I've seen more complaints and bitching from gatekeepers about the S2 videos not being like blank or like "how this isn't Stalker,this is call of duty filth" more than anyone else.
I just hope we won't have to hear any 'this feels nothing like the original games'. It really needs to be a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Game, and not just a ripoff soiling the name!!
Stalker is unfortunately in a bit of a weird position as a franchise: while all the three maintain some of the core elements of gameplay, they go in different directions in regard to story and world building. Add to this the vague nature of the Zone, easy access to modding tools, GSC almost disappearing for a decade and you have what we have now: everybody has their own personal idea of what Stalker should be like. Personally I just hope Stalker 2 will be at least as good as the original, but I'm worried about those pre-order dlc I saw: I don't want to play a modern videogame, I want to experience the Zone, damnit!
Yea, I would tolerate it a bit more of those bonuses if it was just season pass for 2 story DLC and that's it. Multiplayer of the original trilogy wasn't the strong suit *at all* and CO:OP was confirmed to not be coming according to Grigorovich in some magazine interview.
@@ChainikVlad I heard the 2 stories might be about Yantar and Limansk Wich might also be the reason we might not be able to visit those two areas at release. Having a spatial anomaly cut those areas off.
@@blooocki Yes, the leaks apparently said so. But Yantar is a bit different. Most likely there will be a DLC questline in Yantar, but the area is probably gonna still be accessible in the main game
I'm an anomaly modder. I've been around the anomaly community for a long time and know their attitude toward stalker 2. The boys have already decided that they will love the game no matter what, before it was even officially announced. If it's great, we will enjoy it. If it's bad, we will fix ourselves. Just like old time. I think the core fans very tolerate stalker 2. We expect it to be similar to the the trilogy. Sadly some young fans think different. I try to convince them to try out the trilogy every time I have a chance.
Problem i have with playing the trilogy is they play like games from the 00's. I played SoC when it came out and loved it, and its only cos of that i bothered with Anomaly, and then EFP
I first found out about the franchise through Drewski's anomaly videos, as did many others, but I've found myself more infatuated by the world itself than just the gameplay. The world felt like it was a place that didn't want you there, the idea of emissions being events that are caused by the almost sentient mind of the zone itself wishing to cleanse itself of the very people trying to destroy it is just so interesting. Stick me in a game where I can explore that more and I'd dig it, as such I've been playing through the originals and I'm having a blast. Sure the gameplay of anomaly can be considered a bit more refined with a modern touch, but I don't want insane realism for the sake of realism, or a super ultra giga hardcore game, so the differences between soc and anomaly do not deter me. SOC so far has been a joy to play, I look forward to experiencing what stalker 2 will do to expand the universe even more.
Imagine creating a mod so successful that it casts a shadow over the entirety of the games which it was based on and actually comes full circle to become harmful to the series. That’s gotta be the most bittersweet feeling to the Anomaly creators ever.
@@zars1324thats is outright wrong, i remember BF3, it was a buggy mess but people got into it because it was unique(at the time), ARMA games are still a physics bullshit fest but you have houndreds of unique communities gathering up to play some ops, and those are few very mainstream examples
@@zars1324 considering that alot of triple A game company's games come out unfinished and buggy. Id say most people go for unique over polished. Tarkov is another good example
@@zars1324 "jank" is what you mean, and ofc is valid, but what really makes gamma stand out is the outreach it got through creators, remember that day some known youtuber made a video about it and moddb crashed for hours. Its all about that the yourger ones might even think this is the actual game and a free alternative to tarkov(because obviously some people get attracted because of it), its not really about choice rather than knowledge of its existance, ease of acquirement and price
To be completely honest, I have played all 3 games before. And now I just switched off to Anomaly, and the only reason for that is because the storyline for Anomaly is optional and you can explore the Zone as your own story. I don't see Anomaly or Gamma as mainly how Stalker is suppose to be, yes it's gameplay is amazing. Originating from Call of Pripyat's mechanics. But if there was ever a true essential to the Stalker experience, it's the first 3 official games. This way you can experience the official experience even if it is greatly difficult, but it is very worth it. I only see Anomaly as a mod where I can just freely play in the Zone instead of following a specific storyline, it's not necessary that I have to turn on Story Mode or go to the leader of my faction to find Strelok, stop Sin, or find out some random problem's with Sidorovich's radio. It's just the freedom of all Stalker players to be in the Zone and make their own path. It's no baseline of how Stalker is, it's just a choice if you wanna keep playing Stalker or not.
Yes, this "ULTRA MEGA REALISTIC HARDCORE TACTICOOL FOOD HUNGER THIRST RPG" like Tarkov, ARMA, Dayz etc has taken over STALKER, the three STALKER games are great story and gameplay but now people only want Anomaly.
i dont know man, yes true the story is great and all but i just cant i cant play old graphics janky game (no offense) but i do watch the lore on youtube and i know stalker 2 wont be like anomaly
YES, FINALLY SOMEONE ADDRESSES THIS ISSUE! I actually abandoned many stalker related groups on social media, because the shitstorm was too much to handle.
Certain TH-camrs have pushed “Woahh this new game is like Tarkov with mutants!” type of videos about Anomaly and I blame them for bringing in the uninitiated
As much as I love some tactile, high-risk gunplay, I think the rise of tacticool culture of "hardcore realistic shooters" have tarnished the true beauty of STALKER and the Zone. For as janky as the vanilla games are, the atmosphere is never lost on me whereas in Anomaly, seeing gameplay where the player whips out their fully customized Zenitco AK-74 just makes it feel like Anomaly has turned into a pseudo-flexing session rather than living in an ever-changing ecosystem where you can never expect what will happen on a wide scale tomorrow. I really don't want to blame Operator Drewski for this but I feel like his Anomaly series have distracted newcomers from what the true beauty and horror of the Zone is.
man elitist like you just make me want to never play the game again, how do upgraded and better weapons take away from anything? the original game having no guns was due to cost and time. anomaly is objectively the most atmospheric the idea your even trying to say the old games are better in this regard is laughable at best it has EVERYTHING the old zones have with better effects most people like me wouldn't even be playing stalker if it wasn't for anomaly its were many of us started and after playing the others anomaly is objectively the better game and achieves everything the original devs wanted and them some, some of the old devs even worked on anomaly ffs
Do you know any modpacks that might make the Focal point of the mod that eerie Terriyfying Atmosphere or even improve it? That is my favorite part of Shadow of Chernobyl
This is somethi g that irked me, although the bringing of outside forces brings of course newer and more professional weapons one can loot. One never know how long a player tried to put together that weapon.
@@epicboukas7354Not SoC but Call of Pripyat has a mod called Misery, the version prior to the current one gives such a heavy atmosphere, even more so then the base game imo, he speaks about it in the video.
The Stalker series has always been a part of my childhood. The gameplay I watched as a child gave such weird and unique feelings that I sadly won't feel ever again. Playing all of the games as time went, it all felt complete in my heart. I really hope that the story and its elements for all of us who give care to the original trilogy, carry to Stalker 2
I love Anomaly and played Gamma (busy-hands simulator is suffering from mod dev narcissism) If I introduce anyone to stalker it will ALWAYS be vanilla SoC, master, no crosshair
Is there something going on with Gamma? ive only played about 4 or 5 hours of it because i was already bored by anomaly by the time i played and it didnt do much to change things
@@cadrian4806 Grok (the guy that compiled gamma) is hugely narcissistic and full of himself because he thinks he created the best mod ever. He has a huge victim complex and thinks any addon that mentions gamma that's downvoted on MODDB is a personal attack on him, it's almost as if he thinks the whole stalker community revolves around him and his modpack. This is including the fact that he's profiting off of other people's hard work via his Patreon. It's just a shitty situation all-round.
@@fuzzo4475 Having watched him throw his tantrums on ModDB convinced me not to download his modpack, not that I wanted to download that garbage before, dude just artificially extends the gameplay adding a ton of "realistic survival elements" into it.
@@fuzzo4475 excuse me but do you have any idea the amount of work he puts into this completely for free? Every single day he's working and updating the pack, I check the updates multiple times a day every day and there's constantly new updates. He even changed the name of the pack to not have is own name in it because people are crying he's taking glory for himself.
Lol I started with Lost Alpha DC 1.05, loved it, bought the trilogy, burned through it. Anomaly is great gameplaywise, but for reasons I don't know, it can never replicate the atmosphere of either the original games or more lore/story focused games. Maybe because it went from being a soulful sci-fi focused horror FPS to a re-textured misery lite survival shooter.
Yeah i agree, the original games felt unique and different It's not some Lidl brand Tarkov survival shooter, but rather sci-fi focused FPS with light RPG style progression (getting better equipment while facing more dangerous enemies) and having an interesting world to explore (all the while having PS2 style graphics lol)
@@OperatorMax1993 Hahaha, "lidl brand tarkov" I'm stealing that one! I think this shows how gameplay and narrative/atmosphere are so much more intertwined than you'd first think. You would theoretically imagine more stuff to do, more mechanics and items is a great thing. At least that's what I thought when I revved up GAMMA, and it's great. But it's not in the same register as Shadow of Chernobyl (even enhanced with vanilla + mods). Maybe it's a simple case of too much focus on gameplay and not remotely enough on lore/worldbuilding (they could've added characters, cinematics etc...) (theory 1?). Maybe even if they did that, adding gameplay mechanics takes away from lore/narrative anyhow (theory 2). I don't know man, I'm just a S.T.A.L.K.E.R
World scaling and graphics looks odd in Anomaly when compared to old school mods like AA2. Idk why graphics are so consistent and appealing in SoC... Might be nostalgia...
I literally found you about 2-3 hours ago and was watching your Iceberg series, and now you post a video about the game that brought me into the Stalker Universe. Thank you!
Bravo! I totally agree c: You really put words to a lot of my complex feelings surrounding the community, I have seen exactly what you described with anomaly enjoyers going absolutely crazy on some subreddits demanding that stalker 2 is exactly like anomaly just with good graphics. I played SoC when it first came out, and have played stalker my whole life since, so I have a lot of skin in the game. However, I %100 agree with your views again, stalker 2 should be something brilliant and original that stands on it's own. It has been a decade after all.
GSC will presumably do their own thing. Fans have stayed loyal to STALKER in various ways but none of us have the right to dictate what GSC should or shouldn't do. That would be absurd.
I like how Anomaly lets us freeplay on the whole zone just enjoy your everyday life of a Stalker. You can spend hours just enjoying hunting artefact looking and area exploring with some fetch quest missions
It's so much fun. Just walking around dealing with Dangerous Anomalies, Shooting Mutants, Anarchists and Bandits alike. Then sitting at a campfire to clean my rifle while some Ivan plays his Guitar. It's great, and that's what the Mod is. It's not TARKOV, it's more properly called. "Day in the life of a Stalker" but Anomaly is a cooler name. Note I've only played "Vanilla" Anomaly, that's all I wanted, a Free Stalker Experience I can enjoy and be immersed in
Dude, I totally agree with you. This issue is at the point that I have meet random people in real life that at first they told me "I love stalker!" and when I ask which stalker game is their favorite, they just tell me that they have only played Anomaly. It's feels incredibly disappointing since it's not something that happens all the time.
while i feel you, you have to recognize not everybody is old enough for being able to enjoy these old games it just has been to long and u cant ask a kid whos first game was Skyrim to play stalker and enjoy it. sure im overexaggerating but i hope you get the idea. And still i rather have 20.000 people being enganged in the stalker franchise by anomaly then just 20 by the original games u know? because in the end of the day stalker is more then just the games and it has potential to be even much more but it wont be albe to grow if people are gatekeeping the franchise in saying shit like "ure not a true stalker if u didnt play the original trillogy" and thats just sad and wrong and please dont get me wrong everyone not playing the original three games is missing out so hard but u know what? its their decision and if they want to miss out fkin let them
@@paulusdergelehrte6167ut that's the problem as well. It introduced people to the series but they only play anomaly and they don't play anomaly for the reasons why so many people love the originals. They just want to play a "hardcore realistic shooter", they don't really care about the series and to make matters worse, they will have the wrong expectations for the new game.
@@nikolasferreira3247 and whats so wrong about that? They want a realistic hardcore shooter and found it in anomaly dispite not playing the originals but i dont concider this a bad thing and if stalker 2 isnt what they expect thats their problem and their problem alone :D like why do u care so deeply about some randy playin anomaly??? P.S.: and to be honest i dont see a problem here what so ever just an other boomer tryin to gatekeep a franchise
"This stream will always be better than watching a fucking furry play GAMMA, we are actually funny SOMETIMES" - Strelok when playing OLR2.5. As long as we can't fight the generation change, it's normal that the children will rebel against their parents. I may be the Stalker fan raised on 2002 trailers but we can't stop the change. We won't make the next generation excited about builds and OLR or at least (sigh) Lost Alpha. Also, we won't attract many non-Central/Eastern European fanbase to Stalker with the charming jank, and frankly, that how our brave GSC boys and girls are getting their salaries. Regarding that, a lot of non-anomaly mods which would be worth looking at are either only in Russian, a language I learned mostly through playing Stalker, or very poorly translated and not fully compatible with versions of the game not released in CSI (gamedata differences that probably stem from cyryllic encoding). Sure it's crap watching the series being tarkovised but I find it better than being totally forgotten because Ivan cannot into English and because Kany is a twat.
I agree with you. My problem with S.T.A.L.K.E.R. mods is that they try to be "realistic/hardcore", they create a lot of things for realism sake like slow healing, low life, batteries for the flashlight, cooking recipes, magazines (!) and many "realistic" things to make the game more immersive I guess. For me they achieve the opposite. They become tedious with a lot of micro-managment and so many details that break me out of the immersion. If I wanted a life simulator I would be playing Sims. (or DayZ, where those details actual matter, as multiplayer game) The first S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is a lot more simple and a lot more immersive. Because immersion comes from the world and no from things like animations of eating. These mods tend to fill the inventory with so many crap that the players are getting used to. Remember reading the comments of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 gameplay video, a user timestamped the inventory of the game and wrote "inventory is too empty hire some modders of Anomaly to create things to fill it" or something like that! Why do I need my inventory being full of useless crap instead of just ammo, medkits, weapons, food, anti-rad drugs, few but useful things? Too bad if some players would not enjoy S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 because it is not like Anomaly or other mods, as you say we need to remember those mods are fan-made and the sequel is not obliged to follow them, nor it would be a bad game if it differs from them (the opposite for me, I plefer S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 be like S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl).
I would say Anomaly is all bells and whistles, and no real substance. Which is why I play it: just to have a fancy time in the Zone between series replays.
Have you ever thought that you can keep all the bells and whistles of anomaly while inserting the mission structure and substance of the original trilogy? You guys act like you have to choose one or the other. The best qualities of anomaly and the original stalker trilogy can be implemented in the sequel. Hell, even the difficulty and hardcore aspects could both be in the sequel. All they would have to do is separate them between a normal mode that stays more true to the original trilogy and a survival mode that adds the hardcore aspects of anomaly.
Glad you made this, it was needing to be covered. As much as I love anomaly for the addons that have been made for it, I detest seem features like crafting, the survival, nerfed artifacts and meds etc (which means installing 20+ addons to reduce it all). The freeplay is good but gets old quickly especially with the same old quests from CoC made by Dr.X(RIP), warfare also gets repetitive. It is quite annoying that other mods that release get slept on because all the community medias are just filled with either GAMMA or Tarkov'esk tacticool spin-offs. In the end its more of a enhancement to MISERY than the originals. But thankfully addons like Old world or Dark signal try to bring it back to a more Vanilla image.
