While STALKER is one of my favourite games of all times, making me literally a STALKER nerd knowing EVERYTHING about the zone, I still feel that all three Stalker games are missing something.
Although most people still prefer SoC because of its atmosphere, gameplay-wise CoP was the best game so far. First of all the bigger maps sometimes created the feeling of an open world without level boundaries, but of course they were still too small. You could run from one end to the other within a minute or two. But what I especially liked in CoP compared to the other games was that they didn't plaster the map with enemies, at least not when you start the game. I really did enjoy those parts where you didn't meet ANY enemies, like finding the radio parts in the cement factory, searching the gas can on the bridge or exploring the Jupiter station (yeah, those few dogs and the single pseudodog don't really count). That's how stalker should feel like.
I would have liked a single map, better a-life, a dynamic zone, not-annoying faction wars and diplomacy between them, and perhaps even a few RPG elements. I would have loved more survival elements, like real need for eating and especially drinking, because if I am not completely wrong water attracts radiation magically, and it's difficult to keep it decontaminated. I would like a simulation for the need of cigarettes, vodka or even drugs, a system for hunting mutants and even a real food chain and daily routines for mutants, and as we are at it, for Stalkers, too. Like hunting, sleeping, resting, scavenging, wandering to new grounds or trading.
All those things would have made Stalker really special in terms of gameplay. But as it is now, it's a rather simple shooter (you can't even lean to the sides or go prone) in a setting which is that remarkable, that it turns the game to something special.
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On another note:
There is one mod out there, which is called the "Soljanka". It's a German only mod for SoC, which is an improvement of the AMK mod. The general idea is to make the game super hard. And boy, it does make it super hard. If you don't download an optional submod, all anomalies are literally invisible, forcing you to throw bolts all the time! NPCs behave like the player, which means they plunder corpses and stashes, and they even mine them, and you have no possibility to disarm it, either take the hit or don't plunder. You can disable the mined corpses with the submod though. The fact that the Stalkers have a chance of plundering nearby stashes means that you are forced to place your stashes somewhere in the wild, instead of in the Bar. And you are forced to regularly create backup savegames, because it happens regularly that you come back and your stash is emptied. You can place some kind of sensor, warning you that your stash was emptied and marking the NPC for you, but usually a good part of your stuff is sold before you can find the thief.
A lot of new mechanics have been implemented, of which repairing is the most needed one, but you also have "artifact cooking" with the help of anomalies, a new trade system which relies less on money and much more on bartering. New mutants are introduced, new level transitions, new NPCs and traders, the new Hunters and Headhunters factions, and a shitload of weapons.
The modder is currently working on a new version which contains all Stalker maps ever released (including those from older builds like the village or the old brain scorcher), shitloads of new mutants, magazine reloading, etc.
Sorry for watering your mouth, but I wanted to share this at least with the German members of this community.
You can see some of the new features here:
Magazine reloading system:
Spider mutants in the underground:
Dead City 2.0
The thing from the swamps
New mutants
