Just a disclaimer for those who want to follow me, I'm not just a "Stalker" RUclipsr. I mostly make content around horror and dark themes, like my About Section reads... So if you want to subscribe, take a look at my other videos first!
Even more to it, there is an addon that adds live stalker network chat to this game, so all players that are currently playing can chat with eachother, despite being in a singleplayer game.
Totally agree!! It feels like we're fighting players in some cases. The AI is brutal, they flank and trick you every time. You have to be careful and fight with intelligence, otherwise you're dead!
there is a close representation or shall i say copy of the game called stalled craft it is free and on steam although as the name suggested it looks like minecraft good gunplay long grind tho
I heard that message while pushing a building occupied by 8 military guys. It's a different experience when your slow pace pre planned snipping battle suddenly turned into 5 minutes of intense close quarters combat because you need to get into the building or you'll get cooked outside. The energy drink carried that fight as it allowed me to shoot the guys at the front door and circle around and enter the side entrance. The last two guys were pretty much screwed as they were stuck outside by the time I cleared the building and the emission was just 30 seconds away.
One small correction, the original games didn't have much in the way of survival only two of them had a food meter and only one had sleep with none requiring water, further more food guns and most ammo was plentiful and cheep. The main focus in the mainline games was as an action shooter with a few RPG and survival elements but GAMMA is still a fantastic introduction to the world and leaves the player with a very real feeling experience.
I have only played GAMMA, I only ever plan to play GAMMA. I like it. A lot. I understand there is good things abou the originals, but for me I won't be trying them ever. I have seen gameplay and this is what I enjoy.
Anomaly and gamma boost the immersion so much that its hard to not get hooked even after you've played the trilogy. The old games aren't really survival focused in comparison tbh. But the trilogy is highly recommended
one of the main reasons stalker feels different is because stalker doesnt hold your hand, both in a good and bad way, it wont teach you how to survive but it wont block you from doing things outside the norm like sneaking into a enemy base disguised so you can assassinate someone or get a stash, plus the feeling of just relaxing next to a campfire at homebase after a long long expedition is just otherworldy, it feels like you did that in real life, great video man keep it up.
Very well explained, this is also why I love games like Dark Souls. These games are unforgiving, they force you to adapt to the difficulty instead of giving into it, essentially feeding that reward system... making you feel like you worked for something. It's fascinating how much power that specific concept holds and how rewarding it is. After playing games like these when I was younger, It started a routine in my head where I started doing things in my own life to feel that same reward therefore improving my life. Thanks for the comment and thanks for watching!
@@MrEthos thats actually a great point, i always like the games that make you work for what you want instead of giving it to you off the bat which im now realizing might be a trait i picked up a long time ago
I will never forget the first time I arrived in the Red forest and walked through it. Deep dark night, pouring rain, chimeras, controllers, monolith and maximum medium level equipment. It was the worst decision in my career as a former player xD
Do you need that radiation mask for red forest? I'm finally getting some better gear and feel it's time to move forward now, not sure where to go. Still don't have advanced tools, about 3 regular tools now and tons of everything else. Ak74u and a tactical sks. And some better light armor.
You need to destroy at least the mirscle machine under lab 16. Bring a tonne of supplies, ammo meds and id recommend a good shotgun with lots of buckshot. Somr explosives too. Anything past army warehouse you need the psy headpiece and a decent gun with lots of ap. Good luck @DanMProductionsBois
@bryaneff thanks man I will do this, sounds fun. I'm guessing the AP ammo is essential then? I have been good with FMJ now but I guess if they are rocking heavy armor, I need the AP. Also where is lab 16? I know I could look it up but I like chatting with stalker players since noone I know plays it haha
@DanMProductionsBois the human enemies you face are all going to be in heavy armor or exosuits. They will tank 5-6 fmj to the face bare minimum and couple that with their high power weapons and much better aim they will fuck you up hard and quickly overwhelm you if not kill you straight out in 2 seconds. It's a bigger investment of rubles but I came to the conclusion personally that it's cheaper to spend LESS rounds and delete your enemies than try and save by using fmj and end up spending the money anyway on supplies like meds and armor repair. Lab 16 is in Yantar underneath the industrial complex there. You will need to stock UP. Before you go down there and attempt to disable the miracle machine. There's an ecologist outpost that will give you the quest in the south part of the map. But be prepared to fight tonnes of mutants of every type. Explosives, a good shotgun and an automatic equipped with a grenade launcher and lots of HP ammo reserves. Meds. Food. And everything you need for a prolonged fight. Also, don't anticipate much loot. So there's something to consider. Good luck stalker
@@Wat3rCoCk It was Misery that really set the bases of what you see in the new mods, artifact containers? Misery invented them, food actually being necessary? also Misery. COP you can complete without taking a single food item on you and only eating at the bases.
Misery and Call of Chernobyl, which is as I recall, what anomaly is built off of. Still my favorite way to play, too, as I don't much care for how over the top the difficulty tends to be in anomaly and subsequent modpacks.
When I was a teenager, I modded New Vegas to be a horror survival game with roaming patrols of each faction fighting each other. I would only make money from hides from animals I hunted, and bought my weapons and ammo that way. I didn't do any quests. I just roamed around the Mojave on a modded motorcycle. Sometimes having to take shelter in the nearest shack on the side of the road to get away from the radioactive rain. I think we as men crave these harsh experiences. It's you versus the harsh and unforgiving environment. We crave to be in that situation.
Absolutely, and you can see that in everyday life. We know have places where people voluntarily go to engage in discomforting things (the gym) and people hike as a hobby nowadays... when a hundred years ago that was common in daily life. That's also why it feels like games, movies and books that are based in an apocalyptic world/setting are so intriguing to us. The harsh environment that makes you confront death and destruction on an every day basis, in a way forces you to also enjoy the little things in life. Dark Souls is a great example, it's a harsh & unforgiving game that only provides you safety when in the presence of a bonfire... and when you see that flame from a distance, it's a sigh of relief. Thanks for watching and I really appreciated your comment.
Challenge equals achievement. Most people desire the feeling of achievement. Like how battlefield is so fun because you rank up and unlock tons of things for A LONG time. That keeps you playing. Achievement is a big part of games
I love random nature. Once, I was playing, and I spent the night in some sort of barn with other stalkers. When dawn broke I decided to climb to the roof to get a good scope around before carrying on. Upon peaking my head over the summit of the roof, a small group of nearby bandits immediately took some shots at me. As soon as this happened, about 10 stalkers came marching out of the barn and gunned them all down. Marvellous 😁
This is like the 11th "Why Stalker: Anomaly/G.A.M.M.A is the best game ever" video I've seen, and I'm still not tired of them. It is a great game. Glad a lot of other people are passionate about it too. #clearsky
A few things that really stick out with stalker GAMMA. The blend between reality and sci fi like you said is sooo fucking good. It feels like it could really happen. The horror aspects and tense moments are incredible. The progression feels great. Finally getting an upgrade and feeling the difference in killing enemies. And ATMOSPHERE. My gosh. The lightning storms at night are the best. Taking shelter when you get the notification for an anomaly[storm] when you are in the middle of a fight with stalkers. My gosh. What a game. And, its FREE.
the description is very wrong. "you can experience the best of what the series has had to offer." no, anomaly is a completely different experience than the trilogy. one of the main draws of the series is the story, which you will only get by playing the main games. stalker anomaly is a very good mod, but not a game that you should use to judge the series. if people are expecting stalker 2 to be anomaly 2, I think they will be very disappointed.
I changed the description, thanks for that. As for Anomaly, I fully understand that it's stand-alone and not official... But it is based off the OG games and is still faithful to them. Thanks for watching.
@@MrEthosAnomaly is far from faithful to the OG games. It brings in assets and mutants from Metro, and it’s story goes completely against the base games
17:31 I would disagree here. I think that STALKER is absolutely cosmic horror. The point of cosmic horror isn’t just that the bad stuff is from space, space was just the place Lovecraft found most unknown and spooky. For STALKER, the unknown is the anomalous, the noosphere, the idea of these fragments of dreams and cognition leaking into the world and twisting it. Its the same core idea of being insignificant in the face of an incomprehensible unknown force too vast for you to possibly imagine or genuinely oppose. It’s all very cosmic-horror stuff.
I have been playing stalker since i was 6 y o, and now, i enjoy anomaly, as a survival simulator. I have made it more surv-focused, by making an addon collection, redacted and balanced by myself. It is a true zone experience, as it is mentioned in stalker lore and novels.
I'll never forget getting into Anomaly and being terrified when night came around. I was so new to it that I didn't have a headlight and just traveled at night with nothing but I just wanted to see the world and explore it. Took me a few weeks to actually make some progress but it never made me frustrated, I really enjoyed not knowing anything about the game if that makes sense. Everything was just new and intriguing. I barely knew about what does what and how armor and repairing works until much later on. Just an immersive experience unlike anything I've experienced before. Then two years later I got into GAMMA and spent 200 plus hours on it and learned a lot I didn't know from my time with Anomaly. So overall I spent about 500 hours total in Anomaly and Gamma and can say I'm kind of bored of them now. Had my fun but now I await Stalker 2.