Yeah me too, i hate that Anomaly is put on the pedestal all the while sleeping on mods like Oblivion Lost Remake or others and thank God that Old World and Dark Signal exist
@@tamfuwing1 either way, it adds to the bloated inventory issues For me, I'm kinda in the middle... There are somethings that bother me like for example why do you need Vinca to make a bandage ? Can't you use any type of vodka instead ? (I hope they change that for 1.6)
Crafting and gun parts repairing seems like a feature poorly implemented into the game through unengaging UI and game limitation and poor introduction to the player (the fact that crafting was not a part of the original trilogy can make it even harder to take in) even then gun repairs feature becomes pretty irrelevant due to the existence of mechanic NPCs which will save you time (and quite possible money). Procedural quests gets dull and bland fairly quickly since its the same thing over and over and the quest giver usually requires you to walk around the entire zone (Same goes for the Anomaly's story quest)
As a new stalker fan. (I just got my first gaming pc a few weeks ago) I am making myself play through the original 3 stalker games before diving deep into Anomaly. I want to experience the game how it was meant to be played and experience the lore and story that the devs created, and then move on to enjoy almost a different “gamemode” within the same universe. From what I’ve seen so far is that new players see anomaly as an updated version of the originals but it really is just a completely different gamemode
At least you have some logic compared to most anomaly/gamma worshippers, yes anomaly/gamma is like the sub branch of stalker which has nothing to do with the original trilogy, the trilogy is about casual play, with light rpg mechanics, more story driven game instead of sandbox game, actually i would recommend after completing trilogy to try other standalone mods besides anomaly/Gamma whom are more narrative driven
@@djpendellmusicGoldensphere, Wind of Time, Trapped (has a different russian name), OGSR, these mods are my favorites, also the ones that others stated above. There are endless supplies of story mods out there available.
I have always seen STALKER games (mainly STALKER SOC) as a mysterious horror sci-fi thriller, its atmosphere reminds me of the atmosphere of the movie Stalker from 1979, which is one of my favorite movies. I didn't have this feeling when I played Anomaly, to me it was just an FPS shooter with incredibly annoying micromanagement of things. So far there is only one mod that brought me back to the mysterious horror world of Zone and that is LostAlpha + STALKER Lost Alpha: Revisited.
I honestly couldnt agree more. All I want another huge mod like that or Oblivion Lost. Spatial Anomaly is also fantastic but a bit short. Also since you love the Stalker movie did you catch the reference made by Guide to that movie in Lost Alpha?
@@jonathanrabcewicz6191 I'll tell you the truth, I don't remember. If there was a reference to the movie, I probably noticed it. Speaking of the movie, there is a mod that shows parts of it in a TV in LA.
OGSR is also really nice. It is pretty much Shadow of Chernobyl tho, but remade in the 64bit xray engine with cut content, cut quests and user made dlc that imo perfectly fits into the world of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
@@blooocki I tried it sometime ago, now I found OGSR Mod RePack from SeregA-Lus with English Patch from 2021, let's see what it does. I have to note one thing, out of the movies, books and games, only one game, LostAlpha, has caused me health problems.
All I want is for GSC to create a sequel to their product in their own way. It is their IP and they can do with it whatever they want to. I mean we know GSC loves this IP and we know they love the community, look at how much they've given us, shared with us and how they go about building on S2.
@@anomalousdugout9557 Whatever they deliver will be good. We have to keep our perspective real as you mention in the video. GSC may deliver something a little jank, broken but we know the world and immersion will be top tier. And with time S2 will only get better. Considering it's on UE that also mean potential for mods. I just want more SHOC or COP. And they have perfected that recipe.
ive personally considered anomaly to be an insult to the the stalker franchise for a long time now, not because of the game itself, but because of the effect it had with the community, newer people who get introduced into stalker are almost instantly introduced to anomaly, and often play it without even finishing the original trilogy, causing false expectations about the original games with a sense of anomaly being superior, which is not true by a longshot, of course people can have different opinions on different things, but when put side by side for comparison, anomaly is generally more bland than the original trilogy, even requiring modifications boost the experience which many people install, making their expectasions about the original trilogy even more false (personal side note, if a game needs modifications to become more interesting and fun, maybe its not a very good game, assuming it wasn't crafted specifically to be a sandbox and meant to be heavily modified) the community, when it comes to anomaly plays a giant role, im pretty sure we've all seen those click-bait youtube videos advertising highly modified anomaly gameplay, branding it to be free and better than most new AAA games, causing newer players to get introduced in the community, with false expectations of stalker, thinking its EFT but for crappy computers, instead of a beautiful game with interesting lore memes also go around about people telling newbies to skip the original trilogy and hop straight into anomaly, this may sound like somthing that had happened once or twice and then people making fun of it, but considering just how insufferable the stalker community is (especially the hardcore fans) this may not be as uncommon as it sounds stalker anomaly drives players away from the beauty of the original games, allowing players to modify the game in their own personalized way to the point where it even becomes a delusion as a standart/base expectation for every time they think about "stalker" i would also like to point out that the original GSC (the one that went bankrupt at 2011) does not approve of anomaly at all (my sources are insignificant as it is just hear-say, but ive heard it so many times that i myself am starting to believe it might hold some truth) and seeing how people would prefer playing a rip off of a franchise that that was carefully crafted instead of the original and say that its superior just doesn't sit right with me this may sound like a bunch of schizo-rambling, but it's just what i have piled up from experience with the games and community, you may find it to be entirely false, but you can't exactly deny that it holds some truth to it either, and because i just made such bald claims, i would also appreciate if you guys wouldn't insult me in the comments
@@anomalousdugout9557 i honestly have to say that i adore how you managed to make a video on such a hot topic, and kept it all proffessional and polite, please keep it up
the problem of stalker moding today is that 80% of mods are some realism related bullshit as if im not playing stalker but a fucking tarkov game, stalker is not about all this
I SWEAR I knew this was next. I just KNEW it! I also laid off Anomaly, I carried on to Battlefield 1 lately,I got Anomaly again,JUST to play the G.A.M.M.A modpack,I used to love it as you know,now it is just a good S.T.A.L.K.E.R. mod that I will now just play it for fun.
The more I played Anomaly/GAMMA etc. the clearer it became that it's quite simply a love letter to Escape from Tarkov, with all the things Tarkov is missing, which Stalker had. Which I adored as I couldn't run Tarkov on my rig and have always appreciated The Zone. The issue that people may not be seeing around is; *Modders can rip other games off as much as they want, GsC have to make a Stalker game.*
It puzzles me why STALKER mods like Anomaly, GAMMA & Co. are so popular. My fondest memories of STALKER are of part 3, because it was the most well-rounded part mechanically, because every place I visited was connected to a story, because I was only in new and larger areas, because of the fast travel system, because all the anomalies and quests were "hand-built" and because the decisions I made had an impact on the zone and on the "people" I "met" there. For example, whether I gassed the "nest" of bloodsuckers or not. If I wanted to dive into the zone again, I would therefore look for a game experience that offers something comparable. Why I should play something that's a rehash of part 1, only with more "stuff", some of which just makes the game more complicated and inaccessible instead of better, doesn't make sense to me. Even the story, from what I've heard, is supposed to be an inferior copy of part 1. Also, don't mods like this actually devalue what my alter ego has achieved in the previous games? After all, virtually everything is reset to a state from before STALKER 1.
I was not carried away by Anomaly, because he does not have a single and holistic concept, he tries to be everything at once and please a very large number of players even outside the Stalker fan base. For myself, I find a more attractive, holistic and atmospheric mod from the CoC - Dead Air branch, while not letting it replace the original trilogy for myself.
Dead Air? More like DEAD MOD AMARITE? But honestly, Dead Air is my favourite misery variant, because it does things... differently, atmosphere was nuts and walking through toxic MAP when overweight by your air canister that's quickly running out of oxygen was incredibly unique and I loved it Too bad this mod development feels well... dead
Honestly I really liked just playing CoC with various mods I installed, Weather, Nature, weapon packs, derestricting A life myself, warfare... It was such an easy package to change up as you wished. Actually, it wasn't easy at all, I had to do a load of work but I learnt and understood how to make things compatible I guess.
I've played anomaly and swore off it due to frustrations i've had with it that, any time it's brought up to the devs, they claim it's 'not their fault' and that it was just 'how s.t.a.l.k.e.r. was. we didn't change a thing about it' yet these frustrations i've never run across in stalker no matter the difficulty. The biggest one is the a.i. of enemies, which, while i admit in stalker always seemed to jump between staring at the player questioning their allegiances, to xxsnipesalotxx getting quickscopes across the map. Yet in anomaly? I've not run into that. I've run into nothing but a.i. that seems to know where i am at all times and actively will hunt me down. Outright was shot by a bandit leaving cordon, from the abandoned factory before the bridge. It was the point i started questioning it, and yet. Without fail. Whenever it's brought up to the devs, they claim it's just standard stalker a.i. and i am just not believing it after over a decade of playing stalker modded and unmodded, that the only time this has happened is playing anomaly, and yet the a.i. is 'unchanged'.
As an Anomaly player, I cannot agree more! Nice video, Stalker! I do admit I probably won’t like the OG series as much as I would without starting with Anomaly, but I’m still glad to have been introduced to the community by it.
For me, Anomaly and other unifying mods (as in combining every map, faction and character from the original trilogy) have been the crowning achievement of skills and love for the games, not just from the fans, but from the creators as well. That said, I was only active in the community during the release of the original games and interact mostly with the veterans from that era afterwards. When I meet someone, who didn't touch the series, I always direct them to the released games first. I always consider Anomaly as the "free roam" mode or just a platform for other mods and never really tried its story mode. Perhaps I should, but then again it's not cannon, so I don't care that much. I already did my share reading some fanfics in the Stalker universe. However, the game itself allows me to play as Monolith or Sin, so that's always a plus for me. Recently I've came back to Shadow of Chernobyl, and it made me realise that the game doesn't run very good on modern machines. Moreover, the mods require specific patched versions and won't run or outright crash at the start if that requirement isn't met. And you can't just select the version on either Steam or GoG, you'd need a box release or have prepared files to swap. That's where the ease of access - and I don't mean being available for free - of Anomaly comes into play. I know that the Call of Pripyat had good optimisation already - in comparison to previous entries - but having it run as good as it does elevates it for me. And most of the add-ons for Anomaly are still being actively worked on. There is also one important thing for me that the Anomaly does - it preserves the X-Ray engine. I was saddened when GSC decided to move to Unreal with Stalker 2, instead of continuing the work on the original engine. I understand the decision, but I still don't like it. If it comes to Stalker 2, I just hope GSC does their own work. They may include a hardcore/survival mode as an option, as that's becoming a standard for some open world games, but I hope they keep it simple and continue the tradition from the base games. After all, that was what made them great in the first place. And given the dedication of the community, there will be mods for everyone in due time. Even for the tarkards.
This is my big issue with the old games too - they were always unstable at the best of times but now, on modern hardware, they're getting to the point of unplayable. Say what you want about Anomaly but at least the updated engine is stable. If somebody wants to port the old games to the more modern engine, I'd back that project in a heartbeat.
I tell you the truth. I played original series many times since it came out first Stalker. The best one I think is Shadow of Chernobyl with no doubt. For extraordinary gamplay experience. I immerse instantly with the game since then. Instantly become my one of favourite games since I try the game for the first time. No other games blew my mind that much since Half Life in 1998. I like Stalker 1 for atmosphere/sound design (from the past System Shock 2 had good one as well ), rpg and horror elements, loneliness and tense world which addicts even more if you come from Slavic countries. On the other hand modding gives longevity to te original titles, but mods are always going sidways from original concept to meet so many individual visions of the gameplay. There are no improvements, but each mod provide somethig different. It's all personal preference. IMHO mod Anomaly is for new Stalker players. If you are veteran and play Anomaly because you are "bored" with original masterpiece, then this speaks for itself. I personally prefer Lost Alpha and similar "expansion packs". It's not right to call Anomaly a mod for Stalker...technically it is made on different engine, secondly it is complete ovehaul. It would be much fair to call it a Stalker spin off. Like was Gunman Chronicles to Half Life. Mod is something you use the same engine, the same game assets or modify them and modify maps or build new from scratch. Don't forget anti radiation drugs, pistol and vodka going out of your dugout Stalker. Btw I was born in 1986 and have allergy and breathing problems. This message is straight from the Zone. Thanks for your attention, Respect from Poland.
There are options within the game to tweak every single aspect of progression and economy, I don't understand how people complain about the stock settings when the developers gave you everything possible to customize your experience. Personally I turn the money rewards way up and the fame points for doing jobs way up, that will eliminate the grind
As a hardcore old fan of stalker, who had it on DVD disks, and first started playing it, when i was going to 5th class of school. I think from trailers i feel the direction they are trying to head, keeping gameplay mechanics somwhere at level of original Call of Prypipiat. But trying to expand greatly on the whole "exploration and understanding" of the zone thing with all thouse new fancy devices and probably more unique quests in style of COP but on scales of whole SOC map. And im probably going to like it. Sorry newbies, no assembeling gun from shit and scrap, probably no mutant parts and hardcore economy. You could always rivet them to the game if you want, stalker modding is as powerfull as it ever been and is going to become even more so with transition to slim and sleak UE 4, altho i kinda doubght it can reach and fully replicate some of the features of Xray And im saying it without hate to Anomaly or Gamma, i have played and enjoyed all of them for thousands of hours, and even their more antique predecessors like COC, secret paths 2, Misery and etc. Currently i have returned to just COP with gunslinger and gosh do originals feel good in terms of creating the whole "some big things are about to happen in zone" feel. Wich is kinda not the point of Anomaly, Anomaly is a more "write you own story in times of calm" feel. With no real advances in tech, zone understanding, and general idea what to do with it. Also i am realy intrested in game which could be prequel to Clear Sky (You what? are you insane bro? you probably think.) But yes, game perharbs about very first months of zone creation, when no detectors, suits, o or realy any ways of relible understanding of zone existed. When it just begone with scientific expiditions dissapering, first stalkers seeping through cordons just out of intrest, and figuring thins out by tryal and error. Kinda like Golden Ball, Lost Alpha, Oblivion lost mods. Perhabs it can tell a story of unsecsessfull pre Strelok groups(Eg. Last Day mentined in designer documents and dialogs in game) attempting to reach heart of zone and then slowly filling ranks of monolith.
The similiar thing has happened in the DOOM community with the popularity of Brutal DOOM mod. Many people who either have never played the original games or haven't played them in a while went back to DOOM by playing BD because everyone was talking about it. This has completely distorted how DOOM is perceived in terms of its gameplay and atmosphere. As a result DOOM Eternal is a meme-filled saturday morning cartoon and many people act as if that's what DOOM has always been.
Anomaly is a far cry from the originals. I am one of the OG players. Purchased all the originals on CD/DVD way back in the day. Still have them. I really enjoy GAMMA, but I see as it is. A very different experience in the same universe. For STALKER 2, I am hoping it is basically a modernized version of Call of Chernobyl. A tight semi open world game that just drips and oozes atmosphere. And just make it more modern in presentation and gameplay. But, not vastly different from the original games. I will wait for the modders to make the next Anomaly/GAMMA to expand the experience of the world. I want GSC to explain to me what is going on in the zone through an epic story.
I think EfP 4.0 is actually closer to the novells. Random anomalies popping up in unexpected places, better mutant behaviours, better gunplay... It really is almost like the books. An unforgiving, but rewarding gameplay. ...but i would still recommend new players to get through the original 3.
@@szogunyasty6392 i know. As is the entire game trilogie, compared to the original book and movie. Still i like the version of the Zone depicted in the novels.
I love Anomaly but I totally agree with you, and in fact it's even worse than your example of starting a series from the last episode of the latest season, only playing Anomaly and basing your opinions of STALKER off of it is more like only reading someone's fan fiction because Anomaly isn't even canon. Even with people who have played the original trilogy, their time spent playing Anomaly tends to warp their memories of what the original games were really like. Anomaly's gunplay is so well polished that it makes people forget how janky the original games were.
