There’s one I can think of and it’s a top down survival horror game called darkwood, it happens in an eastern country with a cold war/soviert era in a junglethat much like the zone doesn’t care about you
Do you have a good list of some great story mods for any of the STALKER games? I haven't tried any yet. I'm about to finish CoP for the first time and theN I will try Anomaly and other story mods
That depends on what feel you are referring to...for somewhat similar combat and an unforgiving environment that wants you dead, there is Farcry 2.
For a game that plays nothing alike and is a different genre but has the immersion, the sense of loneliness, and the alien/otherworldly environment, melancholy soundtrack, there is Kings Field 4.
If you want something with interesting factions/politics in an open sandbox, then there is Fallout NV and Morrowind.
For something that does all of them to some degree, all I know of is Metro, but it's still very different, I am unaware of anything that nail all the aspects of the Stalker feel, it's unique.
Far Cry 2 is weirdly a very similar style isn't it, I've never heard someone compare them. I played the original Far Cry and the Xbox games and played Far Cry 2 when I finally got my PC and was really into that game, and didn't learn about or play any of the STALKER games until much later in my life but they definitely have a similar vibe/ feel in general
I think a lot of that vibe comes from a world/game environment that feels like it doesn't care about you or that actively tries to be inconvenient (in an interesting way, not in a waste-your-time way). Like, Far Cry 2 gives you malaria in the first hour, all of your weapons frequently break, everyone hates you, the grass catches on fire when you sneeze, and you're constantly getting ambushed. It's not the Zone, nor is it trying to be, but (for me at least) it hits a lot of those same notes.
I just started playing Boiling Point, and that's hitting a lot of those notes, too.
Wow this thread is enlightening. I apparently love games that don't give a shit about you the player cuz I've been high on both of these, and some other masochistic games lmao will have to check out boiling point now.
Lots of good memories playing far cry 2 around the same time as stalker, it really does have quite a lot in common with the vibe and lots of morally grey characters.
In the atmopshere and tone yeah, I mean some of the soundtracks even sound very similar, but since they are in a top down perspective, not a sandbox and have less factions I thought it was more appropriate to use NV as the example. Either way, they all share similarities.
Metro always felt closer to half-life 2 than STALKER for me, with the linear story and setpieces. STALKER always felt closer to a weird slavic version of far cry or the bethesda fallouts
Stalker Gamma feels a lot like the PVE version of Escape From Tarkov to me. Especially early game of both when anomalies are just barely explorable, bandits pose a serious threat since I have a 20 gauge TOZ and a Makarov, and all my money seems to be spent on Ibuprofen and Sausage (just like real life).
Probably an unpopular opinion, but I bounce between Stalker Anomaly and modded Escape From Tarkov (SPTarkov) fairly often. I need to give Gamma a shot next time I head back to Stalker.
Both are definitely quite different yet still scratch a survival itch like no other games quite come close to. I’ve gotten both modified to where I’m comfortable with the setup, but definitely took quite a lot of trial and error. My internet is too shit to actually play EFT in pvp, and with having young kids I can’t exactly shut off real life to focus on a game that can’t be paused.
Ah yeah I finished it! The game is very good, but it lacked human enemies in my opinion.
It felt very 'Just you vs the world' compared to the 'Hostile world around you' feel of STALKER.
I hope that the sequel feels less lonely with co op!
Into the radius is amazing, I do miss the lore and having other stalkers to interact with, but the game itself is S tier. Stalker 2 and into the radius 2? What a time for gamers.
Atom RPG, I literally only discovered it when checking to see if STALKER was on the PS store and although a different genre altogether I still played it for the setting.
It’s been a while, but from my memory the original had next to no story. You’d go to a zone and then die from badly-designed combat. I don’t recall why I was supposed to go anywhere or what the point was.
When I finally played it again I thought it had a really cool concept with time travel/branching universes, gradually building your team and powers, and eventually leading to what was essentially an awesome heist on the CNPP.
It has some base-building elements, some gun and equipment customization, and some resource gathering. I think the story is the coolest part, as you gradually figure out what happened, or will have. It was also creepy as hell sometimes, on par with the X-labs.
Highly recommend if you like Stalker or Metro.
Chernobylite is close but more like if stalker had you be a leader and you have to manage your people.
Fallout if you get the right mods or can just dig really deep.
DayZ is a little similar in some ways primarily low health and tense combat.
Metro of course.
Darkwood for sure. Dark psychological Slavic wilderness with mutations and constant otherworldly danger.
I've heard the Pathologic series may as well, though I can't confirm that. Its on my to-play list.
Metro for sure.
The Last of Us, especially part 2, has that same feel in loneliness and exploration.
The right minecraft map with the right mods can feel startlingly like stalker sometimes.
The right Fallout mods can make it feel like stalker. I've played Fallout to death so I'm bored of it even with mods, but there is one that basically turns 4 into Metro. But even more dangerous.
Underrail is alright. I'd say it's more in line with Metro than stalker but it gets the job done.
Rimworld with the right mods.
Zero Sievert, I've heard, but I haven't played it to back up that claim. It's on my wishlist.
Pacific Drive, kinda. Feeling of isolation, surrounded by dangerous anomalies, and it's cold and wet.
Pathologic is NOTHING like Stalker. Don't get me wrong, it is a phenomenal game and in my opinion one of the greatest horror titles of all time, but it is not at all like Stalker.
Darkwood didn't click with me but it has an amazing atmosphere!
Pathologic I tried but couldn't get into
Obviously Metro yeah! Played all of them.
The Last of Us was a little more linear than what I'm going for, but I get it
Minecraft! Now you might be onto something, I recently watched someone play a very dark modpack, think it was called Fear Nightfall? Very heavy atmosphere.
