I'd like to start off by saying that this game will be one of the most memorable experiences I've ever had. The words "unique" and "brilliant" do not do this game justice.
 
After several years of attempting to access and enjoy this game, I managed to beat it in two weeks (21 hours total), which ended last night.
And I really felt the need to discuss this game. It's a confusing title that I seriously do not know the purpose of. I mean, You start off as the amnesiac guy who's only purpose is to kill Strelok, you work for these STALKERS whose boss is the trader, you do some side quests that show you the beauty of the world of Stalker and the amazing, amazing award-worthy atmosphere and environment. Then shit gets real and you work with these STALKER people towards breaching the zone to the north by going into a series of FUCKED UP underground factories and labs, encountering the most shiver invoking mutated creatures ever seen and acquiring the different samples and documents to help the trader and the barkeep to breach the zone. 
 
And then, all of a sudden, 

I don't have a relationships with stalkers, they have a relationship with me.

Stalker's atmosphere is amazing. The all-encompassing eeriness, the oppressive drabness, and the tangible-yet-subtle loneliness -- it's all enough to make an environment all the more fun and painful to explore... For hours and hours. Good hunting, stalker.

Started playing it, got confused and overwhelmed, stopped playing it D:

Loved it, never had the urge to finish it tho, but I will someday.

my relationship with STALKER is a dusty old DVD case sat on a shelf that i've not touched in over 2 years, after trying to get into it 2 or 3 times and just getting bored and annoyed.

I bought it on sale despite knowing my I wouldn't be able to play it on my current PC.
 
But at least I can say I own it.

you never should have gone to the wish granter, that was the bad ending!

stalker is amazing, call of pripyat is my favorite though.

once my bitch, if that's what you're asking.

It is a fantastic game. Once I got into the atmosphere and learned how the game worked, it was easy to get so damned lost in it. And you never knew just how weird it was going to turn, extremely atmospheric game with.. as it was patched, well conceived graphics, gameplay and genre mechanics. Even Some of the trees blew my mind, they looked so realistic in a remnants of mature growth forest, others were planted along roadways grafted at their base, and now grown to huge girth. Just amazing to see that kind of detail. I've had Call of Pripyat on steam installed for a good year. I keep trying to get to it. Or I may go back to Chernobyl, but Pripyat is supposed to be the worthy successor.

I think Shadow of Chernobyl is trash, I think Clear Sky is decent and I think Call of Pripyat is pretty awesome.

I love the game, the atmosphere was one of the best I have played in a game (that counts for all 3). I have beat all of them and never really got sick of the gameplay style while playing them. The whole time I was invested in the STALKER universe. I can't wait for them to make another one. Especially if it is using the same engine as Metro 2033 (maybe slightly more optimized).

I have never completed it but I can say that with the complete mod + only going out in the world when it was completely (and I do mean completely) dark. That was such an incredibly amazing experience, enemies couldn't see me just as I couldn't see them. The first to die would be the first one to turn on a flashlight, or the first to take a shot and make their presence known. I would then proceed to use  a bit of stealth to systematically wipe them all out with a sawed off shotgun. 
 
I have yet to complete Shadow of Chernobyl but I do have some fond memories of it.

I'll let Neutralio answer for me:
 
  

@AhmadMetallic: I own the first two games on steam and have only played an hour or so of the first but it's one of those game I really want to play but keep putting off to play something else.

One day I will play the three stalker games and I am sure I will enjoy them very much.

FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKK

quest givers closed the door and it won't open :(

I guess I am super-weird. I liked Shadow of Chernobyl and Call of Pripyat quite a bit. But, I think that Clear Sky was my personal favorite. I had a total blast with that game.

Curiosly I was playing it yesterday ... its a game that I just play when I have nothing new to play , but I enjoy it quite a lot .... its just that Im taking my damn time with it :D

Love them, I own all of them, despite it being kinda janky and broken... and, man there are a lot of problems with the those games. But whatever I still love them.

I love both Shadow of Chernobyl and Call of Pripyat. I haven't played Clear Sky and have no intentions to, really. Everything I've heard of it makes it seem very nonessential. I think Call of Pripyat is better than Shadow of Chernobyl gameplay wise, however, Shadow of Chernobyl was my first time experiencing the zone and all of its mysteries.