I remember seeing a meme on reddit about newcomers favoring Anomaly over the og triology, and yeah that's a noticeable behavior on various sides of the internet. I wouldn't classify it as a problem, but it does get a bit annoying at times. Also regarding 8:20 , no offense to anyone who feels that way but like, Anomaly's story line technically retcons Strelok's ending in CoP ; - ;
i used to frequent the stalker subreddit a while back when every new post was [and i apologize for how i say it] literally just extremely stupid question about anomaly from new players that could have been answered by playing just one single game from the trilogy. tho those people have been introduced to the stalker franchise from bigger youtubers advertising it as "a free Escape from Tarkov alternative", i am in no way a veteran stalker ive been probably playing for
You make good points. Its frustrating to see our favorite franchise misrepresented in this way. Do you also find it confusing that people want to jump into a new franchise and start with mods? I always want to start with the original game before I touch a mod.
I have always wanted to play the STALKER series and never really got around to it due to not wanting to buy it, and also some of the jank of the originals kind of deterred me. Now that I have played Anomaly substantially, I am much more interested in the world and it’s lore and will probably go back and play the originals.
I agree with you, I atleast played Shadow of Chernobyl before playing Anomaly and skipped Clear Sky and CoP before playing it. Anomaly spoiled me cuz of the fact I could play as Monolith, Bandits, Sin, and Mercenaries; waging my own wars and going on my own adventures. And yes, its gonna really suck for GSC cuz this mod has raised the standards bar for them so high, its gonna take a miracle for them to really wow the player.
not all players, some players. Exclusively players that started from Anomaly and then played STALKER vanilla. But think about this, imagine STALKER Vanilla remake in a better engine? and then you can wait a couple of years to get the mods that'll make it as hardcore as you want...
As a veteran stalker who has put hours even days of my life playing shadow of Chernobyl, clear sky, and call of pripyat I rather injoy anomaly, only base anomaly because I full heartedly think that it was the experience I felt with shadow of Chernobyl all those years ago, I hate with anomaly that they try to take away the feeling of stalker with gamma and efp. It makes it feel like tarkov cinda, I have spent hours apon hours of time in anomaly, even completed the story line twice and am working on it as we speak a third time, but I feel like the new players should never start with anomaly, or even consider it a stalker game. It is a breath of fresh air to feel stalker like I did as a kid but as a vet, I will say this start with the trilogy so you have an appreciation for how far stalker 2 will have come, and if you do play anomaly, as a vet I don't respect you if your delusion is that efp or gamma will ever even touch the greatness that is the slavjank we know and love. But play how you want, and never let the spirit of stalker die. Ps it's also worth your while to play other mods to because anomaly yes is a better one but not the only one. Thank you.
I honestly don't like anomaly. It took everything that made the trilogy great and simply added overcomplicated mechanics to it. I much rather play the originals, not everything needs to be a hardcore realistic shooter.
I completely agree. People should temper their expectations. STALKER 2 will probably not be at all Anomaly, GAMMA or EFP. I also miss the days when the fandom was not obnoxiously full of all the tacticool bros. If you want real tactical combat you may be better served playing ARMA.
It's a weird take for me. I have friends that wasn't interested in the stalker franchise at all. But, when introduced to anomaly and the vast mods quantity they were obsessed with it. While playing asking about the lore and then after end up playing the first games like SoC and CoP. Anyways I totally understand your point in the fact that a lot of the canon lore is missed out.
@@anomalousdugout9557 I'll also echo this sentiment. I'm a GAMMA player now, but have nothing but love and respect for the original trilogy. Several of my friends who previously had no idea what the Stalker franchise even was finally started paying attention after hearing about Anomaly. It's hard for me to view Anomaly's breakout success as anything but free marketing for GSC's Stalker 2, and a massive win. The idea that Anomaly is bad for the series or the community because some people might come into the franchise with incorrect expectations seems a bit silly.
this is exactly what happened to me and how i introduced my friend to the game. tho i didnt have a friend introduce me to the mod, i always had an interest in stalker i could just never get over the dated gameplay. once i found anomaly through a streamer i watched and tried it out i was hooked, all of a sudden anomaly wasnt enough for me and i just had to go back to the originals to see what a more cinematic take on the story was like and it didnt disappoint. anomalous dugout is 100% correct in this vid but there a lot of people who used anomaly as a sort of gateway into stalker an ended up falling in love with all the games not just the mods
In part because I only have a bit of a potato to play games on, I constantly play older games that I either played when they were released or that are from the same era. But I can see how new players won't have an appetite for the old games. Also, some of the mods are quite difficult, as opposed to Anomaly which is more accessible and can be played at the player's own pace. Of course some settings are very difficult but they are the player's choice. Nostalgia plays a powerful role in willingness to overlook or even welcome or appreciate bugs and jankiness. Can't expect new players to feel the same. Anomaly is its own thing. I love how it lets you live and exist in Zone. It and its predecessors kept STALKER fandom alive the way fan fiction kept Star Trek alive for 20 years. There is no reason why the fan STALKER universe and the GSC STALKER universe can't exist side by side.
STALKER 2: *Comes out, but it hasn't met the expectations of die hard Anomaly fans* Anomaly fans: 'Fine! We'll make our own STALKER 2, with blackjack and hookers! Actually, screw the Blackjack!' That's how I see it...
Even if Stalker 2 is a masterpiece, the modding community has enough creativity and motivation to create something that they think is better. CoC is a good example. It was the best sanbox mod we had, but people wanted more, so addons were made and modpacks were created. Some people like them and some people didn't, but there is enough addons and modpacks to create your own preferable experience in CoC.
Thank you! I end up feeling like I'm screaming into the void when I express related views, about anomaly, about overhaul mods, and about the divide they create in the community. Anomaly is far from the only overhaul mod that has a dedicated community of 'it's the REAL stalker' drones. Anomaly, owing to it's accessibility and drawing from starting out as an intended 'redo' of call of misery with higher standards, got more press and awareness than a lot of the others, but they are out there. Yes, most my recent playtime has been with Anomaly, with my own custom assortment of mods. But I don't forget that the approach to the game is fundamentally different from that of the actual games in the trilogy. Anomaly is, at the end of the day, akin to a intermediate game done between official games, contracted out to a third party studio. It is not the same as GSC's stalker, and has a fundamentally different list of priorities. The primary thing it shares with the actual games, is visual design and map layouts. The gameplay is NOTABLY different (although whether it's 'better' or not depends on opinion), and the focus of said gameplay is different. To boil it down, the original games have a direction. They have a specific story to tell, a specific journey. They aren't life-sims or focused on having the best/mostimmersive/mosthardcore gameplay. They are focused on atmosphere and a story. It's like comparing the books in a series to some seasonal tv series adaptation of the world of the books. It doesn't translate too well, and while you can still like the tv series, you have to admit it diverges a LOT from the source materiel, just by nature of being a tv series as opposed to a book.
As someone who was introduced to STALKER only about a year ago and even read Roadside Picnic, I have put more hours into Anomaly than the original trilogy. That said, I urge the STALKER community to gatekeep as much as possible. STALKER 2 shouldn't be like Anomaly. It should retain the same core elements/mechanics that the first 3 games had. I used to be a massive Halo and Star Wars fan. There is nothing I hate more than to see things I like be ruined by tourists that want to change the entire hobby. Don't let the same happen to you guys.
Still shaking my head when someone says Anomaly is the best game but doesn't want to play the originals because of jankiness en age. I'm not joking, there are people on Steam forums actually saying this. It's insane.
And when there are threads expressing negative opinion about Anomaly, these same people flock over to that and call OP trash, lmao I hate these situations so much
@Grouse1999 I don’t hate anomaly and play it a lot either but people have to admit that it only shines when certain mods and QOL features are installed to actually make the game tolerable and playable
Your Critic about anomaly is exactly the same one i do... I have a discord server, and because of GAMMA, EFP and of course Anomaly it grew like crazy for some time, but grew with everyone that is not really interested with stalker.. .. Only DayZ players, ARMA 3 plaeyers, only players searching for a quick dopamine dose of survival games... The people that play only the stalker anomaly are not real Stalkers... They are part of a group of "Hype-based " players, that will play every single Stalker-Like game, without even knowing what is stalker... Only because they are "survival fans"... Is a really sad thing, because the real and long lasting community is not powered by hyped reallistic mechanics, its powered by lore, immersion and all the unique things that is owned by stalker (and copied to anomaly)... Really sad.
Unless the original devs speak out against Anomaly/Gamma we can't really.say if they are against the concept. None of the original devs expected Stalker to become what it is today, or could anticipate where it would go. They had neither the time or tech to achieve what modders have done since the O.G game launched. Stalker today is amazing, no one can argue with that. It is free, immersive and.bloody awesome - why try and take away from that?
I think this speaks to trends within the gaming space in general. Survival mechanics and overblown "hardcore" BS have become expected in games following the success of other FU simulators like DayZ, Zomboid, Tarkov, etc. There's this sort of negative nostalgia effect people have with the original series as well. I remember playing it when it first came out. Compared to other games *at the time* STALKER was a difficult game. Other games like half life 2, call of duty, bioshock, halo 3, mass effect, all centered the gameplay around the player. STALKER was different in that it was conceived to do exactly the opposite with it's a-life engine (which was actually never functional in the way it was originally conceived) and the AI had x-ray vision meaning combat was quite a bit more difficult compared to other shooters which were designed primarily as power fantasies. 10 + years later, however, revisiting STALKER reveals it was not really as difficult as we thought, it was mainly just janky, and many of us who were there for it's original release were young and bad at games. The gloomy atmosphere of STALKER has also been way overblown by this same effect. Again, compared to other games, STALKER felt quite lonely, as there were no companion characters, no facial animations, no spoken dialogue, etc. That isolated feeling and the hostile environment were the corner stones of STALKER's atmosphere. Fast forward 10+ years, and modders have interpreted their memories of the game by doing things like desaturating the entire gameworld - even going so far as to make the inventory icons nearly black and white (looking at you, misery and autumn aurora). The OG games were NEVER this grayscale, rainy, depressing hellscape that modders seem intent to turn STALKER into. They are actually quite vibrant, with abundant green foliage and many sunny days. Modern gaming "sensibilities" like the mandatory crafting elements, overly complicated health systems, bloated item tables, etc. have become the status quo, so modders naturally go and import those types of systems into STALKER. And due to this it attracts more and more DayZ/PUBG/Tarkov/Darksouls players (many of whom haven't even played the original games because they literally weren't born yet) and ineviotably some percentage of those people become modders and keep pushing STALKER further towards it's ultimate demise - an "ultra hardcore realistic tacticool punch-me-in-the-balls- simulator" that they can play and brag about how they play really difficult games.
anomaly maybe a bit less, but the more popular gamma is literally escape from tarkov in the Zone, with some vague stalker elements. I enjoy playing it, but the entitled kids wanting Stalker 2 to be a clone of that are insane...
i was just thinking about this the other day, something along the lines of the mod getting the Brutal Doom treatment, where sure, it's all flashy and more hardcore, but it's not the true vision of the game and some people just stick to that specifically, not appreciating what the originals had
Im so happy that u mentioned Last Day 1.3 I spent a lot of time in this mod and rly loved it. Its safe to say that it is the one of the best mods and its potential even overshadowed bitcoin mining lmao
@@anomalousdugout9557 and good that Dead Air was skipped. Its better to dont talk about it. Nah im just kidding but phenomenon of glowsitck in the zone are still not quite understandable for me. Must be some Freedom influence
If you have doubts and troubles thinking about the new upcoming game... Think of it this way. Wishes. We all have our wishes. We want to fullfil them so desperately.. This game formed an entire culture. In some cases, it made us who we are today. Some of us wish different things and are willing to fight for their wish to be fullfiled. Some of us will isolate and seek our own wish alone. Loners, eh? Some of us will come together and fight the growing cancer that in our eyes are the new players who misunderstand this franchise we so love. You could say it's our Duty to do so as fans.. Some will come together to give the franchise the Freedom it deserves, for the developers to finally express themselves fully as they always wanted to. Some seek to manipulate the weak into doing what they want in petty ways. Leakers, hackers, trolls and all those Bandits. Some care only for themselves and their mission. Make the most hardcore milsim.. make the most painful misery survival experience.. and they will do whatever it takes to scratch that itch even if it means bullying the fans and devs into complying. Like bandits, but more focused. Ehem..mercs..ehem.. Some just want to know the oh so secretive and deep lore and find every detail and analyze them to it's core like a Scientist.. they make the community a better place but are weak in fighting the other group's opinions. The average goon with no experience in the franchise will see a cool game come out.. buys it.. doesn't like it, suffers in it and leaves bad reviews. A pain in everyone's ass. Yes, they're a player. Yes, they're necessary. Yes, they give feedback. But they're corrupt goons who leave a mess everywhere they go and you can't escape them. They're like an Army of incompetence.. Some don't have an opinion on anything but are supportive of groups who wish good to the franchise because they themselves like it. I guess they join the hype train because they want Clear Skies above the game and it's community. Can't forget the depressed, brainwashed, extremely hostile, non-communicable basement dwellers worshiping their PC and the games on it. They will do anything they can to trash on anything and anyone that gets close to them and messes with their Monolithic ego. And they're so...soooo numerous.. they only grow in number as more people reach the depths of the Internet exclusion zone.. There is also those who are less known for they are forgotten and excluded from the main community but still very much exist. The news and media of the outside world. Competent, scientific in their methods, effective.. but ultimately they can hurt the franchise because the outside influence is rarely ever a good thing. (I was going for ISG) And of course. The ones that just want to see the world burn for it's Sins. Many of us have their own stories and reasons to fullfil their wish. We don't all fall into these categories. But Stalker, if you want to know the truth.. if you want to truly move on and answer your questions.. You must remember. We don't know whether we were right or wrong. I guess we will never know. But we made it. And I guess we should be thankful for that. Good hunting Stalkers.
ah, nice I think everyone, myself included, has sensed some kind of "fallout new vegas" aspect to anomaly's playerbase. Buuut, frankly, its mostly an illusion, and that is how things can evolve. Theres many perspective of the story, all meaning well. But i think that ultimately, the only ones that are truly negative, are the ones trying to tell people what to think without seeing the need for explanation. On one side, people who think anomaly is the greatest stalker game period. And the purists who feel like anomaly is only enjoyable if you played the originals firsts and that it can only stand up because the first games lifts it up. Both sides are wrong, both sides account for a minority of players (unless it gets more and more dramatized) Thinking you understand the politics of a situation and taking it for granted is not a good things either. Anyway, i could explain why i feel those things, but i know people who see this probably understands already. (oh, and, saying you should play the other games before playing anomaly is beeing a douche, just like saying "its totally fine if you only play anomaly, buuuuuut..." is super disingenuous. All i'll say is: the only way (i believe) to unite the playerbase is to talk about how great each games are, not how they "steal the spotlight that they don't deserve" Look at fallout 3 and fallout NV. Same exact situation. While the NV fanbase had their fingers up theirs for a goood while, fallout 3 players didn't have the ego necessary to judge and shame NV. What ended up happening was a wave of people talking about why fallout 3 actually is a great game with its own strenght, and why it is just as important to fallout's history than NV. While there hasn't been a clear conclusion (there never is), it nonetheless improved the fanbase's unity and appreciation of the series' history, to a point where if fallout 5 draws some things from each game, there won't be any major rucus over it. Stalker fans need to understand that because something isn't official or wanted, doesn't mean it isn't part of the franchise's history and evolution. DMC 5 pays homage to the crappy reboot basically no one liked. Id software during the DooM 2016/Eternal period payed great importance and inspiration from both DooM 64 and 3, which were both heavily looked down upon beforehand.
