Problems aside, Stalker remains an unforgettable and completely engrossing experience, and the modding community for this game is I.N.S.A.N.E.

And I am amazed at how smoothly the creators blended the Strugatsky brothers' vision from Roadside Picnic with the 1986 Chernobyl accident. It's such a pitch-perfect marriage of fact and fiction, modern myth-making in video game form.

Revisiting the game in 2021 is interesting. It's an inconvenient game in many ways—the encumbrance limit is really low (realistic, but low for a game), there's no fast travel, and worst of all, no way to repair your weapons and armor. Luckily, there are mods to make things as casual or hardcore as you want.

Reviewed on Oct 29, 2022


Comments