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New S.T.A.L.K.E.R game announced

Published on 1st May 2009 by Joe Martin

Our guarantee: The new S.T.A.L.K.E.R game will have lots of hoods, scowls and full stops.

GSC Game World has today announced a new game in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R, called S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Call of Pripyat - though that is only a working title at the moment, according to the developer.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Call of Pripyat will be the third game in the on-going series of survival horror games set in the area around Pripyat and Chernobyl and is set for release in Autumn this year on the PC.

Once more jumping around in the fictional timeline, S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Call of Pripyat will be a sequel to the original game and will tell the story of Operation: Fairway - an attempt by the government to take control of The Zone after the discovery of an open path leading to the centre of the anomaly.

If that all sounds like gibberish to you though, then we recommend you take a look at one of the two previous games, [S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl or S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Clear Sky. The full storyline is too complicated for us to easily relate, thanks mainly to the poor translation and quest glitches that have become unfortunately characteristic of the series.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Call of Pripyat looks to be making the best of both previous games, merging elements from both Shadow of Chernobyl and Clear Sky, as well as adding a new interface, sleep function, monsters and quests. There'll apparently also be an option to continue playing after the story is complete.

We took a look at the last game shortly after it was released, but were disappointed to find that Clear Sky was very prone to bugs in our initial review. The good news is that it seemed an awful lot better off when we returned to the game with the aid of a few patches - so we suggest you check out both reviews if you want to get the full picture on the game.

Worried that the new game will be just as buggy and unstable, or are you prepared to cope with the issues? Let us know your thoughts in the forums.

23 Comments

Discuss in the forums Reply

Bindibadgi 1st May 2009, 11:53

Hopefully this one will be better than the prequel. Sign me up.

Quote:

Our guarantee: The new S.T.A.L.K.E.R game will have lots of hoods, scowls and full stops.

You missed "bugs".

Cupboard 1st May 2009, 12:38

Yay! My favorite game recently.

It is good to hear that you can carry on playing after completing it, that was a bit of an issue with the previous ones.

I can't wait :D

Vode 1st May 2009, 13:23

They may be buggy, but the game play (when it's working) is excellent, and to me at least worth fighting through the initial bugs for.

I've heard that Clear Sky runs much better these days though.

Skiddywinks 1st May 2009, 13:25

Oh God, please don't be as buggy as the others. Pleases. I just couldn't keep playing after putting up with them for so long.

WildThing 1st May 2009, 13:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vode
They may be buggy, but the game play (when it's working) is excellent, and to me at least worth fighting through the initial bugs for.

I've heard that Clear Sky runs much better these days though.

Yeah, I waited to play it until I heard things had been mostly patched up, and I hardly had any problems, maybe it crashed about 3 times and that was it.

Really looking forward to this!

Bauul 1st May 2009, 14:05

The bugs are almost part of the charm. The Zone is broken, alien and hostile, just like the game itself. :)

Looking forward to this. I never played the second as my old 7900 probably couldn't do it justice, but I'll be picking it up (bug free!) when I get my new card. Absolutely adored the first one, most atmospheric game I've played in years.

Lepermessiah 1st May 2009, 14:20

I'll take a new Stalker game, bugs and all, over almost anything else that is out there today, dumbed down and for the masses. Perhaps my favourite series around,, there is just something different, mysterious, alluring about Stalker, it being a more hardcore PC also helps :).

Bindibadgi 1st May 2009, 14:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bauul
The bugs are almost part of the charm. The Zone is broken, alien and hostile, just like the game itself. :)

Yes, crashing to desktop is a charm.

Volund 1st May 2009, 15:01

I never really ended up finishing shadow of chernobyl, but I always loved the concept of the game.

HyLite 1st May 2009, 18:58

I'll probably pre-order it and pay whatever premium I have to. I rank the series right up there with the single 'Deus Ex' bugs and all. Ability to play after game ends is pure mana. They must have hired Lucian and I'll bet his new wife thrilled.

Evildead666 1st May 2009, 20:07

Sweeeeeet.