It obviously can work both ways. I always brushed Stalker off as a "weird Ukrainian Fallout" but enjoyed hardcore FPS games, so when I saw what Anomaly had in stock for me I was onboard. If it wasn't for the mod I would've never knew how interesting and intricate the source material is, it intrigued me so much I even read the Roadside Picnic lmao
Lets be honest, one thing is true; we need more great games in great settings whether it is a simpler game in a rich and compelling world/story like the retail trilogy or a mechanic rich game that you can immerse yourself in (as your own character) like in Anomaly. We may get one before the other but the important thing is to support it so we can get more Stalker games. Simply put; for me the free play is such an attractive factor in why I chose to play Anomaly associated modpacks (and the similar mods of years prior). Playing out my own story in my own way is far more compelling to me than following a dedicated story with relatively open play elements between. I will definitely admit that I had a strong dose of lore and world building when I first played trilogy which has allowed me to fully enjoy such a world in a free play mode while also enjoy the more cognitively engaging systems it introduces to gameplay. It is very noticeable when I watch my newcomer friends choose & play anomaly as I often find myself informing them of the lore and significance of certain segments that just look like another area to them. I don't see them enjoying the game in the same way I did and while it might not be exactly what I experienced Anomaly I can't say its wrong like you (any many others before you) have said: "newcomer... should play retail first". Not everyone needs to appreciate every detail in the same manner you and me do, some simply prefer a little less. Experiencing the stalker setting in this free (and less dense) form gives a solid basis to the S.TA.L.K.E.R universe and often (in the case of my friends) leads to questions and interest in the series as a whole. I can't apply the common phrase night & day in regards to Anomaly & the retail series because its more like dusk & day; one has more story and less compelling mechanics (to some), the other has more compelling mechanics (to some) and less story (as often is expected in free-play modus). To me you are one of the most knowledgeable players so I can understand why the experience looks like night & day to you and many others who also have deep knowledge. All of my newcomer friends are excited for the next instalment in the series and more importantly know what they have been playing is a freeplay survival mod that is much different from the core experience in the trilogy. In the new title they will be able to recognize factions/areas/equipment and a whole load more from what they have so far experienced in Anomaly and be given a bunch of context which will hopefully further develop their enjoyment of the game and create dedicated fans of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R universe. Again let us be honest, it is ok to enjoy things differently, we can just enjoy the fact there are more people enjoying the zone (whether it is someone who only scratches the surface or someone who digs deeper than the x labs to find out every detail, or even some who like to extrapolate and hypothesize about everything). I've watched every single video, I think this was one of the weaker ones, its a complex topic and in general all the videos are great. I would not be against content from another game series if you find another one you love as long as playlists are properly curated! Have you ever watched Shiey & Anton (Idk his channel anymore) explore the zone in real life? I loved the moment when they referred to the person they some information from as a S.T.A.K.E.R! The information was where to find the shallow point a stream so they could cross it at night! I think its very cool that term is used in the exclusion zone exploration community.
I started with stalker anomaly gamma not really knowing about the stalker trilogy, though I'll definitely be playing it before I play stalker 2. I hope the devs make stalker 2 how they want to make it and don't feel pressure to make something they're not even passionate about. Right now I'm an anomaly fan but I hope to become a stalker fan too once I could afford the games
The game’s usually go on sale as a pack both on Steam and Fanatical, not sure rn tho, but if you can afford only one I’d recommend Call of Pripyat because it has everything that GSC Wanted to have in a stalker game
Anomaly needs better Artifact usage. I really loved that in SoC artifacts had really handy uses and secret formulas for special abilities that have been stripped from the game in Anomaly.
I completely agree with this Even as a younger fan of the series, starting out six years ago when I got my first gaming PC, I still sought out the original games and only modded them slightly, rather than the new tacticool posers who have recently come in and want to shape STALKER 2 in their own image
I want to preface what I say with the fact that I love this channel, and love the in depth lore explanations that you provide for us. But simply put, the Stalker fanbase needs to stop gatekeeping people and playstyles. Over the past few months the amount of drama over Anomaly has been absurd. There is a reason why Anomaly has become so popular and has brought so many new fans in, and it ISN'T a bad thing. I was one of them, finding out about Anomaly and then playing through the original games. Anomaly is easy to get into for someone new to the franchise, besides being free, it's focus isn't directly on story, more on exploration and those survival elements that like them or not most people recognize and enjoy from other popular titles. This allows people to take the story in at a slower pace and not be confused and overwhelmed by just jumping in straight away to the main series. I was shocked that only a year ago, the community loved Anomaly, excited to see all these new people enjoying their beloved franchise, only to get angry when new people joined and did not agree with them about what they want out of a SINGLE PLAYER GAME. I personally enjoy the experience of just being a dude in the Zone, not a main character following the main story, just an Ordinary Stalker, doing ordinary things, and for me, Anomaly fit that way better. Its beautiful to see a game that has such a variety of mods and fans dedicated to it, but ultimately tearing down others who are new to the series will not help, and will only drive them away, while making the community look like trash. And honestly over past few months this hasn't been disproven.
Everyone is welcome to the franchise whether it's from anomaly or OG games But I do recommend playing the OG games first then anomaly Either way, the people who started with anomaly think stalker franchise was like Anomaly and expects + wants stalker 2 to be like it This is a problem If you don't want to play the OG games At least be realistic and don't expect an official game to be like the unofficial mod
While I like Call of Chornobyl as a platform - it did kinda hurt over those past years. Yes, making your own path and "living" in the Zone is great, but something about original stories just felt more right, like, well original trilogy and mods such as SFZ, Alone in Windstorm, Spatial Anomaly, etc. I still respect work put into projects like Anomaly, Dead Air, Legends Returns, CoM and so on, but for rookie stalkers - their first rodeo should be with originals. (Btw, I remember someone in your channel mentioned in Q&A, that they've listened your lore videos in the background while they've played Anomaly. Man, like c'mon)
@@ChainikVlad yeah, you were using the Ukrainian pronunciation to be politically correct lmao, everyone knows any stalker game or mod never used chornobyl in its English title until now with S2
As someone who really enjoys Anomaly, and play it more than the originals, I agree with your points. There was this one group I was a part of, and every post and comment was about how Anomaly was the best video game.... in the world! Every game would be compared to Anomaly and it became a toxic environment that I yeeted myself out of quickly. They even complained how STALKER 2 looked too much like Metro and won't be Anomaly (according to them the true Stalker experience), and that was only with the footage from the trailer that released in 2021. The full game isn't even out yet, and already it is fighting an uphill battle with the self proclaimed "true stalker fans" in that group, and that group is definitely not an exception, there are tons like that. The original trilogy is still amazing to play through, and there are so many other great mods, like someone mentioned Oblivion Lost Remake.
Anomaly is fun for when I want to just spend time in The Zone and explore, but when I want something with more story I like to play the original trilogy.
I agree, anomaly excels in its immersive open world, not in its story and anyone who is playing anomaly for its story is in the wrong place. You can tell just by playing it that the story isn’t necessarily the point of focus of the mod.
It's cool for old school trip but he still anomaly some things are very good like delete a lot of shit items useless but the gunplay mecanic it's too old and the quest system/story stay the same
anomaly was my first stalker experience, i loved it, it made me buy the original trilogy, and i loved it, I got tired with the "tarkov/tactical" anomaly modpacks, because, I think they don't fit STALKER well, i still enjoy STALKER GAMMA, and etc. i installed OWA for a more, chill experience. Currently i'm working on a STALKER CS playthrough as i'm playing the og trilogy based on timeline.
At this point, I'm here for the mod makers. You helped chisel a POS into a staggering diamond. I was there in the beginning. I remember reading about this game in magazines I stole from Walmart and Albertsons. Lamenting the fact that I was so poor I would never play this gasmasked masterpiece. When I finally got my hands on it I, like many people, Wondered how hard it was to make a bullet go straight. As did the game developers. But in the end here we are. The best game you will ever play was cobbled together with hope, dreams and above all LOVE! CB forever. But I'd like to be on top sometimes!
I’m gonna be real honest and say that in its vanilla state, Anomaly is sort of like Misery with better graphics, and my first experience with the game was that I hated it, coming from finishing the original trilogy and exploring the mods it had But once you de-misery Anomaly and get rid of the cluster of junk items there are in the game, it actually becomes a really fun experience, i have around 89 mods installed and most of them are to make it feel like Shadow of Chernobyl Sadly, the original trilogy is outpaced by Anomaly (and sister mods like EFP and GAMMA) due to the latter being free and being covered by a lot of content creators, and what I hate the most from these mods is that they’ve deviated way too far from STALKER’s original vision in the first place I like variation but when the game starts to suffer from an identity crisis because of it, of course it’s going to split the fanbase I seriously can’t take people who seriously expect STALKER 2 should be something like GAMMA, especially knowing that STALKER was never meant to be a hardcore game, let alone it wasn’t even a very hard game in the first place. It’s all about the basics of Scavenging, Traveling, Adventuring, Looting, Killing, Exploring, and Robbing - it never needed to go way beyond those parameters, but here we are I guess
The way I look at it is that as someone who has only played Anomaly the gameplay trailers have lived up to my expectations so far. Because I have only played Anomaly, I am NOT going to buy the game as soon as it releases and instead wait until either I find out it has the features I am looking for OR the modding community adds what was missing (Warfare mode for example as that is seemingly excusive to Anomaly).
I first played anomaly, then GAMMA, then got addicted to the world of the zone, bought the 3 games. Played them all, now I'm back in GAMMA even more addicted. The story and atmosphere is like nothing else. I know stalker fans probably hate me but I thought the original games were very easy and I hope there is realistic gunplay and survival mechanics in S2 lol
I agree, I think having at least the option for a more hardcore survival in the new stalker will do nothing but improve the immersion of the game. It doesn’t even have to be on by default it could be turned on or off like other RPG hardcore modes in like Skyrim or fallout or something.
"realistic gunplay and survival mechanics" is a disaster imo. Shooters must be dynamic and fun, player should not be afraid of getting hit otherwise he needs 5 bandages 10syringes and then after he will have screen shaking so he needs to take more syringes and then you need to drink and you only get hit once. Ridiculous. Game should be like the originals
But that's the problem... new players like you don't understand that STALKER isn't meant to be the "Hardcore Military Survival Sim" Yes, it's supposed to be Difficult game but it isn't supposed to be a "Realistic Survival Sim" game. That's the one thing I dislike about Anomaly, Because it's feels entirely like a different game.
The first Stalker game I played was Stalker Anomaly; then EFP, then GAMMA, then SoC, CS, and CoP. CoP is my favorite. CS and SoC are tied for a close second. Gamma takes next, a ways behind- it’s cool and I love playing all the maps together. But I am even more excited for Stalker 2. I hope it is a successor to CoP and does not take cues from Gamma.
I tried several times years ago to play through shadow of Chernobyl and couldn’t. After finishing anomaly it gave me the motivation to finally complete the original game.
For me the main draw od stalker is the atmosphere, which i feel in many ways the mods detract from. I don't mind the gun prawn, better models etc, bur they always seem to clash with the strange aesthetic of the world. I've heard many people say the fact the world goes on without you and feels alive, like you're just an insignificant person in this world, not the main character. Whxih while the mods very much do that, they also kind of lack delving into the strange labs for novel information about long forgotten experiments etc. Not sure if i can entirely put my finger on it, but I'm hoping they aren't tainted too much by the mod scene froman atmosphere perspective, but keep some of the improvements those games offer.
To anomaly fans, here are some other wonderful mods for you to try! -Return to the Zone -DOLLCHAN 8: Infinity -Secret Trails 2 -Goldsphere -Sigerous mod series -Call of the Zone -and many more!
The things that drawed me into anomaly more than any other mod, was the fully accessible zone, playing as all the factions and updated and fleshed out warfare mods. That along with how frequently it is supported by the community, I could see why I played it for as long as I did.
![ค้างคืนโรงเก็บกระสวยอวกาศร้างกลางทะเลทราย [Around The World Ep. 3]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/E5bWZQhABJE/mqdefault.jpg)
Nothing will prepare us for the amount of “this is nothing like anomaly” comments that will be said when Stalker 2 comes out
"Omg guys, in the new "come to me" trailer the corpse Skif looted didn't have 5 misc items! This is nothing like Anomaly!"
I've seen more complaints and bitching from gatekeepers about the S2 videos not being like blank or like "how this isn't Stalker,this is call of duty filth" more than anyone else.
I just hope we won't have to hear any 'this feels nothing like the original games'.
It really needs to be a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Game, and not just a ripoff soiling the name!!
I know right ? I fear for that moment
In fact, I've already seen so many Anomaly comments and a comment about "Anomaly 2"
We will be ready.
Stalker is unfortunately in a bit of a weird position as a franchise: while all the three maintain some of the core elements of gameplay, they go in different directions in regard to story and world building. Add to this the vague nature of the Zone, easy access to modding tools, GSC almost disappearing for a decade and you have what we have now: everybody has their own personal idea of what Stalker should be like.
Personally I just hope Stalker 2 will be at least as good as the original, but I'm worried about those pre-order dlc I saw: I don't want to play a modern videogame, I want to experience the Zone, damnit!
Yea, I would tolerate it a bit more of those bonuses if it was just season pass for 2 story DLC and that's it.
Multiplayer of the original trilogy wasn't the strong suit *at all* and CO:OP was confirmed to not be coming according to Grigorovich in some magazine interview.
Agreed.
@@ChainikVlad I heard the 2 stories might be about Yantar and Limansk
Wich might also be the reason we might not be able to visit those two areas at release. Having a spatial anomaly cut those areas off.
Yes, weird is the word.
@@blooocki Yes, the leaks apparently said so. But Yantar is a bit different.
Most likely there will be a DLC questline in Yantar, but the area is probably gonna still be accessible in the main game
I'm an anomaly modder. I've been around the anomaly community for a long time and know their attitude toward stalker 2. The boys have already decided that they will love the game no matter what, before it was even officially announced. If it's great, we will enjoy it. If it's bad, we will fix ourselves. Just like old time.
I think the core fans very tolerate stalker 2. We expect it to be similar to the the trilogy. Sadly some young fans think different. I try to convince them to try out the trilogy every time I have a chance.
Thank you for your work.
Problem i have with playing the trilogy is they play like games from the 00's.
I played SoC when it came out and loved it, and its only cos of that i bothered with Anomaly, and then EFP
Hey i know you, thanks for updating your mods
exactly my dude
I first found out about the franchise through Drewski's anomaly videos, as did many others, but I've found myself more infatuated by the world itself than just the gameplay. The world felt like it was a place that didn't want you there, the idea of emissions being events that are caused by the almost sentient mind of the zone itself wishing to cleanse itself of the very people trying to destroy it is just so interesting.
Stick me in a game where I can explore that more and I'd dig it, as such I've been playing through the originals and I'm having a blast. Sure the gameplay of anomaly can be considered a bit more refined with a modern touch, but I don't want insane realism for the sake of realism, or a super ultra giga hardcore game, so the differences between soc and anomaly do not deter me. SOC so far has been a joy to play, I look forward to experiencing what stalker 2 will do to expand the universe even more.
Imagine creating a mod so successful that it casts a shadow over the entirety of the games which it was based on and actually comes full circle to become harmful to the series. That’s gotta be the most bittersweet feeling to the Anomaly creators ever.
I mean that says more about the games than it does anomaly tbh.
@@zars1324thats is outright wrong, i remember BF3, it was a buggy mess but people got into it because it was unique(at the time), ARMA games are still a physics bullshit fest but you have houndreds of unique communities gathering up to play some ops, and those are few very mainstream examples
@@zars1324 considering that alot of triple A game company's games come out unfinished and buggy. Id say most people go for unique over polished. Tarkov is another good example
Can you please explain why it's bad?
