Stalker remaster reviews crater to 'Mostly Negative' as players lament deleted Soviet monuments, yanked Russian language, and blurry graphics that I didn't notice in 23 hours playing

You’re taking a peek at an article penned by someone who might have been the first to completely master the Enhanced Edition of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chornobyl on PC. GSC Game World officially unveiled their “completely revamped and optimized” updates for the original Stalker trilogy – Shadow of Chornobyl, Clear Sky, and Call of Prypiat – this morning, offering these upgrades free to those who already owned the originals. However, I managed to thoroughly explore the Zone in a 23-hour gaming session spread over last week, using my writing privilege for games as a passport. Frankly, I’m quite fond of Stalker, isn’t that evident?

It’s quite astonishing, given the circumstances, that as I write this, all three games in the remastered trilogy on Steam have largely negative reviews. As I delve deeper into the comments, I find myself navigating through a vast ocean of discontent, represented by an overwhelming number of red ratings. However, during my own playthrough, I encountered no issues. Could it be that players have somehow obtained a different version of the game than I did?

It appears there are some issues with the remastered games. If you examine the reviews closely, you’ll notice that many of the complaints originate from alterations made to the games’ sound and depictions of Soviet artifacts. The main source of frustration for players, particularly Russian ones, is the deletion of the original games’ Russian audio track. While the game retains a Russian interface and subtitles, GSC has taken out that audio for this updated version (a decision they also made for the console versions last year).

In a critique for SoC, there’s sadness expressed over the absence of renowned Russian voices due to political motives. A user playing in Russian shares their disappointment, stating that the game is now being used as a tool of propaganda against Russian-speaking individuals, as mentioned in a review for Clear Sky.

For all three games, there’s an abundance of similar content, a situation that might not come as a shock. What could be more surprising is the removal of certain Soviet symbols found in the original versions, even in these Enhanced Editions. I can verify that the monument at Chornobyl, once displaying “ChAES in the name of VI Lenin,” has been entirely erased, leaving only the base upon which it formerly stood.

In this game, a carryover from the console versions is an element similar to the deleted Russian audio. Interestingly, I didn’t notice it until I started playing. Since other Soviet artifacts, such as posters, were also omitted in the console ports, it’s possible these absences continue in the PC remasters, although I can’t say for certain.

It is uncertain whether the decision to eliminate certain elements in the game by GSC devs stems from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, or from Ukraine’s own laws on decommunization that prohibit specific representations of Soviet and Nazi symbolism, which might have led to the cancellation of Ukrainian Mortal Kombat release in 2019. I’ve contacted the studio for clarification and will update this article if I receive a response.

In simpler terms, if you’re planning to play in English and aren’t overly concerned about Soviet monuments, is there anything from the negative reviews that are causing these games to receive low scores that you should be mindful of? Essentially, there’s just one issue. Most players have been expressing concerns about the graphics being blurry across all three versions of Stalker Enhanced Editions, with this problem becoming more noticeable when FSR and antialiasing are enabled.

Currently, my statement is that I’ve played 23 hours of Shadow of Chornobyl, and none of the complaints I’m hearing about it resonate with me. The game looks fantastic on various screens like my 1440p monitor, 4K TV, and Steam Deck. However, there are numerous reports of issues with the game that I can’t dismiss as false. It could be a problem specific to certain hardware configurations, or perhaps I have lower standards than others. If you’re sensitive to such matters, it might be wise to hold off on playing until GSC addresses these concerns. I’ve even reached out to the studio for more information and will share any updates I receive.

Currently, I’ve provided a few side-by-side screenshots of Shadow of Chernobyl and Call of Prypiat running on my system. Since I’m not part of our hardware team (lacking specialized skills), I leave it to you to determine if the images exhibit an excessive amount of blur. Personally, I believe these versions offer the finest Stalker gaming experience available today, even for someone who nostalgically yearns for Soviet artifacts.