Stalker 2 is long overdue and to wait nothing better than this ambitious project to get your dose of post-apocalyptic FPS. It will heat up the PCs.
If you can’t wait Stalker 2 which has been postponed several times and which should normally be released by the end of 2023, you can wait while discovering this crazy project which concerns the first 3 episodes, namely Shadow of Chernobyl, Clear SkyAnd Call of Pripyat. The objective is simple, to run the whole thing under Unreal Engine 5 via a huge port. A titanic work that can already be discovered.
Stalker yes, but under Unreal Engine 5
We know that Stalker 2 should work under Epic’s most recent graphics engine, namely the Unreal Engine 5. Based on this premise, it gave an idea to fans who wanted to “partially” port the trilogy Stalker original in the same 3D engine. This work of madman bears the name of RedProjects and given the very pressing request of many fans of the FPS, a very first version highlighting Shadow of Chernobyl can now be downloaded and is fully playable. The team behind, however, would like to caution, stating:
It’s not just a simple port in the traditional sense, it’s a hybrid. All internal processes, NPC behavior logic, shots, quests are taken from the stock X-Ray engine. But the graphics part has been replaced by Unreal Engine
So the port only deals with improving the purely graphical part and it does not take into account the other changes of the Unreal Engine 5. It is however a nice evolution and it allows to modernize the FPS which begins seriously to grow old despite the quality of its gameplay. Everything is not perfect yet and the current version has many bugs, including a system that has trouble displaying player hands or inventory problems. Interested people can download this unofficial version of Stalker under Unreal Engine 5 via the famous Moddb site. It is a “build” that does not require the base game to access it, as curious as it may seem.
Stalker 2, what’s new?
According to the various trailers and leaks, Stalker 2 should be a huge step forward technically speaking. So much so that players already have their teeth chattering at the thought of not having the sufficient configuration on PC. At the time when the first episode was released, in addition to optimization issues, the title was known to bring many PCs to their knees. Let’s hope that the use of the Unreal Engine 5 does not give rise to a monster of beauty inaccessible to ordinary mortals.