Legends of the Enhanced Edition in the Zone: Stalker Trilogy Gets a Remaster 32 comments from May 20
Image: GSC Game World
GSC Game World released remastered versions of the three original Stalker games from Chornobyl, Clear Sky, and Call of Prepiat on May 20. The gameplay is largely preserved, with an emphasis on optical improvements and quality-of-life features.
What’s New in the Remastered Versions
The most obvious changes in the remastered trilogy are optical and technical. Even though the games are still based on the old X-ray engine, many things have changed. For example, NPC and weapon models have been improved, textures have been augmented, improved skies have been introduced, god rays have been beautified, and wet materials with better reflection properties have been introduced. Ultra-sticky resolutions are now natively supported. An upscaler has also been integrated, but only in the form of FSR and without a title.
However, the most significant change affects the lighting system, which has been massively overhauled by implementing world lighting, among other improvements. This should clearly upgrade the games visually, and their dark atmosphere is revealed even more. System requirements increase significantly with the improvements, but from today’s perspective, they can still be described as low. According to GSC Game World, the games are also optimized for Steam play.
System requirements for Legends of the Zone – Enhanced Edition (Image: GSC Game World)
The most important thing for fans of the cult shooter is whether GSC Game World has also intervened in the gameplay. It’s all clear here: the game mechanics themselves have not been touched, only some changes and adjustments to the controls are said to have been made, which should bring the games closer to modern gaming. The user interfaces and HUD have reportedly been significantly revised, but are closer to the original games in both style and handling. However, the entire balance and in-game economy remain completely unchanged from the original games, as do all quests and other content. No new content has been added either.
However, a small question mark hangs over the voice output. While previously, voices were available in English, French, German, Italian, Polish, and Spanish, the FAQ also mentions Ukrainian. At that time, however, the games were released with Russian voice acting, which is no longer mentioned. It seems the developers have made new recordings here that will replace them. Already in Stalker 2 – Heart of Chornobyl, the Russian language was removed without a replacement in response to the war of aggression against Ukraine.
Owners of the original games receive the remaster for free.
Starting May 20th, remastered versions for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC will be available. The games can be purchased from Steam, GOG, and the Epic Games Store on PC. A bonus for all series veterans: If you own the original games on Steam or GOG, you’ll receive the remaster for free, as an add-on that doesn’t replace the original. The latter is also important, as mods for the original games aren’t compatible with the remasters. For those who also have MOD support, including the Steam Workshop, specific versions for the forged games must first be created.
Stalker Legends of the Zone – Enhanced Edition (Image: GSC Game World) Image 1 of 7
Owners of the games, which were only ported there last year, will also receive the update in the form of the remastered versions for free. There will be different modes for the consoles, which will run at 30, 60, 40, or 120 frames per second. However, a TV or monitor with a variable refresh rate is required for the latter two. Specific features of the PlayStation 5, such as adaptive triggers, are supported. A mouse and keyboard can also be used as input devices on the consoles.
Topics: Action Games, Ego Shooter, Gaming, Stalker. Source: GSC Game World
A lifelong video game enthusiast, Julien reviews the latest releases and explores the technologies transforming the gaming world.
