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

[bgmnts]

Are these games any good? I'm a massive Metro fan (genuinely think they're some of the best shooters ever made) and they seem to perhaps be similar. A new (old) Metro-like game would be great.

They've been released on Xbone - if anyone is interested - to presumably get ready for the sequel coming out later this year.

[Ignatius_S]

Yes, brilliant.

Very different to Metro, which is a far more linear experience and if you're looking for a shooter, Stalker ain't it.

[madhair60]

W.A.N.K.E.R

[bgmnts]

Yes, brilliant.

Very different to Metro, which is a far more linear experience and if you're looking for a shooter, Stalker ain't it.

Well a survival horror type shooter experience. I don't mind limited open world either.

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

I noticed these on the Xbox store a couple of days ago. I've put them on my watchlist and I'll wait for a sale, for I am a povvo.

[Ignatius_S]

It's open-world survival horror - although 'shooter' will be used to describe it, I don't feel it's very accurate. Due to how scarce resources such as bullets are, how quickly guns degrade, the inefficiency of using ranged weapons (such as actually hitting), it's far more likely to be trying to avoid combat as much as possible.

As the game progresses, you are able to find better equipment but due to how it degrades and how limited resources are, you're still having to be selective in when you fight. When you do get involved in combat, usually it's a case of sneaking around and trying to take people out quickly. 

[Ignatius_S]

I would check what the mod situation is like on Xbox - on the PC, the games do benefit from it.

[bgmnts]

Cheers! Def on the list.

[Mister Six]

The STALKER games were recently released in a bundle on Playstation and Xbox. Thought I'd mention it for people who're interested (I'll pick them up at some point, but I've still got the last two Metro 2033 games to get through, and I think I could probably overdose on Tartovsky-inspired post-apocalyptic Russian misery).

[oggyraiding]

I'm playing the first one on PS5, I did have it on PC and tried time and time again over like 15 years to get into it, but it is really brutal. Unless you're on novice difficulty. The first proper encounter had about 10 men, and each one can kill you within seconds, if they gang up on you you're fucked. You are encouraged to get some NPCs to join the assault, but I was cocky and went in solo and got absolutely wrecked.

It's a very hostile world. There are anomalies floating about that can more or less kill you instantly. You can find artifacts that give you stat bonuses, but these cause radiation build up. My last death was to a pack of 10 dogs that I simply could not aim at and dispatch fast enough as they slowly nibbled my life away.

They are not like Metro other than being post-nuclear FPS games. Metro is a more guided and gentle experience, STALKER is harsh. I can see the appeal, and it has a very unique atmosphere, but it's dated and unforgiving.
 

[elliszeroed]

First game is brilliant, bugs and all. There's been tons of PC mods/ remakes, but I've never found them as enjoyable as the original.

Clear Sky starts really poor, has a faction system that doesn't quite work, and is a prequel.

Third game, is a sequel to the first game, but is tedious, unless you like endless walking and shooting dogs. Not sure I evr completed it.

[samadriel]

Third game, is a sequel to the first game, but is tedious, unless you like endless walking and shooting dogs. Not sure I evr completed it.

No fucking way. Call of Pripyat polishes everything about the first two games to perfection. The earlier games are quite good, but Call of Pripyat is a samadriel-certified Must Play. And the dog count in CoP is, if anything, slightly more sensible than the other two.  Are you sure you weren't playing some weird mod of the original or something? Trudging out of your headquarters on a long trek to the abandoned laboratories or whatever with a carefully stripped back inventory (so you can run more) is atmospheric and fun, and the lovely big maps are littered with things to do, even if it's just artifact- hunting (surprisingly fun, depending on the anomaly)  towards the end of the game when you've finally completed all the scripted stuff. The only reason to play the first two these days is so you can properly appreciate how much better CoP is.

At the moment I'm playing True STALKER, a massive mod that rebuilds all the maps from the official games with new landmarks and anomalies and missions,  and incorporates a pretty cool story (although a bit casual and meandering compared to, say, "Kill Strelok" from the original. Despite its casual narrative attitude, it's also too hard -- I don't see how I'm ever going to break through the bandit checkpoint at Cordon with my supplies being what they are, so basically I'm stuck on the first map. Call me when you're sober, True STALKER.

[madhair60]

Third game, is a sequel to the first game, but is tedious, unless you like endless walking and shooting dogs.

bitchin! where's my wallet?!?