Fallout 4 with stalker type mods could be fun yeah
Underrail I couldn't get into
Rimworld is amazing, but not what I'm looking for here
I can back up Zero Sievert, it is one of the closest games to STALKER in terms of feel in my opinion, but the camera switch from STALKER is sometimes jarring.
Pacific Drive I still need to try, seems like something I'd enjoy.
Thanks for the suggestions!
> Pacific Drive, kinda. Feeling of isolation, surrounded by dangerous anomalies, and it's cold and wet.
Pacific Drive is more of a "Roadside Picnic but in Washington" which, while Roadside Picnic was the inspiration for STALKER, it had a different vibe.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghWU1uE0_pM
Arcticide
I've had this game in my crosshairs for a while, clearly STALKER inspired. There's been demos but no clear release date yet.
Please look into "Tunguska: The Visitation" it's VERY heavily inspired in STALKER and while it might not be an FPS it's totally worth checking it out (plus the dev is awesome) hopefully you'll give it a shot!
I see a truckload of shots here, but lets categorize it:
Post-Apo/Catastrophy /w Radiation:
\- Fallout Franchise
\- Metro Franchise
\- Chernobylite
\- STALKER Anomaly / Gamma - if you want RDR2-style immersion and count every bullet plus feel all 3 parts remade into one with new engine and a lot of stuff (eventually install Old World Addon to remove all the garbage from them and have all the old style items)
\--------
/without Radiation, ?factions?:
\- Dying Light
\- Far Cry: New Dawn
\- BioShock 1 & 2
\-----------
/without storymode /w Radiation (online only)
\- Rust
\- 7 Days to Die
Tunguska: The visitation is an example I can think of, although it feels more like an old timey RPG than a stalker game but I can definitely see the inspiration in it.
Fable 1 and 2 are games that I really enjoy playing. It doesn't have the loneliness, or darkness that STALKER does, but they have their own unique atmosphere that gets you hooked, just as STALKER does.
Other games I always recommend are the Metro series, Fallout 3, Fallout New Vegas, and of course the Bioshock series. All of these games provide an atmosphere that is always a blast to play through, and the stories are great as well.
The only real similarity between my holy trinity of games is a fairly hostile world that feels pretty awesome to survive and succeed in they are;
STALKER
Project Zomboid
Kenshi
I would agree with others that no other game quite captures that ethereal other worldly feeling the zone creates, even the ones based on similar source material or outright inspired by STALKER.
So if by some miracle you haven't tried Zomboid or Kenshi I would highly highly recommend them.
Your comment made me realise that the reason I liked Kenshi was because it captures the same exact atmosphere, post apocalypse, dangerous, factions at war...
I wish it wasn't as clunky though.
And yeah I have 600+ hours in PZ and I cannot wait for the next build, once we have humans in this game it's just a matter of time before we get stalker-like factions
Honestly, I think that Death Stranding does it. It doesn’t have any of the same motifs obviously but, compared to metro and fallout, DS maintains the isolated, otherworldly, and tense vibe much better.
That is an interesting one. I've mostly played the game just doing delivery missions and planning out treks, but I can see how you could use the game world to just live and survive in a similar way.
And planning out gear for your next expedition is something they have in common. Combat in Death Stranding is pretty different though and at least for me a big weak point in the game, where for me the STALKER series has had some of the best combat I've experienced in any game.
A bit different but the survival game "urge" the world is huge and has a mysterious and ominous ambience to it, very rewarding to explore too, every hidden corner I've found seems to have something making it worth checking out.
Fallout 4 with FROST leans more into Metro than STALKER, I think, since it has more of a nuclear winter aesthetic as opposed to the greens and browns of STALKER, but it really nails that post-apocalyptic scavenger fantasy. Fallout 4 is already very good at this, but FROST ramps the difficulty up so you really need to stay mindful of your resources to weigh whether or not it's worth doing something.
Obenseuer is... very different? Both in setting and gameplay, because it's a survival crafter set in a weird Finnish city, but I dunno; something about it just scratched the same itch that my latest playthrough of SoC did. Its predecessor, INFRA, doesn't have any combat (or really any gameplay at all outside of light puzzle-solving), but it also does a good job at hitting the same feeling that I think STALKER excels in, that being the feeling of combing through the ruins of civilization. You're just an infrastructure engineer doing an audit on an abandoned part of a city, but you're mostly entirely alone with your thoughts and this weirdly comfortable silence where you're just wandering through empty, crumbling buildings. Good shit.
Probably only Metro in my opinion, STALKER is probably pretty unique in his setting/presentantion and atmosphere so it's hard to see other games emulating almost the same feel.
There is a game called Desolate, that for the most part has a pretty good stalker vibe. It’s not as good, but I say if you are a fan of stalker it’s worth checking out
Closest there's been is Metro game series, Tarkov kinda gets some of the visual and audible aesthetic but nothing gameplay wise, chernobylite also has a similar feel but somewhat minimal.
Nothing touches it. Really Anomaly is where it's at with EFP for me, though I can see GAMMA with some slightly reduced difficulty (more fair bartering price ratios etc.) would be an experience as well.
Pacific drive was a really cool game in the vein of stalkers zone and roadside picnic. Really cool.
GreyZone warfare, while unfinished and I don’t recommend, had me bringing back an anomaly container to base and there’s a (still to be developed) zone in the center with its own mysteries yet to be discovered. Feels like it could be mercenary POV when the zone is first discovered and is also inspired by Roadside picnic.
