There’s a single downside in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series: it’s too short. There’re only three main entries so far, and I feel like it’s not enough.
Perhaps you saw the trailer for the fourth entry,S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2: Heart of Chernobyl. It’s coming out in 2022 as an Xbox Series exclusive, and it looks great.
Before that, Ukrainian studio GSC Game World showcased video-game mastery. They successfully mixed RPG, action-adventure, survival, and FPS to deliver a story-drivensurvival horror shooter.
Let’s take a look at the Stalker series, and see what we’ve been missing.
The S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Series
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. stands for “Scavengers, Trespassers, Adventurers, Loners, Killers, Explorers, and Robbers.” It’s an acronym that describes the tone and the setting of the series.
The setting is an alternate Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.The game’s story explains a second explosion after the real-life one.
The Ukrainian area was part of the U.S.S. According to game lore, several secret laboratories were conducting psionic abilities experiments in Chernobyl. It created a catastrophe in 2006 that caused a meteorological phenomenon and mutated the local animals and plants. The original historical explosion happened in1986.
This area around the explosion is known as “The Zone.” It’s rich in weather anomalies, mutants, radioactivity, toxic wastes, and Stalkers.
See, these anomalies create “Artifacts,” items with unique psionic powers. The Stalkers explore the Zone, searching for the artifacts for personal glory and enrichment. Some work on their own, while others are members of rival factions.
On top of this, there’s the Duty faction and the Freedom faction. The former believe the Zone should be destroyed; the latter believe the Zone should be accessible to everyone. See, there’s a military perimeter around the Zone to keep mutants and humans with psionic powers in check.
The setting opens up an FPS with scarce ammo and resources.Players need to manage an inventorywith weapons, health kits, ammo, food, water, and other stats. If you’re familiar with theMetro games, we could say Stalker is its main competitor.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Game in Order
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl – 2007
The first game introduces the Zone, a dangerous place only the Stalkers dear to explore. It debuted in 2007 for Windows.