I'm pretty sure that Stalker 2 not going to have even a half of the features that Anomaly have. ( and there is hundreds of good mods on stalker, not just sandbox survival )
в с чего вдруг будет иначе?) разработчик делает скелет и дает инструмент, мододел наращивает мяско, причем с годами модострой даже по одной игре может менятся, или на основе модов могут запилить уже другую игру... в мире нет студий что могут сравнится с толпой мододелов из 100500 человек, причем у них над головой нет дедлайна, начальника и обязаловки - чистое творчество ) и если Сталкер 2 станет хорошим скелетом - будет и Аномалька 2, и Гамма 2 тоже
In my country there several Stalker airsoft event, mostly lasts for a week or so, you get inside a abandoned soviet-era military base (used for solider training most of the time) and play as a stalker with all the factions and things like that. Interesting and very very immersive experience, if the event planned and done correctly. Most of the time it is!
I've started playing gamma 3 days ago, going completely blind into the series except for a few familiar mutants, like the flesh and the dogs. But the thrill of discovering NEW enemies and finding out about new mechanics is unreal. A situation I've been in it: Today I experienced my first psy-storm and immediately as soon as the crows alerted me I thought it was an emission until I heard the sirens. My stomach dropped. And at the time I was near a "Defend Rostok" mission. So I am there hiding in a radioactive warehouse near the objective and suddently I see "Unknown enemy" on my PDA getting closer to my location. I died from radiation as I was too afraid to investigate.
The most intense experience I had was in Gamma. I ran with the mercs and Dushman gave me a task to get rid of a duty stalker in Rostok. Raiding the duty base alone at night with a terrible MP5 and being surrounded by hostiles that were bullet sponges at the bar was the most heart-racing video game experience.
before I even start the video, I want to say my personal reason why. Anomaly doesnt feel half as alive as the OG trilogy. Mutants will infight and sometimes even run away from you, I've seen blind dogs drag off and eat corpses multiple times, you run into robberies (scripted events but still) and there can be full on battles happening in front of you. Feeling like you're part of a world means having things happen AROUND you, sometimes without you even knowing or them caring you exist, Anomaly just has mutants go on sight for anything that's not a mutant.
I watched a cat climb up a ladder and murder a soldier in Agroprom in the Aurumn Aurora mod for SOC. Still gives me chills. I think Stalker 2 will satisfy both sides of the Stalker coin, Anomaly players and OG Stalkers. I have seen enough from interviews and people that played the demo to confirm this in my eyes. The devs said in an interview a while back that they play all the big mods. Like it or not, Anomaly, Misery, Gamma brought a lot of new life into Stalker and a lot of new players also. I like both. I have been been playing these games since they first came out and play Gamma also.
I absolutely LOVE and adore that you also play without HUD. no minimap and ocasionally turning health on to see the condition. its absolutely different experience. i also recommend "Artyoms Gas mask breathing sound (with 20% volume)) addon, so you can hear how exhausted your character is after running and sprinting certain distance, so you get an idea how much stamina you have left. small thing but it adds tons of immersion. trust me get it
One error I see often in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. analysis is people referring to The Zone as post-apocalyptic when it's not. The disaster is contained to The Zone entirely, the rest of the world is fine if not more advanced than in real life. I know it just comes off as lore nerd shit but I think the fact that the world didn't collapse is super important to the actual themes of the game. The abandonment and the way GSC built the decay I think is purposefully supposed to look like neglected parts of eastern europe that crashed alongside the USSR, not apocalyptic destruction. Everything in this game is a metaphor riddled with folklore.
like this guy said STALKERS are just crazy motherfuckers that hope to strike it rich kinda like a gold rush but more mutants and radiation. People buy these artifacts for crazy money while Stalkers are making fractions of that so they have to continue to risk themselves and dive deeper if they dare
People who prefer to stalker as "post apocalyptic" game are definately the ones who havent played the base games. You literally find that shit out without even leaving rookie village in SOC if you pay even slightest attention.
If the Mortal Sin storyline was able to show an ending where Chernobog and his SIN cult succeeded in the forced expansion of the zone- it would absolutely be post apocalyptic, actually, the original mod authors could make a whole thing out of that, the world trying to adjust- or keep itself alive after that Super emission- which in this case wouldn't have been stopped- causes the noosphere's cracks to spread across the globe.
I love the original trilogy of games but I agree that Anomaly and especially GAMMA is just such a great experience. It is my comfort game. The game I go to when I do not want to play anything; the game I go to when I have been working a ton and I finally get some late night time to myself and I want to get away. I come back to it constantly because the replay value and immersion are like nothing else; all of the little flaws virtually melt away once you get hooked in. Next thing you know; there is a psy-storm outside, you're low on food, health and ammo, and night is swiftly approaching. Your anxiety peaks and the adrenaline flows when you get ambushed and the sense of relief when you finally reach your hideout is surreal. I can never explain it to my friends, it really is something you just need to experience
The problem is, the majority of stalker players favour the modded versions and not the original 3 made by GSC. This could raise the expectations of so many players including myself on stalker 2. Anomaly was not made by GSC and most likely isn’t the vision of GSC. Those very hardcore mechanics added in the mods, may not return until more mods are made for stalker 2 by fans again. Let’s all keep an open mind!!
Of course, but players preferring something isn't a problem at all... it's just that: preference. I think that STALKER 2 will sell just fine, heck i'm buying it the day it releases. And I think most people will fully understand that Anomaly is not the same as the three mainline titles. Thanks for watching!
Stalker is responsible for my brief panic whenever i hear a flock of crows fly away 😅😂 Nothing like being in the truck cemetery and hearing those crows
Man the Devs set out to make an atmospheric fps. I wonder if they ever imagined it could morph into Gamma. The devs have one thing and the community saw and loved the world and thought it could be so much more.
as much as I wouldnt mind Stalker 2 having some stuff from anomaly etc as (optional) difficulty tweaks, I have a feeling a lot of the people who expect stalker 2 to be just like gamma/anomaly will turn out dissapoined when it ends up more simmiliar to the OG games, which I really feel like is going to be the case@@LordTrashcanRulez
@@LordTrashcanRulez Original stalker is anything but an action shooter. As someone who played it all on release, it was always atmospheric as fuck, and praised for that. Many considered the atmosphere the game had as the sole thing that carried it through all the bugs and jank.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R the game was build as: concepts of anomalies and artifacts (even wish granter, even if in different form) from novel, concept of Stalkers within zone and their struggles vs military from Tarkovsky's film and solid dose of soviet bleak reality hence Chernobyl used as setting,
To everybody who never played any other mod or orignal game of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. dont except Stalker 2 to be like GAMMA and dont even play the games, your disgrace in comments of saying that original games are shit compare to this mod is just showing how oblivionic you are. Stay to gamma and dont react on upcoming Stalker 2 game please.
Stalker is that one game everyone knew. Adults,child, we all talked about it, we all played it, being in first grades we were trading and borrowing discs with Stalker Call of Pripyat. In Ukraine this game is truly popular, especially now, with Stalker 2 knocking in the door
This is an incredible mod, granted it has it's quirks, such as the invisible barriers blocking me from exploring the map and the steep learning curve with a very shallow tutorial, yet it is an awarding experience and the ability to customize gameplay elements is very nice. While I have heard of Stalker before, I never played it until I stumbled upon this mod and the high praise for it, and from what I understand this mod takes the gameplay to a whole different level. I don't know about you but for some reason I get Operation: Flashpoint vibes while playing this game...
You really haven't played STALKER have you? STALKER was really famous back in the days especially in Europe, GSC even had cooperations with AMD, Nvidia and DirectX, and they had dedicated GPUs designs. And no, Anomaly and GAMMA are not like the original games at all
Maybe I overplayed that part, but as for my knowledge the trilogy was never AAA, but to clear, yes it was popular back in the day and still is. I got that wrong. And saying that Anomaly isn't like the original games is puzzling to me. Even if it is a heavily modded version... It's still a STALKER experience regardless
@@MrEthos you should play the trilogy then, also the trilogy are AAA games, GSC Is a triple A company, they had a big budget from THQ (and other investors) when they developed Shadow of Chernobyl. Anomaly and the trilogy are two completely separated experiences, even the devs said that
@@MrEthosNo, it is not a stalker but experience. Just because the AI could absolutely wreck you doesn’t mean it was a hardcore survival tactical shooter.
