Summary

  • Players are unhappy with STALKER: Legends of the Zone Trilogy – Enhanced Edition due to visual and technical issues, as well as changes related to Russian elements.
  • The game’s Steam reviews are currently rated “Mostly Negative.”
  • Players criticize the lack of DLAA/DLSS support, blurry visuals, and claim the remaster looks worse than the original.

Players are unhappy with the recent release of STALKER: Legends of the Zone Trilogy – Enhanced Edition, as the game suffers from major visual and technical issues, along with some controversial content changes related to Russian elements. The game is being review bombed by STALKER: Legends of the Zone Trilogy fans, and its Steam reviews are currently sitting at “Mostly Negative.”

STALKER is a series of first-person shooter games with strong survival horror and RPG elements, developed primarily by Ukrainian studio GSC Game World. STALKER: Legends of the Zone Trilogy was released in March 2024, bringing a compilation of the three original STALKER games to modern consoles and PC with some quality-of-life improvements. The bundle included Shadow of Chernobyl (2007), Clear Sky (2008), and Call of Pripyat (2009). While this bundle is still available for players, GSC Game World decided to release an Enhanced Edition featuring visual improvements and removing Russian language support and Soviet-era iconography due to the country’s ongoing conflict with Ukraine.

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Following the recent release of STALKER: Legends of the Zone Trilogy – Enhanced Edition, players are expressing discomfort with several aspects of it, flooding Steam with negative reviews. 400 out of 600 comments are negative, with players complaining about the game’s “pithy derussianization.” One player said that, while they understand the developer’s decision, they disagree with the censoring of history (the entire Russian NPC voice pack was removed). This sentiment was echoed by many more players who feel that removing Russian/Soviet architecture and posters is wrong, as they believe this attention to detail was crucial for the game's appeal.

STALKER: Legends of the Zone Trilogy Enhanced Edition Hit with 'Mostly Negative' Reviews on Steam

Aside from the criticism regarding the changes to Russian iconography, players are also commenting on the clunky technical aspects of STALKER: Legends of the Zone Trilogy – Enhanced Edition on PC, with even a fan stating that they “don't know how this was approved ready for launch.” Players complained about the lack of DLAA/DLSS support, and how the game suffers from ghosting and looks blurry, stating that the remaster looks worse than the original. Another player said that the game’s engine isn’t actually rendering at the selected resolution, but is instead upscaling from a lower one.

While players acknowledge that the original STALKER: Legends of the Zone Trilogy performed really well, they are confused about GSC Game World's decisions regarding the Enhanced Edition, feeling that the studio released the game without even polishing it beforehand, with some even stating that there is no point in playing this edition instead of the original one. While players continue sharing their reviews of the game on Steam, it remains to be seen if the developer will do something to address this wave of criticism.

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S.T.A.L.K.E.R._ Legends of the Zone Trilogy tag page cover art

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Legends of the Zone Trilogy
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RPG
FPS
Survival
Open-World
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Systems
PC-1 PlayStation-1 super greyscale 8-bit logo Xbox-1
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Top Critic Avg: 80 /100 Critics Rec: 60%
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Released
March 6, 2024
ESRB
M For Mature 17+ // Blood, Language, Use of Alcohol, Violence
Developer(s)
GSC Game World
Publisher(s)
GSC Game World
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Activate the First Lever in the Tunnels in Legends of the Zone Stalker 2
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Activate the First Lever in the Tunnels in Legends of the Zone Stalker 2
Going into the Vents after breaking boards in Legends of the Zone Stalker 2
Going into the Elevator to Exit Lab X3 in Legends of the Zone Stalker 2
Meeting Strelok in Legends of the Zone Stalker 2
Retrieving the Cartridge in Legends of the Zone Stalker 2
Lab X3 Entrance Tunnel in Legends of the Zone Stalker 2
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WHERE TO PLAY

SUBSCRIPTION
DIGITAL
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Genre(s)
RPG, FPS, Survival, Open-World