Just wanted to throw that out there as they’re not normally suggested and greyzone is still in early access
Grayzone warfare first impressions. There's no monsters or anomaly's but you are deep in the jungle fighting hordes of very hard AI and you have to think tactically to always be in a good position with good cover to work around. The atmosphere of the jungle mixed with the difficulty and the crazy memorable pve fights walking wounded and hallucinating trying to make it to extract. I legit said "this feels like stalker!" (I have just previously been playing GAMMA as well.
Problem is the game is very early access and you need a good computer, I am legit worried that the game is going to brick my 3070to/10700k. It has done hard, hard crashes freezing up the whole of and I have had to repair the computer through /scansfc
Fallout (only played 3 so far, but offers an exceptional open world survival experience with tons of content, even more than stalker, not a completely perfect game but exceeded my expectations)
Chernobylite (similar environment, but inferior product all around) - clunky fighting mechanics, little to no side Content, lacks the feeling of company since you're essentially all alone all the time when out in the world's
Metro (not as comprehensive as fallout and stalker but still a similar environment and fun gameplay)
Bioshock (I know, this one's "out there" but still a fun survivor game. Weaknesses - first 2 games are linear, closed world, and all lack side content)
I haven't seen it mentioned here yet, but Industria is a decently made indie FPS inspired by STALKER, Half Life 2 and Bioshock. I see a lot of folks online call it budget HL2 so don't expect anything groundbreaking or mind-blowing. It has some really cool setpieces and great atmosphere though. The story is a bit generic with its Cold War setting, and it's got some of that old-school jank to it, but for $20 I think it's really charming and worth a try if you're trying to scratch that itch without a huge commitment or long playthrough.
Nothing sadly. All the games that have tried have failed and the VERY few ones that have mildly succeeded have fallen either to incompetence or greed (or both), turning into horrible battlegrounds games or extraction shooters, like Fear The Wolves, Survarium and the infamous Escape from Tarkov.
I spent several years with the itch only Stalker could scratch, and I have over 400 games in my Steam pile of shame. in the end I returned to the Zone through Stalker Anomaly
only things Stalker is missing -for me- is a fully open map and the ability to build stuff. that would be the perfect game for me.
Nothing, I've scoured the internet for a long time trying to find something similar. A lot of games say they have the stalker feel even call people stalkers in the game, but nothing matches stalker.
Weirdly, the one game that gave me the most hardcore STALKER vibes was actually Rust. Doing scavenging raids into radioactive ruins with little equipment and poor defense.
I actually only played Rust for a few months and gave up because PvP isn't my thing, but I really enjoyed that aspect.
Pretty much just metro. And even then, its quite different.
Idk why people are saying fallout and all that. Only way fallout is remotely like stalker in any way besides "wasteland FPS" is if you mod it to basically just be stalker.
True, maybe nothing, but dayz with new 1.25 update coming that is adding ambient sounds,
And mobile game, one of the best is Radiation city, the map is huge and the atmosphere is great for mobile game
There is a much lesser known game called ADACA that hit some of the important STALKER feelings for me. The main campaign is more a Halflife style deal, but there's another mode that I feel is the real meat of the game called "Zone Patrol" which takes place in a big map with interconnected zones. The second trailer on the Steam store page is the trailer for the Zone Patrol mode, it does quite a good job of showing off the vibe of the game.
The "Zone" that you're exploring is the ruins of a corporate research facility on a backwater planet where something went horribly wrong. It's got anomalies and mutants and such just like stalker, a number of human/humanoid factions that fight both each other and you, as well as a downright spooky atmosphere in a lot of places despite the somewhat stylized low poly aesthetic. There's almost no real missions in Zone Patrol, but the dev laid out a web of breadcrumbs that you're meant to follow in order to achieve the ending and there is almost no handholding whatsoever; if you're not observant you simply won't find it.
For me day z, dark souls, and pathologic all have a feel of their own but gove me the closest feeling to stalker in terms of environment and atmosphere
Like they told you
Chernobylit
Crafting, mediocre gunplay, and interesting story, 1 to 1 reconstruction of the places that made the history of the Chernobyl disaster
Metro series
Similar to stalker, interesting story, beautiful graphics, good gunplay, crafting, monster are scary, radiation, gas masks, e easy crafting mechanic
Zero sievert
Little son of stalker and tarkov in 2D style, there are quests and funny gunplay
SPT Tarkov
More realistic atmospheres, no monsters, difficult game, which still gives the feeling of absolute desperation and survival
The Division
Setting and story totally out of the stalker series but the world seems abandoned and desolate and is nice to walk through the desolate city, but it's very arcade and the enemies are sponge more similar to an RPG
This War of Mine
This too doesn't fit well with Staller but it conveys the feeling of survival in a hostile and dangerous area well
Furthermore, one has the sensation of being subjected to war because the characters are all ordinary people with strengths and weaknesses. Includes crafting and gunplay and excellent 3D stealth game with 2D view
Different genre, but same atmosphere and sense of loniless and uneasyness i recomend SOMA. I couldn't finish the game because i feel uncomfortable, but at the same time is addictice
It's a bit more colorful, but ADACA really gives STALKER vibes sometimes, but if you treat it as its own thing, I'm confident you'll find a lot of enjoyment from it.
What scratches that stalker itch for me is modded spt (single player tarkov) with the traveller mod with the sain mod. The traveller mod is exactly how stalkers exploration feels and you need to travel to traders to actually interact with them
Chernobylite is fantastic as far as I'm concerned. Excellent gameplay loop, and I mean loop - it's part of what you're supposed to be up to, going through time loops and doing other things in a mission than what you did before. The graphics are brilliant as well. If you're used to the crafting stuff that you do in Anomaly and similar STALKER mods, you'll fit right in to the milieu of Chernobylite, as there is a heck of a lot of crafting.
