This week's big release is GSC Gameworld's Stalker 2, the long-awaited sequel that PCG's Joshua Wolens found "is still Stalker, down to its bones" (for good and bad, mostly the former). Good Old Games has taken the opportunity to announce that it is adding two of the classic Stalker games (confusingly, Stalker 2 is the fourth game in the series) to its new Preservation Program—Stalker: [[link]] Shadow of Chernobyl, and Stalker: Call of Pripyat.
The announcement comes alongside a hefty 75% discount on both titles, and GOG's Preservation Program represents the platform's commitment to maintain the games' compatibility with current and future PCs. GOG tends to apply a light touch, the [[link]] idea being preservation after all, though it does sometimes apply custom improvements and quality-of-life tweaks. The two Stalker games join a list of over 100 titles in the program, including the likes of Alpha Protocol and the first three Resident Evil games.
Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl is the first game in the series, released in 2007, and established the unmistakably desolate vibe that has made the games so beloved. A lonely, brutal, resource-starved and often terrifying journey through the zone, where fellow Stalkers are as indifferent to you as you are to them, it is a PC gaming milestone (and has an incredibly rich selection of mods to sift through).
The second game in the series, Stalker: Clear Sky, is the one that misses out here: A prequel turned around in double-quick time that re-used much of Stalker's foundations, it's unclear why Clear Sky isn't included in the announcement. It is however available dirt cheap on GOG anyway, so it's not like it's disappeared.
Stalker: Call of Pripyat landed in 2009 in Ukraine and 2010 elsewhere (yes, GSC developed three Stalker games in three years) and was the semi-sequel to Shadow of Chernobyl. For my money this is as good as the first game in the series, though bear in mind that what I value in these games is creeping around, being freaked out, and occasionally twanging a guitar to reassure myself.
Shadow of Chernobyl is available for [[link]] $5, reduced from $20, while Shadow of Pripyat is a few pennies more. If your wallet won't quite stretch to the full-fat shiny sequel and you're waiting for a discount, then crank up one of these with the help of one of the many excellent community mod guides, and discover why the Zone keeps pulling old fools like me back in search of its secrets.