I have never played stalker except for Anomaly: EFP
@@zars1324 "jank" is what you mean, and ofc is valid, but what really makes gamma stand out is the outreach it got through creators, remember that day some known youtuber made a video about it and moddb crashed for hours. Its all about that the yourger ones might even think this is the actual game and a free alternative to tarkov(because obviously some people get attracted because of it), its not really about choice rather than knowledge of its existance, ease of acquirement and price
To be completely honest, I have played all 3 games before. And now I just switched off to Anomaly, and the only reason for that is because the storyline for Anomaly is optional and you can explore the Zone as your own story.
I don't see Anomaly or Gamma as mainly how Stalker is suppose to be, yes it's gameplay is amazing. Originating from Call of Pripyat's mechanics. But if there was ever a true essential to the Stalker experience, it's the first 3 official games. This way you can experience the official experience even if it is greatly difficult, but it is very worth it. I only see Anomaly as a mod where I can just freely play in the Zone instead of following a specific storyline, it's not necessary that I have to turn on Story Mode or go to the leader of my faction to find Strelok, stop Sin, or find out some random problem's with Sidorovich's radio. It's just the freedom of all Stalker players to be in the Zone and make their own path. It's no baseline of how Stalker is, it's just a choice if you wanna keep playing Stalker or not.
Alright, nice.
@@anomalousdugout9557 has anybody told you that you act like a homosexual?
I have played all of the stalker games, Its so sad to see new people to stalker just playing stalker anomaly
Its also sad that people won't play other mods like oblivion lost remake(one of my favorites)
Yes, this "ULTRA MEGA REALISTIC HARDCORE TACTICOOL FOOD HUNGER THIRST RPG" like Tarkov, ARMA, Dayz etc has taken over STALKER, the three STALKER games are great story and gameplay but now people only want Anomaly.
Yeah.. everyone uses tacticool mods.
fr, i just want to see how many newgens will be dissapointed at stalker 2 because its not gonna be anomaly 2
i dont know man, yes true the story is great and all but i just cant i cant play old graphics janky game (no offense) but i do watch the lore on youtube and i know stalker 2 wont be like anomaly
YES, FINALLY SOMEONE ADDRESSES THIS ISSUE! I actually abandoned many stalker related groups on social media, because the shitstorm was too much to handle.
Damn.
Certain TH-camrs have pushed “Woahh this new game is like Tarkov with mutants!” type of videos about Anomaly and I blame them for bringing in the uninitiated
As much as I love some tactile, high-risk gunplay, I think the rise of tacticool culture of "hardcore realistic shooters" have tarnished the true beauty of STALKER and the Zone. For as janky as the vanilla games are, the atmosphere is never lost on me whereas in Anomaly, seeing gameplay where the player whips out their fully customized Zenitco AK-74 just makes it feel like Anomaly has turned into a pseudo-flexing session rather than living in an ever-changing ecosystem where you can never expect what will happen on a wide scale tomorrow. I really don't want to blame Operator Drewski for this but I feel like his Anomaly series have distracted newcomers from what the true beauty and horror of the Zone is.
man elitist like you just make me want to never play the game again, how do upgraded and better weapons take away from anything? the original game having no guns was due to cost and time. anomaly is objectively the most atmospheric the idea your even trying to say the old games are better in this regard is laughable at best it has EVERYTHING the old zones have with better effects
most people like me wouldn't even be playing stalker if it wasn't for anomaly its were many of us started and after playing the others anomaly is objectively the better game and achieves everything the original devs wanted and them some, some of the old devs even worked on anomaly ffs
Do you know any modpacks that might make the Focal point of the mod that eerie Terriyfying Atmosphere or even improve it? That is my favorite part of Shadow of Chernobyl
This is somethi g that irked me, although the bringing of outside forces brings of course newer and more professional weapons one can loot. One never know how long a player tried to put together that weapon.
@@epicboukas7354Not SoC but Call of Pripyat has a mod called Misery, the version prior to the current one gives such a heavy atmosphere, even more so then the base game imo, he speaks about it in the video.
Very valid opinion, Good job stalker.
The Stalker series has always been a part of my childhood. The gameplay I watched as a child gave such weird and unique feelings that I sadly won't feel ever again. Playing all of the games as time went, it all felt complete in my heart. I really hope that the story and its elements for all of us who give care to the original trilogy, carry to Stalker 2
same here, fingers crossed
Same right here, i knew about the games from watching Life Of Boris since i was a kid lol
Time will tell.
I love Anomaly and played Gamma (busy-hands simulator is suffering from mod dev narcissism)
If I introduce anyone to stalker it will ALWAYS be vanilla SoC, master, no crosshair
Is there something going on with Gamma? ive only played about 4 or 5 hours of it because i was already bored by anomaly by the time i played and it didnt do much to change things
@@cadrian4806 Grok (the guy that compiled gamma) is hugely narcissistic and full of himself because he thinks he created the best mod ever. He has a huge victim complex and thinks any addon that mentions gamma that's downvoted on MODDB is a personal attack on him, it's almost as if he thinks the whole stalker community revolves around him and his modpack. This is including the fact that he's profiting off of other people's hard work via his Patreon.
It's just a shitty situation all-round.
@@fuzzo4475 Having watched him throw his tantrums on ModDB convinced me not to download his modpack, not that I wanted to download that garbage before, dude just artificially extends the gameplay adding a ton of "realistic survival elements" into it.
@@fuzzo4475 excuse me but do you have any idea the amount of work he puts into this completely for free? Every single day he's working and updating the pack, I check the updates multiple times a day every day and there's constantly new updates. He even changed the name of the pack to not have is own name in it because people are crying he's taking glory for himself.
Why master ? The whole Master difficulty thing is literally a troll, placebo or gaslighting thing
Lol I started with Lost Alpha DC 1.05, loved it, bought the trilogy, burned through it. Anomaly is great gameplaywise, but for reasons I don't know, it can never replicate the atmosphere of either the original games or more lore/story focused games.
Maybe because it went from being a soulful sci-fi focused horror FPS to a re-textured misery lite survival shooter.
Yeah i agree, the original games felt unique and different
It's not some Lidl brand Tarkov survival shooter, but rather sci-fi focused FPS with light RPG style progression (getting better equipment while facing more dangerous enemies) and having an interesting world to explore (all the while having PS2 style graphics lol)
Yeah I guess that's why.
@@OperatorMax1993 Hahaha, "lidl brand tarkov" I'm stealing that one!
I think this shows how gameplay and narrative/atmosphere are so much more intertwined than you'd first think. You would theoretically imagine more stuff to do, more mechanics and items is a great thing.
At least that's what I thought when I revved up GAMMA, and it's great. But it's not in the same register as Shadow of Chernobyl (even enhanced with vanilla + mods). Maybe it's a simple case of too much focus on gameplay and not remotely enough on lore/worldbuilding (they could've added characters, cinematics etc...) (theory 1?).
Maybe even if they did that, adding gameplay mechanics takes away from lore/narrative anyhow (theory 2).
I don't know man, I'm just a S.T.A.L.K.E.R
World scaling and graphics looks odd in Anomaly when compared to old school mods like AA2. Idk why graphics are so consistent and appealing in SoC... Might be nostalgia...
I literally found you about 2-3 hours ago and was watching your Iceberg series, and now you post a video about the game that brought me into the Stalker Universe.
Thank you!
Welcome to zone, Stalker.
Nice.
imo most recent Anomaly fans don't actually want STALKER, they want EFT but without the PVP aspect
I guess it's true for some.
Bravo! I totally agree c:
You really put words to a lot of my complex feelings surrounding the community, I have seen exactly what you described with anomaly enjoyers going absolutely crazy on some subreddits demanding that stalker 2 is exactly like anomaly just with good graphics.
I played SoC when it first came out, and have played stalker my whole life since, so I have a lot of skin in the game. However, I %100 agree with your views again, stalker 2 should be something brilliant and original that stands on it's own. It has been a decade after all.
GSC will presumably do their own thing. Fans have stayed loyal to STALKER in various ways but none of us have the right to dictate what GSC should or shouldn't do. That would be absurd.
Alright thanks.
R/S.T.A.L.K.E.R/ aren't gonna like this video LMAO, anyway, nice video man.
Ah it's based schizo strelok
they will say its gatekeeping, in their fashion
R/stalker try not to say that freedomers fuck bloodsuckers and dutiers die to dogs at rostok because they saw it in anomaly challenge
R stalker is filled with you idiots, it's the other way around.
The brainwashed reddit troops will try to assassinate our leader of stalker lore. Gotta make fake grave in the Pripyat
I like how Anomaly lets us freeplay on the whole zone just enjoy your everyday life of a Stalker. You can spend hours just enjoying hunting artefact looking and area exploring with some fetch quest missions
It's so much fun. Just walking around dealing with Dangerous Anomalies, Shooting Mutants, Anarchists and Bandits alike. Then sitting at a campfire to clean my rifle while some Ivan plays his Guitar. It's great, and that's what the Mod is. It's not TARKOV, it's more properly called. "Day in the life of a Stalker" but Anomaly is a cooler name.
Note I've only played "Vanilla" Anomaly, that's all I wanted, a Free Stalker Experience I can enjoy and be immersed in
Dude, I totally agree with you.
This issue is at the point that I have meet random people in real life that at first they told me "I love stalker!" and when I ask which stalker game is their favorite, they just tell me that they have only played Anomaly.
It's feels incredibly disappointing since it's not something that happens all the time.
Yeah I felt like it was time to publish this video.
while i feel you, you have to recognize not everybody is old enough for being able to enjoy these old games it just has been to long and u cant ask a kid whos first game was Skyrim to play stalker and enjoy it. sure im overexaggerating but i hope you get the idea.
And still i rather have 20.000 people being enganged in the stalker franchise by anomaly then just 20 by the original games u know?
because in the end of the day stalker is more then just the games and it has potential to be even much more but it wont be albe to grow if people are gatekeeping the franchise in saying shit like "ure not a true stalker if u didnt play the original trillogy" and thats just sad and wrong
and please dont get me wrong everyone not playing the original three games is missing out so hard but u know what? its their decision and if they want to miss out fkin let them
@@paulusdergelehrte6167ut that's the problem as well. It introduced people to the series but they only play anomaly and they don't play anomaly for the reasons why so many people love the originals. They just want to play a "hardcore realistic shooter", they don't really care about the series and to make matters worse, they will have the wrong expectations for the new game.
@@nikolasferreira3247 and whats so wrong about that? They want a realistic hardcore shooter and found it in anomaly dispite not playing the originals but i dont concider this a bad thing and if stalker 2 isnt what they expect thats their problem and their problem alone :D like why do u care so deeply about some randy playin anomaly???
P.S.: and to be honest i dont see a problem here what so ever just an other boomer tryin to gatekeep a franchise
It is basically like Persona 5 fans in the Persona and SMT community
"I love SMT"
"Which have you played?"
"I have only watched a playthrough of 5"
"This stream will always be better than watching a fucking furry play GAMMA, we are actually funny SOMETIMES" - Strelok when playing OLR2.5. As long as we can't fight the generation change, it's normal that the children will rebel against their parents. I may be the Stalker fan raised on 2002 trailers but we can't stop the change. We won't make the next generation excited about builds and OLR or at least (sigh) Lost Alpha. Also, we won't attract many non-Central/Eastern European fanbase to Stalker with the charming jank, and frankly, that how our brave GSC boys and girls are getting their salaries. Regarding that, a lot of non-anomaly mods which would be worth looking at are either only in Russian, a language I learned mostly through playing Stalker, or very poorly translated and not fully compatible with versions of the game not released in CSI (gamedata differences that probably stem from cyryllic encoding). Sure it's crap watching the series being tarkovised but I find it better than being totally forgotten because Ivan cannot into English and because Kany is a twat.
I see, thanks for your input.
I agree with you. My problem with S.T.A.L.K.E.R. mods is that they try to be "realistic/hardcore", they create a lot of things for realism sake like slow healing, low life, batteries for the flashlight, cooking recipes, magazines (!) and many "realistic" things to make the game more immersive I guess. For me they achieve the opposite. They become tedious with a lot of micro-managment and so many details that break me out of the immersion. If I wanted a life simulator I would be playing Sims. (or DayZ, where those details actual matter, as multiplayer game)
The first S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is a lot more simple and a lot more immersive. Because immersion comes from the world and no from things like animations of eating.
These mods tend to fill the inventory with so many crap that the players are getting used to. Remember reading the comments of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 gameplay video, a user timestamped the inventory of the game and wrote "inventory is too empty hire some modders of Anomaly to create things to fill it" or something like that! Why do I need my inventory being full of useless crap instead of just ammo, medkits, weapons, food, anti-rad drugs, few but useful things?
Too bad if some players would not enjoy S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 because it is not like Anomaly or other mods, as you say we need to remember those mods are fan-made and the sequel is not obliged to follow them, nor it would be a bad game if it differs from them (the opposite for me, I plefer S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 be like S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl).
Thanks for sharing your opinion.
I agree completely. The bells and whistles of Anomaly are nice, but the mod can't compare to the substance of the original trilogy.
I would say Anomaly is all bells and whistles, and no real substance. Which is why I play it: just to have a fancy time in the Zone between series replays.
Yes.
Have you ever thought that you can keep all the bells and whistles of anomaly while inserting the mission structure and substance of the original trilogy?
You guys act like you have to choose one or the other. The best qualities of anomaly and the original stalker trilogy can be implemented in the sequel.
Hell, even the difficulty and hardcore aspects could both be in the sequel. All they would have to do is separate them between a normal mode that stays more true to the original trilogy and a survival mode that adds the hardcore aspects of anomaly.
Glad you made this, it was needing to be covered. As much as I love anomaly for the addons that have been made for it, I detest seem features like crafting, the survival, nerfed artifacts and meds etc (which means installing 20+ addons to reduce it all). The freeplay is good but gets old quickly especially with the same old quests from CoC made by Dr.X(RIP), warfare also gets repetitive. It is quite annoying that other mods that release get slept on because all the community medias are just filled with either GAMMA or Tarkov'esk tacticool spin-offs. In the end its more of a enhancement to MISERY than the originals. But thankfully addons like Old world or Dark signal try to bring it back to a more Vanilla image.
I love the crafting. It made the Zone even more of a place you have to work hard to succeed in. Different strokes for different folks.
Yeah me too, i hate that Anomaly is put on the pedestal all the while sleeping on mods like Oblivion Lost Remake or others and thank God that Old World and Dark Signal exist
@@tamfuwing1 either way, it adds to the bloated inventory issues
For me, I'm kinda in the middle... There are somethings that bother me like for example why do you need Vinca to make a bandage ? Can't you use any type of vodka instead ? (I hope they change that for 1.6)
I think it was right to do it.
Crafting and gun parts repairing seems like a feature poorly implemented into the game through unengaging UI and game limitation and poor introduction to the player (the fact that crafting was not a part of the original trilogy can make it even harder to take in) even then gun repairs feature becomes pretty irrelevant due to the existence of mechanic NPCs which will save you time (and quite possible money). Procedural quests gets dull and bland fairly quickly since its the same thing over and over and the quest giver usually requires you to walk around the entire zone (Same goes for the Anomaly's story quest)
As a new stalker fan. (I just got my first gaming pc a few weeks ago) I am making myself play through the original 3 stalker games before diving deep into Anomaly. I want to experience the game how it was meant to be played and experience the lore and story that the devs created, and then move on to enjoy almost a different “gamemode” within the same universe. From what I’ve seen so far is that new players see anomaly as an updated version of the originals but it really is just a completely different gamemode
At least you have some logic compared to most anomaly/gamma worshippers, yes anomaly/gamma is like the sub branch of stalker which has nothing to do with the original trilogy, the trilogy is about casual play, with light rpg mechanics, more story driven game instead of sandbox game, actually i would recommend after completing trilogy to try other standalone mods besides anomaly/Gamma whom are more narrative driven
@@Krahamus what are some mods you would recommend? I’ll make sure to try some of those out sometime
@@djpendellmusic Stalker lost alpha, stalker oblivion lost remake, stalker goldsphere, these mods are one of the best besides anomaly/gamma
@@djpendellmusiclost alpha most definitely you should try out after Shadow of Chernobyl
@@djpendellmusicGoldensphere, Wind of Time, Trapped (has a different russian name), OGSR, these mods are my favorites, also the ones that others stated above. There are endless supplies of story mods out there available.
