So, I'm finally running through S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2. I played a bit at launch but took a break to allow for some patches.
I knew from back then that I shouldn't expect roaming packs of stuff or persistent NPC AI across the map. Fine. Got ambushed by a lot of random Military, I bore witness to random Bandits getting wiped by a huge gang of Snorks with both having spawned directly behind a truck garage - it was really funny to watch, though, not as funny to mop up the dozen Snorks...
But the thing which stung the most happened just now. I've been cutting the South-Western corner of The Cage at the Cement Plant to get to the region's South-Eastern corner to explore it. I knew I had the Machine Tractor Station at my 2 o'clock, and that's where the aforementioned Snork bonanza occurred, after it greeted me with 6 Bandits and two Bloodsuckers when I first got there.
As I exited the building site perimeter, I ran into a group of Loners coming from the South-ish. My mind instantly thought: "oh, that means the Tractor Station's clear, otherwise these peeps would've been loot fodder for the return trip." And I immediately realised that, no, it only means that they may have spawned behind the perimeter wall, out of my sight line.
And now I have to sneak through a ditch because I don't want more Bloodsuckers.
Update: decided to double-back through the Tractor Station when returning to the Factory (no way I'm going in a train depot with a Seva-D, thanks!), and, of course, killed 6 Bandits, got my ass chased away by two Bloodsuckers as I finished looting, which were ambushed by a dozen Snorks as I was booking it toward The Cage. Of course!
Me too friend, me too.
The thing I miss is having stalker's creep up on you and dump half a mag in your back. I've not experienced anything like that in any other game I've played.
Don't get me wrong I'm having a pretty great time with the game. It's graphically stunning and the world is super interesting to explore. It's especially fun coming across locations from past games and seeing all the little familiar details in a new bigger way.
Bloodsuckers are fuckin' bullshit in this game, waaay to hard to kill, and they're everywhere. In past games, you'd see them every now and again, but they're basically the only mutant I see.
From what I've read the A-life system is challenging to implement in the seamless world of S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2.
I'm looking forward to mod tools being released so the community can really bring the experience to the next level. GSC games did an excellent job in some ways and not in others. I think they were trying to strike a balance between appealing to new/normie players and the hardcore anomaly ultra realistic players. Most people playing don't want to spend their time making sure they've got enough food, water, ammo and repair kits to make it to such and such a place and back in one piece.
Hopefully the community can give us some better options though.
Too true... I'm really looking forward to an Anomaly type add-on (I need some gear maintenance kits for longer runs at the very least...)
Either way, hope they manage to figure stuff out with A-Life. I've been reading that they're all on it and the GSC curse of management-dev miscommunications seems to still haunt them a bit, but I get the feeling they really care about this one - precisely for what you've highlighted, that the world feels painstakingly crafted and not just slapped together rural and post-industrial Eastern European scenery.
And, yes, Bloodsuckers are utter nonsense. A full 8-round load of slugs out of a SPAS while spam-shooting it point-blank in the face while it was going to town with my guts is way too much. At least you can kite them for no damage while reloading, but it's a ridiculous 16-second waltz... I don't get why they went with the bullet sponge thing instead of the 2-shot kills at higher difficulties, like they did in the first three. Made much more sense, everyone died believably fast because they're medium-to-large caliber rounds, ffs...
Again, looking forward to at least some rebalancing mods, because the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. framework is there and then some! Also needs a bit more patching for stability and performance. And I'll stop now.
The fact GSC didn't sue anomaly out of existence is why I'll stan them until the end of time. They saw what people did, and I think they thought it was dope as hell.
One other thing about the new stalker experience that drives me crazy are the English voices. The game is set in Ukraine, why is everyone British? Give them eastern European accents at least. I'm playing with Ukrainian dialogue, and English subs which mostly fixes it, but it's easy to miss lines while things are happening on screen.
I honestly even feel a lot of Anomaly in this one! The action animations, for instance, I don't think I've noticed them in any other conversion mod before Anomaly. Even the weapon degradation rates feel closer to Anomaly than the original trilogy, so do the barter prices and the concrete reputation modifiers on service access!
Actually had the impression they'd add more elements from Anomaly. Then again, I'm 50 hours in and barely at the third main story quest, so...
As far as the dubs, agreed, the English ones, while genuinely ranging from OK to damned decent voice acting, do clash a lot with the context. Good thing they added the option to go with the Ukrainian VO, does wonders for immersion - even though I don't speak one word of Ukrainian, that feeling of phonetic familiarity is great!
Edit: on second thought, the variation of accents in the English dub makes some sense in the context of the background story. The Zone seems to have become a matter-of-fact reality for the world in general. There's a special task force now officially dedicated to cover Duty's role, the minor factions seem splintered, which makes sense with the increase of people in The Zone, and we even have the Capitalist Machine trying to assimilate the Zone for The Greater Good™ - it feels as though it's now becoming a sort of established colony, if that makes sense, like humanity now feels it can "deal" with it. I mean, they even raised a massive cement wall around it, they tried to Sarcophagus the entire Zone in a way. It's pure hubris.
Edit 2: oh, wow, I just realised something! GSC may just have created THE spiritual successor to the Fallout universe! This isn't, like, Nirvana and [other contemporary Grunge band], it's Nirvana and Foo Fighters! But, like, better!
Yup there's a lot of cues they took from anomaly, but a little watered down. Which like I was saying makes sense, because they have to cater to the majority of players.
I'm not terribly far into the story. Just finished the garbage portion, but it seems to me like they're trying to loop more elements in from the novel Roadside Picnic, which is the origin of the whole concept the games, and the Tarkovsky movie Stalker, is based on. It's a great read if you haven't heard of it. And of course the movie Stalker is renowned for a reason.
In any case I love S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2. Are there bugs? Yes. Are there game play issues that need ironed out? For sure. But the fucking vibe is there in spades, and I trust GSC and the community to make this a game I play for a long time to come, which is easy, because I've been playing variations of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R games for probably like 15 years at this point.
Yep, it really does feel like they wanted to capture the essence of Shadow of Chornobyl more than Clear Sky or Call of Pripyat, they went with the meat and potatoes. And it's a very smart choice for the shift to Unreal, perfect for a true-to-source sequel as well! Although the Reputation tab could've stayed in the PDA, it would've been useful (I still can't tell if the people at the Slag Heap like me).
I agree with you on the influences, I, too, have noticed them keeping closer to the books this time! But I honestly think it's a good thing they went for this after the Zone has been established and fleshed out by the first three. The book felt very "post-colonial" as well, and while the Zone having less of a history made it feel more alien, GSC's Zone is uniquely personal to them and it feels alien even when ducking in bushes next to a house which looks like my grandma's childhood home, trying to hide from a 7-foot-tall werewolf with an octopus for a face. In this case, the extra history works wonders because they went nuts with the anomalies and anomaly fields this time around, so it's like the Zone paradoxically got even weirder as it was being colonised!
As far as the film's influence, I think that's helped a lot by the leap in photorealism. Sure, some NPCs smile as though they're the bug alien wearing the Edgar suit in MiB, but the Zone itself is brutally gorgeous! It really feels like running through actual meadows and over actual hills, just like the ones we used to stalk as kids! And they cranked up the horror to 11, I nearly soiled myself when I saw the first Flesh literally flying at me!
And, yeah, the game'll be just fine. GSC really did give us a true S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Considering the beefed up mechanics and atmosphere, I'd say they even went beyond just "a true S.T.A.L.K.E.R.!"