I have enjoyed playing quite a few first person shooter/adventure type games over the years, but the number and frequency has seriously declined over the past decade. I seem to be getting more and more fussy (which also applies to flight simulation if I am being honest), so the desire to "take a risk" has not been as strong in recent years. I would have loved to have played Half Life : Alyx, but sadly that is only playable with a VR headset, and I am not prepared to spend lots of money on something that I do not really want at this time.

One of the first person games that I enjoyed playing in the past was the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R (Shadow of Chernobyl). It was flawed in many ways (not the least being the rather restricted nature of the supposedly "open world" environment), but it was most definitely atmospheric. Bearing this in mind, I have just noticed that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is in development, and is (tentatively) scheduled for a 2021 release. The open world format is apparently genuine this time, although this in itself can be a problem if the environment does not feel totally natural and realistic. Atmosphere was something that the original game had in spades, and is an essential component of first person games for me.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that the story will be detailed and interesting, and allow a natural progression through the game world (rather than a series of random missions that feel entirely disconnected from each other).

https://www.stalker2.com/

The official website does not contain a huge amount of information at this time, but this is a game that I will most definitely be keeping an eye on.

 

I shall definitely check out STALKER Chris.

Cyberpunk 2077 is out soon which will be pretty amazing.

I'm addicted to COD Warzone currently. I know its COD which somepeople deride, but Warzone is free and excellent. Fantastic Battle Royale 

Edited October 15, 20205 yr by martin-w

Cyberpunk 2077 looks amazing, but there are times when I think that there can be too much visual extravagance in a game. It gets to the point where there is so much to look at in a single field of view that the player could become overwhelmed, and end up missing the visual (and other) cues that matter. I hope that is not the case with Cyberpunk 2077....

38 minutes ago, Christopher Low said:

Cyberpunk 2077 looks amazing, but there are times when I think that there can be too much visual extravagance in a game. It gets to the point where there is so much to look at in a single field of view that the player could become overwhelmed, and end up missing the visual (and other) cues that matter. I hope that is not the case with Cyberpunk 2077....

 

I know what you mean. Cyberpunk is a very open world adventure story though. So various cues are a essential part of the game. 

Stalker SC and CP were quite good and enjoyable, almost RPG-like. They showed yet again that gameplay and atmosphere are more important than graphics sophistication  and special effects.  Lets hope that S2 will be on the same line.

Very interesting. I still play Stalker and Call of Pripyat once in a while.

 Sue

 I get security warnings from ESET, and Century Link both trying to open your link.

Edited October 15, 20205 yr by Penzoil3

8 hours ago, Penzoil3 said:

Very interesting. I still play Stalker and Call of Pripyat once in a while.

 Sue

 I get security warnings from ESET, and Century Link both trying to open your link.

 

No security warnings for me. 

Any other recommendations for relatively recent atmospheric first person games? These must be primarily single player games, with an interesting story. The ability to sneak around and avoid combat where possible is also highly rated in Mr Low's household

I enjoyed playing the plunder mode of warzone in a 4 person squad with my friends. I'm not a fan of Battle Royale games although came close with Ring of Elysium, but couldn't play it due to a hardware ban... Cheers for that Tencent, you Kakapos, for your "has gaming keyboard, therefore HAX" logic...

@Christopher Low Continuing a Russian theme, have you played any of the Metro 2033 franchise? I've read & enjoyed the book, but not played the games.

I am very tempted to check out Metro 2033 Redux @ £14.99 on Steam.....

Edited October 17, 20205 yr by Christopher Low

3 hours ago, Christopher Low said:

I am very tempted to check out Metro 2033 Redux @ £14.99 on Steam.....

 

It's more expensive, although there might be some deals to be had, but, get Metro Exodus instead. It has a similar vibe to Stalker, and features large open areas, which though not true open world, as you travel to new regions by train, each section is vast, allowing you to tackle the missions in different ways and at your own pace. It's also an amazing graphics showcase, but, it scales well across hardware specs.

I got lucky with Epic Games, as they were giving away £10 to redeem on any game if you downloaded Rocket League, which is a free game anyway 😆 and they had an offer on Exodus of £17.99 so it only cost me £7.99, which was a bargain, but it's still worth paying a good price for.

I would prefer to try the more linear Metro 2033 Redux and Last Light Redux first before deciding whether to play Exodus or not.

Edited October 17, 20205 yr by Christopher Low

On 10/15/2020 at 7:06 AM, Christopher Low said:

Atmosphere was something that the original game had in spades, and is an essential component of first person games for me.

 

STALKER is definitely my #1 for atmospheric, modern game.

If you want a few other suggestions, #2 for me would be Bioshock, then #3 Resident Evil 7 biohazard; all totally unique and a great atmospheric experience. Some may say Prey 2017 or Deus Ex:HR, but they are both FAR below these top 3 IMO.

BioShock was a big disappointment to me. It started well, and the first level made me think that I could look forward to a tense, atmospheric gaming experience. Unfortunately, most of the game after that was nothing of the sort, and I was so bored after the next seven or eight levels that I gave up. As for the Deus Ex franchise, nothing comes close to the original. In fact, I consider Deus Ex to be the most enjoyable first person experience that I have ever had on a PC (yes, even better than Half Life 2). It was an amazing game, full of depth, options, and a really interesting story. An absolute masterpiece in my opinion.

Edited October 17, 20205 yr by Christopher Low