Stalker: Legends Of The Zone’s Steam Reviews Improve After Devs Reverse Soviet Imagery Removal

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Summary

  • Stalker’s enhanced Legends of the Zone trilogy quickly fell to mostly negative reviews on Steam hours after it launched.
  • That was largely due to Soviet Union imagery being removed from the remastered versions of the games.
  • GSC has responded to feedback, putting the imagery back in which has lifted the trilogy’s reviews back to mixed.

Last week, GSC Game World introduced Stalker: Legends of the Zone, a compilation that encompasses remastered versions of the original three Stalker games. Initially, these games garnered mainly negative reviews. However, the negative sentiments have been reversed due to the developers actively addressing and implementing constructive feedback received from players.

The upgraded version received a significant amount of negative feedback, primarily due to its alteration of the games by eliminating Soviet imagery. This change seemed to be the main point of frustration for many fans. Additionally, some aspects related to the collection’s overall performance may have contributed to the review bombing.

In a recent update, GSC restored the visuals such as monuments and posters in the remastered versions of the games, which is why Stalker fans are expressing gratitude. The team’s responsiveness has led to the removal or reversal of negative reviews on Steam, resulting in all three games being rated mixed again. Additionally, fans have been vocalizing their appreciation on the Stalker subreddit.

Stalker’s World Now Looks Like It Was A Part Of The Soviet Union Again

Just Like The Real Chernobyl

I’m thrilled to share my enthusiasm over SurDno’s post titled “They Listened!”, emphasized three times in all caps, complete with an image of a restored Soviet monument within the updated remaster. This heartwarming gesture is a testament to how grateful we fans are! The replies are filled with gratitude and awe, as many of us were pleasantly surprised to see that the development team was attentively listening to our feedback and swiftly reversed their decision.

The predicament here is quite clear from either perspective. In the Stalker series, although they’re works of fiction, they are based on the actual location, which is Chernobyl. Just as in the games, Chernobyl in reality exists in a sort of timeless state – specifically, it remains frozen in 1986 when Ukraine was still under Soviet rule. An image of Chernobyl that doesn’t echo its Soviet past distorts the real-life portrayal of this place.

Regarding GSC, their Ukrainian developers are experiencing Russia’s invasion of their homeland, which has caused delays in the development of Stalker 2. Some team members had to evacuate their work locations due to the ongoing conflict. Given the current circumstances, it’s not surprising that they might choose to omit any elements from their games that depict a time when Ukraine was part of a country they are now at odds with.

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2025-05-26 11:34