it was the first video game with an immersive post-Soviet post-apocalyptic landscape. Previously there had been selected missions in other FPS games, but none of them pulled off the ambience, the grass, the brick, the paint peeling off the wood. All of them were just "lets put a rusty Soviet car here and voila, Easter Bloc!" But Stalker SoC almost proved that you had to have lived in Eastern Europe to get the whole ambience right, all the little things, but especially the brick walls, the rust, the bogs and the fields of dry grass.
The most immersive memorable game I've ever played. Even after all these years. I came here for nostalgia and because I just started playing Stalker Anomaly.
I remember that video on Gamespot back in the day! I was blown away by the ballistics system at the time. You're not crazy dude!
YES!!!
I do remember those interview, in fact was another that spoke about the realism in the weapons and how loose quality with time, and how are affected by weather, but lot of those features were cut in the final build
You could make several games from what was cut from Stalker in development. HA!
My favorite anomaly (bug) is when a corpse gets stuck in a wall or when you die your limbs stretch for miles and you go flying into the stars
And they shake so hard, you can still hear it as you leave the building.
I've been thinking about your point about the plot feeling less grounded with the introduction of the noosphere, but in my opinion and to me it had the exact opposite effect. The fact that they invented a whole new anomalous/alien cause for all the weird effects instead of shaping a realistic and grounded thing such as radiation into something it isn't, made me appreciate it more. It also better fit my personal preference for worldbuilding and storytelling, as I've always loved a realistic world with one core thing being fantastic, shaping the whole experience into a realistic one within an almost realistic world. Or maybe STALKER shaped my preferences, who knows.
The noosphere is apparently something someone named Vladimir hypothesized before stalker was ever a thing
I tried pirating stalker back in high school when it was newish but my potato pc couldn’t run it. Recently got back into them thanks to your reviews. Picked up all 3 on steam for $13. Amazing series, I’m currently playing clear sky. Thank you!
when i saw the death truck cutscene i fucking shat myself
Great video! I've spent thousand of hours on this game and all its wonderful mods... I will always come back to it. I still have an anomaly playthough pending...
This was one of those games that brought because of the box art alone.
I must of tried to play this game a dozen time. The furthest was when I first owned it, back on DVD ROM, with Win XP. Got to a helicopter grave yard. The next time was after I switch up to Win Vista with a Steam copy and just couldn't get the game to work or be stable enough to play. Tried again with Win 7 and it was the same story. Over the last few years I learnt that the GOG version was the better one to try. Been putting off buying it, but I think I may just get it now.
Check out the Anomaly standalone mod. It runs off an updated Stalker engine and combines all 3 game's maps and a lot of additional content. It's pretty stable and has a lot you can tweak.
I have to say, that this review sums up almost every feeling I have for Shadow of Chernobyl, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. in general and your worry that you don't know what's worth knowing and what's gushing is exactly the worry I have when trying to get friends to even try it. There is something you've got wrong, and it's with difficulty.
I love games with stories that keep you thinking even after it’s over, I’ll have to look into getting my hands on this game; it looks great.
Stalker from Andrei Tarkovski is one of the most visually stunning films I've ever watched. I remember discovering it during film school and I was absolutely mesmerized by it. Truely a must watch, if you like auteur movies and you're ready for something different. It's a masterpiece
I remember that interview too! I waited for the first one to come out for so long and no other game has had me waiting like that since.
Good. At least I'm not crazy.
My excitement is immeasurable and my day is made.
I for sure remember that interview about bullet penetration you mentioned. Back when gametrailers or whatever was a thing. I think even seen it on the old New Mutants Allowed forum back in the day