I always went back to a save game once i saw i went past the point of no return...great that i'll be able to continue playing

Matticus 2nd May 2009, 00:50

I think that they keep making and people keep buying stalker games considering their masses of bugs is testament to just how great they are.

If games with this much atmosphere and playability are coming from a small Ukrainian developer then there is hope for us all(pc gamers) yet.

I just hope they don't release it in Autumn, I hope they wait till the end of the year or the start of 2010 and make it as stable as it can be.

Evildead666 3rd May 2009, 12:18

They shouldn't need all that time.
Most of the maps will be the same, and so will a lot of the textures, just updated.

They took lots and lots of photos of the area, and they are making good use of it ;)
I enjoy the trading and upgrading as much as the actual storyline....

I'm still looking to get an exo-skeleton in clear sky, some of the plot lines stalled, and I never got one....have joined one of the bands finally, did all the game up to point of no return without joining any band, except the first on at the very beginning....
And it looks great in Win7 with dx10.1 patch ;)

MiNiMaL_FuSS 4th May 2009, 15:08

loved stalker, never tried clearsky due to the bugs....should i go back and play it now?

D-Cyph3r 4th May 2009, 15:37

Stalker was the best game of that year. Period.

Yes it was buggy, yes it didn't make sense alot of the time, yes the whole PDA thing was cumbersome but nothing came close to relaying a sense of desolation, struggle and horror like Stalker did (for me, at least).

I haven't got around to playing Clear Sky yet, but it's on my list.

Evildead666 4th May 2009, 16:19

Yeah, Clear Sky has had a lot of bugs fixed.....
i'm still on my first save games; and there are two mission I can't actually finish.....but what the hell, I have everything except the bloody exo.....

I could go into the files and add it to the traders lists, so everyone would sell them, but its too much hassle with the steam version....

I also agree D-Cyph3r, it is a very atmoshperical game, and has some good darkness usage. Its really really dark......
The lonliness was just great, a wonderful game...eagerly awaiting the next installment ;)

Lepermessiah 4th May 2009, 18:59

It is very playable now, get it if you like anything stalker, it is a lot better then the reviews state, the new upgrade system is outstanding, the only issue with it is the linear part near the end loses some of that Stalker feel.

Cannot wait for the new Stalker game myself. My most wanted game this year.

Neogumbercules 5th May 2009, 04:41

I'm a big STALKER fan so I'll be picking this up. My copy of CS came with two instruction manuals. One was printed backwards and mirrored haha. It came with an extra CD-Key. Two games for the price of one!

Slizza 5th May 2009, 06:48

STALKER games rate amoung the best i have ever played, had to replay both games after gamebreaking bugs or silly patch that requires you to start from the begining again but enjoyed every second of them.

Can't wait for this.

gavomatic57 5th May 2009, 07:58

Can't wait. I've recently started playing Clear Sky after a few months away from it and it really is excellent. It's one series of games I wish they'd make a film out of. It may tread on the toes of the "Stalker" movie and "A roadside picnic", but needs must!

drlecter 5th May 2009, 21:48

If these guys invested more time/money in quality assurance, they would make so much more money

bananawild 9th May 2009, 00:18

I've played both Stalker games and found them both to be brilliant. Both games were started on the day of their release and I experienced no bugs or glitches, although I do spend time prior to starting each game setting up my system to suit that particular game.
Shadow of Chernobyl I played right up until the final assault on the plant, at which point my computer (Alienware ALX) packed in yet again (sorry if that bit belongs in another thread), so it was ditched and I started from the beginning again on my new system (Scan White Cobra) which I then played through to the end, and then replayed the final assault over and over to experience all the possible endings.
Clear Sky I played right to the end and again it was faultless except for one little plot glitch at the very end, which a reload of a save resolved.
These games are so good I will buy the new game as soon as it is available for pre-order.
So to recap, buy the game, spend a while setting up your computer, set the game to the hardest available setting and play.

gavomatic57 10th May 2009, 08:46

They really are fantastic games, so full of atmosphere. I've said this before, but I'd love a Stalker MMO - I'd quite happily pay a monthly subscription for that. A game where you can sign up to a faction, engage in faction wars against other human players, collect artifacts and sell them etc...