The game could have been an absolute banger but they completely ♥♥♥♥♥♥ up THE core feature!

I mean sure the game world and the atmosphere are top notch and you can overlook some not yet perfect features like stamina/weight handling and way too short day/night cycles, but the AI and the spawning system for NPCs in this game are just unbelievably bad.

Let me explain: The A-Life system of the old games was what gave the game the feeling of being alive. Stalker troops and mutants roamed freely in the zone fighting their own battles and creating a cult status for the games. There were even entire factions that fought each other across the whole map without the player having to be even involved. Who screwed that up now? Its completely missing!

On top of that the overall AI is worse than in any 2000s rpg. This applies to both the combat AI and the general behavior of the NPCs. Its just rediculous.

I still give the game a thumbs up because in all other aspects it is exactly what the community wanted. But I hope that the guy who was responsible for the technical implementation of the AI ​​in this game is being whipped naked through the office right now. Get his ass out, he didn't earn a single cent of the proceeds from the sales!

The game could have been an absolute banger but they completely fucked up THE core feature! I mean sure the game world and the atmosphere are top notch and you can overlook some not yet perfect features like stamina/weight handling and way too short day/night cycles, but the AI and the spawning system for NPCs in this game are just unbelievably bad. Let me explain: The A-Life system of the old games was what gave the game the feeling of being alive. Stalker troops and mutants roamed freely in the zone fighting their own battles and creating a cult status for the games. There were even entire factions that fought each other across the whole map without the player having to be even involved. Who screwed that up now? Its completely missing! On top of that the overall AI is worse than in any 2000s rpg. This applies to both the combat AI and the general behavior of the NPCs. Its just rediculous. I still give the game a thumbs up because in all other aspects it is exactly what the community wanted. But I hope that the guy who was responsible for the technical implementation of the AI ​​in this game is being whipped naked through the office right now. Get his ass out, he didn't earn a single cent of the proceeds from the sales!