I don't outright recommend this game.
It captures the atmosphere of stalker really well and there is a lot to love about it but the developers use a lot of lazy corner cutting like immortal NPCs to prevent access to locations on the map instead of story and work phenomenons like previous versions of the game.

The game frequently points you to locations for stashes and items in areas that are guarded by said immortals as well.
There is a point of no return during the main campaign that it does not warn you about and leading up to it the game uses several scripted moments with emissions and unkillable enemies to force you to b line for said point of not return further degrading the experience.

A life has been improved but its still not great, you can clear an area and then next thing you know a squad has spawned right behind you. The game loves two things Bloodsucker and then rodents, if you're out and about or at like any cave or potentially significant building expect 1 to 3 blood suckers (these creatures are no longer unusual they are probably the most common creatures in the zone).

Guns are arbitrarily balanced based on time of acquisition so you'll want a mod to re-balance that unless you want pistols and higher tier auto rifles to be the only logical choice

Overall it's different to the older games, honestly those older games are a tad dated as well and I wouldn't play the OG or clear skies without a mod or two so I guess its up to your thoughts.
I am going to commit to finishing this play through but I am not sure I will be returning, I am very worried about their proposed remasters and how many of these poor decisions will be brought into them.
Thankfully I have the classic versions of these games which I do feel are superior in a lot of ways.

I don't outright recommend this game. It captures the atmosphere of stalker really well and there is a lot to love about it but the developers use a lot of lazy corner cutting like immortal NPCs to prevent access to locations on the map instead of story and work phenomenons like previous versions of the game. The game frequently points you to locations for stashes and items in areas that are guarded by said immortals as well. There is a point of no return during the main campaign that it does not warn you about and leading up to it the game uses several scripted moments with emissions and unkillable enemies to force you to b line for said point of not return further degrading the experience. A life has been improved but its still not great, you can clear an area and then next thing you know a squad has spawned right behind you. The game loves two things Bloodsucker and then rodents, if you're out and about or at like any cave or potentially significant building expect 1 to 3 blood suckers (these creatures are no longer unusual they are probably the most common creatures in the zone). Guns are arbitrarily balanced based on time of acquisition so you'll want a mod to re-balance that unless you want pistols and higher tier auto rifles to be the only logical choice Overall it's different to the older games, honestly those older games are a tad dated as well and I wouldn't play the OG or clear skies without a mod or two so I guess its up to your thoughts. I am going to commit to finishing this play through but I am not sure I will be returning, I am very worried about their proposed remasters and how many of these poor decisions will be brought into them. Thankfully I have the classic versions of these games which I do feel are superior in a lot of ways.