I have always seen STALKER games (mainly STALKER SOC) as a mysterious horror sci-fi thriller, its atmosphere reminds me of the atmosphere of the movie Stalker from 1979, which is one of my favorite movies. I didn't have this feeling when I played Anomaly, to me it was just an FPS shooter with incredibly annoying micromanagement of things. So far there is only one mod that brought me back to the mysterious horror world of Zone and that is LostAlpha + STALKER Lost Alpha: Revisited.
I honestly couldnt agree more. All I want another huge mod like that or Oblivion Lost. Spatial Anomaly is also fantastic but a bit short.
Also since you love the Stalker movie did you catch the reference made by Guide to that movie in Lost Alpha?
@@jonathanrabcewicz6191 I'll tell you the truth, I don't remember. If there was a reference to the movie, I probably noticed it. Speaking of the movie, there is a mod that shows parts of it in a TV in LA.
Yes, Im fan of Lost Alpha. Im curious about Oblivion Lost. These mods are like window to ideas what could have been. Interesting.
OGSR is also really nice.
It is pretty much Shadow of Chernobyl tho, but remade in the 64bit xray engine with cut content, cut quests and user made dlc that imo perfectly fits into the world of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
@@blooocki I tried it sometime ago, now I found OGSR Mod RePack from SeregA-Lus with English Patch from 2021, let's see what it does.
I have to note one thing, out of the movies, books and games, only one game, LostAlpha, has caused me health problems.
All I want is for GSC to create a sequel to their product in their own way. It is their IP and they can do with it whatever they want to. I mean we know GSC loves this IP and we know they love the community, look at how much they've given us, shared with us and how they go about building on S2.
Hopefully the future will deliver.
@@anomalousdugout9557 Whatever they deliver will be good. We have to keep our perspective real as you mention in the video. GSC may deliver something a little jank, broken but we know the world and immersion will be top tier. And with time S2 will only get better. Considering it's on UE that also mean potential for mods. I just want more SHOC or COP. And they have perfected that recipe.
ive personally considered anomaly to be an insult to the the stalker franchise for a long time now, not because of the game itself, but because of the effect it had with the community, newer people who get introduced into stalker are almost instantly introduced to anomaly, and often play it without even finishing the original trilogy, causing false expectations about the original games with a sense of anomaly being superior, which is not true by a longshot, of course people can have different opinions on different things, but when put side by side for comparison, anomaly is generally more bland than the original trilogy, even requiring modifications boost the experience which many people install, making their expectasions about the original trilogy even more false (personal side note, if a game needs modifications to become more interesting and fun, maybe its not a very good game, assuming it wasn't crafted specifically to be a sandbox and meant to be heavily modified)
the community, when it comes to anomaly plays a giant role, im pretty sure we've all seen those click-bait youtube videos advertising highly modified anomaly gameplay, branding it to be free and better than most new AAA games, causing newer players to get introduced in the community, with false expectations of stalker, thinking its EFT but for crappy computers, instead of a beautiful game with interesting lore
memes also go around about people telling newbies to skip the original trilogy and hop straight into anomaly, this may sound like somthing that had happened once or twice and then people making fun of it, but considering just how insufferable the stalker community is (especially the hardcore fans) this may not be as uncommon as it sounds
stalker anomaly drives players away from the beauty of the original games, allowing players to modify the game in their own personalized way to the point where it even becomes a delusion as a standart/base expectation for every time they think about "stalker" i would also like to point out that the original GSC (the one that went bankrupt at 2011) does not approve of anomaly at all (my sources are insignificant as it is just hear-say, but ive heard it so many times that i myself am starting to believe it might hold some truth) and seeing how people would prefer playing a rip off of a franchise that that was carefully crafted instead of the original and say that its superior just doesn't sit right with me
this may sound like a bunch of schizo-rambling, but it's just what i have piled up from experience with the games and community, you may find it to be entirely false, but you can't exactly deny that it holds some truth to it either, and because i just made such bald claims, i would also appreciate if you guys wouldn't insult me in the comments
I see. Thanks for sharing your opinion.
@@anomalousdugout9557 i honestly have to say that i adore how you managed to make a video on such a hot topic, and kept it all proffessional and polite, please keep it up
Amen
Only played the first three unmodded.
But the only people I meet only know of anomaly and it’s kind of sad.
the problem of stalker moding today is that 80% of mods are some realism related bullshit as if im not playing stalker but a fucking tarkov game, stalker is not about all this
Crafting system and low respawning are the 2 things make me one to keep it with coc
Gamma Babies already crying Stalker 2 will be shaite, because it won't have 200 weapons from 3 different mods
They will probably be able to mod it anyway.
I SWEAR I knew this was next. I just KNEW it!
I also laid off Anomaly, I carried on to Battlefield 1 lately,I got Anomaly again,JUST to play the G.A.M.M.A modpack,I used to love it as you know,now it is just a good S.T.A.L.K.E.R. mod that I will now just play it for fun.
Sameee
I mean, Gamma is made by a narcissist who has a victim mindset and profits off of people's hard work
Try to figure out which topic is next then :)
@@OperatorMax1993 you seem to have a real problem with grok calm down you have commented this multiple times
@@arbo-u2b i mean, only some people speak of what's going on with grok
The more I played Anomaly/GAMMA etc. the clearer it became that it's quite simply a love letter to Escape from Tarkov, with all the things Tarkov is missing, which Stalker had.
Which I adored as I couldn't run Tarkov on my rig and have always appreciated The Zone.
The issue that people may not be seeing around is; *Modders can rip other games off as much as they want, GsC have to make a Stalker game.*
Indeed, thanks for bringing that up.
It's similar to the situation with Brutal Doom and its community, except Brutal Doom fans have racial slurs and Anomaly fans have vibrator support
It puzzles me why STALKER mods like Anomaly, GAMMA & Co. are so popular.
My fondest memories of STALKER are of part 3, because it was the most well-rounded part mechanically, because every place I visited was connected to a story, because I was only in new and larger areas, because of the fast travel system, because all the anomalies and quests were "hand-built" and because the decisions I made had an impact on the zone and on the "people" I "met" there. For example, whether I gassed the "nest" of bloodsuckers or not.
If I wanted to dive into the zone again, I would therefore look for a game experience that offers something comparable.
Why I should play something that's a rehash of part 1, only with more "stuff", some of which just makes the game more complicated and inaccessible instead of better, doesn't make sense to me. Even the story, from what I've heard, is supposed to be an inferior copy of part 1.
Also, don't mods like this actually devalue what my alter ego has achieved in the previous games? After all, virtually everything is reset to a state from before STALKER 1.
I was not carried away by Anomaly, because he does not have a single and holistic concept, he tries to be everything at once and please a very large number of players even outside the Stalker fan base. For myself, I find a more attractive, holistic and atmospheric mod from the CoC - Dead Air branch, while not letting it replace the original trilogy for myself.
Dead Air? More like DEAD MOD AMARITE?
But honestly, Dead Air is my favourite misery variant, because it does things... differently, atmosphere was nuts and walking through toxic MAP when overweight by your air canister that's quickly running out of oxygen was incredibly unique and I loved it
Too bad this mod development feels well... dead
Honestly I really liked just playing CoC with various mods I installed, Weather, Nature, weapon packs, derestricting A life myself, warfare... It was such an easy package to change up as you wished. Actually, it wasn't easy at all, I had to do a load of work but I learnt and understood how to make things compatible I guess.
Alright, fair enough.
I've played anomaly and swore off it due to frustrations i've had with it that, any time it's brought up to the devs, they claim it's 'not their fault' and that it was just 'how s.t.a.l.k.e.r. was. we didn't change a thing about it' yet these frustrations i've never run across in stalker no matter the difficulty.
The biggest one is the a.i. of enemies, which, while i admit in stalker always seemed to jump between staring at the player questioning their allegiances, to xxsnipesalotxx getting quickscopes across the map. Yet in anomaly? I've not run into that. I've run into nothing but a.i. that seems to know where i am at all times and actively will hunt me down. Outright was shot by a bandit leaving cordon, from the abandoned factory before the bridge. It was the point i started questioning it, and yet. Without fail. Whenever it's brought up to the devs, they claim it's just standard stalker a.i. and i am just not believing it after over a decade of playing stalker modded and unmodded, that the only time this has happened is playing anomaly, and yet the a.i. is 'unchanged'.
Not being a modder I can't say for sure, but I understand your point.
As an Anomaly player, I cannot agree more! Nice video, Stalker! I do admit I probably won’t like the OG series as much as I would without starting with Anomaly, but I’m still glad to have been introduced to the community by it.
I see, thanks.
For me, Anomaly and other unifying mods (as in combining every map, faction and character from the original trilogy) have been the crowning achievement of skills and love for the games, not just from the fans, but from the creators as well.
That said, I was only active in the community during the release of the original games and interact mostly with the veterans from that era afterwards. When I meet someone, who didn't touch the series, I always direct them to the released games first.
I always consider Anomaly as the "free roam" mode or just a platform for other mods and never really tried its story mode. Perhaps I should, but then again it's not cannon, so I don't care that much. I already did my share reading some fanfics in the Stalker universe. However, the game itself allows me to play as Monolith or Sin, so that's always a plus for me.
Recently I've came back to Shadow of Chernobyl, and it made me realise that the game doesn't run very good on modern machines. Moreover, the mods require specific patched versions and won't run or outright crash at the start if that requirement isn't met. And you can't just select the version on either Steam or GoG, you'd need a box release or have prepared files to swap.
That's where the ease of access - and I don't mean being available for free - of Anomaly comes into play. I know that the Call of Pripyat had good optimisation already - in comparison to previous entries - but having it run as good as it does elevates it for me. And most of the add-ons for Anomaly are still being actively worked on.
There is also one important thing for me that the Anomaly does - it preserves the X-Ray engine. I was saddened when GSC decided to move to Unreal with Stalker 2, instead of continuing the work on the original engine. I understand the decision, but I still don't like it.
If it comes to Stalker 2, I just hope GSC does their own work. They may include a hardcore/survival mode as an option, as that's becoming a standard for some open world games, but I hope they keep it simple and continue the tradition from the base games. After all, that was what made them great in the first place. And given the dedication of the community, there will be mods for everyone in due time. Even for the tarkards.
This is my big issue with the old games too - they were always unstable at the best of times but now, on modern hardware, they're getting to the point of unplayable. Say what you want about Anomaly but at least the updated engine is stable. If somebody wants to port the old games to the more modern engine, I'd back that project in a heartbeat.
I tell you the truth. I played original series many times since it came out first Stalker. The best one I think is Shadow of Chernobyl with no doubt. For extraordinary gamplay experience. I immerse instantly with the game since then. Instantly become my one of favourite games since I try the game for the first time. No other games blew my mind that much since Half Life in 1998. I like Stalker 1 for atmosphere/sound design (from the past System Shock 2 had good one as well ), rpg and horror elements, loneliness and tense world which addicts even more if you come from Slavic countries. On the other hand modding gives longevity to te original titles, but mods are always going sidways from original concept to meet so many individual visions of the gameplay. There are no improvements, but each mod provide somethig different. It's all personal preference. IMHO mod Anomaly is for new Stalker players. If you are veteran and play Anomaly because you are "bored" with original masterpiece, then this speaks for itself. I personally prefer Lost Alpha and similar "expansion packs".
It's not right to call Anomaly a mod for Stalker...technically it is made on different engine, secondly it is complete ovehaul. It would be much fair to call it a Stalker spin off. Like was Gunman Chronicles to Half Life.
Mod is something you use the same engine, the same game assets or modify them and modify maps or build new from scratch.
Don't forget anti radiation drugs, pistol and vodka going out of your dugout Stalker. Btw I was born in 1986 and have allergy and breathing problems. This message is straight from the Zone. Thanks for your attention, Respect from Poland.
i hate how anomally economy works, you gotta grind for a simple gun, you collect ton of trash you will mostly just sell, and the repair system sucks
I understand.
There are options within the game to tweak every single aspect of progression and economy, I don't understand how people complain about the stock settings when the developers gave you everything possible to customize your experience. Personally I turn the money rewards way up and the fame points for doing jobs way up, that will eliminate the grind
As a hardcore old fan of stalker, who had it on DVD disks, and first started playing it, when i was going to 5th class of school. I think from trailers i feel the direction they are trying to head, keeping gameplay mechanics somwhere at level of original Call of Prypipiat. But trying to expand greatly on the whole "exploration and understanding" of the zone thing with all thouse new fancy devices and probably more unique quests in style of COP but on scales of whole SOC map. And im probably going to like it.
Sorry newbies, no assembeling gun from shit and scrap, probably no mutant parts and hardcore economy. You could always rivet them to the game if you want, stalker modding is as powerfull as it ever been and is going to become even more so with transition to slim and sleak UE 4, altho i kinda doubght it can reach and fully replicate some of the features of Xray
And im saying it without hate to Anomaly or Gamma, i have played and enjoyed all of them for thousands of hours, and even their more antique predecessors like COC, secret paths 2, Misery and etc.
Currently i have returned to just COP with gunslinger and gosh do originals feel good in terms of creating the whole "some big things are about to happen in zone" feel. Wich is kinda not the point of Anomaly, Anomaly is a more "write you own story in times of calm" feel. With no real advances in tech, zone understanding, and general idea what to do with it.
Also i am realy intrested in game which could be prequel to Clear Sky (You what? are you insane bro? you probably think.) But yes, game perharbs about very first months of zone creation, when no detectors, suits, o or realy any ways of relible understanding of zone existed. When it just begone with scientific expiditions dissapering, first stalkers seeping through cordons just out of intrest, and figuring thins out by tryal and error. Kinda like Golden Ball, Lost Alpha, Oblivion lost mods. Perhabs it can tell a story of unsecsessfull pre Strelok groups(Eg. Last Day mentined in designer documents and dialogs in game) attempting to reach heart of zone and then slowly filling ranks of monolith.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
The similiar thing has happened in the DOOM community with the popularity of Brutal DOOM mod. Many people who either have never played the original games or haven't played them in a while went back to DOOM by playing BD because everyone was talking about it. This has completely distorted how DOOM is perceived in terms of its gameplay and atmosphere. As a result DOOM Eternal is a meme-filled saturday morning cartoon and many people act as if that's what DOOM has always been.
Now that you mention it, I realize it is true.
Anomaly is a far cry from the originals. I am one of the OG players. Purchased all the originals on CD/DVD way back in the day. Still have them. I really enjoy GAMMA, but I see as it is. A very different experience in the same universe.
For STALKER 2, I am hoping it is basically a modernized version of Call of Chernobyl. A tight semi open world game that just drips and oozes atmosphere. And just make it more modern in presentation and gameplay. But, not vastly different from the original games. I will wait for the modders to make the next Anomaly/GAMMA to expand the experience of the world. I want GSC to explain to me what is going on in the zone through an epic story.
I think EfP 4.0 is actually closer to the novells.
Random anomalies popping up in unexpected places, better mutant behaviours, better gunplay...
It really is almost like the books.
An unforgiving, but rewarding gameplay.
...but i would still recommend new players to get through the original 3.
Interesting.
these books are fanfics
@@szogunyasty6392 i know.
As is the entire game trilogie, compared to the original book and movie.
Still i like the version of the Zone depicted in the novels.
I love Anomaly but I totally agree with you, and in fact it's even worse than your example of starting a series from the last episode of the latest season, only playing Anomaly and basing your opinions of STALKER off of it is more like only reading someone's fan fiction because Anomaly isn't even canon. Even with people who have played the original trilogy, their time spent playing Anomaly tends to warp their memories of what the original games were really like. Anomaly's gunplay is so well polished that it makes people forget how janky the original games were.