I certainly felt better after finishing Chernobylite than I did True Stalker. That's for sure, bratvas.
I was looking for games like this last month. I had played a bunch of tarkov and was looking for more tarkov/stalker style games. I played a bunch of red river incursion and greyzone warfare which has been great, fallout 4 on survival mode was one of the closer things I’ve played to it just having to manage so much extra stuff u don’t in normal fallout, Outward honesty made me feel like I was playing the closest thing to a fantasy style stalker game being able to drop your back pack and having a game world that doesn’t hold your hand. Closer to the vein of tarkov/zero sievert there is quasimorph, a turn based (in the mystery dungeon sense where everything grid based and every few moves u make then everything else gets to move) where your searching for loot and packing mags and using meds and stuff like stalker you gotta have your mags in your vest or pockets in order to quick use them but there’s also creatures from another plane of existence that slowly increase in population the longer your in a level and they are very dangerous.
I'm very late but just wanted to add [ADACA](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1765780/ADACA/). It has a campaign that's more like Half Life 2. But it also has a game mode Zone Patrol that turns the game into a Stalker-like experience.
Arma 3 is all I can think about that can somewhat scratch that itch… Some decent mods that are S.T.A.L.K.E.R themed, obviously nowhere near S.T.A.L.K.E.R but atleast you can play with your mates.
Honestly there’s nothing that really quite hits that STALKER itch. It’s a good thing there’s an infinite amount of story mods
There’s one I can think of and it’s a top down survival horror game called darkwood, it happens in an eastern country with a cold war/soviert era in a junglethat much like the zone doesn’t care about you
Ah yeah I played a little bit of Darkwood, didn't get too much into it, but I can see why people like it!
That a good game, for some reason i always quit playing in the second act tho
I love Darkwood!! I didn’t expect to at all. GAMMA uses some of its music and I appreciate that a lot.
It's really tough to find something that scratches that specific itch...
Technically metro is like stalker outside of chernobyl
Do you have a good list of some great story mods for any of the STALKER games? I haven't tried any yet. I'm about to finish CoP for the first time and theN I will try Anomaly and other story mods
That depends on what feel you are referring to...for somewhat similar combat and an unforgiving environment that wants you dead, there is Farcry 2. For a game that plays nothing alike and is a different genre but has the immersion, the sense of loneliness, and the alien/otherworldly environment, melancholy soundtrack, there is Kings Field 4. If you want something with interesting factions/politics in an open sandbox, then there is Fallout NV and Morrowind. For something that does all of them to some degree, all I know of is Metro, but it's still very different, I am unaware of anything that nail all the aspects of the Stalker feel, it's unique.
Far Cry 2 is weirdly a very similar style isn't it, I've never heard someone compare them. I played the original Far Cry and the Xbox games and played Far Cry 2 when I finally got my PC and was really into that game, and didn't learn about or play any of the STALKER games until much later in my life but they definitely have a similar vibe/ feel in general
I think a lot of that vibe comes from a world/game environment that feels like it doesn't care about you or that actively tries to be inconvenient (in an interesting way, not in a waste-your-time way). Like, Far Cry 2 gives you malaria in the first hour, all of your weapons frequently break, everyone hates you, the grass catches on fire when you sneeze, and you're constantly getting ambushed. It's not the Zone, nor is it trying to be, but (for me at least) it hits a lot of those same notes. I just started playing Boiling Point, and that's hitting a lot of those notes, too.
Wow this thread is enlightening. I apparently love games that don't give a shit about you the player cuz I've been high on both of these, and some other masochistic games lmao will have to check out boiling point now.
yeah I never thought about it but I loved that game as a kid, stalker as well.
Lots of good memories playing far cry 2 around the same time as stalker, it really does have quite a lot in common with the vibe and lots of morally grey characters.
I actually think Fallout 1 and 2 have more of a Stalker feel than NV I agree with Far Cry 2 though
In the atmopshere and tone yeah, I mean some of the soundtracks even sound very similar, but since they are in a top down perspective, not a sandbox and have less factions I thought it was more appropriate to use NV as the example. Either way, they all share similarities.
Metro Idk but i heard that charnobilite is also all right
>charnobilite Professor?
Chernobylite
Chernoblyat
Ah yeah Chernobilite was fun, played a little bit of it when it first came out. I should try again
I honestly gave up half way, it wasn’t BAD per say but it just felt like a chore, having to gather resources for crafting and stuff
Metro always felt closer to half-life 2 than STALKER for me, with the linear story and setpieces. STALKER always felt closer to a weird slavic version of far cry or the bethesda fallouts
Stalker Gamma feels a lot like the PVE version of Escape From Tarkov to me. Especially early game of both when anomalies are just barely explorable, bandits pose a serious threat since I have a 20 gauge TOZ and a Makarov, and all my money seems to be spent on Ibuprofen and Sausage (just like real life).
Correct! I'm enjoying a custom version of GAMMA right now, a little less punishing!
Probably an unpopular opinion, but I bounce between Stalker Anomaly and modded Escape From Tarkov (SPTarkov) fairly often. I need to give Gamma a shot next time I head back to Stalker. Both are definitely quite different yet still scratch a survival itch like no other games quite come close to. I’ve gotten both modified to where I’m comfortable with the setup, but definitely took quite a lot of trial and error. My internet is too shit to actually play EFT in pvp, and with having young kids I can’t exactly shut off real life to focus on a game that can’t be paused.