@@MrEthos It's really not, though. The original trilogy were not heavily focused on survival, at all. There were light elements here or there, but resources were plentiful. They were story driven narrative FPS games with light RPG and survival horror elements. They are nothing *at all* like Anomaly and Gamma, and honestly it's really, really getting frustrating to a lot of people who were around and played the original games to have to keep explaining this. RUclips has absolutely polluted the Stalker fandom with this idea that Anomaly/Gamma is "PEAK STALKER!" when it's nothing *like* Stalker. It's wearing a Stalker coat of paint over a grueling, stretched out progression survival game that makes you fight for every inch, masking itself with fanfiction-level nods to Stalker characters, names, and places. There's nothing *wrong* with that type of game either, I enjoy Gamma when I sit down to play it, but this whole entire narrative of it being the best Stalker or peak Stalker or that Stalker 2 needs to adopt x y z elements from Anomaly/Gamma is just absolutely frustrating. The main stalker subreddit gets flooded by people constantly talking about Anomaly/Gamma, there are constant arguments that flare up over it, and it's just, well, exhausting anymore. 2 won't be anything like it, and my biggest worry is that 2 gets absolutely blasted in reviews and public perception over it *not* being like Anomaly/Gamma, when that wasn't the point of 2 at all. GSC knows their universe, they know their franchise. 2 will be like the OG trilogy, and with how utterly prevalent Anomaly/Gamma is all over RUclips now and how everyone knows Stalker by and large *from* them now, I fear 2 is doomed before it even launches, and that's a shame. That makes me sad. TLDR: Anomaly and Gamma for what they are, are fine games. What they aren't, however, is actual Stalker. People need to stop linking the two together, because it's giving a false impression of what the future of the franchise most likely will be.
@@x570BelmontPEAK explanation bro, as much as I like Anomaly/ GAMMA, it’s not stalker, nor will it ever will be, it’s a hardcore survival milsim set in STALKER’s world, kinda like Elden Ring Nightreign, they completely overhaul the experience to form their own identity and people need to stop treating them as stalker or rather the “definitive experience” when they’re so far removed from the original games.
Thanks for this review. Relaxed, informative, up to date (love the references to commercial games plus or minus many of us play), with good taste. Rare to find this stuff around .. also because the subject you touch is great but rest is thanks to you. Well done. Also.. many games miss reviewing settings (when reivews are more technical even, such a big missing thing and philosophing on them.. something only Total Biscuit used to do). Anyway this is another style of review. Easy goging and connecting the dots one like me would have hard time to do. Fortunately a friend told me about this game and set my mods for hyper realism and immersion...
You can do either, it depends on what you want. If you want the OG story, go for the trilogy. If you want a more sandbox experience, play Anomaly + GAMMA. Both are great and don't really cancel each other out, so you can play them whenever.
If you have the time, patience, and tolerance for older games I highly suggest playing the OG games as they provide a great experience and eases you into the world's mechanics and people. Anomaly and it's subsequent modpacks are very in depth and playing them without experience is very confusing. if you can't stomach Shadow of Chernobyl's old graphics I suggest playing at least Call of Pripyat + Gunslinger, not completely authentic but still a great experience.
ive never played any original games and now have 1k+ hours in gamma alone, as long as you read dialogue and pay attention to the story it will lead you pretty far. There are some parts of the game that wont automatically put you on to the next main quest, for instance, you'll talk to a character and he'll be like "well when you're ready, come back to me." and you won't know that unless you read/memorized it (no objective or indication for this). there isn't really any in-game tutorial, but here's how i saw the game, the first whole playthrough was a tutorial, on the 2nd playthrough you know most of the game essentially and play it how you want.
You don't have to play them but I recommend for your first start in Anomaly picking the Loners as your faction and start in Rookie Village so you can do a short intro quest given by a stalker named Fanatic to get a good start.
Been playing stalker since it came out and its still one of the best games out there that give you that feeling... It was until i played DayZ that i really felt that again in a different not scary but adrenaline pumping kind of way. Great video.
Brilliant video, mate!! Subbed and looking forward to more long form videos!! Consider myself a bit of a Stalker veteran, having started playing them when I was fairly young and I think Anomaly and Gamma are different, but still excellent, ways to experience the Zone. Absolutely check out the original games, they're much more action focused, with only hunger needing to be maintained and ammo/working guns being more common, but they're still incredible
Stalker always is this series i could only describe as "Leave and Come Back Later" I always uninstall and after a couple of weeks I come back as a fresh new rookie in the rookie village I can't really describe it perfectly but thats how i view stalker anomaly
Better in some ways, worse in too many lol. A lot of the new gen mods can be summed up as "your gun breaks every 50 shots, the game." Another big problem is you can only put so much paint on a pig. The old school UI just really isnt compatible with heavy survival mechanics. And back to guns constantly breaking, a lot of elements aimed at realism and immersion end up doing the opposite. Needing constant weapon repair kits which is just silly to begin with. You clean them and you lube them. If they were this unreliable wed still be fighting with bludgeons and pikes once all the guns broke.
I mostly agree, it feels tedious and unrealistic for a game that's trying to replicate realism in some ways. I'm not sure if there is a mod to fix that, I hope there is but well put.
For new players I'd recommend basic Anomaly and installing addons through Mod Organizer 2, basically modding a mod and creating your own mod pack as you play. Also check out other mod packs, not just GAMMA. If you're interested in story and lore then check out the original trilogy.
When you play STALKER, you actually feel like another NPC in the zone. You feel like you can relate to the characters you meet and kill. It makes makes the immersion 10x better when you feel like you just murdered a small group of men, just like you for 200-300 rubles. Heavily helped by the immersive noises made as they gasp for air choking on their own blood as they create a small puddle of red. All because you can die just as quick and painfully as everyone else in the zone.
I love that some of them carry junk items as mementos. A harmonica, some old boots, a picture of home or a loved one. They may be basically useless but it adds so much when you kill a bandit and he has a picture of home, makes you think, "What drove this man to become a bandit?". Pure greed, desperation? Maybe he just had a friend who brought him to The Zone, and taught him that banditry was the way of life, and now he's so despised by most factions, so down in the filth and radiation that no one else will have him? What made you this way, Zhorka Bling-Bling?
If anybody want to get the absolute maximum experience from the stalker anomaly, i highly recommend playing it in permadeath mode. While it can look hard and annoying from outside, it's THE stalker experience once you get a hang on the game. I can't describe how immersive and intense it feels to just walk on the game's locations, knowing that anything can kill you if you're not careful, it's an experience almost no other game can give you. Permadeath Anomaly teaches you to actually use your brain in all engagements, it teaches you that running away is not only not bad or cowardly but is actually the vest way to survive, it teaches you to very carefully manage the risks, and in general makes you value your life in game so much more. I tried that once and i can't play stalker in not permadeath mode at all since that moment. If you didn't try yet - try it, it's something that's worth experiencing in game, i do believe thst this is how stalker games actually should have been played all along, it just feels right. Edit: i forgot go mention one crucial thing. The fear that you experience in stalker in genetal, and especially in permadeath playthrough - it's not tge fear of something supernatural, something that you don't know anything about, or what will it can do to you. You know exactly what zone's spawns will do to you, you fear sonething like a mutant in the same way as ebeny stalkers (at least tgey are far closer to each other than you could imagine). Tge fear you experience is tye fear for your life, it makes the game much more humane and more relatable than sometjing like Alien or Outlast horror games, it makes it more real, despite still being cleaely fictional.
@casbinwat Escape From Pripyat (Escape from Tarkov vibes),more focused on shooting than survival (GAMMA vibes),and colors in EFP are warmer,more vibrant
Stalker is funny phenomenon. Its a series of games based on book, and there was also a movie... and this game series inspire fans to make their own game(bc there cant wait for next game) called survarium, and based on concept of survarium(that never come to be) people WROTE BUNCH OF BOOKS. Real books, not fanfics.
this game has a way to toil with your mind one of the few that like old games make you have to think and plan very well before even attempting anything. I played the original 3 games and loved them but when I grab Anomaly it was like playing for the first time though with a little bit of now how from the others yet it didn't prepare me for how uncanny and brutal the experience would be. I remember to start om Cordon as always all easy and straight forward as it is the "beginners" area, yet when I reached the farm and night fall upon me... that darkness and the sounds of all this unspoken horrors out there made me shiver and not want to wander out there with just pitiful flashlight that would certainly be insuficient to see shit. It took me days of careful playthrough and weeks of game time to get the lowest tier NVGs I could find to be able to move at night and even more to actually have a decent NVGs to actually be effective in the darkness. Most of the time until you become a real veteran in the game you have to avoid most confrontations relying in stealth and observation, watching the npcs going around and fighting each other to scavenge the bodies of the fallen in the hopes to just acquire something a little bit better than the crap you have equipped. Or having to be extremely careful on the contracts you get bc you don't want to deal with things like having to hunt a nocturnal predator before you get those NVGs or have the equipment to deal with said situation, believe me you don't want to do that or worst having to decline the contract after taking it so your reputation get damaged as you are an unreliable stalker. And the it is the geography of the Zone itself. I member from the original games that as you traverse The Zone towards the Chernobyl Nuclear plant and the Heart of the Zone things get serious but now with the whole map of the Zone available... man did shit gets serious. There are areas that even being right now the number 3 rank in the whole Zone I still avoid out of fear and discomfort. The Red Forest, The Radar area or the mysterious "Generators"... places that are extremely dangerous during daylight but that you certainly don't want to be at night. Every time I have to plan a journey towards the center of the zone beyond the Red Forest or Radar becomes an expedition where everything has to be planned, the distance to travel, the moment of the day, the time it will get, the resources I bring with me from the main stash in Rostock to the depots in Skadovsk or Jupiter. Anomaly is alive way more than any other game and everyone should do good into respecting The Zone or you will be lost to it.
