"S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Legends of the Zone Trilogy" Announced During Xbox Partner Preview

[T0@st]

Today, during the latest Xbox Partner Preview broadcast—as a surprise for Xbox gamers everywhere—GSC Game World launched the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Legends of the Zone Trilogy for Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S (via backwards compatibility). That's right - it's available today! The Legends of the Zone Trilogy bundle—available on the Microsoft Store for $39.99 USD—includes all three iconic games that make up the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Trilogy: Shadow of Chernobyl, Clear Sky, and Call of Pripyat—or you can pick up each of the games individually for $19.99 USD each. Every element from the original games has been maintained and faithfully ported to console thanks to the hard work of GSC Game World and their partners at Mataboo. This all makes for a great opportunity for Xbox gamers everywhere to get some foundational knowledge of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s universe in the lead-up to the launch of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, coming day one to Game Pass on September 5, 2024.

But translating these hardcore PC games to an Xbox controller has been no small feat. For a series that is known for blending a variety of genres like horror, first-person shooter, exploration, and immersive sim, it was important for the team to get it right. Speaking with GSC Game World PR Specialist Zakhar Bocharov, we wanted to learn more about what this process was like, bringing these cult-classic, hardcore PC titles to console, and some of the innovative design and UI adjustments the team had to make to bring all three games to Xbox.




"S.T.A.L.K.E.R. has been a PC franchise for a long time, so the key priorities were concentrated around adapting the experience for consoles as a whole (including, but not limited to, native controller support for console interfaces)," explains Bocharov. "We created everything from scratch, ensuring that the game was both easy to control and comfortable to play."

For example, the team developed a weapon selection wheel and made changes to both the aiming system and the menu navigation so it could support an Xbox controller. The original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is a complex game, so while optimizing the gaming experience, the development team made it an important goal to not lose that unique gameplay loop and the feeling of overcoming The Zone's iconic and hostile environment. This has been a project a long time in the making, so there has been significant care and attention to detail to ensure this classic PC game can be enjoyed for a whole new console audience.

"We wanted to bring S.T.A.L.K.E.R. to consoles for quite some time, and we worked closely with our trusted partners at Mataboo to make that happen," Bocharov shares. "Despite the new release date for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, we decided to keep S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Legends of the Zone Trilogy in early 2024 to give the players some time to complete the originals before hopping into the sequel. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is a direct continuation of the plot and a standalone title, but obviously knowing the previous events and characters would help you to enjoy certain story moments, nods, and Easter eggs better."



The version available today for Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S will be close to the original version of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. experience on PC. Xbox One players will finally be able to dive into the franchise, and those on Xbox Series X|S can enjoy the game in a high-fidelity mode via backward compatibility. Later this year, the team will release a patch for Xbox Series X|S version that will bring additional graphical enhancements and other features. The console versions will also have mod support via mod.io, but this too will be a feature to roll out later as the team continues to tweak things a bit, so keep an eye on GSC's social media channels on when these features will roll out.

"Considering the cult status of the series and knowing that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is coming to Xbox, it was logical to let players experience the original games," explains Bocharov. "We consider these releases as finally closing a long-existing gap; all the games from the series will finally be available on all intended platforms."

Throughout all this hard work to finally bring these iconic PC games to console, the War in Ukraine has been ever present in the hearts and minds of this game development team. Revisiting a series that helped put GSC Game World on the map so many years ago has now ensured that its legacy will extend to consoles as well—in addition to being available for a whole new bunch of Stalkers to enjoy—helps preserve a truly unique creation from this team of artists and game developers.



"The war, relocation, cyberattacks, and working between several countries complicated basically all processes within the team—including the development of the games we're talking about today," Bocharov describes. "Again, huge kudos to Mataboo for making this happen even during the hardest of times. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s legacy is now as important as ever. Usually, we say that about S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, but bringing the originals to the new platforms and letting more people experience them ensures that the truly Ukrainian franchise will go on and will be loved. It's very important for GSC to secure this."