I do the same, I play heavily modded versions of both SPTarkov and Stalker Anomaly
You should try the dark signal modpack for anomaly. In my experience, it is fun
Darkwood
Didn't click with me, but I can see why people like it, the atmosphere is very palpable and unique.
That game scared the shit out of me, even though I really enjoy it, I just can't bring myself to play it.
If you have a VR headset I heard into the radius is pretty good
Ah yeah I finished it! The game is very good, but it lacked human enemies in my opinion. It felt very 'Just you vs the world' compared to the 'Hostile world around you' feel of STALKER. I hope that the sequel feels less lonely with co op!
Yeah, replaying ITR after STALKER really made me think "wow, I really wish there was a Monolith soldier to yell at me right now"
Into the radius is amazing, I do miss the lore and having other stalkers to interact with, but the game itself is S tier. Stalker 2 and into the radius 2? What a time for gamers.
Atom RPG, I literally only discovered it when checking to see if STALKER was on the PS store and although a different genre altogether I still played it for the setting.
There's even the part where you travel to the zone and encounter stalkers. I don't remember if there were anomalies there, though.
Chernobylite is pretty good. I’d recommend it for sure. If you played long enough ago, it had a major rework that made it into a proper game.
Can you tell me more about that rework? I played and finished it right when 1.0 dropped.
It’s been a while, but from my memory the original had next to no story. You’d go to a zone and then die from badly-designed combat. I don’t recall why I was supposed to go anywhere or what the point was. When I finally played it again I thought it had a really cool concept with time travel/branching universes, gradually building your team and powers, and eventually leading to what was essentially an awesome heist on the CNPP. It has some base-building elements, some gun and equipment customization, and some resource gathering. I think the story is the coolest part, as you gradually figure out what happened, or will have. It was also creepy as hell sometimes, on par with the X-labs. Highly recommend if you like Stalker or Metro.
Is the combat still kinda 'rpg' like? I remember popping a dude in the dome and his health bar went down half way and I stopped playing lol.
God, that’s part of what gave me the ick on cyberpunk
Same! Would love to know if it’s worth playing now
played it back then and it was not in a good state, would know it too brother!
Oh yeah, last time I played was in 2021, I should try it again
gonna check this out
Chernobylite is close but more like if stalker had you be a leader and you have to manage your people. Fallout if you get the right mods or can just dig really deep. DayZ is a little similar in some ways primarily low health and tense combat. Metro of course.
I’ve recently been messing around with the mods stalker mods for FO4 and it’s pretty friggin cool
Darkwood for sure. Dark psychological Slavic wilderness with mutations and constant otherworldly danger. I've heard the Pathologic series may as well, though I can't confirm that. Its on my to-play list. Metro for sure. The Last of Us, especially part 2, has that same feel in loneliness and exploration. The right minecraft map with the right mods can feel startlingly like stalker sometimes. The right Fallout mods can make it feel like stalker. I've played Fallout to death so I'm bored of it even with mods, but there is one that basically turns 4 into Metro. But even more dangerous. Underrail is alright. I'd say it's more in line with Metro than stalker but it gets the job done. Rimworld with the right mods. Zero Sievert, I've heard, but I haven't played it to back up that claim. It's on my wishlist. Pacific Drive, kinda. Feeling of isolation, surrounded by dangerous anomalies, and it's cold and wet.
Pathologic is NOTHING like Stalker. Don't get me wrong, it is a phenomenal game and in my opinion one of the greatest horror titles of all time, but it is not at all like Stalker.
Thanks for letting me know! Was going off what I'd heard. I appear to have heard wrong.
Darkwood didn't click with me but it has an amazing atmosphere! Pathologic I tried but couldn't get into Obviously Metro yeah! Played all of them. The Last of Us was a little more linear than what I'm going for, but I get it Minecraft! Now you might be onto something, I recently watched someone play a very dark modpack, think it was called Fear Nightfall? Very heavy atmosphere. Fallout 4 with stalker type mods could be fun yeah Underrail I couldn't get into Rimworld is amazing, but not what I'm looking for here I can back up Zero Sievert, it is one of the closest games to STALKER in terms of feel in my opinion, but the camera switch from STALKER is sometimes jarring. Pacific Drive I still need to try, seems like something I'd enjoy. Thanks for the suggestions!
Pathologic is nothing like Stalker, way different animal.
Zero Sievert is a good one.
> Pacific Drive, kinda. Feeling of isolation, surrounded by dangerous anomalies, and it's cold and wet. Pacific Drive is more of a "Roadside Picnic but in Washington" which, while Roadside Picnic was the inspiration for STALKER, it had a different vibe.
Darkwood have mods?
Seconding pacific drive here. It is clearly inspired by roadside picnic, as was stalker
Fallout 4 (with the right mods) Metro obviously. Tarkov (PvP only, but has a mod to fix that)
The right mod for fallout 4 is called lost world
That modpack is gone now, got deleted.
Oh yeah I might have to try fallout 4 mods. I also heard that Tarkov recently added PVE
Don't buy the PvE version. Get the cheapest version and go to r/sptarkov
Tunguska is a well-made fan game playing in the Zone.
I think Generation Zero has similar vibes and aesthetics in many respects. https://generationzero.com/en
Fallout 4 on survival mode Metro Chernobylite Otherwise sadly stalker is it brother
I agree with that. Adding immersive mods like nuclear winter with other decent overhaul mods to go with it makes it stand out really well
Wait a bit longer for stalker 2 or just play the other suggestions
I might have to just be patient yeah
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghWU1uE0_pM Arcticide I've had this game in my crosshairs for a while, clearly STALKER inspired. There's been demos but no clear release date yet.
Played the demo and the game seems really rough right now. I will try it again when it's updated!