the only thing that makes stalker special is that stalker has A Life, the Zone is the life of itself, you are just another NPC, you arent important unless if you makes yourself one, the zone goes on its own life without you, you take on quest from npc in red forest, then the other day you in agroprom to kill for his quest. the next thing you know he got ambushed by monolith and the quest failed, no matter where you go, there is always something going on in the background, enemy AI is pretty realistic, they push you while reload, you loot their buddy, they sneak behind you and thenbackstab you
Im the 1k subscriber 🎉🎉😂😂. No fkin way i looked at sub count and saw 999 and couldnt believe my eyes! Anyways, dope video and well explained. I will be sharing
Stalker the series that the moment to moment makes simple go here kill this or get this feel like a journey in itself this is true with the OGs and the mod talked about here. With the OGs the story is also interesting enough to keep you going while the moment to moment amosphere acts as the glue that keeps it together.
I played all official stalker games. And i can say compared to gamma the other games where player friendly. Gamma is player friendly like a black chimera. 💀
That was my friend PichuButAgain, he did that voiceline for me. I don't use a voice changer or filter, too much effort for a YT Channel with 1.5K subs lol
Its immersion really is next level. You think about how to go about thinks just like in real life, it doesn't feel gamey and contrived. It is a great experience, especially when high af 😅 #freedom
mod looks so good but It's HUGE and so fucking hard to install, I still don't know if I can use the mods on a cracked version of the game and the instal guide makes my small head burn by thinking to much
Go to the GAMMA discord, it's easy from there. You get the files for Anomaly and GAMMA and full instructions... it's tough in the beginning but you'll get used to it and it's worth it too.
at this point, I am enjoying GAMMA so much that I don't even care for STALKER 2. I have a bad feeling that it is going to be something like Cyberpunk on release - raw and buggy.
@@akh4n i care a lot about the studio and the devs that are making the game and i hope they finish the game and it will like they wanted it to be even during this crazy war, if you don't care at all you don't seem to me as part of the community
To me STALKER is all about story. As I understand you haven't played the originals and its a shame. Few weeks ago there was released very good SP mod "true stalker" and highly recommend it too(there other good ones: spacial anomaly and wind of time). The main problem with anomaly/gamma is its grindy mechanics and lack of interesting quests(a lot of them stolen from main games) and the rest is just MMO fetch quests. Whole crafting mechanic looks stupid to me. I played gamma till got expert tools and got bored. It also unrealistic with such high gun selection which is basically just gun porn. It is restricted zone so arm selection would be limited. Anomaly/gamma is just gimmicky game mechanics with artificial scarcity and item durability.
@@mikeity2009 If you remove the lore/world then anomaly is just shitty grind mechanics with artificial bloat. If you want real survival simulator wit working economy then play tarkov. Everyone thinking that anomaly is true stalker experience is just pure cringe.
To me, Stalker is about world setting and atmosphere - I never cared about the main quests of the 3 games (nothing terribly special imho). Anomaly and especially GAMMA gives you a great sandbox to enjoy the setting and atmosphere, and that's why it's popular. In Anomaly, the main quest is just a vague pointer to keep you going north. The grind for the gear that allows you to go north is the point, since it "forces" you to experience the zone. If enemies dropped fully working guns and armor, you could basically just walk through the zone in a day, picking up gear upgrades as you go. And yes, I agree, that would be boring.
@@mikeity2009 People don't realise what they miss out on, off cause people can play what they want, however anyone who has played through the trilogy will recommend any new comer to play through it. This is where I don't get the opinionated fans thing knowledgeable fans are only recommending the most enjoyable way to play stalker, and people who have only played gamma who have no reliable backbone to comment on the original trilogy because they never played it, are saying shit like this, deterring many potential fans by saying oh yeah the trilogy is unimportant go play Gamma, when in reality one gets much more enjoyment out of playing the original trilogy first. How can you care about the lore and story when you've never experienced it lol. And don't think I'm shitting on Gamma, it is a great modpack and has its place for sure, not as good as some story mods when it comes to story elements, but that's fine because that is not what Gamma is trying to do. go play the Trilogy then we can talk.
Currently at 59K views, thank you so much.
Just a disclaimer for those who want to follow me, I'm not just a "Stalker" RUclipsr. I mostly make content around horror and dark themes, like my About Section reads... So if you want to subscribe, take a look at my other videos first!
60K
@@josephbj623775к 😅
This is the only game that is single player but the experience feels like multiplayer
Even more to it, there is an addon that adds live stalker network chat to this game, so all players that are currently playing can chat with eachother, despite being in a singleplayer game.
Totally agree!! It feels like we're fighting players in some cases. The AI is brutal, they flank and trick you every time. You have to be careful and fight with intelligence, otherwise you're dead!
@@jumpinghunter9152 gimme that addon
there is a close representation or shall i say copy of the game called stalled craft it is free and on steam although as the name suggested it looks like minecraft good gunplay long grind tho
@@nhientran4142 that too! I pent 72hrs and I'm still on garage:(
dont expect stalker 2 to be like gamma guys
cant wait for stalker 2 gamma tho
I bet there will be a new anomaly mod at some point based of the new game
Dont expect Stalker 2
@@Снайпер_Хренов в стойло кацап
that's not a bad thing
"Emission STALKER"
"When?"
" N O W"
*starts running profusely*
I heard that message while pushing a building occupied by 8 military guys. It's a different experience when your slow pace pre planned snipping battle suddenly turned into 5 minutes of intense close quarters combat because you need to get into the building or you'll get cooked outside. The energy drink carried that fight as it allowed me to shoot the guys at the front door and circle around and enter the side entrance. The last two guys were pretty much screwed as they were stuck outside by the time I cleared the building and the emission was just 30 seconds away.
@minhducnguyen9276 I remember an Emission happening while I was in a barn fighting a couple bandits and the mfs kept attacking me 💀
One small correction, the original games didn't have much in the way of survival only two of them had a food meter and only one had sleep with none requiring water, further more food guns and most ammo was plentiful and cheep. The main focus in the mainline games was as an action shooter with a few RPG and survival elements but GAMMA is still a fantastic introduction to the world and leaves the player with a very real feeling experience.
Which one didn't have hunger, because I remember that being a part of the original 3, all 3 of them
@@taz275 It wasn't in Clear Sky but it came back in CoP.
I have only played GAMMA, I only ever plan to play GAMMA. I like it. A lot. I understand there is good things abou the originals, but for me I won't be trying them ever. I have seen gameplay and this is what I enjoy.
@@DanMProductionsBoisrip
@@DanMProductionsBois Come on, spill da beans Stalker!
I entered the zone almost seven years ago and today I am still enjoying Stalker.
Good hunting Stalker
Me too.
Slava zona. Slava bratka. Slava velikiy Monolita o7
ZA Manalit
@@ThorsDecree
😊 16:13 16:15
You can get out of the Zone but the Zone will never get out of you
Anomaly and gamma boost the immersion so much that its hard to not get hooked even after you've played the trilogy. The old games aren't really survival focused in comparison tbh.
But the trilogy is highly recommended
Don't forget efp too. Not sure why it doesn't get the same amount of love as GAMMA
Muh iMeRsSiOn.
Excuse me, immersion to what? All gun things tinkering, or garbage collector experience?
@@Markk4kk yh if anything I personally like efp more
@@Zarii37 it's OK if you don't like the difficulty, a lot of people do so just stick to vanilla or something.
one of the main reasons stalker feels different is because stalker doesnt hold your hand, both in a good and bad way, it wont teach you how to survive but it wont block you from doing things outside the norm like sneaking into a enemy base disguised so you can assassinate someone or get a stash, plus the feeling of just relaxing next to a campfire at homebase after a long long expedition is just otherworldy, it feels like you did that in real life, great video man keep it up.
Very well explained, this is also why I love games like Dark Souls. These games are unforgiving, they force you to adapt to the difficulty instead of giving into it, essentially feeding that reward system... making you feel like you worked for something. It's fascinating how much power that specific concept holds and how rewarding it is. After playing games like these when I was younger, It started a routine in my head where I started doing things in my own life to feel that same reward therefore improving my life. Thanks for the comment and thanks for watching!