I'm in love with any game that can create an atmosphere like Shadow of Chernobyl did.

@AhmadMetallic: Call of Pripyat Complete mod? ; )

@AhmadMetallic: http://www.moddb.com/mods/call-of-pripyat-complete

That is what I played it with, greatly improved the game.

Bought it on a steam sale. Ends about there.

STALKER and I? We loooove each other. Thing is, she's on a long business trip and she'll return in a couple of years, hopefully with a new work promotion of STALKER2.

It was a fun game, kinda janky, but unique. Still is vastly overrated. It's a 3/5 for me. It did some cool new things, didn't really execute on them well, but delivered a solid experience.

The first game was amazing and literally felt like it'd been taken straight out of my 'dream game' desires, unfortunately - I thought it was let down a little bit by the Far Cry 'perfect shot' enemy syndrome, where they would hit you from years away with no problem. I got up to red forest and I don't remember why I stopped playing. I recently bought Call of Pripyat but it doesn't work on my system, so looking forward to buying a new system and getting into it!

I wish they would bring it to consoles!

lost my save games twice due to computer problems(back when i had xp) thinking about reinstalling it and giving it another go because the 15~hours i played of it was amazing,its everything i wish fallout 3 was and everything deus ex tried to be(no offence to the deus ex fans out there but not being able to hit what i aim at made me go insane in deus ex)

The STALKER series is quite the anomaly. Where some people play their MMORPG sitting around in a main city hoping someone notices their armor, I'm out in the zone searching for artifacts. While some people are focused on achievement hunting, I'm out in the wilderness experiencing completely unique occurrences simply by walking from Point A to Point B. Sometimes I'll sit around a campfire and keep an eye out for bloodsuckers, other times I'll stumble upon Freedom and Duty having at it, every now and then I'll find a lone Stalker bleeding out with all his friends dead and I'll toss him a medpack and vodka.

Unlike a game like Fallout, the weapon ballistics in STALKER are quite nice and fulfilling to use. You're never grinding experience, rolling dice, or handing the controller to something like VATS. The Absolute Nature, Absolute Structures, and AtmosFear mods also give the graphics a facelift. Where other post-apocalyptic games are brown, flat, and devoid of life, STALKER is bursting with wilderness creatures and dense fauna.

There's a thriving community with lots of stories and fan art. With STALKER 2 coming out next year things are only going to get better.

I've played a few hours of it and tentatively liked what I've played so far. Currently, my minor holdups involve the fact that the early guns seem kind of trashy from an accuracy standpoint, especially since I have trouble telling if I hit someone with the weapon or not.

I want to love them. But I can't stand them.

I played about 8-10 hours worth of Shadow of Chernobyl before getting fed up with the shitty AI.  That's when I jumped into Call of Pripyat and loved it.  Some of the weapons feel a bit weak, but the combat is satisfying none the less.  I played about a half hour or so of Clear Sky, just to get an idea of whether the game felt more like Shadow or more like Pripyat, and my impression was the latter.  I look forward to jumping into Clear Sky as soon as I get a break from current releases, though I admit I'm not looking forward to the whole faction wars thing.

Cough.

SoC's probably my favourite PC game. I've played through it countless times, with so many mod variations and it just won't get old. Hell, I just came off it now. Using a AMK/graphics mods merge with Lurk weapons/animations at the sec. It's probably my most beautiful trip through the Zone to date. CS can be alrightish, but it's not really what I want from a Stalker title, CoP's damn good but it's lacking so much in the horror side of things compared to SoC and the few underground sections you do including the Pripyat tunnel are pretty shitty, especially when compared to the glorious horror that is the SoC labs and the first time you go to Agroprom underground and see a, you know, for the first time.

According to Steam I've played 183.7 hours of SoC and 93.8 hours of CoP. I owned SoC retail for a year before I bought it on Steam too, welp.

The STALKER series is quite the anomaly. Where some people play their MMORPG sitting around in a main city hoping someone notices their armor, I'm out in the zone searching for artifacts. While some people are focused on achievement hunting, I'm out in the wilderness experiencing completely unique occurrences simply by walking from Point A to Point B. Sometimes I'll sit around a campfire and keep an eye out for bloodsuckers, other times I'll stumble upon Freedom and Duty having at it, every now and then I'll find a lone Stalker bleeding out with all his friends dead and I'll toss him a medpack and vodka.