As Bocharov has indicated, this will be a great primer for a new audience to become engaged in the world of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. before the arrival of Heart of Chornobyl later this year on Xbox Series X|S. Knowing that, we wanted to know if they had any advice for those of you who will be taking their first steps into The Zone.

"S.T.A.L.K.E.R. doesn't own its cult status for nothing," says Bocharov. "The blend of genres (FPS/horror/immersive sim), the highly engaging gameplay loop, the one-of-a-kind world of The Zone—all of these have been attracting new Stalkers over 16 years now. The word "unique" describes this experience perfectly. Being quite a hardcore experience, this may not be the type of game you play every day. But our super-dedicated lovely fan base proves one simple fact: if you're into this world, you will find yourself attached to it for years ahead. Good hunting!"

You can pick up S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Legends of the Zone Trilogy today for Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S on the Xbox Store. Also available on the PlayStation Store for PS4.

GSC's future plans for S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Legends of the Zone Trilogy include major updates. The first one is coming soon and will include mod support via mod.io (https://mod.io/). Players on both Xbox and PlayStation ecosystems will be able to create modifications on PC and install them on consoles. Another one is a current-gen patch for Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5. Releasing before the end of this year, it will include graphical/performance improvements and additional features. Follow GSC's social media channels to receive additional information about these updates as soon as it's available.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source

 

[Onasi]

Playing OG STALKER games on a controller is in itself torture that is on par with getting radiation poisoning and only having bottom shelf vodka as a way to mitigate it. Not to mention that, like, half of the value of those games today lie in community mods that actually transform them into something significantly better and less janky. Subjecting yourself to an unmodded, non-community fixed STALKER on a controller? That’s just masochism at this point.

 

[neatfeatguy]

That's pretty cool. I greatly enjoyed the STALKER games when they released. I have zero interest to play them on a console, simply due to the fact that I just do not like using a controller anymore. Hopefully they really got the game to function easy with a controller, otherwise those console players may be throwing the controllers in frustration.

Playing OG STALKER games on a controller is in itself torture that is on par with getting radiation poisoning and only having bottom shelf vodka as a way to mitigate it. Not to mention that, like, half of the value of those games today lie in community mods that actually transform them into something significantly better and less janky. Subjecting yourself to an unmodded, non-community fixed STALKER on a controller? That’s just masochism at this point.

I've gone back to try and play the original STALKER:SoC with community mods and as impressive as these mods certainly are, they completely changed the game on many different levels. Some added so many items and complexity that it made my head spin, others were graphical changes and even map changes that threw me for a loop and then mods that took ideas that never really made it into the final cut of the original game or took parts of the newer games (Clear Sky and Call of Pripyat) and added them to SoC.....it was too much. I didn't enjoy the game that I originally enjoyed when it launched back in 2007. Kudos to all the modders and all the hard work they put into their mods, but they were too much for my liking.

 

[Onasi]

@neatfeatguy
I am not even talking about mods as massive as what you mentioned. Vanilla versions have a ton of bugs and features straight up not working without unofficial patches or fully vanilla fix mods like the Zone Reclamation Project. Like, the current version of the OG game on Steam and GOG comes with the 1.0006 patch as default. A patch, mind you, that in itself introduced quite a lot of bugs to the point that GSC RECALLED it and it is technically not even recommended to play on it. We are talking these levels of jank.

 

[Readlight]

You better donate for zoom lenses, for ukrainians. It's better spent money.

 

[Event Horizon]

I'm a huge fan but I will be very surprised and impressed if this does well on consoles.

 

[LabRat 891]

Part of me is interested, just to see what's been changed.

"S.T.A.L.K.E.R. has been a PC franchise for a long time, so the key priorities were concentrated around adapting the experience for consoles as a whole (including, but not limited to, native controller support for console interfaces)," explains Bocharov. "We created everything from scratch, ensuring that the game was both easy to control and comfortable to play."