@@MrEthos thats actually a great point, i always like the games that make you work for what you want instead of giving it to you off the bat which im now realizing might be a trait i picked up a long time ago
I will never forget the first time I arrived in the Red forest and walked through it. Deep dark night, pouring rain, chimeras, controllers, monolith and maximum medium level equipment. It was the worst decision in my career as a former player xD
Do you need that radiation mask for red forest? I'm finally getting some better gear and feel it's time to move forward now, not sure where to go. Still don't have advanced tools, about 3 regular tools now and tons of everything else. Ak74u and a tactical sks. And some better light armor.
You need to destroy at least the mirscle machine under lab 16. Bring a tonne of supplies, ammo meds and id recommend a good shotgun with lots of buckshot. Somr explosives too. Anything past army warehouse you need the psy headpiece and a decent gun with lots of ap. Good luck @DanMProductionsBois
@bryaneff thanks man I will do this, sounds fun. I'm guessing the AP ammo is essential then? I have been good with FMJ now but I guess if they are rocking heavy armor, I need the AP. Also where is lab 16? I know I could look it up but I like chatting with stalker players since noone I know plays it haha
@DanMProductionsBois the human enemies you face are all going to be in heavy armor or exosuits. They will tank 5-6 fmj to the face bare minimum and couple that with their high power weapons and much better aim they will fuck you up hard and quickly overwhelm you if not kill you straight out in 2 seconds. It's a bigger investment of rubles but I came to the conclusion personally that it's cheaper to spend LESS rounds and delete your enemies than try and save by using fmj and end up spending the money anyway on supplies like meds and armor repair. Lab 16 is in Yantar underneath the industrial complex there. You will need to stock UP. Before you go down there and attempt to disable the miracle machine. There's an ecologist outpost that will give you the quest in the south part of the map. But be prepared to fight tonnes of mutants of every type. Explosives, a good shotgun and an automatic equipped with a grenade launcher and lots of HP ammo reserves. Meds. Food. And everything you need for a prolonged fight. Also, don't anticipate much loot. So there's something to consider. Good luck stalker
@@bryaneff 🙏
Misery mod is where it all started
@@Wat3rCoCk It was Misery that really set the bases of what you see in the new mods, artifact containers? Misery invented them, food actually being necessary? also Misery. COP you can complete without taking a single food item on you and only eating at the bases.
i loved it so much. one of the most horrifying / immersive experiences ever.
@@tanostrelok2323Tell me you've never played a soup mod without telling me you've never played a soup mod.
Misery and Call of Chernobyl, which is as I recall, what anomaly is built off of. Still my favorite way to play, too, as I don't much care for how over the top the difficulty tends to be in anomaly and subsequent modpacks.
When I was a teenager, I modded New Vegas to be a horror survival game with roaming patrols of each faction fighting each other. I would only make money from hides from animals I hunted, and bought my weapons and ammo that way. I didn't do any quests. I just roamed around the Mojave on a modded motorcycle. Sometimes having to take shelter in the nearest shack on the side of the road to get away from the radioactive rain. I think we as men crave these harsh experiences. It's you versus the harsh and unforgiving environment. We crave to be in that situation.
Absolutely, and you can see that in everyday life. We know have places where people voluntarily go to engage in discomforting things (the gym) and people hike as a hobby nowadays... when a hundred years ago that was common in daily life.
That's also why it feels like games, movies and books that are based in an apocalyptic world/setting are so intriguing to us. The harsh environment that makes you confront death and destruction on an every day basis, in a way forces you to also enjoy the little things in life. Dark Souls is a great example, it's a harsh & unforgiving game that only provides you safety when in the presence of a bonfire... and when you see that flame from a distance, it's a sigh of relief.
Thanks for watching and I really appreciated your comment.
But why not take up hobbies irl then if you genuinely crave such things? Lol
@@dulaman"we as men crave harsh experiences" bro you installed video game mods lol
@@afgh1408 your reading comprehension is so bad
Challenge equals achievement. Most people desire the feeling of achievement.
Like how battlefield is so fun because you rank up and unlock tons of things for A LONG time. That keeps you playing. Achievement is a big part of games
I love random nature. Once, I was playing, and I spent the night in some sort of barn with other stalkers. When dawn broke I decided to climb to the roof to get a good scope around before carrying on. Upon peaking my head over the summit of the roof, a small group of nearby bandits immediately took some shots at me. As soon as this happened, about 10 stalkers came marching out of the barn and gunned them all down. Marvellous 😁
This is like the 11th "Why Stalker: Anomaly/G.A.M.M.A is the best game ever" video I've seen, and I'm still not tired of them. It is a great game. Glad a lot of other people are passionate about it too. #clearsky
😐
A few things that really stick out with stalker GAMMA. The blend between reality and sci fi like you said is sooo fucking good. It feels like it could really happen.
The horror aspects and tense moments are incredible.
The progression feels great. Finally getting an upgrade and feeling the difference in killing enemies.
And ATMOSPHERE. My gosh. The lightning storms at night are the best. Taking shelter when you get the notification for an anomaly[storm] when you are in the middle of a fight with stalkers. My gosh. What a game.
And, its FREE.
Most of that is taken from the originals though
the description is very wrong. "you can experience the best of what the series has had to offer." no, anomaly is a completely different experience than the trilogy. one of the main draws of the series is the story, which you will only get by playing the main games. stalker anomaly is a very good mod, but not a game that you should use to judge the series. if people are expecting stalker 2 to be anomaly 2, I think they will be very disappointed.
I changed the description, thanks for that. As for Anomaly, I fully understand that it's stand-alone and not official... But it is based off the OG games and is still faithful to them. Thanks for watching.
@@MrEthosAnomaly is far from faithful to the OG games. It brings in assets and mutants from Metro, and it’s story goes completely against the base games
17:31 I would disagree here. I think that STALKER is absolutely cosmic horror. The point of cosmic horror isn’t just that the bad stuff is from space, space was just the place Lovecraft found most unknown and spooky. For STALKER, the unknown is the anomalous, the noosphere, the idea of these fragments of dreams and cognition leaking into the world and twisting it. Its the same core idea of being insignificant in the face of an incomprehensible unknown force too vast for you to possibly imagine or genuinely oppose. It’s all very cosmic-horror stuff.
Yeah you're right, that was something I got wrong. I appreciate it, thanks for watching
nothing gives me the chills more than a fkn bloodsucker at night in this game... even at day... those things are the bane of my existance
I have been playing stalker since i was 6 y o, and now, i enjoy anomaly, as a survival simulator. I have made it more surv-focused, by making an addon collection, redacted and balanced by myself. It is a true zone experience, as it is mentioned in stalker lore and novels.
I'll never forget getting into Anomaly and being terrified when night came around.
I was so new to it that I didn't have a headlight and just traveled at night with nothing but I just wanted to see the world and explore it.
Took me a few weeks to actually make some progress but it never made me frustrated, I really enjoyed not knowing anything about the game if that makes sense. Everything was just new and intriguing. I barely knew about what does what and how armor and repairing works until much later on. Just an immersive experience unlike anything I've experienced before.
Then two years later I got into GAMMA and spent 200 plus hours on it and learned a lot I didn't know from my time with Anomaly.
So overall I spent about 500 hours total in Anomaly and Gamma and can say I'm kind of bored of them now.
Had my fun but now I await Stalker 2.
Might I recommend you to play the original trilogy?
I will at some point
@@MrEthos You haven't? Should have started there.
Been playing STALKER since 2008, awesome seeing such a strong fanbase, also, really well made video with so far the best naration I came across.
I really appreciate it, glad you enjoyed.
I'm pretty sure that Stalker 2 not going to have even a half of the features that Anomaly have. ( and there is hundreds of good mods on stalker, not just sandbox survival )
Even if something is missing, Stalker 2 modders will make the best mods in the history of games
в с чего вдруг будет иначе?)
разработчик делает скелет и дает инструмент, мододел наращивает мяско, причем с годами модострой даже по одной игре может менятся, или на основе модов могут запилить уже другую игру...
в мире нет студий что могут сравнится с толпой мододелов из 100500 человек, причем у них над головой нет дедлайна, начальника и обязаловки - чистое творчество )
и если Сталкер 2 станет хорошим скелетом - будет и Аномалька 2, и Гамма 2 тоже
Stalker 2 isnt anomaly tho
its not an Anomaly, its Stalker 2 - it doesn't need to be crammed with unnecessary stuff
In my country there several Stalker airsoft event, mostly lasts for a week or so, you get inside a abandoned soviet-era military base (used for solider training most of the time) and play as a stalker with all the factions and things like that. Interesting and very very immersive experience, if the event planned and done correctly. Most of the time it is!
That is some of the most geeky and fun shit i've heard all week, what's the name of the event?
I've started playing gamma 3 days ago, going completely blind into the series except for a few familiar mutants, like the flesh and the dogs.
But the thrill of discovering NEW enemies and finding out about new mechanics is unreal.