Unlike a game like Fallout, the weapon ballistics in STALKER are quite nice and fulfilling to use. You're never grinding experience, rolling dice, or handing the controller to something like VATS. The Absolute Nature, Absolute Structures, and AtmosFear mods also give the graphics a facelift. Where other post-apocalyptic games are brown, flat, and devoid of life, STALKER is bursting with wilderness creatures and dense fauna.

There's a thriving community with lots of stories and fan art. With STALKER 2 coming out next year things are only going to get better.

@AhmadMetallic said:

@arch4non said:

The STALKER series is quite the anomaly. Where some people play their MMORPG sitting around in a main city hoping someone notices their armor, I'm out in the zone searching for artifacts. While some people are focused on achievement hunting, I'm out in the wilderness experiencing completely unique occurrences simply by walking from Point A to Point B. Sometimes I'll sit around a campfire and keep an eye out for bloodsuckers, other times I'll stumble upon Freedom and Duty having at it, every now and then I'll find a lone Stalker bleeding out with all his friends dead and I'll toss him a medpack and vodka.

Unlike a game like Fallout, the weapon ballistics in STALKER are quite nice and fulfilling to use. You're never grinding experience, rolling dice, or handing the controller to something like VATS. The Absolute Nature, Absolute Structures, and AtmosFear mods also give the graphics a facelift. Where other post-apocalyptic games are brown, flat, and devoid of life, STALKER is bursting with wilderness creatures and dense fauna.

There's a thriving community with lots of stories and fan art. With STALKER 2 coming out next year things are only going to get better.

This is such a sexy post.

Did he say Stalker 2 coming out next year ? is he Marty Mcfly ?

I played STALKER when it first came out, right up the point that I realized quests were timed. I then tossed that shit.

man I finally need to get around to playing those games ... I have them all sitting here ... (retail and the last two on steam as well)...

it all sounds so intriguing!

I played Call of Pripyat almost a year ago. That game was absolutely spectacular.

I could say something cliche...
 
But I'll just say the Stalker games are bloody brilliant.
 
Sneaking past those vampirelike mutants in Call of Pripyat is insaaaane.

I'm now playing Call of Pripyat everyday, and it does absolutely rock. I'm not quite at Pripyat, still setting things up. i luv the rpg elements of this, having a fight go poor with a Bloodsucker because I was using slugs in my long barrel shot gun, should have been using shot in my other semi auto-short barrell that I use. I find You have to run backwards (more or less) till their shimmer can be seen.

As for relating to my charactor, I am pretty much that stalker. It's a bit like stepping into any alien or fantasy world and establishing who you are, despite I have absolutely no knowledge of East Euro, Ukranian or Russian culture, language etc first hand beyond superficial.( this I hope benefits me when I start Witcher 2, which the devs have said uses old tales, lore and such)

And like ppl say, your work is not done, there are what, 3 or 4 endings? I forget. The Wish granter is still well short of the final ending. Which is a good thing.

I beat this game years ago and was very satisfied when it was over, but I felt like I barely understood the story, knew nothing about the factions, or what was going on around me. I just finished my missions.

Very melancholic and nostalgic game though, the Zone never leaves your senses once you've experienced the flawless atmosphere of this game.

I started a fresh playthrough today, the second one, and I took my sweet time reading everything trying to immerse myself in it even more. Also this time around I'm not looking to carry around loot to sell, I want to go fast and be free.

I'm sitting here listening to the main menu theme, it's staggeringly haunting, this game runs deep in the veins!

I just feel sad that no one ever mentions this game, it's so colossal in every sense, but it's been long forgotten.

It's the greatest game of all time

Shadow of Chernobyl is great. I replayed it earlier this year and that game is unlike any other in terms of its atmosphere. That last part is such a spike in difficulty though. To be fair they warn you that you're not going to be able to go back, but thinking I was prepared enough I went in and stupidly used up all my save slots trying to go through it. Ended up spending hours save scumming just to survive. Luckily I found some better armor and managed to beat it. Everything else is a cake walk compared to the insanity that is the Chernobyl Power Plant.

Tried playing Clear Sky but I found the whole Faction Wars system to be a jumbled mess. Just looking at the map I had no idea what the fuck to even do. Haven't played Call of Pripyat but I've heard good things.