First game experience required?

[Lord Commander Dante]

Or can i just dive into the second game without worrying about any plot gaps?

[1337Dude]

Doesn't matter.

[Ewista]

Im sure you can jump in and enjoy it like that.
of course playing the other 3 will give you more perspective, bt this close to release, youre probably no itching to fist play through 3 games before starting this one and that sort of goal would break the joy for those games anyway

[IC3D_ZOMBIE]

No you dont need to play the first few games to understand the story but it would help you understand references. There is tons of youtube videos that summarize the plot in short but simple to understand format if you wish.

[Draconus]

Originally posted by Lord Commander Dante:

Or can i just dive into the second game without worrying about any plot gaps?

i have all the games the Shadow of Chernobyl with stalker complete 2009 mod off mod db which is entire overhaul of the game is a must have and i do recommend getting the others as they have great experiences to play through....another neat one to check out Stalker Anomaly which can be found on Moddb its free its a moddifided build of Stalker shadow of chernobyl on entire new enhanced engine that is 64 bit which is built off Monolith engine technology...think i had that right, been a while since i fired that one up lol

[rustypup]

There is no story.

There are only juicy, juicy, artefacts....

....and weapon mods

That is all.

[Cheyenesku]

Originally posted by rustypup:

There is no story.

There are only juicy, juicy, artefacts....

....and weapon mods

That is all.

You are talking about GAMMA

[Cheyenesku]

Originally posted by Lord Commander Dante:

Or can i just dive into the second game without worrying about any plot gaps?

No but read the story on STALKER wikia of all three games ;)

[Hagen]

This will technically be the 4th game

Nah, as long as you know the basic premise you are good and I'm sure they will do a "Previously On" for the setup.

Also, those juicy, juicy artifacts and mods like the poster above said. May I add campfire guitar sessions and sausage

[1337Dude]

STALKER is a vibe and setting more than a story. But there are interesting stories within the game's world...

[Hagen]

Originally posted by 1337Dude:

STALKER is a vibe and setting more than a story. But there are interesting stories within the game's world...

This, completely ^. It takes place in a void around the Chernobyl meltdown near Pripyat, Ukraine. Stalkers are scavengers. Scientists, militants and survivors are also in that void. All are fighting for either knowledge, money or power. Unfortunately mutated animals, anomalies and straight up cthulhu like creatures stand in their way...

[THEGREEN / DELTA]

Nope. I would go so far as to say you might bring a whole different perspective to the world of STALKER us veterans won't be able to experience. Which is a good thing in the end since that fosters change and sharing of different experiences and methods. You're a clean slate compared to a veteran who probably wants to go through tried-and-true methods they know worked back in the original trilogy and, this being STALKER, probably works here too. Don't take that as a bad thing either; you're the novice stalker today just as they were back in the 2000s. I just hope you don't accidentally run into as many gravity anomalies when first getting your legs in as we did back when :)