X-Ray engine is as cruel and mysterious as The Zone itself. I wonder if they still have the same talent noosphere-wizards on-hand or, have 'ported' the assets over to UE4/5?
Looking @ The Master Chief collection, that seems somewhat viable.
However, I'd imagine it would take a ton of work to get the 'feel' right: X-Ray engine's quirks are part of the experience (not even kidding...)

edit: According to the listing on xbox, the whole trilogy is only 8.09GB

Note: 'Vanilla' Installs, IIRC.
Each retail release of STALKER, runs on a slightly different X-Ray engine.
Guessing, they re-compiled X-Ray, again (Mixed-feels if they used the Community 64-bit X-Ray engine, used in Anomaly)

Wait... what's this?

I know OG STALKER(s) had some basic MP functions but, they were largely broken or un-utilized.

There's absolutely no indication of it but... if they added co-op support, I'd be mad as hell. (I've been wanting a co-op STALKER for years.)

 

[Cheeseball]

Playing OG STALKER games on a controller is in itself torture that is on par with getting radiation poisoning and only having bottom shelf vodka as a way to mitigate it. Not to mention that, like, half of the value of those games today lie in community mods that actually transform them into something significantly better and less janky. Subjecting yourself to an unmodded, non-community fixed STALKER on a controller? That’s just masochism at this point.

The game has rotational aim assist on controller. I just tested it on a Series X.

 

[LabRat 891]

The game has rotational aim assist on controller. I just tested it on a Series X.

All the headshots, (literal) piles of supplies, and early game-breaking gear! YAY!

Years ago (in SoC), I'd figured out there's a few characters you can go target for their kit, very early-on. But, if you don't land the headshot, you're done.
Auto-aim would make that much easier, I'd assume.


X-Ray was one of the earlier engines w/ something resembling actual ballistics, and 'hardcore' damage modeling
(headshots are deadshots, unless you've got an armored helm, and most AP ammo / Gauss Rifle, just ignores that)

 

[Cheeseball]

All the headshots, (literal) piles of supplies, and early game-breaking gear! YAY!

Years ago (in SoC), I'd figured out there's a few characters you can go target for their kit, very early-on. But, if you don't land the headshot, you're done.
Auto-aim would make that much easier, I'd assume.


X-Ray was one of the earlier engines w/ something resembling actual ballistics, and 'hardcore' damage modeling
(headshots are deadshots, unless you've got an armored helm, and most AP ammo / Gauss Rifle, just ignores that)

It's not like early Call of Duty aim assist (goes straight to the head LOL) but seems to be a 40% (0.4) to 60% (0.6) pull. For controller FPS players (which is literally all the console players obviously, I primarily am not), then it's doable.

 

[RayneYoruka]

No steam? pfff

 

[LabRat 891]

No steam? pfff

TBF, it's a console-focused re-release. You can buy the originals still on both Steam and GoG, IIRC.

 

[phanbuey]

I wonder if they are going to add Z troops running around.

 

[LabRat 891]

I wonder if they are going to add Z troops running around.

As far as I'm aware (from STALKER's established lore + teasers and previews). No, they are not.

I may be incorrect, but I believe STALKER2's story is(/has been shown as) a "no good guys" setting, w/ western international forces pushing into the zone.
Which, (IMO) appears in-theme with how Call of Pripyat closed-out (IIRC).

 

[Easo]

Lol, did they really cut out Russian audio and left only subs/interface (judging by the list on the trilogy's page)?

 

[LabRat 891]

Lol, did they really cut out Russian audio and left only subs/interface (judging by the list on the trilogy's page)?

I noticed that...

 

[Vayra86]

Lol, did they really cut out Russian audio and left only subs/interface (judging by the list on the trilogy's page)?

Now that's just silly
Not investing more resources into Russian audio, ok. Destroying what you have? Wasteful.

I do wonder how these games actually run. And if they crash

 

[boomheadshot8]

Part of me is interested, just to see what's been changed.

