S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Legends of the Zone Trilogy paints a vivid picture of the eerie aftermath of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power plant explosion, widely regarded as the greatest man-made disaster in history. Located in northern Ukraine, this catastrophic event serves as a sobering reminder of the devastating consequences of human error and negligence.
The disaster led to radiation pouring out of the destroyed power plant and engulfing the surrounding areas. It led to the mass evacuation of the nearby city of Pripyat and the creation of the Chernobyl exclusion zone. To this day, even with the ruins of the power plant entombed in a sarcophagus of steel and concrete, radiation still looms within the exclusion zone.
The disaster occurred in 1986 and it is said that it will take 20,000 years for the area to become habitable again. So for now the exclusion zone remains an area trapped in time, with nature retaking the urban structures of humanity. It is both an eerie place and also a place of wonder.
So it comes as no surprise that it attracts tourists who are ready to both put their health and lives on the line by entering the zone illegally to venture into the world that time forgot. These people are more commonly known in Ukraine as Stalkers.
With an event like this leaving an entire 2,600km2 zone of earth uninhabitable due to radiation, it comes as no surprise that it has caught the eye of science fiction to base stories on the zone and delve into the more ‘out there’ conspiracy theories and make them fiction.
Enter the ‘S.T.A.L.K.E.R.’ series and the latest release S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Legends of the Zone Trilogy. A franchise based on the Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine made by a Ukrainian developer ‘GSC Game World. You can’t get more authentic than that.
The series is an alternate history take on the disaster. The crux of it is the same as our history to ground it in reality, however, things divert drastically from the real state of affairs with the zone littered with mutated monsters, rare and paranormal artefacts, radiological anomalies and the big one that is the emissions.
It is a series that has one of the best post-apocalyptic lores out there. Yes, there is the ‘Fallout’ series which in itself has a truly outstanding lore but the ‘S.T.A.L.K.E.R.’ series is grounded in actual historical events which hold so much mystery to them, and that’s what makes it so interesting.
Now the ‘S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Legends of the Zone Trilogy’ brings all 3 games to the console for the first time as the originals were PC classics. And to start off, all 3 games run fantastic on the Xbox Series X. Yes the games look a little dated with the graphics not matching today’s standards, but there is a certain feel to them that just feels right. With the textures in this port being so crisp, it just looks and feels like the games of my youth and I had an absolute blast playing all 3 games because of this.
I’ve said it before, but video games now often feel over-saturated, too large and too overly complicated at times. The thing I love about these ‘S.T.A.L.K.E.R.’ games is that they do not overcomplicate things to the point of unenjoyment. They have side quests and the main objectives, but it feels relaxing to just kick back and explore the zone in between objectives. What I’m trying to say is that even though these play like the games over 15 years ago and not like the standard games we are now used to, they are fun as hell and arguably more enjoyable.
With S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Legends of the Zone Trilogy, you get ‘S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl’ (2007), ‘Clear Sky’ (2008) and ‘Call of Pripyat’ (2009). Now if you are new to the series I would suggest playing them in release order. However, if you are a returning player or if you have completed all 3 and want to go through them again I would suggest playing ‘Clear Sky’ first, then ‘Shadow of Chernobyl’ and then finally ‘Call of Pripyat’. That’s because ‘Clear Sky’ is set a year before ‘Shadow of Chernobyl’ and ‘Call of Pripyat’ follows on shortly after one of the endings of Shadow.
A brief breakdown of the 3 stories is S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Legends of the Zone Trilogy
‘Shadow of Chernobyl’ puts you in the shoes of the Marked One. We see an opening cutscene of the Marked one driving a truck full of dead bodies. He is fleeing from something until the truck is struck by an unexplained anomaly. The unknown man is saved by a Stalker and brought back to a man called Sidorovich. He finds a tattoo of the word Stalker on the unknown man’s arm. He then refers to you (the unknown man) as Marked one. You have no memory of before the crash, only your PDA with the message ‘Kill Strelok’ on it. Your main quest is then to hunt down and find Strelok.
‘Clear Sky’ opens with the character Scar leading a team of scientists through the swamps when a massive emission hits killing all the scientists but somehow leaving Scar alive. You wake up in a base run by the faction called Clear Sky. You learn that Scar reacts differently to the emissions than the normal person. These are a massive release of radioactive and psychic energy emanating from the center of the Zone.
