Review

First Impressions

I don't know what the developers were aiming for when creating this expansion—whether to genuinely address the "mistakes" or to scrape a little more wool from the fan community of the original game—but in my opinion, the expansion turned out to be much weaker than the original game and certainly weaker than the infamous AMK (let's ignore the storm chimeras).

I played both games quite some time after their release, so I don't see the point in criticizing them for bugs. Yes, both games have their glitches from time to time, but they rarely break completely. The problem lies elsewhere—in the terrible optimization of the game, which can be said to be almost non-existent. While the graphics may have improved superficially, it's not significant.

What really annoys me is the rapid shift from day to a genuinely dark night. And you can't sleep, plus visibility is poor. It's not that fighting becomes harder; the enemy fears the dark more than the bullets, but playing is not nearly as fun. This is somewhat compensated by the second-level night vision goggles, but you won't get those right away.

If the graphics don't impress, how about the story? Not at all. It is short and mournful. There are very few side quests, but idiotic faction wars have emerged. I was always amused by the hundreds of corpses and continuous military actions in the original game, but here the fountain of absurdity flows at full force.

Stalker Targets

The tools used for confrontation are not great either. We have three categories of weapons—utterly useless (shotguns, sawed-off shotguns, pistols, regular ammo), occasionally useful (significantly weakened grenades and shotguns), and universally useful.

At first, there will be a tough period of trying to obtain a decent automatic rifle, like an AK. After that, a slightly less tough period of acquiring armor-piercing rounds for it. Only then will the enemy transition to the next world much more smoothly.

If before, the best argument was distance, now you have to get closer; bullet trajectories have become capricious. You shouldn't approach too closely, as the enemy throws grenades with sniper-like precision, but does so quite humorously—shamelessly warning you about the grenade throw.

If you're wondering which automatic rifle to choose—5.56 or 5.45, I recommend going for the domestic models; they are much more reliable. If in the original my favorite was the "Vintorez", now it's the "Abakan"—powerful, accurate, reliable, with an optimal two-round burst... Moreover, you don't even need to buy armor-piercing rounds for it—you will take them from enemy corpses.

From sniper weapons, you can discard everything except for the "Vintorez", especially since you will receive it with all upgrades through the game's plot, and you won't lack for ammo. Just a note—only armor-piercing rounds, and only if the enemy is not too close. This weapon is very useful against two types of enemies—snipers and machine gunners, plus you can quietly take out a few unsuspecting guards. Otherwise, grab your "Abakan" with its 45 one-way tickets.

Towards the end of the game, you will receive a machine gun—discard it without hesitation; it is useless. In the finale, you will receive the FT-200M as your second weapon—send it in the direction of the machine gun; the fully upgraded "Abakan" will be significantly more useful.

Everything mentioned above mostly applies to humans, but what about mutants? There are very few of them now, but you can only communicate with them using shotguns, which you can discard after the "Red Forest"; they are needed only against mutants. Although I have successfully fought with the critters using an assault rifle, that's a matter of taste: shotgun + shell or automatic + regular ammo.

And that is why you don't need darts and slugs, and you certainly shouldn't upgrade accuracy while excluding the possibility of shooting shells.

Yes, you can now upgrade weapons and armor. But this requires serious financial investments. And the best way to get money is to sell artifacts. Therefore, I prefer to choose the scientist's suit ("Seva", protection against anomalies) for outerwear and add armor upgrades to it, rather than the military's armored suit ("Bulat", protection against bullets)—now every artifact requires you to venture into the heart of anomalies. If you decide to add more slots for artifacts, don't add a fourth if you only have one "bubble"—otherwise, your corpse will glow at night due to radiation.

Do Artifacts Whistle?

Unfortunately, they don't. Everything is different now; searching for artifacts has become quite a dangerous activity, but better to understand from the start how to catch them; otherwise, you will lose many of them.

Take a bolt and a detector ("6" and "O"), and if you see an anomaly nearby, having at least a second-level detector is desirable.

If you see a green spot (for the latest detector), that is the artifact. Attempting to turn toward it and charge straight in like a bull will end tragically. However, wandering around the artifact can result in dying from radiation or acid—act cautiously but swiftly once you have entered the anomaly zone.

Artifacts are generally amusing; two "blanks" allow you to run around the map without expending stamina, a bubble neutralizes radiation, and two balls restore health in a couple of seconds. If the bleeding is too severe, you can wear "Flame" for a couple of seconds. The conclusion is that bandages and radiation-removing medications are not needed at all, and medkits are almost unnecessary.

If you want to sell excess artifacts, you will need "Yantar" and Sakharov. And only him, otherwise, you will lose too much money. Amusingly, offering him artifacts worth 50,000 at once will elicit the message that the character has no money, but selling artifacts one by one will work fine; it's funny, isn't it?

Conclusion

The game is saved by only one thing: it is too short and doesn't have time to annoy too much with its flaws. However, if you didn't like the original game, it might be better to forget about this expansion as well—especially if you haven't completed it yet. There is something unhealthy about it, like a stalker sleeping with a flashlight on... Should you wake it up?