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I guess I took it for granted that we'd see a massively improved sequel to SoC/CoP in the vein of Witcher 1/Witcher 2.
Why did you have to remind me!?
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and Clear Sky.
and then S.T.A.L.K.E.R. will be over.
forever
Steam PSN: DerWaffleMous Origin: DerWaffleMous Bnet: WaffleMous#1483
Savor it.
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I think this is one of the only times I've been keenly aware of a studio closing right as it happens. I was late to the party for most of Black Isle and Looking Glass' catalogs. Likewise for Origin, although in that case I'd played a bunch of their games without even realizing it was them. Troika was on visibly shaky ground so that wasn't a real surprise. The loss of Westwood was muted somewhat as C&C kept rolling along (even if it wasn't quite the same). Don't get me wrong, these and others were all depressing, but this is a rare instance when I've been able to see it as it happens, more or less. There's a certain immortality to PC gaming that makes it easier to take when a studio goes under - no matter the game's age, there's a way to get it running again - but you're never really prepared when it happens right in front of you.
All right, so GSC had a lot to learn about making a stable engine (though CoP was a substantial improvement) and the games were hardly masterpieces of storytelling. I don't care. They found a balance that few ever do, making the world open enough to avoid railroading but giving just enough of a plot thread to stay focused. The pieces sometimes came together in unexpected ways, but I'd trade a hundred high-spectacle scripted events for any of the random, crazy things that can happen in Stalker: random dudes in the wild helping you fend off bandits, clashes between rival factions, mutant dogs interrupting an ambush, etc. It's not every game that can make its very world a selling point.
More than that, it was a window into a very real place that I previously had known little about. The real Zone is like a Soviet-era time capsule on a massive scale, and anything that takes a sober look at it provides a glimpse into a world so far removed that it may as well be science fiction. I started picking up things in other games that explored similar scenarios: Cryostasis, for instance, features the consequences of a meltdown on a nuclear-powered ice breaker - at a time where the largest nuclear accident, Mayak, was still small enough to cover up, so the effects weren't widely known. I'll hardly argue that the Stalker games are particularly instructive about the Zone or post-Soviet Russia/the Ukraine, but they did spark an interest, an awareness that wasn't there before.
And then there are the fans, people like all of us. Maybe we were hungry for something other than your average cover-based shooter, maybe we were suckers for FPS/RPG hybrids, or urban exploration, or solid (dare I say sexy) ballistic physics. Whatever the reason, we saw something in these games that stuck with us long after we finished them. Not every game inspires such a dedicated following, and the fanbase of Stalker is too large to call it a cult hit. It's a legitimate success, something that, damn it all, gave me hope; hope that something quirky and unique could succeed in a harsh environment where only the strong and opportunistic survive. We all saw it, and we're all the better for it. I don't think I can give a game more meaningful praise.
I hadn't played anything quite like Stalker when SoC came out. It may well be that the series will never see a spiritual (or actual) successor, even if GSC somehow comes back from this. Whatever the case, the series left its mark on me, and long after I've finished other games that mark will endure. These are games worth remembering, worth replaying, worth celebrating right up there with the classics. These are examples of games I point to when someone asks why I play games.
We're gonna miss you, GSC. Thanks for everything.
Play us out, boys:
I write for these people. Just reviewed: Drox Operative
The Marked One. The Mercenary. The Major.
They will not be forgotten.
I hope that if we can't have another STALKER game, we at least get another game like STALKER. Because there is truly nothing else like it.
Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go kill that bastard Strelok.
Steam: CarbonFire MWO, Planetside 2, Origin: Carb0nFire
And i can say that by no small stretch of the imagination this is the only game series for which i have cared for. I wanted to see it go on into the future as a shining example of what a game could be.
I actually felt a powerful pang of sadness when i read this thread title, i thought "surely not. no. this can't be right"
This game, world, company, and series will forever hold a place with me, as my personal favourite game. The one i come back to numerous times.
The game was hard, but not in a cheap way. It didn't really hold your hand either. The game said, "This is the Zone, it will kill you if you are stupid." and it was serious. The best comparison I can think of, as far as difficulty goes, is Demon/Dark Souls. The game rewarded you for playing smart and punished you for being impatient or greedy. Very few games are able to pull that off.
Second thing is of course the world, the zone itself. Stalker had one of the most immersive worlds I've had the pleasure of exploring. The muted sounds of gunfire in the distance, the nightmarish scream of something echoing from afar, the storms, and anomalies, the blowout. Christ, the Blowouts! As someone else said before me, The Zone was very much a character and the prime antagonist.