X-Ray engine is as cruel and mysterious as The Zone itself. I wonder if they still have the same talent noosphere-wizards on-hand or, have 'ported' the assets over to UE4/5?
Looking @ The Master Chief collection, that seems somewhat viable.
However, I'd imagine it would take a ton of work to get the 'feel' right: X-Ray engine's quirks are part of the experience (not even kidding...)

edit: According to the listing on xbox, the whole trilogy is only 8.09GB
View attachment 337936
View attachment 337937Note: 'Vanilla' Installs, IIRC.
Each retail release of STALKER, runs on a slightly different X-Ray engine.
Guessing, they re-compiled X-Ray, again (Mixed-feels if they used the Community 64-bit X-Ray engine, used in Anomaly)

Wait... what's this?
View attachment 337935
I know OG STALKER(s) had some basic MP functions but, they were largely broken or un-utilized.

There's absolutely no indication of it but... if they added co-op support, I'd be mad as hell. (I've been wanting a co-op STALKER for years.)

Check anomaly mod for stalker
It's a "mod" who regroup all 3 stalker in one with a better engine

 

[Chomiq]

Heh, I remember playing the leaked alpha version of Stalker back when I was in high school.

Lol, did they really cut out Russian audio and left only subs/interface (judging by the list on the trilogy's page)?

I'm surprised they haven't removed it entirely. The reason is clear and valid.

 

[phanbuey]

Im a bit sad that they removed russian audio but did not replace it with ukranian or anything authentic from that region -- I lived for 11 years in ovrutch (80KM from pripyat) and I use these and the metro games to practice and use my russian (which I am quickly losing due to disuse)...

I guess we will have to do with english with russian accents

 

[Onasi]

Now that's just silly
Not investing more resources into Russian audio, ok. Destroying what you have? Wasteful.

Absolutely haram. Playing those games without the Russian VA is missing half the charm. Yeah, there is UA voiceover, but, and I am saying it with all due respect, it’s absolutely terrible. Not “so bad it’s good” like the RU one, just bad.

I lived for 11 years in ovrutch (80KM from pripyat) and I use these and the metro games to practice and use my russian (which I am quickly losing due to disuse)...

Here’s my unsolicited offer of being a practice partner for your unused Russian if you ever need a sounding board. Or just play CS on EU servers, that would also work.

 

[RayneYoruka]

TBF, it's a console-focused re-release. You can buy the originals still on both Steam and GoG, IIRC.

Easier to play when remastered, no need to mod or suffer random issues and whatnot, (not saying that all remastered games are equal) xd

 

[Easo]

Heh, I remember playing the leaked alpha version of Stalker back when I was in high school.

I'm surprised they haven't removed it entirely. The reason is clear and valid.

There is about zero reason to remove it. The discussion about it is likely NOT in scope of TechPowerup and would likely lead to infractions.
Let's just say I fully expect Stalker 2 to be an absolute crap and it will all be blamed on a certain country, even though leaks showed it's development is going about as well as the first one did xD

Now that's just silly
Not investing more resources into Russian audio, ok. Destroying what you have? Wasteful.

I do wonder how these games actually run. And if they crash

Second and especially 3rd one should run pretty smooth with little to no crashes. They did learn over the time. X-Ray engine, imho, was far from the worst thing in the world.

 

[neatfeatguy]

There is about zero reason to remove it. The discussion about it is likely NOT in scope of TechPowerup and would likely lead to infractions.
Let's just say I fully expect Stalker 2 to be an absolute crap and it will all be blamed on a certain country, even though leaks showed it's development is going about as well as the first one did xD



Second and especially 3rd one should run pretty smooth with little to no crashes. They did learn over the time. X-Ray engine, imho, was far from the worst thing in the world.

If you play the STALKER games on PC, be aware that RivaTurner can cause conflicts with the X-Ray engine and cause crashing.

 

[LabRat 891]

If you play the STALKER games on PC, be aware that RivaTurner can cause conflicts with the X-Ray engine and cause crashing.

Yup.
Also, (to this day) I use the STALKER games (typ. Anomaly, today) as a stress testing tool.

There's something about the way that X-Ray engine renders, that's especially hard (and hot) on VRMs and VRAM.
I have more memories than I'd like, of 'stable' GPU+VRAM OCs crashing in 3-5mins of gameplay in Zaton, Great Swamp, etc.