Acclaimed Stalker trilogy gets surprise release on PlayStation and Xbox ahead of Stalker 2's arrival in September
Play the original trilogy before you head into the Heart of Chornobyl.
In a really nice surprise today, GCS Game World released all three Stalker games on PlayStation and Xbox consoles.
The games dropped during the Xbox Partner Preview broadcast, and you can grab all three of the first-person-shooter survival horror titles in a bundle called the Stalker: Legends of the Zone Trilogy.
Available for PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S (via backwards compatibility), the Legends of the Zone bundle will run you $39.99, or your regional equivalent, and includes Shadow of Chernobyl, Clear Sky, and Call of Pripyat. If you don’t want the bundle, you can pick up each game individually for $19.99 or your regional equivalent.
Despite complications stemming from the War in Ukraine leading to team relocations, dealing with cyberattacks, and working between several countries, GSC Game World and its partners at Mataboo worked hard to ensure the console release faithfully maintained all elements from the originals, allowing you to experience Chornobyl’s harrowing exclusion zone as intended.
With the ports, you can expect native controller support for console interfaces, such as a weapon selection wheel, alongside changes to the aiming system and menu navigation to support controllers. You can also expect refined visuals, and achievements.
Later this year, the team will release a patch for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S that will bring additional graphical enhancements and other features.
The console version will also have mod support via mod.io, but the feature won’t roll out until later this year. Players on both Xbox and PlayStation ecosystems will be able to create modifications on PC and install them on consoles.
Blending different genres like horror, first-person shooter, exploration, and immersive sim, the Stalker series takes place in an alternate version of the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone in Ukraine. The plot centers on a second Chornobyl disaster in 2006 that altered biological, chemical, and physical processes, causing the precipitation of unnatural anomalies, artifacts, and mutants.
Taking on the role of a Stalker, an explorer of the Zone, you will not only contend with mutated flora and fauna and artifacts with extraordinary properties such as anti-gravity or radioactivity absorption but different factions, bandits, and military forces as you try to complete your primary goal: reach the center of the Zone.
All three Stalker games are pretty great, and you should consider giving them a go if you haven’t already. Plus, with Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl out on September 5, you might wish to get acquainted with the franchise before it’s released.
While Stalker 2 is a direct continuation of the plot and a standalone title, knowing the previous events and characters would help you to enjoy certain story moments, nods, and potential Easter eggs better.