Didn't really follow the release of the game apart from hearing that there are technical issues, which as to be expected. But my question for the people who played it is this still Stalker ? Mechanics and gameplay systems that are unique and far removed from what is to be seen in typical AA-AAA slop ? An overbearing atmosphere ? Was there a vision that the developers realized, or this is some shit attempt to appeal to a bigger market ?
Most similarities to the originals are surface level. The sound design is very good and some environments are genuinely atmospheric. The strongest parts of the game I found are the anomalies and artifact hunting, which are almost a 1:1 recreation, including the downright questionable balancing of artifact stats. The actual gameplay is almost nothing alike, especially the combat, which is much more akin to a modern Far Cry title. There are indicators for when enemies spot you and exactly where they are at all times, which when coupled with the combat music telling you when everyone is dead makes sure fights are completely devoid of tension. Mutants take upwards of 5 full magazines from an AK to kill and give you nothing in return, not that there is a need to actually kill them anyway because most of them can be made harmless by simply strafing.
Human enemies are very bullet-spongy unless you shoot them in the head and have an extreme propensity to throw grenades. When in combat, enemies always know exactly where you are and occasionally shoot you through walls. All NPCs drop the same loot (2-5 bullets, a medkit and if you are lucky maybe even a sausage) and the inventory system is almost entirely superfluous.
Enemy spawns are hilariously bad and you often experience "clown car" scenarios, where dozens of enemies will appear out of rooms you just cleared as soon as you turn your back and walk a couple of feet from it. The despawn range is incredibly short, making it so flanking maneuvers (which are pointless anyway as enemies never lose track of where you are) often result in enemies straight up disappearing.
There is no "A-Life" world population/simulation system like in the original games. Instead there is a system which attempts to mimick the output of it by spawning "events" around you. For example "a group of loners fight a group of bandits", "a loner is downed by a pack of dogs", "a bloodsucker attacks a group of soldiers" etc. Once you realize this, the game feels incredibly artificial in comparison. This new system is also likely way overtuned at the moment, resulting in hilarious situations where you barely had time to recover from a bloodsucker encounter before the game spawned two more right on top of you, after which you were immediately assaulted by a pack of dogs. It really is relentless sometimes and reloading a save will result in vastly different scenarios because the events are not persistent or deterministic in any way.
Oh, and there are no binoculars, probably because the spawn range for enemies and events is something like 60 meters so seeing further would be pointless. We truly are living in the future.
So yes, it is slop and to be honest I think it's just a question of time before "the community" turns on the game. I feel like an idiot for buying it.