Welcome back to the Zone, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

TLDR:
There is going to be the most typical euro-jank you can imagine, but if you can get past that, it's the same as the old games: A wonderfully paced, atmospheric, spooky ass adventure through a vaguely post-apocalyptic inspired hellscape full of mutants, anomalies, artifacts, guns, stories, and treasure. It's the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ best.

Long review:
So far so good. Performance issues aside, this game feels like a return to form for the GSC crew. I for one am still not sold on this generation's version of anti-aliasing disguised as subsampling, but then again, I'm happy playing this at 1080p on a 2060s. My biggest gripe so far is the frame time optimization and the effect it has on input lag. Turning off mouse smoothing and acceleration helps substantially but I think it's more of an engine specific thing. Regardless, it feels way better without smoothing and with some performance optimization (check out cheeki breeki's guide on youtube for a quick tweak guide).

The gunplay still feels very good (the headshot sound is satisfying as ♥♥♥♥), everything in the game looks and feels gorgeous, and it looks like they've taken a lot of inspiration from the community in making sure this version has features that were desperately missing in previous versions (controller support, more streamlined upgrade and repair paths, easier anomaly hunting etc). The cherry on top of all of this is that it's a true "role-playing game" in the sense that your choices and the world you're interacting with are very dynamic.

Even the first few introductory missions have you actively making choices that may or may not have repercussions down the line. It's very clear the devs took a lot of consideration with this aspect and it would make sense considering the A-Life system is one of the defining features of the original trilogy.

There's something to be said about hearing random shots from rookies wandering the zone as they get attacked by a mutant. It begs you to question almost every encounter and choice you make. This is not a game that rewards rash decisions. This is a game that rewards patience and dedication.

The Zone will unlock itself to those who are worthy. Now get to it S.T.A.L.K.E.R. The Zone is waiting.

Welcome back to the Zone, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. TLDR: There is going to be the most typical euro-jank you can imagine, but if you can get past that, it's the same as the old games: A wonderfully paced, atmospheric, spooky ass adventure through a vaguely post-apocalyptic inspired hellscape full of mutants, anomalies, artifacts, guns, stories, and treasure. It's the fucking best. Long review: So far so good. Performance issues aside, this game feels like a return to form for the GSC crew. I for one am still not sold on this generation's version of anti-aliasing disguised as subsampling, but then again, I'm happy playing this at 1080p on a 2060s. My biggest gripe so far is the frame time optimization and the effect it has on input lag. Turning off mouse smoothing and acceleration helps substantially but I think it's more of an engine specific thing. Regardless, it feels way better without smoothing and with some performance optimization (check out cheeki breeki's guide on youtube for a quick tweak guide). The gunplay still feels very good (the headshot sound is satisfying as fuck), everything in the game looks and feels gorgeous, and it looks like they've taken a lot of inspiration from the community in making sure this version has features that were desperately missing in previous versions (controller support, more streamlined upgrade and repair paths, easier anomaly hunting etc). The cherry on top of all of this is that it's a true "role-playing game" in the sense that your choices and the world you're interacting with are very dynamic. Even the first few introductory missions have you actively making choices that may or may not have repercussions down the line. It's very clear the devs took a lot of consideration with this aspect and it would make sense considering the A-Life system is one of the defining features of the original trilogy. There's something to be said about hearing random shots from rookies wandering the zone as they get attacked by a mutant. It begs you to question almost every encounter and choice you make. This is not a game that rewards rash decisions. This is a game that rewards patience and dedication. The Zone will unlock itself to those who are worthy. Now get to it S.T.A.L.K.E.R. The Zone is waiting.