Indeed.
I remember seeing a meme on reddit about newcomers favoring Anomaly over the og triology, and yeah that's a noticeable behavior on various sides of the internet. I wouldn't classify it as a problem, but it does get a bit annoying at times. Also regarding 8:20 , no offense to anyone who feels that way but like, Anomaly's story line technically retcons Strelok's ending in CoP ; - ;
I get it.
i used to frequent the stalker subreddit a while back when every new post was [and i apologize for how i say it] literally just extremely stupid question about anomaly from new players that could have been answered by playing just one single game from the trilogy.
tho those people have been introduced to the stalker franchise from bigger youtubers advertising it as "a free Escape from Tarkov alternative", i am in no way a veteran stalker ive been probably playing for
Very well said, Stalker.
You make good points. Its frustrating to see our favorite franchise misrepresented in this way. Do you also find it confusing that people want to jump into a new franchise and start with mods? I always want to start with the original game before I touch a mod.
Don't worry, I somewhat understand your point of view.
I have always wanted to play the STALKER series and never really got around to it due to not wanting to buy it, and also some of the jank of the originals kind of deterred me. Now that I have played Anomaly substantially, I am much more interested in the world and it’s lore and will probably go back and play the originals.
I agree with you, I atleast played Shadow of Chernobyl before playing Anomaly and skipped Clear Sky and CoP before playing it. Anomaly spoiled me cuz of the fact I could play as Monolith, Bandits, Sin, and Mercenaries; waging my own wars and going on my own adventures. And yes, its gonna really suck for GSC cuz this mod has raised the standards bar for them so high, its gonna take a miracle for them to really wow the player.
Alright, thanks.
not all players, some players. Exclusively players that started from Anomaly and then played STALKER vanilla. But think about this, imagine STALKER Vanilla remake in a better engine? and then you can wait a couple of years to get the mods that'll make it as hardcore as you want...
As a veteran stalker who has put hours even days of my life playing shadow of Chernobyl, clear sky, and call of pripyat I rather injoy anomaly, only base anomaly because I full heartedly think that it was the experience I felt with shadow of Chernobyl all those years ago, I hate with anomaly that they try to take away the feeling of stalker with gamma and efp. It makes it feel like tarkov cinda, I have spent hours apon hours of time in anomaly, even completed the story line twice and am working on it as we speak a third time, but I feel like the new players should never start with anomaly, or even consider it a stalker game. It is a breath of fresh air to feel stalker like I did as a kid but as a vet, I will say this start with the trilogy so you have an appreciation for how far stalker 2 will have come, and if you do play anomaly, as a vet I don't respect you if your delusion is that efp or gamma will ever even touch the greatness that is the slavjank we know and love. But play how you want, and never let the spirit of stalker die. Ps it's also worth your while to play other mods to because anomaly yes is a better one but not the only one. Thank you.
THANK YOU
I honestly don't like anomaly. It took everything that made the trilogy great and simply added overcomplicated mechanics to it. I much rather play the originals, not everything needs to be a hardcore realistic shooter.
Amen brother, i've been saying this since anomaly released.
I understand.
I completely agree. People should temper their expectations. STALKER 2 will probably not be at all Anomaly, GAMMA or EFP. I also miss the days when the fandom was not obnoxiously full of all the tacticool bros. If you want real tactical combat you may be better served playing ARMA.
I see.
yeah this whole tacticool bullcrap is cringe
It's a weird take for me. I have friends that wasn't interested in the stalker franchise at all. But, when introduced to anomaly and the vast mods quantity they were obsessed with it. While playing asking about the lore and then after end up playing the first games like SoC and CoP. Anyways I totally understand your point in the fact that a lot of the canon lore is missed out.
I see.
Yes, but such cases are unfortunately rare :/ glad your friends are stalker fans though!
@@anomalousdugout9557 I'll also echo this sentiment. I'm a GAMMA player now, but have nothing but love and respect for the original trilogy. Several of my friends who previously had no idea what the Stalker franchise even was finally started paying attention after hearing about Anomaly. It's hard for me to view Anomaly's breakout success as anything but free marketing for GSC's Stalker 2, and a massive win. The idea that Anomaly is bad for the series or the community because some people might come into the franchise with incorrect expectations seems a bit silly.
this is exactly what happened to me and how i introduced my friend to the game. tho i didnt have a friend introduce me to the mod, i always had an interest in stalker i could just never get over the dated gameplay. once i found anomaly through a streamer i watched and tried it out i was hooked, all of a sudden anomaly wasnt enough for me and i just had to go back to the originals to see what a more cinematic take on the story was like and it didnt disappoint. anomalous dugout is 100% correct in this vid but there a lot of people who used anomaly as a sort of gateway into stalker an ended up falling in love with all the games not just the mods
In part because I only have a bit of a potato to play games on, I constantly play older games that I either played when they were released or that are from the same era. But I can see how new players won't have an appetite for the old games. Also, some of the mods are quite difficult, as opposed to Anomaly which is more accessible and can be played at the player's own pace. Of course some settings are very difficult but they are the player's choice. Nostalgia plays a powerful role in willingness to overlook or even welcome or appreciate bugs and jankiness. Can't expect new players to feel the same. Anomaly is its own thing. I love how it lets you live and exist in Zone. It and its predecessors kept STALKER fandom alive the way fan fiction kept Star Trek alive for 20 years. There is no reason why the fan STALKER universe and the GSC STALKER universe can't exist side by side.
Yes of course.
The problem is
Are the new players think Anomaly is what stalker really is when it's not
Despite the jankiness the older games are still special
STALKER 2: *Comes out, but it hasn't met the expectations of die hard Anomaly fans*
Anomaly fans: 'Fine! We'll make our own STALKER 2, with blackjack and hookers! Actually, screw the Blackjack!'
That's how I see it...
Even if Stalker 2 is a masterpiece, the modding community has enough creativity and motivation to create something that they think is better. CoC is a good example. It was the best sanbox mod we had, but people wanted more, so addons were made and modpacks were created. Some people like them and some people didn't, but there is enough addons and modpacks to create your own preferable experience in CoC.
Thank you! I end up feeling like I'm screaming into the void when I express related views, about anomaly, about overhaul mods, and about the divide they create in the community.
Anomaly is far from the only overhaul mod that has a dedicated community of 'it's the REAL stalker' drones. Anomaly, owing to it's accessibility and drawing from starting out as an intended 'redo' of call of misery with higher standards, got more press and awareness than a lot of the others, but they are out there.
Yes, most my recent playtime has been with Anomaly, with my own custom assortment of mods. But I don't forget that the approach to the game is fundamentally different from that of the actual games in the trilogy.
Anomaly is, at the end of the day, akin to a intermediate game done between official games, contracted out to a third party studio. It is not the same as GSC's stalker, and has a fundamentally different list of priorities.
The primary thing it shares with the actual games, is visual design and map layouts. The gameplay is NOTABLY different (although whether it's 'better' or not depends on opinion), and the focus of said gameplay is different.
To boil it down, the original games have a direction. They have a specific story to tell, a specific journey. They aren't life-sims or focused on having the best/mostimmersive/mosthardcore gameplay. They are focused on atmosphere and a story.
It's like comparing the books in a series to some seasonal tv series adaptation of the world of the books. It doesn't translate too well, and while you can still like the tv series, you have to admit it diverges a LOT from the source materiel, just by nature of being a tv series as opposed to a book.
There are many others who have a similar view, but they mostly remain silent.
As someone who was introduced to STALKER only about a year ago and even read Roadside Picnic, I have put more hours into Anomaly than the original trilogy. That said, I urge the STALKER community to gatekeep as much as possible. STALKER 2 shouldn't be like Anomaly. It should retain the same core elements/mechanics that the first 3 games had.
I used to be a massive Halo and Star Wars fan. There is nothing I hate more than to see things I like be ruined by tourists that want to change the entire hobby. Don't let the same happen to you guys.
Still shaking my head when someone says Anomaly is the best game but doesn't want to play the originals because of jankiness en age. I'm not joking, there are people on Steam forums actually saying this. It's insane.
And when there are threads expressing negative opinion about Anomaly, these same people flock over to that and call OP trash, lmao
I hate these situations so much
@Grouse1999 I don’t hate anomaly and play it a lot either but people have to admit that it only shines when certain mods and QOL features are installed to actually make the game tolerable and playable
@Grouse1999 honestly once you de-misery Anomaly, it becomes actually fun to play
Your Critic about anomaly is exactly the same one i do... I have a discord server, and because of GAMMA, EFP and of course Anomaly it grew like crazy for some time, but grew with everyone that is not really interested with stalker.. .. Only DayZ players, ARMA 3 plaeyers, only players searching for a quick dopamine dose of survival games... The people that play only the stalker anomaly are not real Stalkers... They are part of a group of "Hype-based " players, that will play every single Stalker-Like game, without even knowing what is stalker... Only because they are "survival fans"... Is a really sad thing, because the real and long lasting community is not powered by hyped reallistic mechanics, its powered by lore, immersion and all the unique things that is owned by stalker (and copied to anomaly)... Really sad.
Yes I really hate when They turn Stalker into Tarkov and Call of Duty (side shooting) etc...
I see. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Nice, i really needed someone talking about this
I did what I could.
Unless the original devs speak out against Anomaly/Gamma we can't really.say if they are against the concept. None of the original devs expected Stalker to become what it is today, or could anticipate where it would go. They had neither the time or tech to achieve what modders have done since the O.G game launched. Stalker today is amazing, no one can argue with that. It is free, immersive and.bloody awesome - why try and take away from that?
When asked about mods on Discord, devs have responded that they are not really fond of standalone mods. Interpret it as you like.
I understand why you posted this video my friend. glad you did
I think it was right to do.
I think this speaks to trends within the gaming space in general. Survival mechanics and overblown "hardcore" BS have become expected in games following the success of other FU simulators like DayZ, Zomboid, Tarkov, etc.
There's this sort of negative nostalgia effect people have with the original series as well. I remember playing it when it first came out. Compared to other games *at the time* STALKER was a difficult game. Other games like half life 2, call of duty, bioshock, halo 3, mass effect, all centered the gameplay around the player. STALKER was different in that it was conceived to do exactly the opposite with it's a-life engine (which was actually never functional in the way it was originally conceived) and the AI had x-ray vision meaning combat was quite a bit more difficult compared to other shooters which were designed primarily as power fantasies. 10 + years later, however, revisiting STALKER reveals it was not really as difficult as we thought, it was mainly just janky, and many of us who were there for it's original release were young and bad at games.
The gloomy atmosphere of STALKER has also been way overblown by this same effect. Again, compared to other games, STALKER felt quite lonely, as there were no companion characters, no facial animations, no spoken dialogue, etc. That isolated feeling and the hostile environment were the corner stones of STALKER's atmosphere. Fast forward 10+ years, and modders have interpreted their memories of the game by doing things like desaturating the entire gameworld - even going so far as to make the inventory icons nearly black and white (looking at you, misery and autumn aurora). The OG games were NEVER this grayscale, rainy, depressing hellscape that modders seem intent to turn STALKER into. They are actually quite vibrant, with abundant green foliage and many sunny days.
Modern gaming "sensibilities" like the mandatory crafting elements, overly complicated health systems, bloated item tables, etc. have become the status quo, so modders naturally go and import those types of systems into STALKER. And due to this it attracts more and more DayZ/PUBG/Tarkov/Darksouls players (many of whom haven't even played the original games because they literally weren't born yet) and ineviotably some percentage of those people become modders and keep pushing STALKER further towards it's ultimate demise - an "ultra hardcore realistic tacticool punch-me-in-the-balls- simulator" that they can play and brag about how they play really difficult games.
Original trilogy did have plenty of spoken dialogues, mate, otherwise - pretty much spot on 👌🏻
Tarkov kids want to turn stalker into Tarkov, and that scares me.
they're not succeeding, i don't know what's to be scared of. stalker 2 isn't trying to be tarkov either.
Sounds like STALKER Anomaly is to STALKER what Brutal Doom was to Doom, which Doom 2016 and Eternal did end up taking some inspiration from.
anomaly maybe a bit less, but the more popular gamma is literally escape from tarkov in the Zone, with some vague stalker elements.
I enjoy playing it, but the entitled kids wanting Stalker 2 to be a clone of that are insane...
i was just thinking about this the other day, something along the lines of the mod getting the Brutal Doom treatment, where sure, it's all flashy and more hardcore, but it's not the true vision of the game and some people just stick to that specifically, not appreciating what the originals had
I've been thinking about it for years.
Thank You for covering about this. No one seemed to take note about it until now.
I knew you would be able to put this issue to better words than I could, keep up the good work!
I too am glad Anomalous was able to clearly sum up this topic
Hey, I hope your video still gets viewed as it was nice as well.
@@anomalousdugout9557 ah don't worry about me, you can be the hater magnet now xD
Im so happy that u mentioned Last Day 1.3 I spent a lot of time in this mod and rly loved it. Its safe to say that it is the one of the best mods and its potential even overshadowed bitcoin mining lmao
It was nice to play.
@@anomalousdugout9557 and good that Dead Air was skipped. Its better to dont talk about it. Nah im just kidding but phenomenon of glowsitck in the zone are still not quite understandable for me. Must be some Freedom influence
The obsession with Tarkov is so cringe....
If you have doubts and troubles thinking about the new upcoming game... Think of it this way.
Wishes. We all have our wishes. We want to fullfil them so desperately..
This game formed an entire culture. In some cases, it made us who we are today.
Some of us wish different things and are willing to fight for their wish to be fullfiled.
Some of us will isolate and seek our own wish alone. Loners, eh?
Some of us will come together and fight the growing cancer that in our eyes are the new players who misunderstand this franchise we so love. You could say it's our Duty to do so as fans..
Some will come together to give the franchise the Freedom it deserves, for the developers to finally express themselves fully as they always wanted to.
Some seek to manipulate the weak into doing what they want in petty ways. Leakers, hackers, trolls and all those Bandits.
Some care only for themselves and their mission. Make the most hardcore milsim.. make the most painful misery survival experience.. and they will do whatever it takes to scratch that itch even if it means bullying the fans and devs into complying. Like bandits, but more focused. Ehem..mercs..ehem..
Some just want to know the oh so secretive and deep lore and find every detail and analyze them to it's core like a Scientist.. they make the community a better place but are weak in fighting the other group's opinions.
The average goon with no experience in the franchise will see a cool game come out.. buys it.. doesn't like it, suffers in it and leaves bad reviews. A pain in everyone's ass. Yes, they're a player. Yes, they're necessary. Yes, they give feedback. But they're corrupt goons who leave a mess everywhere they go and you can't escape them. They're like an Army of incompetence..
Some don't have an opinion on anything but are supportive of groups who wish good to the franchise because they themselves like it. I guess they join the hype train because they want Clear Skies above the game and it's community.
Can't forget the depressed, brainwashed, extremely hostile, non-communicable basement dwellers worshiping their PC and the games on it. They will do anything they can to trash on anything and anyone that gets close to them and messes with their Monolithic ego. And they're so...soooo numerous.. they only grow in number as more people reach the depths of the Internet exclusion zone..
There is also those who are less known for they are forgotten and excluded from the main community but still very much exist.
The news and media of the outside world. Competent, scientific in their methods, effective.. but ultimately
they can hurt the franchise because the outside influence is rarely ever a good thing. (I was going for ISG)
And of course. The ones that just want to see the world burn for it's Sins.
Many of us have their own stories and reasons to fullfil their wish. We don't all fall into these categories.
But Stalker, if you want to know the truth.. if you want to truly move on and answer your questions..
You must remember.
We don't know whether we were right or wrong. I guess we will never know. But we made it. And I guess we should be thankful for that.
