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A free upgrade to last year’s remaster of the original Stalker trilogy was released earlier this week and we tested this Enhanced Edition thoroughly on PC and consoles.
While Stalker: Shadow of Chornobyl really challenged systems across the board back in 2007 (and even literally melted some graphics cards after overclocking – RIP Radeon X800 XT), the flagship shooter no longer stands the test of time 18 years later, at least visually. Last year, GSC Game World released the Stalker: Legends of the Zone Trilogy for PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. This collection, available digitally for €39.99, includes the first installment in the series, its prequel Clear Sky (2008) and to round it up, the final act Call of Prypiat (2009), each costing €19.99 on their own. It wasn’t until last November that a new installment, Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl, was finally released. A few days ago, all owners of the trilogy on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S received a free upgrade to the new Enhanced Edition. The game is available on PC on Steam, the Epic Games Store, and GOG, and the original games are included free with purchase. The new version is said to feature enhanced lighting with Godrays, screen space reflections, global illumination, short pre-rendered 4K movies, sleeker skyboxes and water shaders, more attractive character and weapon models, reworked environments and sharper textures. There are also be different graphics modes for each console. So much for what had been announced before this update “dropped”, but let’s take a look at how the remastered Stalker trilogy performs in real-world conditions.
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Graphics Modes
We tested Stalker: Legends of the Zone Trilogy – Enhanced Edition on PlayStation 5 Professional and Xbox Series X. While the Enhanced Editions are supposed to be available as separate entries in the game library, our test version updated the existing games to the new version. On both consoles, the three separately downloadable games feature the following four different graphics modes:
- Quality (Xbox Series X/PS5/PS5 Pro: native 4K/30 FPS, Xbox Series S: native 2K/30 FPS)
- Balanced (Xbox Series X/PS5/PS5 Pro: upscaled to 4K/40 FPS, Xbox Series S: upscaled to 2K/40 FPS)
- Performance (Xbox Series X/PS5/PS5 Pro: upscaled to 4K/60 FPS, Xbox Series S: 1080p/60 FPS)
- Ultra Performance (Xbox Series X/PS5/PS5 Pro: upscaled to 2K/120 FPS)
While the balanced mode requires a TV with 120 Hz support, the ultra performance mode is not present on Xbox Series S, the only console we couldn’t test this Enhanced Edition with.
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Performance
In our testing, all four graphics modes ran smoothly in all three games, regardless of whether we were exploring the zone teeming with anomalies and mutated animals, defending a junkyard from raiders, or relaxing by the campfire to guitar music. We haven’t been able to conduct a detailed frame rate test yet, as the frame rates in all modes seem to be limited to the target rates mentioned above and, unlike The Last of Us Part II Remastered or Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, which offer the option to remove their FPS caps, these games don’t allow FPS measurements even with VRR-ready displays. However, this doesn’t always seem to apply in the menu and in the ultra performance mode on Xbox Series X, we measured around 80 to 95 FPS. However, this mode suffers from one massive problem on Xbox: screen tearing. We noticed massive, constant line shifts in all three titles on Xbox Series X in the 120 FPS mode and we were able to reproduce these issues on two different VRR-compatible displays. In the options menu, GSC Game World warns that tearing may occur if you don’t use a VRR-compatible display. We didn’t notice any tearing in any other mode on Xbox or in any of the four modes on PS5 Pro. If you turn off motion blur, you’ll also notice V-Sync applying in all other modes, except for the ultra performance mode on the Xbox Series X.
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Image Quality
The differences between all four modes are not really huge. The most striking difference lies literally in the shadows: While much sharper shadows are visible in quality mode, a lower setting seems to be used in performance and balanced modes. In ultra performance mode, shadows are still present, but they are so fuzzy and blurry that they are barely visible from a distance. Screen space reflections also seem to fall victim to a stable, high frame rate in this mode. Vegetation and entire islands do not reflect bodies of water. The vegetation, which is animated beautifully in all modes, and the large view distance on the other hand seem to be the same in all modes. Character models, effects and texture detail also look relatively similar across all modes. Some of the textures, such as the bullet-riddled house wall next to the NPC you first talk to once you enter the zone in Shadow of Chornobyl, look pretty washed out, just like in the PC original. The ground textures are also often very blurry, regardless of the selected graphics mode. Thanks to the generally higher image clarity of the remasters, you can even clearly see how the animation of the iconic, treacherous anomalies repeats and always cuts out at the exact same moment. The skyboxes are a fraction prettier and the character models are relatively detailed: scarred, worn-out faces, dog tags and equipment are a bit sharper than in the original games. In a direct comparison, the image on PS5 Pro is significantly more saturated than on Xbox Series X, even though we used the same gamma values. All graphics modes struggle with a image flicker, which becomes even more pronounced in the 120 FPS mode. Every now and then, you reach points in the game world where the flickering of all assets on the screen becomes even more intense. GSC Game World should definitely take a closer look at this.
