S.T.A.L.K.E.R. the MMO?
By Steve on Wednesday, December 19th, 2007 at 8:07 AM PST In Computer, Game Companies, Game Platforms, Games, THQ
At least that’s what a representatives from developer GSC Game World hinted as a “serious consideration” in a recent community Q&A. If true, this could be exciting news for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. fans who would like to see their favorite game unleashing its potential with much needed depth. Let’s face it, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. was a great idea that was poorly executed. Add to that a lack of depth, and you can see why it’s not making the lists of Game of the Year nominations.
It’s not that the game was bad (reviews were mostly favorable). It’s not that it had dated graphics (it was at least on par with Orange Box). I’ll go as far as to say it didn’t actually have a bad story for a First Person Shooter (all things considering). It’s just that shortly after you begin playing the game, before you know it, you’ve beaten the game altogether. Hardly justifiable of its debut $40 price tag. The replay value is questionable too - something an SDK could have fixed.
The funny thing is, how will the upcoming prequel compare to it? With the prequel sounding more like an expansion with updated graphics, what happens if said prequel is actually shorter than the original? You can be sure that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky will be put under scrutiny for game length again, despite its technological and feature upgrades. I just hope they (GSC) do not recycle too many things. Backtracking through familiar areas is fine (Valve has sort been doing it all along). However, cloning artworks, models, levels and shoehorning them all into an updated engine doesn’t qualify as “originality”. Personally, I’m willing to give GSC a chance with Clear Sky. However, this time I’m going to play “wait and see” prior purchase.
As far as talks of a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. MMO, GSC needs to first learn how to meet its goals. A S.T.A.L.K.E.R. MMO sounds exciting, but it’s also rather ambitious. Considering how ambitious S.T.A.L.K.E.R. the single player game was and how little it delivered…. yeah, stick with the small stuff for now (like giving the loyal community an SDK). We’ll talk MMO later.
WHA? Stalker never had depth? You on crack? Poorly executed? How, it had a few rough edges, but it is the deepest, most realistic FPS I have played in a long time, one of the best ever. Editor is an idiot. Compraed to most FPS games, Stalker had much mroe depth then any released this year. What Stalker did you play??
Does the editor even know there are already tonnes of amazing mods out despite no SDK? No replay value? WAH? 7 different endings, many hidden armour, weapons, Scopes, artifacts? WOW, what a poorly uninformed article.
An MMO, based on me? That would be boring…
I agree with Dion about the depth of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
The game had is problems, but it still rocks.
I’d love to see an MMO
I think you will find its actually based on me
if this is true i can’t wait to play this new MMO
I agree that the Ed’s on crack.
Yeah, the game had flaws - but depth, originality & length weren’t amongst them.
With a bit more polish STALKER would have been my choice for game of the year.
Uhhh, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. came out an ass load of time before the orange box did so comparing them is kinda, well, stupid. Yeah it was in dev for a long time…but how long was TF2 in development? The bugs in it were bad initially but GSC has done a great job of patching them. If you think the game is short… i dunno try actually playing through the side missions instead of running straight through the main story. Also, if you are going to title a story “S.T.A.L.K.E.R. the MMO?” try to focus on the MMO not how much you didn’t like the first one.
I know the author of the well known german mod, Invasion mod….no depth I am playing stalker as I write this, most fun sp game I have played in ages. A mmo stalker sounds great!
MMO would be sweet, Stalker was awesome, but the MMO would need to be seriously dangerous just like STALKER was. Dying has to be brutal, and you need to feel the need to survive, if dying from Radiation just means a respawn, there’s no point having it. Definately lose everything on you if you die. Give people a reason to back stab, and pvp.