For a normal person it cooks their brain killing them instantly. For Scar, the same process is happening to him, but on a much slower scale. However he learns he isn’t immune and can only survive another few more emissions before death catches up to him. So it is in both his and Clear Skies best interests that he finds out what is causing these emissions and stops it.
‘Call of Pripyat’ is set after the events of ‘Shadow of Chernobyl’ where Strelok turns off the brain scorcher device allowing entry to the center of the zone for the first time. You play as Ukrainian Security agent and experienced Stalker Major Alexander Degtyarev. He is sent into the zone after the governments ‘Operation Fairway’ (air recon for full scale assault on the Chernobyl power plant) ends in disaster with all 5 STINGRAY helicopters crashing.
It is Alexander’s job to investigate all 5 crash sites (on behalf of the Ukrainian army) and find out what happend. This leads him to finding the Black Box of STINGRAY 1 which sets him on the path to enter the abandoned city of Pripyat.
Right off the bat all 3 stories are compelling and interesting in their own way. All 3 are essentially the player following a trail of breadcrumbs to find a mystery within the zone, but they are all told differently as not to be repetitive. Now I will say that ‘Clear Sky’ is often regarded as the weaker entry in the series due to its story having a bit of a lackluster ending, however I did find that out of the 3 (and due the gameplay) ‘Shadow of Chernobyl’ was the least enjoyable. But that is my opinion.
Which leads me to the gameplay of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Legends of the Zone Trilogy.
To describe all 3 I would say they are an immersive survival, first person shooter with role playing elements. During your time in the zone you’ll need to manage how much you carry, your ammunition, radiation exposure and meds to deal with that, bandages to stem bleeding and food to stop hunger.
Out of the 3 ‘Shadow of Chernobyl’ feels the most dated with the gameplay and the combat being more of a game of ‘did I get it?’ every time you shoot an enemy praying that at least one of the dozens of bullets you’ve fired towards them hits and kills them.
This does get fixed however in ‘Call of Pripyat’ with the developers adding tracers to your bullets making it easier to determine where your shots go and if they are hitting your enemies.
‘Clear Sky’ introduces factions into the mix letting you defend Clear Sky territory and taking more territory from its rival factions. The basis of this is that with the more frequent emissions (which we learn is the zone pushing back due to Strelok trying to enter the center) it has sent all the factions in the zone into chaos with them pretty much going to all out war with each other. It’s a good feature in one way that you feel like you are contributing to Clear Sky and it makes you feel part of the team, but on the other hand it can feel distracting at times from the main plot.
Also to go on a tangent while on the topic of ‘Clear Sky’, why get rid of the iron sights for side arms only to bring it back in the next game? It doesn’t make sense.
Overall the gameplay of all 3 games in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Legends of the Zone Trilogy are fun, unique and extremely immersive. ‘Call of Pripyat’ wins it for me though with the inclusion of random emissions which will have you frantically running to find shelter to save you from your brain being turned to goo.
The only downside of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Legends of the Zone Trilogy is the navigation. All 3 include a mini map and a large map for you to navigate around. However with the absence of markers and fast travel you will be finding yourself relying on checking the large map to make sure you are going in the right direction as you make the timely trip between locations. It becomes a bit of a chore, however you do feel more immersed in a way as there is no fast travel in real life. But the inclusion of map makers/waypoints would have made things much easier.
Now overall I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Legends of the Zone Trilogy. Yes, there were some low moments like the gameplay taking away from my enjoyment and not enough voice acting as I would have liked causing me to actually use my eyes and read, but this does not outweigh the pros of this series in the slightest. If you are a new player and are a fan of the ‘Metro’ series then you will love these games.
Even if you played these games in the past, you will love returning to the zone and reliving the experience that is (in my opinion) unique to any other gaming world out there. And with ‘S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl’ coming out later this year, now is the perfect time to get invested in this series and buy yourself a copy of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Legends of the Zone Trilogy
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Legends of the Zone Trilogy Launch Trailer
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Legends of the Zone Trilogy is out now and available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X & S and Playstation 4.
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