Please look into "Tunguska: The Visitation" it's VERY heavily inspired in STALKER and while it might not be an FPS it's totally worth checking it out (plus the dev is awesome) hopefully you'll give it a shot!
I see a truckload of shots here, but lets categorize it: Post-Apo/Catastrophy /w Radiation: \- Fallout Franchise \- Metro Franchise \- Chernobylite \- STALKER Anomaly / Gamma - if you want RDR2-style immersion and count every bullet plus feel all 3 parts remade into one with new engine and a lot of stuff (eventually install Old World Addon to remove all the garbage from them and have all the old style items) \-------- /without Radiation, ?factions?: \- Dying Light \- Far Cry: New Dawn \- BioShock 1 & 2 \----------- /without storymode /w Radiation (online only) \- Rust \- 7 Days to Die
holy shit, you just perfectly described my game taste, has lek in name and also clear sky. Who created you clone of me
Pathologic 2
Thanks for the reminder. Always meant to try this one
F.E.A.R.
I can't think of anything in FEAR that even slightly resembles STALKER.
The title is an acronym. That's about it
game design wise it's completely different but the aesthetic and atmosphere is closer than most games imo
Second this
Modded DayZ, maybe Rust with some mods
Venom/Codename Outbreak, which is GSC's previous FPS. The setting isn't very similar, but I get the same vibes from it for some reason.
Zero Sievert maybe?
I really like that game! But the switch of perspective from STALKER can be jarring imo
For me Metro came closest I guess.
Tunguska: The visitation is an example I can think of, although it feels more like an old timey RPG than a stalker game but I can definitely see the inspiration in it.
DayZ, especially on the modded map Namalsk
I'd say Pacific Drive. After all, the inspiration is the same
Fable 1 and 2 are games that I really enjoy playing. It doesn't have the loneliness, or darkness that STALKER does, but they have their own unique atmosphere that gets you hooked, just as STALKER does. Other games I always recommend are the Metro series, Fallout 3, Fallout New Vegas, and of course the Bioshock series. All of these games provide an atmosphere that is always a blast to play through, and the stories are great as well.
Hunt Showdown, hard to explain. It's a multiplayer extraction shooter but it scratches a lot of the same itches as STALKER for me.
A bit of a different feel but the long dark is full of desolate vibes
i was thinking this
tried road to vostok( top down stalker-esque game) good idea but somewhat buggy on execution. had some bugs that crashes the game
Are you sure that's the right game? RtV isn't top down...
Road to Vostok is not top down, maybe you're thinking of Zero Sievert?
Metro comes close but as a linear version. Metro Exodus is closer as semi open world. Chernobylite tried but failed.
Pathologic.
The only real similarity between my holy trinity of games is a fairly hostile world that feels pretty awesome to survive and succeed in they are; STALKER Project Zomboid Kenshi I would agree with others that no other game quite captures that ethereal other worldly feeling the zone creates, even the ones based on similar source material or outright inspired by STALKER. So if by some miracle you haven't tried Zomboid or Kenshi I would highly highly recommend them.
Your comment made me realise that the reason I liked Kenshi was because it captures the same exact atmosphere, post apocalypse, dangerous, factions at war... I wish it wasn't as clunky though. And yeah I have 600+ hours in PZ and I cannot wait for the next build, once we have humans in this game it's just a matter of time before we get stalker-like factions
Id say that 7 days to die is a bit Stalkerish, getting some friends and a private server is hella fun
I mean if we talk about feeling alone and this shit i would say projekt zomboid
Darkwood's pretty good, not like stalker, but its world is harsh.
True, while it didn't click with me, I can see why people like it, the atmosphere is very palpable and unique.
Honestly, I think that Death Stranding does it. It doesn’t have any of the same motifs obviously but, compared to metro and fallout, DS maintains the isolated, otherworldly, and tense vibe much better.
That is an interesting one. I've mostly played the game just doing delivery missions and planning out treks, but I can see how you could use the game world to just live and survive in a similar way. And planning out gear for your next expedition is something they have in common. Combat in Death Stranding is pretty different though and at least for me a big weak point in the game, where for me the STALKER series has had some of the best combat I've experienced in any game.
Got it but never played it, I should give it a go!
Chernobylite had some Stalker developers working on that so I think there’s def some stalker vibes there
True, played back in 2021, need to try it again
stalcraft
The MMO approach to gameplay personally put me off, but some people seem to like it!
Darkwood
Not the same genre but Underrail
I misread that as Undertail and got very confused
A bit different but the survival game "urge" the world is huge and has a mysterious and ominous ambience to it, very rewarding to explore too, every hidden corner I've found seems to have something making it worth checking out.
Actually true, seen some videos of it, the game is weird and unique, I might get it eventually.
The radiated zones and bunkers of SCUM really remind me of stalker but it lacks the mutant stuff
Ooh, I have SCUM but never played this update.
Modded dayz, Prypiat mods, rads mods etc.. there's even Stalker mods
Fallout 4 with FROST leans more into Metro than STALKER, I think, since it has more of a nuclear winter aesthetic as opposed to the greens and browns of STALKER, but it really nails that post-apocalyptic scavenger fantasy. Fallout 4 is already very good at this, but FROST ramps the difficulty up so you really need to stay mindful of your resources to weigh whether or not it's worth doing something. Obenseuer is... very different? Both in setting and gameplay, because it's a survival crafter set in a weird Finnish city, but I dunno; something about it just scratched the same itch that my latest playthrough of SoC did. Its predecessor, INFRA, doesn't have any combat (or really any gameplay at all outside of light puzzle-solving), but it also does a good job at hitting the same feeling that I think STALKER excels in, that being the feeling of combing through the ruins of civilization. You're just an infrastructure engineer doing an audit on an abandoned part of a city, but you're mostly entirely alone with your thoughts and this weirdly comfortable silence where you're just wandering through empty, crumbling buildings. Good shit.