A situation I've been in it:
Today I experienced my first psy-storm and immediately as soon as the crows alerted me I thought it was an emission until I heard the sirens. My stomach dropped. And at the time I was near a "Defend Rostok" mission. So I am there hiding in a radioactive warehouse near the objective and suddently I see "Unknown enemy" on my PDA getting closer to my location. I died from radiation as I was too afraid to investigate.
The most intense experience I had was in Gamma. I ran with the mercs and Dushman gave me a task to get rid of a duty stalker in Rostok. Raiding the duty base alone at night with a terrible MP5 and being surrounded by hostiles that were bullet sponges at the bar was the most heart-racing video game experience.
the original stalker games weren't too scary but they did keep you on edge, stalker anomaly is a different experience.
before I even start the video, I want to say my personal reason why. Anomaly doesnt feel half as alive as the OG trilogy. Mutants will infight and sometimes even run away from you, I've seen blind dogs drag off and eat corpses multiple times, you run into robberies (scripted events but still) and there can be full on battles happening in front of you. Feeling like you're part of a world means having things happen AROUND you, sometimes without you even knowing or them caring you exist, Anomaly just has mutants go on sight for anything that's not a mutant.
I watched a cat climb up a ladder and murder a soldier in Agroprom in the Aurumn Aurora mod for SOC. Still gives me chills. I think Stalker 2 will satisfy both sides of the Stalker coin, Anomaly players and OG Stalkers. I have seen enough from interviews and people that played the demo to confirm this in my eyes. The devs said in an interview a while back that they play all the big mods. Like it or not, Anomaly, Misery, Gamma brought a lot of new life into Stalker and a lot of new players also. I like both. I have been been playing these games since they first came out and play Gamma also.
This dude plays in the dark. Fucking badass
jesus fucking christ we need a retrospective the production of this is clean
I absolutely LOVE and adore that you also play without HUD. no minimap and ocasionally turning health on to see the condition. its absolutely different experience. i also recommend "Artyoms Gas mask breathing sound (with 20% volume)) addon, so you can hear how exhausted your character is after running and sprinting certain distance, so you get an idea how much stamina you have left. small thing but it adds tons of immersion. trust me get it
One error I see often in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. analysis is people referring to The Zone as post-apocalyptic when it's not. The disaster is contained to The Zone entirely, the rest of the world is fine if not more advanced than in real life.
I know it just comes off as lore nerd shit but I think the fact that the world didn't collapse is super important to the actual themes of the game. The abandonment and the way GSC built the decay I think is purposefully supposed to look like neglected parts of eastern europe that crashed alongside the USSR, not apocalyptic destruction. Everything in this game is a metaphor riddled with folklore.
I love your videos, don't stop posting and have a good year
What’s up Caj
like this guy said STALKERS are just crazy motherfuckers that hope to strike it rich kinda like a gold rush but more mutants and radiation. People buy these artifacts for crazy money while Stalkers are making fractions of that so they have to continue to risk themselves and dive deeper if they dare
People who prefer to stalker as "post apocalyptic" game are definately the ones who havent played the base games. You literally find that shit out without even leaving rookie village in SOC if you pay even slightest attention.
If the Mortal Sin storyline was able to show an ending where Chernobog and his SIN cult succeeded in the forced expansion of the zone- it would absolutely be post apocalyptic, actually, the original mod authors could make a whole thing out of that, the world trying to adjust- or keep itself alive after that Super emission- which in this case wouldn't have been stopped- causes the noosphere's cracks to spread across the globe.
I've played hundreds hours in GAMMA and I'm still amazed how intimidating and depressing the sound of being exposed to psy field is
My only gripe with anomaly is the lack of a half decent storyline
Agreed, I'm a big story focus guy too
STALKER Anomaly❌
STALKER✅
Fun Fact: Roadside picnic takes place in Ontario, Canada.
all in all a solid video, but 3:09 - 3:54 was especially amazing. has to be one of my favorite gameplay montages i've seen.
Tried my best, thanks. Gonna commit to the long form content from now on, the next one is gonna go crazy I promise you that.
@@MrEthos looking forward to it!
man... when S2 comes out waiting 10 years for having S2 the same amount of mods gonna be hard
I love the original trilogy of games but I agree that Anomaly and especially GAMMA is just such a great experience. It is my comfort game. The game I go to when I do not want to play anything; the game I go to when I have been working a ton and I finally get some late night time to myself and I want to get away. I come back to it constantly because the replay value and immersion are like nothing else; all of the little flaws virtually melt away once you get hooked in.
Next thing you know; there is a psy-storm outside, you're low on food, health and ammo, and night is swiftly approaching. Your anxiety peaks and the adrenaline flows when you get ambushed and the sense of relief when you finally reach your hideout is surreal. I can never explain it to my friends, it really is something you just need to experience
The problem is, the majority of stalker players favour the modded versions and not the original 3 made by GSC. This could raise the expectations of so many players including myself on stalker 2. Anomaly was not made by GSC and most likely isn’t the vision of GSC. Those very hardcore mechanics added in the mods, may not return until more mods are made for stalker 2 by fans again. Let’s all keep an open mind!!
Of course, but players preferring something isn't a problem at all... it's just that: preference. I think that STALKER 2 will sell just fine, heck i'm buying it the day it releases. And I think most people will fully understand that Anomaly is not the same as the three mainline titles. Thanks for watching!
That’s pc players dude.
Let them mod and change the game into what they need it to be
Stalker 2 comes on console vanilla, and I can’t wait
Stalker is responsible for my brief panic whenever i hear a flock of crows fly away 😅😂
Nothing like being in the truck cemetery and hearing those crows
Man the Devs set out to make an atmospheric fps. I wonder if they ever imagined it could morph into Gamma. The devs have one thing and the community saw and loved the world and thought it could be so much more.
They set out to make an action shooter, not an atmospheric fps
as much as I wouldnt mind Stalker 2 having some stuff from anomaly etc as (optional) difficulty tweaks, I have a feeling a lot of the people who expect stalker 2 to be just like gamma/anomaly will turn out dissapoined when it ends up more simmiliar to the OG games, which I really feel like is going to be the case@@LordTrashcanRulez
@@LordTrashcanRulez Original stalker is anything but an action shooter. As someone who played it all on release, it was always atmospheric as fuck, and praised for that. Many considered the atmosphere the game had as the sole thing that carried it through all the bugs and jank.
@@anonimus370 Yeah if Stalker didn't have its atmosphere there would be no mods because this is what has drawn people to the game lol
Good Video!
You have a nice storytelling voice
S.T.A.L.K.E.R the game was build as: concepts of anomalies and artifacts (even wish granter, even if in different form) from novel, concept of Stalkers within zone and their struggles vs military from Tarkovsky's film and solid dose of soviet bleak reality hence Chernobyl used as setting,
To everybody who never played any other mod or orignal game of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. dont except Stalker 2 to be like GAMMA and dont even play the games, your disgrace in comments of saying that original games are shit compare to this mod is just showing how oblivionic you are. Stay to gamma and dont react on upcoming Stalker 2 game please.
Stalker is that one game everyone knew. Adults,child, we all talked about it, we all played it, being in first grades we were trading and borrowing discs with Stalker Call of Pripyat. In Ukraine this game is truly popular, especially now, with Stalker 2 knocking in the door
should have called it "Why STALKER Anomaly Feels Different"
Very true, but most of the stuff I talk about also applies to the rest of the STALKER series.
This is an incredible mod, granted it has it's quirks, such as the invisible barriers blocking me from exploring the map and the steep learning curve with a very shallow tutorial, yet it is an awarding experience and the ability to customize gameplay elements is very nice. While I have heard of Stalker before, I never played it until I stumbled upon this mod and the high praise for it, and from what I understand this mod takes the gameplay to a whole different level. I don't know about you but for some reason I get Operation: Flashpoint vibes while playing this game...
playing gama almost makes you wish for a nuclear winter
To be fair, I live in Finland. This is the closest I'll ever get to it..
Haha. Right. Playing GAMMA really feels like "living". Surviving, fighting, exploring.
3:10 I recognize that soundtrack anywhere. SCP Overlord. "Woods". Hell of a good soundtrack.
Always felt like the soundtrack was underrated, good to know others love it too
Best Lifesim of all time is stalker anomaly, truly feels like I am a shitty gopnick living in the zone
"Preventing radiation poisoning by downing vodka... All of it makes sense"
for a small youtuber this is an extremely well put together video. video was awesome
🙏
you got balls of steel wandering round in the dark with a glowstick, great video there is nothing like stalker
You really haven't played STALKER have you?
STALKER was really famous back in the days especially in Europe, GSC even had cooperations with AMD, Nvidia and DirectX, and they had dedicated GPUs designs.
And no, Anomaly and GAMMA are not like the original games at all
Maybe I overplayed that part, but as for my knowledge the trilogy was never AAA, but to clear, yes it was popular back in the day and still is. I got that wrong.
