Re: STALKER 2 is out

On Wed, 20 Nov 2024 17:23:51 -0500, Spalls Hurgenson
<spallshurgenson@gmail.com> wrote:

It happened. It really happened. STALKER 2 finally released. More
unexpected things have happened this year, but not more welcome.

Good job, devs. Apparently the game has sold over a million copies in
two days on Steam alone.  Although it isn't clear whether or not that
number includes pre-purchases, it's still an impressive milestone.

I don't think the STALKER games are as awesome as some make them out
to be, but they are the quintessential example of a "PC Game" and I
think a lot of the hype and excitement is because of that. Of course,
I think that particular differentiation is a lot less important these
days; it's not like the early 2000s when there was a noticable
seperation in design theory for PC and console FPS games. In fact, if
anything it's probably the 'console FPS' which is the rarer commodity
these days. But the STALKER games were almost uncompromising in their
ruthless difficulty curve and lack of fucks given to people with
lesser hardware, and I think there's still an appreciation --at least
amongst some gamers-- for that sort of game.

Not to mention, you know, that whole Ukraine thing. I think that
resonates with a lot of players too.

And the games --well, at least the original; I can't comment on this
newest sequel-- aren't bad games either. A lot of the excitement is,
sure, just because people want _more_ STALKER; a return to the
Chornobyl Exclusion Zone to face off against mutants and raiders and
emission storms. Just because I don't think the games are deserving of
ALL the hype doesn't mean I don't think they're worthy of SOME of the
hype.

Nonetheless, even if the fast sales of STALKER 2 aren't entirely due
to the games themselves but more due to the meta surrounding them, I'm
still happy for the developers that they're getting this sort of
success. Who knows, if it keeps up we may even see a STALKER 3... in
2041. ;-)