Good hunting Stalkers.
ah, nice
I think everyone, myself included, has sensed some kind of "fallout new vegas" aspect to anomaly's playerbase. Buuut, frankly, its mostly an illusion, and that is how things can evolve.
Theres many perspective of the story, all meaning well. But i think that ultimately, the only ones that are truly negative, are the ones trying to tell people what to think without seeing the need for explanation.
On one side, people who think anomaly is the greatest stalker game period.
And the purists who feel like anomaly is only enjoyable if you played the originals firsts and that it can only stand up because the first games lifts it up.
Both sides are wrong, both sides account for a minority of players (unless it gets more and more dramatized)
Thinking you understand the politics of a situation and taking it for granted is not a good things either.
Anyway, i could explain why i feel those things, but i know people who see this probably understands already.
(oh, and, saying you should play the other games before playing anomaly is beeing a douche, just like saying "its totally fine if you only play anomaly, buuuuuut..." is super disingenuous.
All i'll say is: the only way (i believe) to unite the playerbase is to talk about how great each games are, not how they "steal the spotlight that they don't deserve"
Look at fallout 3 and fallout NV. Same exact situation.
While the NV fanbase had their fingers up theirs for a goood while, fallout 3 players didn't have the ego necessary to judge and shame NV. What ended up happening was a wave of people talking about why fallout 3 actually is a great game with its own strenght, and why it is just as important to fallout's history than NV.
While there hasn't been a clear conclusion (there never is), it nonetheless improved the fanbase's unity and appreciation of the series' history, to a point where if fallout 5 draws some things from each game, there won't be any major rucus over it.
Stalker fans need to understand that because something isn't official or wanted, doesn't mean it isn't part of the franchise's history and evolution.
DMC 5 pays homage to the crappy reboot basically no one liked. Id software during the DooM 2016/Eternal period payed great importance and inspiration from both DooM 64 and 3, which were both heavily looked down upon beforehand.
It obviously can work both ways. I always brushed Stalker off as a "weird Ukrainian Fallout" but enjoyed hardcore FPS games, so when I saw what Anomaly had in stock for me I was onboard. If it wasn't for the mod I would've never knew how interesting and intricate the source material is, it intrigued me so much I even read the Roadside Picnic lmao
Anomalous Dugout finally got his chance to ramble about why he hates Stalker Anomaly
I agree, I want more custom story mods, those are the best
Lets be honest, one thing is true; we need more great games in great settings whether it is a simpler game in a rich and compelling world/story like the retail trilogy or a mechanic rich game that you can immerse yourself in (as your own character) like in Anomaly. We may get one before the other but the important thing is to support it so we can get more Stalker games.
Simply put; for me the free play is such an attractive factor in why I chose to play Anomaly associated modpacks (and the similar mods of years prior). Playing out my own story in my own way is far more compelling to me than following a dedicated story with relatively open play elements between. I will definitely admit that I had a strong dose of lore and world building when I first played trilogy which has allowed me to fully enjoy such a world in a free play mode while also enjoy the more cognitively engaging systems it introduces to gameplay. It is very noticeable when I watch my newcomer friends choose & play anomaly as I often find myself informing them of the lore and significance of certain segments that just look like another area to them. I don't see them enjoying the game in the same way I did and while it might not be exactly what I experienced Anomaly I can't say its wrong like you (any many others before you) have said: "newcomer... should play retail first". Not everyone needs to appreciate every detail in the same manner you and me do, some simply prefer a little less. Experiencing the stalker setting in this free (and less dense) form gives a solid basis to the S.TA.L.K.E.R universe and often (in the case of my friends) leads to questions and interest in the series as a whole. I can't apply the common phrase night & day in regards to Anomaly & the retail series because its more like dusk & day; one has more story and less compelling mechanics (to some), the other has more compelling mechanics (to some) and less story (as often is expected in free-play modus). To me you are one of the most knowledgeable players so I can understand why the experience looks like night & day to you and many others who also have deep knowledge. All of my newcomer friends are excited for the next instalment in the series and more importantly know what they have been playing is a freeplay survival mod that is much different from the core experience in the trilogy. In the new title they will be able to recognize factions/areas/equipment and a whole load more from what they have so far experienced in Anomaly and be given a bunch of context which will hopefully further develop their enjoyment of the game and create dedicated fans of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R universe. Again let us be honest, it is ok to enjoy things differently, we can just enjoy the fact there are more people enjoying the zone (whether it is someone who only scratches the surface or someone who digs deeper than the x labs to find out every detail, or even some who like to extrapolate and hypothesize about everything).
I've watched every single video, I think this was one of the weaker ones, its a complex topic and in general all the videos are great. I would not be against content from another game series if you find another one you love as long as playlists are properly curated! Have you ever watched Shiey & Anton (Idk his channel anymore) explore the zone in real life? I loved the moment when they referred to the person they some information from as a S.T.A.K.E.R! The information was where to find the shallow point a stream so they could cross it at night! I think its very cool that term is used in the exclusion zone exploration community.
Yes, of course you are free to enjoy things the way you like them. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Also, I will not do videos on any other games.
I started with stalker anomaly gamma not really knowing about the stalker trilogy, though I'll definitely be playing it before I play stalker 2. I hope the devs make stalker 2 how they want to make it and don't feel pressure to make something they're not even passionate about. Right now I'm an anomaly fan but I hope to become a stalker fan too once I could afford the games
The game’s usually go on sale as a pack both on Steam and Fanatical, not sure rn tho, but if you can afford only one I’d recommend Call of Pripyat because it has everything that GSC Wanted to have in a stalker game
@@ryon5174 I ended up getting them because it was 10$ for all 3, have way through soc and I'm having a great time
Anomaly needs better Artifact usage. I really loved that in SoC artifacts had really handy uses and secret formulas for special abilities that have been stripped from the game in Anomaly.
I played anomaly, a lot. Finished it 8 times.
However, CoP was my first stalker game. I love base stalker, but anomaly is just... a happy escape
Alright I see.
If you haven’t played the other two I highly recommend them, they’re (in my opinion) better than cop!
@@jeremieh5009 on my list!
But returning to anomaly after 8 year pause from stalker... it awoke the stalker in me
I completely agree with this
Even as a younger fan of the series, starting out six years ago when I got my first gaming PC, I still sought out the original games and only modded them slightly, rather than the new tacticool posers who have recently come in and want to shape STALKER 2 in their own image
Nice.
I want to preface what I say with the fact that I love this channel, and love the in depth lore explanations that you provide for us. But simply put, the Stalker fanbase needs to stop gatekeeping people and playstyles. Over the past few months the amount of drama over Anomaly has been absurd. There is a reason why Anomaly has become so popular and has brought so many new fans in, and it ISN'T a bad thing. I was one of them, finding out about Anomaly and then playing through the original games. Anomaly is easy to get into for someone new to the franchise, besides being free, it's focus isn't directly on story, more on exploration and those survival elements that like them or not most people recognize and enjoy from other popular titles. This allows people to take the story in at a slower pace and not be confused and overwhelmed by just jumping in straight away to the main series. I was shocked that only a year ago, the community loved Anomaly, excited to see all these new people enjoying their beloved franchise, only to get angry when new people joined and did not agree with them about what they want out of a SINGLE PLAYER GAME. I personally enjoy the experience of just being a dude in the Zone, not a main character following the main story, just an Ordinary Stalker, doing ordinary things, and for me, Anomaly fit that way better. Its beautiful to see a game that has such a variety of mods and fans dedicated to it, but ultimately tearing down others who are new to the series will not help, and will only drive them away, while making the community look like trash. And honestly over past few months this hasn't been disproven.
I see. You remain free to do and play whatever you want, don't let people dictate what you should do.
I will gatekeep and there is nothing you can do about it
@Kissa Why?
Everyone is welcome to the franchise whether it's from anomaly or OG games
But I do recommend playing the OG games first then anomaly
Either way, the people who started with anomaly think stalker franchise was like Anomaly and expects + wants stalker 2 to be like it
This is a problem
If you don't want to play the OG games
At least be realistic and don't expect an official game to be like the unofficial mod
Or acknowledge the OG games
ive only played anomoly because its basically what I try modding fallout 4 into
While I like Call of Chornobyl as a platform - it did kinda hurt over those past years. Yes, making your own path and "living" in the Zone is great, but something about original stories just felt more right, like, well original trilogy and mods such as SFZ, Alone in Windstorm, Spatial Anomaly, etc.
I still respect work put into projects like Anomaly, Dead Air, Legends Returns, CoM and so on, but for rookie stalkers - their first rodeo should be with originals.
(Btw, I remember someone in your channel mentioned in Q&A, that they've listened your lore videos in the background while they've played Anomaly. Man, like c'mon)
Call of Chernobyl*
@@JebosIav he's trying to "politically correct" but you're right
@@sprypry I am literally from Ukraine, but ok
@@ChainikVlad yeah, you were using the Ukrainian pronunciation to be politically correct lmao, everyone knows any stalker game or mod never used chornobyl in its English title until now with S2
@@sprypry how is spelling in my native language - considered politically correct? Are you that paranoid or something?
As someone who really enjoys Anomaly, and play it more than the originals, I agree with your points. There was this one group I was a part of, and every post and comment was about how Anomaly was the best video game.... in the world! Every game would be compared to Anomaly and it became a toxic environment that I yeeted myself out of quickly. They even complained how STALKER 2 looked too much like Metro and won't be Anomaly (according to them the true Stalker experience), and that was only with the footage from the trailer that released in 2021. The full game isn't even out yet, and already it is fighting an uphill battle with the self proclaimed "true stalker fans" in that group, and that group is definitely not an exception, there are tons like that.
The original trilogy is still amazing to play through, and there are so many other great mods, like someone mentioned Oblivion Lost Remake.
Finally someone addressed the Anomaly controversy
Anomaly is fun for when I want to just spend time in The Zone and explore, but when I want something with more story I like to play the original trilogy.
Might I recommend Return to the Zone? It’s a great story mod!
I agree, anomaly excels in its immersive open world, not in its story and anyone who is playing anomaly for its story is in the wrong place. You can tell just by playing it that the story isn’t necessarily the point of focus of the mod.
@@arbo-u2b even then, COTZ does the open world/rp thing better than anomaly and if hardcore is what you’re looking for play area or nlc
That makes sense.
There is a good fix for anomaly enjoyers called Old World Addon.
basically making anomaly back to call of chernobyl...
@@mon0light with the benefits of the monolith x Ray engine and anomalys big modding scene
It's cool for old school trip but he still anomaly some things are very good like delete a lot of shit items useless but the gunplay mecanic it's too old and the quest system/story stay the same
It's a good addon.
anomaly was my first stalker experience, i loved it, it made me buy the original trilogy, and i loved it,
I got tired with the "tarkov/tactical" anomaly modpacks, because, I think they don't fit STALKER well, i still enjoy STALKER GAMMA, and etc.
i installed OWA for a more, chill experience. Currently i'm working on a STALKER CS playthrough as i'm playing the og trilogy based on timeline.
At this point, I'm here for the mod makers. You helped chisel a POS into a staggering diamond. I was there in the beginning. I remember reading about this game in magazines I stole from Walmart and Albertsons. Lamenting the fact that I was so poor I would never play this gasmasked masterpiece. When I finally got my hands on it I, like many people, Wondered how hard it was to make a bullet go straight. As did the game developers. But in the end here we are. The best game you will ever play was cobbled together with hope, dreams and above all LOVE! CB forever. But I'd like to be on top sometimes!
I see.
People should have the expections of the trilogy not anomaly
I think so.
I’m gonna be real honest and say that in its vanilla state, Anomaly is sort of like Misery with better graphics, and my first experience with the game was that I hated it, coming from finishing the original trilogy and exploring the mods it had
But once you de-misery Anomaly and get rid of the cluster of junk items there are in the game, it actually becomes a really fun experience, i have around 89 mods installed and most of them are to make it feel like Shadow of Chernobyl
Sadly, the original trilogy is outpaced by Anomaly (and sister mods like EFP and GAMMA) due to the latter being free and being covered by a lot of content creators, and what I hate the most from these mods is that they’ve deviated way too far from STALKER’s original vision in the first place
I like variation but when the game starts to suffer from an identity crisis because of it, of course it’s going to split the fanbase
I seriously can’t take people who seriously expect STALKER 2 should be something like GAMMA, especially knowing that STALKER was never meant to be a hardcore game, let alone it wasn’t even a very hard game in the first place. It’s all about the basics of Scavenging, Traveling, Adventuring, Looting, Killing, Exploring, and Robbing - it never needed to go way beyond those parameters, but here we are I guess
The way I look at it is that as someone who has only played Anomaly the gameplay trailers have lived up to my expectations so far. Because I have only played Anomaly, I am NOT going to buy the game as soon as it releases and instead wait until either I find out it has the features I am looking for OR the modding community adds what was missing (Warfare mode for example as that is seemingly excusive to Anomaly).
I first played anomaly, then GAMMA, then got addicted to the world of the zone, bought the 3 games. Played them all, now I'm back in GAMMA even more addicted. The story and atmosphere is like nothing else. I know stalker fans probably hate me but I thought the original games were very easy and I hope there is realistic gunplay and survival mechanics in S2 lol
Nice, the originals games are not so difficult indeed.
I agree, I think having at least the option for a more hardcore survival in the new stalker will do nothing but improve the immersion of the game. It doesn’t even have to be on by default it could be turned on or off like other RPG hardcore modes in like Skyrim or fallout or something.
"realistic gunplay and survival mechanics" is a disaster imo. Shooters must be dynamic and fun, player should not be afraid of getting hit otherwise he needs 5 bandages 10syringes and then after he will have screen shaking so he needs to take more syringes and then you need to drink and you only get hit once. Ridiculous. Game should be like the originals
But that's the problem... new players like you don't understand that STALKER isn't meant to be the "Hardcore Military Survival Sim" Yes, it's supposed to be Difficult game but it isn't supposed to be a "Realistic Survival Sim" game.
That's the one thing I dislike about Anomaly, Because it's feels entirely like a different game.
The first Stalker game I played was Stalker Anomaly; then EFP, then GAMMA, then SoC, CS, and CoP. CoP is my favorite. CS and SoC are tied for a close second. Gamma takes next, a ways behind- it’s cool and I love playing all the maps together. But I am even more excited for Stalker 2. I hope it is a successor to CoP and does not take cues from Gamma.
Solyanka is the WAY.
*Vasyanka
As someone who's played every STALKER game, along with Anomaly, I get what you mean. There are a lot of mods to explore and experience!
I tried several times years ago to play through shadow of Chernobyl and couldn’t. After finishing anomaly it gave me the motivation to finally complete the original game.
Nice.
The anomalous revolution and it's consequences
Who knows what will happen.
For me the main draw od stalker is the atmosphere, which i feel in many ways the mods detract from. I don't mind the gun prawn, better models etc, bur they always seem to clash with the strange aesthetic of the world. I've heard many people say the fact the world goes on without you and feels alive, like you're just an insignificant person in this world, not the main character. Whxih while the mods very much do that, they also kind of lack delving into the strange labs for novel information about long forgotten experiments etc. Not sure if i can entirely put my finger on it, but I'm hoping they aren't tainted too much by the mod scene froman atmosphere perspective, but keep some of the improvements those games offer.
To anomaly fans, here are some other wonderful mods for you to try!
-Return to the Zone
-DOLLCHAN 8: Infinity
-Secret Trails 2
-Goldsphere
-Sigerous mod series
-Call of the Zone
-and many more!
Nice, thanks for sharing.
THANK YOU
finally, someone is speaking about the Anomaly situation
Yes.
The things that drawed me into anomaly more than any other mod, was the fully accessible zone, playing as all the factions and updated and fleshed out warfare mods. That along with how frequently it is supported by the community, I could see why I played it for as long as I did.