And saying that Anomaly isn't like the original games is puzzling to me. Even if it is a heavily modded version... It's still a STALKER experience regardless
@@MrEthos you should play the trilogy then, also the trilogy are AAA games, GSC Is a triple A company, they had a big budget from THQ (and other investors) when they developed Shadow of Chernobyl.
Anomaly and the trilogy are two completely separated experiences, even the devs said that
@@MrEthosNo, it is not a stalker but experience. Just because the AI could absolutely wreck you doesn’t mean it was a hardcore survival tactical shooter.
@@MrEthos It's really not, though. The original trilogy were not heavily focused on survival, at all. There were light elements here or there, but resources were plentiful. They were story driven narrative FPS games with light RPG and survival horror elements. They are nothing *at all* like Anomaly and Gamma, and honestly it's really, really getting frustrating to a lot of people who were around and played the original games to have to keep explaining this. RUclips has absolutely polluted the Stalker fandom with this idea that Anomaly/Gamma is "PEAK STALKER!" when it's nothing *like* Stalker. It's wearing a Stalker coat of paint over a grueling, stretched out progression survival game that makes you fight for every inch, masking itself with fanfiction-level nods to Stalker characters, names, and places.
There's nothing *wrong* with that type of game either, I enjoy Gamma when I sit down to play it, but this whole entire narrative of it being the best Stalker or peak Stalker or that Stalker 2 needs to adopt x y z elements from Anomaly/Gamma is just absolutely frustrating. The main stalker subreddit gets flooded by people constantly talking about Anomaly/Gamma, there are constant arguments that flare up over it, and it's just, well, exhausting anymore.
2 won't be anything like it, and my biggest worry is that 2 gets absolutely blasted in reviews and public perception over it *not* being like Anomaly/Gamma, when that wasn't the point of 2 at all. GSC knows their universe, they know their franchise. 2 will be like the OG trilogy, and with how utterly prevalent Anomaly/Gamma is all over RUclips now and how everyone knows Stalker by and large *from* them now, I fear 2 is doomed before it even launches, and that's a shame. That makes me sad.
TLDR: Anomaly and Gamma for what they are, are fine games. What they aren't, however, is actual Stalker. People need to stop linking the two together, because it's giving a false impression of what the future of the franchise most likely will be.
@@x570BelmontPEAK explanation bro, as much as I like Anomaly/ GAMMA, it’s not stalker, nor will it ever will be, it’s a hardcore survival milsim set in STALKER’s world, kinda like Elden Ring Nightreign, they completely overhaul the experience to form their own identity and people need to stop treating them as stalker or rather the “definitive experience” when they’re so far removed from the original games.
that was a great review !! Thanks
Dope vid mate! ✌🏻
Thanks for this review. Relaxed, informative, up to date (love the references to commercial games plus or minus many of us play), with good taste. Rare to find this stuff around .. also because the subject you touch is great but rest is thanks to you. Well done.
Also.. many games miss reviewing settings (when reivews are more technical even, such a big missing thing and philosophing on them.. something only Total Biscuit used to do).
Anyway this is another style of review. Easy goging and connecting the dots one like me would have hard time to do. Fortunately a friend told me about this game and set my mods for hyper realism and immersion...
The AI of experienced stalkers is really next level, they just destroy you
I want the hardest experience of stalker 2.
Would you recommend playing the original trilogy before playing Anomaly + Gamma or will I be fine jumping into Anomaly as my first STALKER game?
You can do either, it depends on what you want. If you want the OG story, go for the trilogy. If you want a more sandbox experience, play Anomaly + GAMMA. Both are great and don't really cancel each other out, so you can play them whenever.
If you have the time, patience, and tolerance for older games I highly suggest playing the OG games as they provide a great experience and eases you into the world's mechanics and people. Anomaly and it's subsequent modpacks are very in depth and playing them without experience is very confusing. if you can't stomach Shadow of Chernobyl's old graphics I suggest playing at least Call of Pripyat + Gunslinger, not completely authentic but still a great experience.
ive never played any original games and now have 1k+ hours in gamma alone, as long as you read dialogue and pay attention to the story it will lead you pretty far. There are some parts of the game that wont automatically put you on to the next main quest, for instance, you'll talk to a character and he'll be like "well when you're ready, come back to me." and you won't know that unless you read/memorized it (no objective or indication for this). there isn't really any in-game tutorial, but here's how i saw the game, the first whole playthrough was a tutorial, on the 2nd playthrough you know most of the game essentially and play it how you want.
I would not say it is needed, but SoC is a must.
You don't have to play them but I recommend for your first start in Anomaly picking the Loners as your faction and start in Rookie Village so you can do a short intro quest given by a stalker named Fanatic to get a good start.
survival means you have ti use items found or foraged to prolong your life. pretty simple really
Been playing stalker since it came out and its still one of the best games out there that give you that feeling... It was until i played DayZ that i really felt that again in a different not scary but adrenaline pumping kind of way. Great video.
Brilliant video, mate!! Subbed and looking forward to more long form videos!! Consider myself a bit of a Stalker veteran, having started playing them when I was fairly young and I think Anomaly and Gamma are different, but still excellent, ways to experience the Zone. Absolutely check out the original games, they're much more action focused, with only hunger needing to be maintained and ammo/working guns being more common, but they're still incredible
This was an amazing video. 10/10
I appreciate it!
whether its the small map of pripyat or the more hated game clear sky or even the OG shadow of chernobly maybe anomaly no matter what its a vibe
Stalker always is this series i could only describe as "Leave and Come Back Later" I always uninstall and after a couple of weeks I come back as a fresh new rookie in the rookie village
I can't really describe it perfectly but thats how i view stalker anomaly
Бро, шикарное видео, попалось мне в рекомендации. Надеюсь, ты поиграешь в оригинальную трилогию и сделаешь об этом видео, буду ждать этого)
Better in some ways, worse in too many lol. A lot of the new gen mods can be summed up as "your gun breaks every 50 shots, the game." Another big problem is you can only put so much paint on a pig. The old school UI just really isnt compatible with heavy survival mechanics. And back to guns constantly breaking, a lot of elements aimed at realism and immersion end up doing the opposite. Needing constant weapon repair kits which is just silly to begin with. You clean them and you lube them. If they were this unreliable wed still be fighting with bludgeons and pikes once all the guns broke.
I mostly agree, it feels tedious and unrealistic for a game that's trying to replicate realism in some ways. I'm not sure if there is a mod to fix that, I hope there is but well put.
@@MrEthosв Гаммі у самому моді, в налаштуваннях - це все можна змінити 😅
For new players I'd recommend basic Anomaly and installing addons through Mod Organizer 2, basically modding a mod and creating your own mod pack as you play. Also check out other mod packs, not just GAMMA. If you're interested in story and lore then check out the original trilogy.
Gamma's absolute dog poo poo though, take two steps out of town and your hit by an anomaly, your gun breaks and your sleepy.
When you play STALKER, you actually feel like another NPC in the zone. You feel like you can relate to the characters you meet and kill. It makes makes the immersion 10x better when you feel like you just murdered a small group of men, just like you for 200-300 rubles. Heavily helped by the immersive noises made as they gasp for air choking on their own blood as they create a small puddle of red. All because you can die just as quick and painfully as everyone else in the zone.
I love that some of them carry junk items as mementos. A harmonica, some old boots, a picture of home or a loved one. They may be basically useless but it adds so much when you kill a bandit and he has a picture of home, makes you think, "What drove this man to become a bandit?". Pure greed, desperation? Maybe he just had a friend who brought him to The Zone, and taught him that banditry was the way of life, and now he's so despised by most factions, so down in the filth and radiation that no one else will have him? What made you this way, Zhorka Bling-Bling?
@@YourPalKindred Murdering a loner and selling his diary for 10 roubles. Thanks Николай Дрозку. You will not be remembered.
Interesting review!
If anybody want to get the absolute maximum experience from the stalker anomaly, i highly recommend playing it in permadeath mode. While it can look hard and annoying from outside, it's THE stalker experience once you get a hang on the game. I can't describe how immersive and intense it feels to just walk on the game's locations, knowing that anything can kill you if you're not careful, it's an experience almost no other game can give you. Permadeath Anomaly teaches you to actually use your brain in all engagements, it teaches you that running away is not only not bad or cowardly but is actually the vest way to survive, it teaches you to very carefully manage the risks, and in general makes you value your life in game so much more. I tried that once and i can't play stalker in not permadeath mode at all since that moment. If you didn't try yet - try it, it's something that's worth experiencing in game, i do believe thst this is how stalker games actually should have been played all along, it just feels right.
Edit: i forgot go mention one crucial thing. The fear that you experience in stalker in genetal, and especially in permadeath playthrough - it's not tge fear of something supernatural, something that you don't know anything about, or what will it can do to you. You know exactly what zone's spawns will do to you, you fear sonething like a mutant in the same way as ebeny stalkers (at least tgey are far closer to each other than you could imagine). Tge fear you experience is tye fear for your life, it makes the game much more humane and more relatable than sometjing like Alien or Outlast horror games, it makes it more real, despite still being cleaely fictional.
