Current Events > will Metro Exodus ever live up to STALKER series?

(+) Yeah! (+)

like at least in the depth of simulation that it try to accomplish.

stalker: shadow of chernobyl blew my mind, even though with alot of flaws and technical limitation. what is so impressive are the sense of place and NPC behavior, friendly, hostile, humans, animals. like they're really living in that place instead of some sort of thin arcade-ish illusion where it feels NPCs exist just for you to encounter them and kill/interact with them. because that's basically like 99% of open world games nowadays.

nobody really try to be authentic as gothic or stalker anymore. (kingdom come deliverance might came close tho it, ELEX got pretty close with some flaws to the production and design choice. ELEX was really close, but i think the map is too big and just overall less coherent than smaller, but alot more coherent gothic 1/2)

now with metro exodus, i don't think we really know too much about it, but i hope they can implement alot of stuff that makes Stalker and gothic great, especially in the behaviour of NPCs and enemies.

like in stalker, dogs and stuff hunts in pack, if you kill most of them the last surviving will just try to run for their life, and so are with human NPCs. your affiliation and reputation is recognized, there are patrols from different faction roaming around, traders, etc. they are the subject to same danger and hazards the player may find. it's just so organic it created emergent gameplay and storytelling.

NPCs patrol will get attacked, caught in a trap, get harmed by random artifacts and phenomenon and they have resources, bullets, etc. so are the animals and mutants who are territorial will fight against one another and generally wont attack you unless you get too close.

i don't exactly remember if stalker did this, but in gothic some type of enemies really feels like it was protecting their home. they would growl 2-3 times when you gets near, and if you just back away slowly they will not attack.

if you get too close after too much warning, they will attack you. if you run away far they will eventually stops chasing you because they just care about some strange human invading their private territory.

it really adds to the sense of place and immersion of the game imo.
---

Bump
---

I'm going to be following Metro Exodus closely, since I'm hoping for anything that comes close to the STALKER experience again. That game absolutely nailed the atmosphere and used the NPCs perfectly. The series is still the template for how to do an open-world game the right way, and I think Call of Pripyat is probably a top 5 FPS of all time.
---

It isn't open world so it isn't really a fair comparison. The previous two games are awesome though.
---

fan357 posted...

It isn't open world so it isn't really a fair comparison. The previous two games are awesome though.

So far it has been hinting at a more open structure than the previous games. Maybe not completely open-world but could be something like the STALKER games
---

It will be more open but not like STALKER.
---

The first two were FANTASTIC. Hope the third follows the pattern.
---

I regret not going through all of the STALKER series because SoC was so fucking amazing to me. I just...dropped it and never picked it back up.
---

fan357 posted...

It will be more open but not like STALKER.

And your source is?
---

SGT_Conti posted...

I regret not going through all of the STALKER series because SoC was so fucking amazing to me. I just...dropped it and never picked it back up.

Nothing stopping you!

I'd strongly recommend downloading the Complete mod if you play Clear Sky. The vanilla game is very buggy, and Complete fixes those while improving the graphics.

However, I personally think Call of Pripyat is the gem of the series. Never played a game with better atmosphere.
---

The Admiral posted...

SGT_Conti posted...

I regret not going through all of the STALKER series because SoC was so fucking amazing to me. I just...dropped it and never picked it back up.

Nothing stopping you!

I'd strongly recommend downloading the Complete mod if you play Clear Sky. The vanilla game is very buggy, and Complete fixes those while improving the graphics.

However, I personally think Call of Pripyat is the gem of the series. Never played a game with better atmosphere.

If I go straight to Call of Pripyat, would it make the other ones harder to get into? I do have all three, I just never ended up really playing it all that much.
---

brotrrwinner posted...

fan357 posted...

It will be more open but not like STALKER.

And your source is?

https://www.pcgamer.com/metro-exodus-will-feature-a-year-long-journey-across-the-russian-wilderness/

It's not a Fallout-style open world, however (something 4A has already said), but several large sandbox levels connected in a linear series of missions; side quests can be discovered and undertaken, but once you leave a level, you cannot return.
---

STALKER is a series that does a couple of things really, really well - one of them being immersion. Call of Pripyat in particular is fantastic in this regard. Another are the anomalies and artifacts.
---

SGT_Conti posted...

The Admiral posted...

SGT_Conti posted...

I regret not going through all of the STALKER series because SoC was so fucking amazing to me. I just...dropped it and never picked it back up.

Nothing stopping you!

I'd strongly recommend downloading the Complete mod if you play Clear Sky. The vanilla game is very buggy, and Complete fixes those while improving the graphics.

However, I personally think Call of Pripyat is the gem of the series. Never played a game with better atmosphere.

If I go straight to Call of Pripyat, would it make the other ones harder to get into? I do have all three, I just never ended up really playing it all that much.

Not really, other than Pripyat being the most polished of the 3. It's completely different and doesn't really require any of the story from the previous games.

I wouldn't play Clear Sky without beating SOC first, however.
---

Giant_Aspirin posted...

It's not a Fallout-style open world, however (something 4A has already said), but several large sandbox levels connected in a linear series of missions; side quests can be discovered and undertaken, but once you leave a level, you cannot return.

This actually sounds like the original Far Cry.
---

Giant_Aspirin posted...

but once you leave a level, you cannot return.

Hardness lost
---

No Metro game has come close to how unique and good STALKER is, but I am interested in seeing if the new one will come close.
---

The Admiral posted...

Not really, other than Pripyat being the most polished of the 3. It's completely different and doesn't really require any of the story from the previous games.

I wouldn't play Clear Sky without beating SOC first, however.

I'll probably just go for CoP first. I'm really susceptible to burnout when going through a series, so I'm worried I'd never get around to what I do usually see regarded as the best of the series if I do it in order.
---