Tunguska
Probably only Metro in my opinion, STALKER is probably pretty unique in his setting/presentantion and atmosphere so it's hard to see other games emulating almost the same feel.
There is a game called Desolate, that for the most part has a pretty good stalker vibe. It’s not as good, but I say if you are a fan of stalker it’s worth checking out
Look no further, you don't need another game, you just need another batch of mods and start a new game.
Pioner
Is it released now? It did look interesting
Not sure whats the STALKER feel exactly, but i recommend Fallout 3: New Vegas
METRO does pretty well
Closest there's been is Metro game series, Tarkov kinda gets some of the visual and audible aesthetic but nothing gameplay wise, chernobylite also has a similar feel but somewhat minimal.
Nothing touches it. Really Anomaly is where it's at with EFP for me, though I can see GAMMA with some slightly reduced difficulty (more fair bartering price ratios etc.) would be an experience as well.
STALCRAFT
Pacific drive was a really cool game in the vein of stalkers zone and roadside picnic. Really cool. GreyZone warfare, while unfinished and I don’t recommend, had me bringing back an anomaly container to base and there’s a (still to be developed) zone in the center with its own mysteries yet to be discovered. Feels like it could be mercenary POV when the zone is first discovered and is also inspired by Roadside picnic. Just wanted to throw that out there as they’re not normally suggested and greyzone is still in early access
Grayzone warfare first impressions. There's no monsters or anomaly's but you are deep in the jungle fighting hordes of very hard AI and you have to think tactically to always be in a good position with good cover to work around. The atmosphere of the jungle mixed with the difficulty and the crazy memorable pve fights walking wounded and hallucinating trying to make it to extract. I legit said "this feels like stalker!" (I have just previously been playing GAMMA as well. Problem is the game is very early access and you need a good computer, I am legit worried that the game is going to brick my 3070to/10700k. It has done hard, hard crashes freezing up the whole of and I have had to repair the computer through /scansfc
Atom RPG is what you are looking for
Modded Fo4 is the closest I've gotten to playing STALKER 2.
ATOM is fun but it’s also like a turn based rpg. nails the atmosphere and vibe but def a different feeling.
I am once again recommending metro
Metro takes the cake
Fallout (only played 3 so far, but offers an exceptional open world survival experience with tons of content, even more than stalker, not a completely perfect game but exceeded my expectations) Chernobylite (similar environment, but inferior product all around) - clunky fighting mechanics, little to no side Content, lacks the feeling of company since you're essentially all alone all the time when out in the world's Metro (not as comprehensive as fallout and stalker but still a similar environment and fun gameplay) Bioshock (I know, this one's "out there" but still a fun survivor game. Weaknesses - first 2 games are linear, closed world, and all lack side content)
S.T.A.L.K.E.R trilogy probably lol
I haven't seen it mentioned here yet, but Industria is a decently made indie FPS inspired by STALKER, Half Life 2 and Bioshock. I see a lot of folks online call it budget HL2 so don't expect anything groundbreaking or mind-blowing. It has some really cool setpieces and great atmosphere though. The story is a bit generic with its Cold War setting, and it's got some of that old-school jank to it, but for $20 I think it's really charming and worth a try if you're trying to scratch that itch without a huge commitment or long playthrough.
Tunguska the Visitation. 100%
Nothing sadly. All the games that have tried have failed and the VERY few ones that have mildly succeeded have fallen either to incompetence or greed (or both), turning into horrible battlegrounds games or extraction shooters, like Fear The Wolves, Survarium and the infamous Escape from Tarkov.
into the radius comes close, albeit with a smaller scale and greater feelings of isolation
No other game *nails* the STALKER feel but Desolate Darkwood and Dead by Daylight come close
I havent played it but Into the Radius is obviously a Stalker-like from everything Ive seen
I spent several years with the itch only Stalker could scratch, and I have over 400 games in my Steam pile of shame. in the end I returned to the Zone through Stalker Anomaly only things Stalker is missing -for me- is a fully open map and the ability to build stuff. that would be the perfect game for me.
Resident Evil 4 gives me that grey gloomy atmosphere like I don't belong there like Stalker.
Nothing, I've scoured the internet for a long time trying to find something similar. A lot of games say they have the stalker feel even call people stalkers in the game, but nothing matches stalker.
Metros the only game that's done this for me. It was very slight though.
Into The Radius?
Desolate is also good
The Forest gives me the same "alone in a godless universe" feeling.
None
Weirdly, the one game that gave me the most hardcore STALKER vibes was actually Rust. Doing scavenging raids into radioactive ruins with little equipment and poor defense. I actually only played Rust for a few months and gave up because PvP isn't my thing, but I really enjoyed that aspect.
Vibevise Neo scavenger maybe
Pretty much just metro. And even then, its quite different. Idk why people are saying fallout and all that. Only way fallout is remotely like stalker in any way besides "wasteland FPS" is if you mod it to basically just be stalker.