Great video. ❤
3:58 what a good choice of background music 😍.. Cold War..
what not playing main games and proper mods does to mf
Wym “proper mods”? It’s a game. People can mod it however they want
You should also try EFP (Escape From Prypiat) and the mew modpack "True Stalker"
So many people ignore EFP because of the sheer hype around Gamma
What is EFP if you don't mind explaining?
@casbinwat Escape From Pripyat (Escape from Tarkov vibes),more focused on shooting than survival (GAMMA vibes),and colors in EFP are warmer,more vibrant
@@mapetshow2016 thank you
17:58 He was a good stalker!!
Stalker is funny phenomenon. Its a series of games based on book, and there was also a movie... and this game series inspire fans to make their own game(bc there cant wait for next game) called survarium, and based on concept of survarium(that never come to be) people WROTE BUNCH OF BOOKS. Real books, not fanfics.
is that gunslinger or arsenal overhaul when you showed COP
I'm not sure, all gameplay is from base GAMMA.
@@MrEthos ooooh my fault gang
STALKER also known as Heart Attack Simulator. 👌
I can’t believe how similar of a video I made to this without even knowing XD
i can imagine stalker 2 flopping like kerbal space program 2 xD ppl will expect a lot and will be delivered something like a metro
I think it'll do well, as long as the release isn't filled with bugs and glitches.
dang which reshade preset is that?? it looks so good
this game has a way to toil with your mind one of the few that like old games make you have to think and plan very well before even attempting anything.
I played the original 3 games and loved them but when I grab Anomaly it was like playing for the first time though with a little bit of now how from the others yet it didn't prepare me for how uncanny and brutal the experience would be. I remember to start om Cordon as always all easy and straight forward as it is the "beginners" area, yet when I reached the farm and night fall upon me... that darkness and the sounds of all this unspoken horrors out there made me shiver and not want to wander out there with just pitiful flashlight that would certainly be insuficient to see shit. It took me days of careful playthrough and weeks of game time to get the lowest tier NVGs I could find to be able to move at night and even more to actually have a decent NVGs to actually be effective in the darkness.
Most of the time until you become a real veteran in the game you have to avoid most confrontations relying in stealth and observation, watching the npcs going around and fighting each other to scavenge the bodies of the fallen in the hopes to just acquire something a little bit better than the crap you have equipped. Or having to be extremely careful on the contracts you get bc you don't want to deal with things like having to hunt a nocturnal predator before you get those NVGs or have the equipment to deal with said situation, believe me you don't want to do that or worst having to decline the contract after taking it so your reputation get damaged as you are an unreliable stalker.
And the it is the geography of the Zone itself. I member from the original games that as you traverse The Zone towards the Chernobyl Nuclear plant and the Heart of the Zone things get serious but now with the whole map of the Zone available... man did shit gets serious. There are areas that even being right now the number 3 rank in the whole Zone I still avoid out of fear and discomfort. The Red Forest, The Radar area or the mysterious "Generators"... places that are extremely dangerous during daylight but that you certainly don't want to be at night. Every time I have to plan a journey towards the center of the zone beyond the Red Forest or Radar becomes an expedition where everything has to be planned, the distance to travel, the moment of the day, the time it will get, the resources I bring with me from the main stash in Rostock to the depots in Skadovsk or Jupiter. Anomaly is alive way more than any other game and everyone should do good into respecting The Zone or you will be lost to it.
the only thing that makes stalker special is that stalker has A Life, the Zone is the life of itself, you are just another NPC, you arent important unless if you makes yourself one, the zone goes on its own life without you, you take on quest from npc in red forest, then the other day you in agroprom to kill for his quest. the next thing you know he got ambushed by monolith and the quest failed, no matter where you go, there is always something going on in the background, enemy AI is pretty realistic, they push you while reload, you loot their buddy, they sneak behind you and thenbackstab you
Im the 1k subscriber 🎉🎉😂😂. No fkin way i looked at sub count and saw 999 and couldnt believe my eyes! Anyways, dope video and well explained. I will be sharing
When I hit 10K I'll remember you. Pinky promise.
agreed
it is a small game with the great gameplay
Stalker the series that the moment to moment makes simple go here kill this or get this feel like a journey in itself this is true with the OGs and the mod talked about here. With the OGs the story is also interesting enough to keep you going while the moment to moment amosphere acts as the glue that keeps it together.
I played all official stalker games. And i can say compared to gamma the other games where player friendly. Gamma is player friendly like a black chimera. 💀
😅
Did you forget to turn on your voice filter @7:20? lol
That was my friend PichuButAgain, he did that voiceline for me. I don't use a voice changer or filter, too much effort for a YT Channel with 1.5K subs lol
damn my voice sound that bitch made i see how it is 🥲(In my defense my voice is more for jokes than serious tones but gotta help the brotha)
@@MrEthosHaha, that'd have been funny.
Its immersion really is next level. You think about how to go about thinks just like in real life, it doesn't feel gamey and contrived. It is a great experience, especially when high af 😅 #freedom
What UI do you use man? The all white BHS, white minimalistic icons and round minimap on low right corner?
I'm pretty sure it's just the standard one from gamma, although for most of my sessions I turn off most of the UI
I was in dis video 🥴
Is there a mod for Anomaly that adds in uniqe wepons?
There are, personally I only have the ones that come with GAMMA, but there's a lot of them
anomaly has unique weapon in the base version, they can just only be bought from nimble
mod looks so good but It's HUGE and so fucking hard to install, I still don't know if I can use the mods on a cracked version of the game and the instal guide makes my small head burn by thinking to much
Go to the GAMMA discord, it's easy from there. You get the files for Anomaly and GAMMA and full instructions... it's tough in the beginning but you'll get used to it and it's worth it too.
I suggest you play some of the alpha based mods, OGSR, lost alpha, oblivion lost remake, etc
love this game so much really hope stalker 2 is good
at this point, I am enjoying GAMMA so much that I don't even care for STALKER 2. I have a bad feeling that it is going to be something like Cyberpunk on release - raw and buggy.
@@akh4n i care a lot about the studio and the devs that are making the game and i hope they finish the game and it will like they wanted it to be even during this crazy war, if you don't care at all you don't seem to me as part of the community
@@akh4nCyberpunk is still one of the most played singleplayer games on steam, so it won't be all that bad if stalker 2 turns out like it
@@akh4n That how Stalker always been
@@akh4nThe Stalker games have always been buggy and messy but in an endearing way
Call me crazy, but I’m still partial to Anomaly over Gamma.
How come? Only asking because I'm trying to understand more of the game itself. Don't know too much.
To me STALKER is all about story. As I understand you haven't played the originals and its a shame. Few weeks ago there was released very good SP mod "true stalker" and highly recommend it too(there other good ones: spacial anomaly and wind of time). The main problem with anomaly/gamma is its grindy mechanics and lack of interesting quests(a lot of them stolen from main games) and the rest is just MMO fetch quests. Whole crafting mechanic looks stupid to me. I played gamma till got expert tools and got bored. It also unrealistic with such high gun selection which is basically just gun porn. It is restricted zone so arm selection would be limited. Anomaly/gamma is just gimmicky game mechanics with artificial scarcity and item durability.
Not everyone cares about lore and story my guy.
You opinionated fans honestly need to shut up.
true stalker is refreshing. anomaly is cool and looks pretty but gets dry pretty quick once you're doing your 20th fetch quest
@@mikeity2009 If you remove the lore/world then anomaly is just shitty grind mechanics with artificial bloat. If you want real survival simulator wit working economy then play tarkov. Everyone thinking that anomaly is true stalker experience is just pure cringe.
To me, Stalker is about world setting and atmosphere - I never cared about the main quests of the 3 games (nothing terribly special imho). Anomaly and especially GAMMA gives you a great sandbox to enjoy the setting and atmosphere, and that's why it's popular.
In Anomaly, the main quest is just a vague pointer to keep you going north. The grind for the gear that allows you to go north is the point, since it "forces" you to experience the zone. If enemies dropped fully working guns and armor, you could basically just walk through the zone in a day, picking up gear upgrades as you go. And yes, I agree, that would be boring.
@@mikeity2009 People don't realise what they miss out on,
off cause people can play what they want,
however anyone who has played through the trilogy will recommend any new comer to play through it.
This is where I don't get the opinionated fans thing knowledgeable fans are only recommending the most enjoyable way to play stalker,
and people who have only played gamma who have no reliable backbone to comment on the original trilogy because they never played it, are saying shit like this, deterring many potential fans by saying oh yeah the trilogy is unimportant go play Gamma,
when in reality one gets much more enjoyment out of playing the original trilogy first.
How can you care about the lore and story when you've never experienced it lol.
And don't think I'm shitting on Gamma, it is a great modpack and has its place for sure, not as good as some story mods when it comes to story elements,
but that's fine because that is not what Gamma is trying to do.
go play the Trilogy then we can talk.