All the pieces that made up Stalker came together so perfectly and (bugs aside) I think GSC accomplished something that many Devs have only dreamed of doing, making the player feel like they are there in the world the Devs had created.
When other Dev houses have gone under it was always a little sad, but the bright side was that someone else would always be making FPSs, RPGs, Racing games, or what-have-you. But with GSC I find it all the more disheartening because no one will be making another Stalker.
The series was one of a kind.
Bright and early the next morning I head back. Got the drop on a group of bandits who didn't see me up on the roof and nailed four of them with one grenade blast. Cocky, I explore for a bit, hear some gunfire, and decide to investigate. I find a dead loner. Something seems wrong with this situation.
Presto, out of nowhere comes the bloodsucker. I frantically retreat back toward the train tracks, turning and spitting bullets as I go. He (it?) finally drops.
I hear a sound. Dogs? It gets louder. Multiplies.
It is as if the very Earth split open and let loose the baying of the hounds of Hell.
I frantically run to a ladder, climb up to the platform, and turn around in time to see every dog in the zone run at my position. As I unload round after round upon them I can see the anomalies near the tracks going off like the 4th of July as a steady stream of additional dogs, rats, and snorks heard the call.
I throw a few dozen pistol rounds into the mass, which is still growing. Everything starts to feel weird, like time is slowing down. My vision gets choppy, and I feel like I don't have complete control of my hands. Desperate, I start unloading clip after clip of assault rifle ammo, and eventually start killing them faster than they run toward me.
Minutes later, after they've all been killed, I cautiously make my way back down the ladder, standing knee deep in corpses. I start to walk away, but turn around to examine two of the corpses I had never seen before. They looked like men, only wearing gasmasks, and the others looked like small, mutated rats. I can't look at the pile of bodies for too long, as every time I do I get that weird feeling. I take my leave, heading back down the tracks, anxious to get back to the Bar for a stiff drink or three to help forget.
I would have killed for a grenade or two. Such is life in the Zone.
Rock Band DLC / A Cheesecake Recipe / Xbox Live
A couple of hours later and I have an artifact or two and I'm a bit more resilient, but still would be classed as a novice stalker is the eyes of most veterans. This is when the first blowout starts to happen and I'm not really near anything I could see for cover, so I sprint to a hole I can see in the distance that I fall through to take shelter. I'm injured a bit but at least safe from the blowout. Then I see the two white pinpricks in the shimmering distance, increasing in size as it moves towards me.
It's the same damn cave I ran out of earlier.
Once the blowout passes I'm low on ammo and have used up all my bandages, luckily bloodsucker tentacles sell for a pretty penny.
RIP S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
An official statement will be made on Monday.
Edit: I hope they aren't pulling the GOG "lie to your friends that you have untreatable cancer so they'll be pay more attention and be nice to you" bit either, though. That would put me off more than a million bugs in the game.
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/12/10/on-the-importance-of-s-t-a-l-k-e-r/
Everything about the games were just so special, from the story inspired by some of my favourite writers, to the fantastic environments and the, at least to me, interesting plot and back-story.
Stolls have already said what it in a much better way than I ever could. These games were something truly special.
I wonder if they're going to find a way to save game 2 or the IP before totally dissolving GSC.
I finally gathered the courage to beat SOC about 3 weeks ago after talking about my first experiences in the last STALKER thread. This is all a huge bummer.
On average it costs only about 50 some bucks to hire a Stalker to risk his life and sanity. I thought that was somewhat depressing and yet fitting.
Yeah, it's like $16 US to get by the bridge guards in Cordon. In hindsight that cracks me up and then seems kind of sad.
Also, submitted a story to that Tales of the Zone page, the one about the loners using me as bait to kill a bloodsucker. Ahh, good times...
I write for these people. Just reviewed: Drox Operative
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Thanks, Stolls. Your stories about STALKER are what got me to buy Shadow of Chernobyl. May I link to your Let's Play on Tales of the Zone?
Such is life in the zone!
LURK mod for SoC|Backloggery|XBL|XFire|Steam|Zune
Sure thing, by all means. Great idea by the way, these have been great stories so far :^:
Edit: Check with Ninja Snarl P too, those were good LPs and they cover the entirety of the series.
I write for these people. Just reviewed: Drox Operative
AJ2 soundtrack: NAME YOUR PRICE ON BANDCAMP! Album: BANDCAMP! iTunes Spotify Amazon UK
I reinstalled SoC this weekend. I'll be spending quite a few days in the zone this week.
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its a cryin ass shame
Really sad to hear about them closing and there not being a new one. This almost trumps failing the bladder of steel achievement in Rock Band 2 for me. 4 of us going through the endless set list, next to the last song, batteries in the drums died. Many manly tears of defeat were shed.