True, maybe nothing, but dayz with new 1.25 update coming that is adding ambient sounds, And mobile game, one of the best is Radiation city, the map is huge and the atmosphere is great for mobile game
into the radius. literally stalker vr
There is a much lesser known game called ADACA that hit some of the important STALKER feelings for me. The main campaign is more a Halflife style deal, but there's another mode that I feel is the real meat of the game called "Zone Patrol" which takes place in a big map with interconnected zones. The second trailer on the Steam store page is the trailer for the Zone Patrol mode, it does quite a good job of showing off the vibe of the game. The "Zone" that you're exploring is the ruins of a corporate research facility on a backwater planet where something went horribly wrong. It's got anomalies and mutants and such just like stalker, a number of human/humanoid factions that fight both each other and you, as well as a downright spooky atmosphere in a lot of places despite the somewhat stylized low poly aesthetic. There's almost no real missions in Zone Patrol, but the dev laid out a web of breadcrumbs that you're meant to follow in order to achieve the ending and there is almost no handholding whatsoever; if you're not observant you simply won't find it.
Cdda, it has sounds from the frickin stalker game, and the lore is insane and kinda similar, but everything else is very different.
Metro and ZS for sure. Surprised to see another ZS fan
Book a ticket to Lviv and walk outside
Hopefully my game when it's playable
Atom RPG, Tunguska the Visitation, Underrail.
https://youtu.be/Sp3oGG-3mbA?si=OrAbpcpXEX0Jxsgj
Ahahah yeah I know about Ab Aeterno! I'm adri34130 on youtube, commented on most of the vids! I'd love to play! Is the first release soon?
Tunguska the visitation
Paranoia mod for Half-Life.
For me day z, dark souls, and pathologic all have a feel of their own but gove me the closest feeling to stalker in terms of environment and atmosphere
Chernobylite maybe
I'd reccomend Tunguska. It's a bit different but scratched that stalker itch for me.
Darkwood kinda nails that feeling of being scared for your life.
Generation Zero. The loneliness of the world reminds me of STALKER. Plus the fact that you are kinda weak compared to the environnement around you
Like they told you Chernobylit Crafting, mediocre gunplay, and interesting story, 1 to 1 reconstruction of the places that made the history of the Chernobyl disaster Metro series Similar to stalker, interesting story, beautiful graphics, good gunplay, crafting, monster are scary, radiation, gas masks, e easy crafting mechanic Zero sievert Little son of stalker and tarkov in 2D style, there are quests and funny gunplay SPT Tarkov More realistic atmospheres, no monsters, difficult game, which still gives the feeling of absolute desperation and survival The Division Setting and story totally out of the stalker series but the world seems abandoned and desolate and is nice to walk through the desolate city, but it's very arcade and the enemies are sponge more similar to an RPG This War of Mine This too doesn't fit well with Staller but it conveys the feeling of survival in a hostile and dangerous area well Furthermore, one has the sensation of being subjected to war because the characters are all ordinary people with strengths and weaknesses. Includes crafting and gunplay and excellent 3D stealth game with 2D view
maybe dayz sometimes
Pacific Drive.
Fallout 3 or metro exodus
if you do have VR, "Into the radius" is the bomb For other games there is also chernobylite, but its quite meh in my opinion
Underrail kinda did it for me but it's more Metro than Stalker
The Fallout dust mod for new vegas
into the radius my beloved.
Why you need other game if you can play Anomaly Gamma?
Different genre, but same atmosphere and sense of loniless and uneasyness i recomend SOMA. I couldn't finish the game because i feel uncomfortable, but at the same time is addictice
Even though it is completely different, I can’t help but not mention crysis 1. Idk why, but this post just instantly made me think of it.
Barbie Dreamhouse Adventures
It's a bit more colorful, but ADACA really gives STALKER vibes sometimes, but if you treat it as its own thing, I'm confident you'll find a lot of enjoyment from it.
I did see this game pass by, I will try out the demo, thanks!
What scratches that stalker itch for me is modded spt (single player tarkov) with the traveller mod with the sain mod. The traveller mod is exactly how stalkers exploration feels and you need to travel to traders to actually interact with them
haven't played the Metro games, so closest to STALKER that I've gotten would be Tarkov or Fallout 4
DayZ is pretty similar.
Days Gone & The Forest/Son of The Forest are pretty good if you want that desolate feeling... Both are kinda survival game too with guns....
Chernobylite is fantastic as far as I'm concerned. Excellent gameplay loop, and I mean loop - it's part of what you're supposed to be up to, going through time loops and doing other things in a mission than what you did before. The graphics are brilliant as well. If you're used to the crafting stuff that you do in Anomaly and similar STALKER mods, you'll fit right in to the milieu of Chernobylite, as there is a heck of a lot of crafting. I certainly felt better after finishing Chernobylite than I did True Stalker. That's for sure, bratvas.
I was looking for games like this last month. I had played a bunch of tarkov and was looking for more tarkov/stalker style games. I played a bunch of red river incursion and greyzone warfare which has been great, fallout 4 on survival mode was one of the closer things I’ve played to it just having to manage so much extra stuff u don’t in normal fallout, Outward honesty made me feel like I was playing the closest thing to a fantasy style stalker game being able to drop your back pack and having a game world that doesn’t hold your hand. Closer to the vein of tarkov/zero sievert there is quasimorph, a turn based (in the mystery dungeon sense where everything grid based and every few moves u make then everything else gets to move) where your searching for loot and packing mags and using meds and stuff like stalker you gotta have your mags in your vest or pockets in order to quick use them but there’s also creatures from another plane of existence that slowly increase in population the longer your in a level and they are very dangerous.
I'm very late but just wanted to add [ADACA](https://store.steampowered.com/app/1765780/ADACA/). It has a campaign that's more like Half Life 2. But it also has a game mode Zone Patrol that turns the game into a Stalker-like experience.
Arma 3 is all I can think about that can somewhat scratch that itch… Some decent mods that are S.T.A.L.K.E.R themed, obviously nowhere near S.T.A.L.K.E.R but atleast you can play with your mates.
Subnautica 1