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Gameplay
When you start each of the three games, you’re greeted with an introductory message from the developers. While some things have been changed, others have been left untouched to preserve the original feel. The games are playable in nine different languages, and the gruff yet charming original German and English voice acting returns. However, the Russian voice overs have been removed, as have some Soviet signs. All three titles now feature Mod.io integration, but mods created for the original games are not compatible. Accessing them via a console browser is a bit fiddly, but it’s nice to see that access to community content isn’t exclusively reserved for PC players. The console versions now also support mouse and keyboard, which works quite well and without significant input lag. Especially in the 120 FPS mode, the old Stalker games play incredibly smooth with a DualSense, but the auto-aim is a bit off-putting and the sensitivity when using the binoculars is set far too low by default. Unlike in Stalker 2, the gunplay with the controller is quite clunky and, despite numerous sensitivity settings and accessibility options, you never feel fully in control in combat. Some functions, such as grenade charging, have been removed. Adaptive triggers, haptic feedback and the touchpad aren’t made use of—unfortunate, as even PC gamers could benefit from these DualSense features. You can’t map buttons at will on your controller, but at least there’s an alternate control scheme, basically swapping X with R1 to jump. Keyboard inputs can be freely assigned just like on the PC, but mouse buttons cannot be assigned on either PC or console. The protagonist’s travel speed at full sprint is incredibly high, just like in the original. Just like in the early 2000’s, enemies hit you with pinpoint accuracy from several kilometers away, while our companions get stuck on obstacles and then die dramatically way too much. The branching mission design, which can be influenced by your decisions in the zone, still holds up, and it’s similar to current titles like Atomfall.
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PC version
The Stalker remaster trilogy supports Screen Space Ambient Occlusion (SSAO) modes such as Horizon-Based Ambient Occlusion (HBAO) and High Definition Ambient Occlusion (HDAO), Screen Space Shadows/Reflections/Global Illumination, tessellation shaders and MLAA anti-aliasing, as well as AMD’s FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) upscaler, while the Nvidia and Intel counterparts Deep Learning Super Sampling (DLSS) and Xe Super Sampling (XeSS) aren’t available. The PC version has similarly saturated colors as PS5 Pro does, while the Xbox Series X version is much more aligned to the original games in terms of lighting. Character models, draw distance, reflections and effects pretty much match the console quality mode, when you select the highest quality options. In a 1:1 comparison, it is noticeable that the additional shaders and, above all, the richer vegetation enhance the visual fidelity of these games.
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The remasters require significantly more hardware power than the original games: While we can play the first game on maximum graphics settings, in 4K at 900 to 1,000 FPS on a GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU, we only achieve 70 to 100 FPS in the Enhanced Edition. Weaker GPUs or even integrated graphics solutions fare much worse. Radeon 780M iGPU, handles the 2007 original quite well, displaying mostly over 60 FPS natively in 1600p on the best graphcis settings. In the remaster, the frame rate drops by three-quarters in these settings and in order to be able to reach a similiar frame rate, we have to use medium settings and activate FSR in balanced mode, which reduces the resolution to 944p. In this comparison, the originals look a lot better and effects like HBAO can also be retrofitted with one of the numerous available mods. In the Enhanced Edition, on the other hand, players complain about rejected mod submissions.
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In terms of gameplay, the PC version is identical to the console versions. Crouching lower still requires holding down an additional button simultaneously. Oddly enough, manual saves can no longer be named in the remaster. Due to these shortcomings, the Stalker remaster trilogy was not exactly well received by players and initially had “mostly negative” reviews on Steam, which at least got upgraded to “mixed” now. Hopefully, GSC Game World keeps drastically improving the performance of the Stalker remaster trilogy on PC.
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Final thoughts
The Enhanced Edition of the Stalker trilogy performs quite well on PS5 Pro and Xbox Series X, while performance on PC leaves a lot to be desired. While the distinctive atmosphere of the original games is captured quite well, it currently doesn’t feel quite right playing the FPS cult-classics with a controller. Managing your inventory and using the mod browser are a bit fiddly, but this isn’t too much of an issue. Mouse and keyboard support helps with that. The selection of graphics modes is extensive for owners of a 120 Hz TV; everyone else essentially gets a quality and performance mode like in last year’s original remasters, but garnished with upgraded textures, models, lighting and reflections. In a direct comparison, the pretty godrays immediately catch the eye; everything else is just a nice bonus. While the smooth 120 FPS ultra performance mode suffers from some compromises in terms of image quality—missing reflections, lower shadow quality and a somewhat softer image overall—the 60 FPS performance mode is the go-to mode with its decent image quality and smooth frame rate. The 40 FPS balanced mode seems to be on par with the 30 FPS quality mode. Even at 500 percent zoom, shadows and character models looked identical to us.
For those with a 120 Hz panel and wanting the best possible image quality, the 40 FPS mode is a nice compromise. So there’s something for everyone, although we would have preferred a more substantial visual upgrade overall. The PS5 Pro has more vibrant colors than the somewhat bleached-out look on Xbox Series X, which is closer to the original. You can’t really fix this with the in-game gamma slider, as it tends to make the image more milky and over- or underexposed. The trilogy has become slightly (consoles) to significantly (PC) prettier since the free update was released and the current-gen console version’s mouse and keyboard support as well as the 120 FPS mode are great additions. However, on Xbox, the latter mode is currently unenjoyable due to constant tearing and the games still feel out-of-touch with blurry textures, bland landscapes, asset flickering, a hit-or-miss artificial intelligence and clunky gunplay. Nevertheless, GSC Game World deserves credit for keeping the classics playable on current systems and providing free updates. We’re curious to see how the series will develop in the future.
GSC Game World provided us with Stalker: Legends of the Zone Trilogy – Enhanced Edition for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. We captured the screenshots on PS5 Pro, Xbox Series X and PC. While they were uncompressed for comparison purposes, we had to compress them slightly due to their file size (90 percent image quality).
