I beat this game but none other stalker games, should I play gamma?

[Slayrix]

I hear a lot of people say to play the entire trilogy before gamma but I kinda just want the sandbox experience that gamma seems to offer. I tried gamma once before but found it very complicated and I figured it was because of my lack of experience, but now that shouldn't be an issue right? Also I don't really care about the story all that much, it's kinda cool but I am much more interested in the exploration and the world itself.

[PsyWarVeteran]

Not even the people who completed the trilogy should play gamma.

[Stalker2010]

Short answer: no.
Long answer: Several people are typing

[Wei]

GAMMA is simply not worth it, and there are several reasons why you should avoid it. One of the main reasons I dislike freeroam mods like that is that it’s just boring and goes against what the Stalker series is about.

Instead of having quests that motivate you to explore the dangerous parts of the zone, they make your only motivation earning money to buy food and resources. Also, the quests are pretty much just fetch and bounty missions, which become repetitive quickly. The maps in Stalker aren’t designed for a survival game either, and that becomes more and more apparent as you play.

Lastly, the fact that getting decent gear or weapons in Anomaly/GAMMA requires you to craft and repair stuff, which is probably what you mean by complicated, is terrible. As soon as the enemy hits the ground, their equipment completely breaks, even though they were using it against you just fine.

I would go as far as to say that GAMMA is even worse than vanilla Anomaly because it adds even more unnecessary features, like a limb-based health system that only slows down the game.

[Slayrix]

So should I just play anomaly then?

[Wei]

You’re much better off playing other mods rather than free play ones like Anomaly or GAMMA. But, if you’re determined to try one of those, you should at least finish the other two games first.

[PsyWarVeteran]

Originally posted by Slayrix:

So should I just play anomaly then?

Trading arsenic for cyanide.

[Wei]

Originally posted by Wei:

One of the main reasons I dislike freeroam mods like that is...

Shoot, I meant freeplay mods, not freeroam.

[Slayrix]

Originally posted by Wei:

You’re much better off playing other mods rather than free play ones like Anomaly or GAMMA. But, if you’re determined to try one of those, you should at least finish the other two games first.

But that's the gameplay I am looking for, I want a sandbox experience, I didn't like SoC for the fact that I felt like I was just following a path, I want my own path where I start from nothing and then gain a bunch of gear and eventually take over the zone with my choice of faction, that's what I want.

[Wei]

What I'm saying is that none of these freeplay mods will offer a decent sandbox experience, because Stalker wasn't designed to be a sandbox series. You will end up getting bored after completing the same missions over and over again.

[JackieTheDemon]

Originally posted by Slayrix:

Originally posted by Wei:

You’re much better off playing other mods rather than free play ones like Anomaly or GAMMA. But, if you’re determined to try one of those, you should at least finish the other two games first.

But that's the gameplay I am looking for, I want a sandbox experience, I didn't like SoC for the fact that I felt like I was just following a path, I want my own path where I start from nothing and then gain a bunch of gear and eventually take over the zone with my choice of faction, that's what I want.

Play Call Of Pripyat. It's feels like a fresh experience, and gives you the free roam gameplay you want.

[GHL]

Originally posted by Slayrix:

Originally posted by Wei:

You’re much better off playing other mods rather than free play ones like Anomaly or GAMMA. But, if you’re determined to try one of those, you should at least finish the other two games first.

But that's the gameplay I am looking for, I want a sandbox experience, I didn't like SoC for the fact that I felt like I was just following a path, I want my own path where I start from nothing and then gain a bunch of gear and eventually take over the zone with my choice of faction, that's what I want.

If you want just that, then yeah, go play Anomaly or Gamma or whatever other similar mod you feel like. The closest you can get to that in the trilogy is in Clear Sky, but if you say that you don't care about the story, then I don't think you'll like it

[Death Approaches]

If that's what you want, by all means, go enjoy Gamma (shudders) or Anomaly. You might be the person they were made for and you'll be happily playing it for 100 hours. Who knows? Someone's got to like them. And if not? You'll have formed your own opinion on it/them, not listened to others, and that's no small feat these days.

The best advice I can give you: Lower your expectations before installing. No, lower. Still lower. No, dude, you misunderstand... lower.

[Slayrix]

Originally posted by GHL:

Originally posted by Slayrix:

But that's the gameplay I am looking for, I want a sandbox experience, I didn't like SoC for the fact that I felt like I was just following a path, I want my own path where I start from nothing and then gain a bunch of gear and eventually take over the zone with my choice of faction, that's what I want.

If you want just that, then yeah, go play Anomaly or Gamma or whatever other similar mod you feel like. The closest you can get to that in the trilogy is in Clear Sky, but if you say that you don't care about the story, then I don't think you'll like it

I tried blue sky but only lasted like 40 mins before giving up, within those 40 mins I had encountered so many issues, I had to quit and reload at least 3 times because objectives weren't completing and tbh most of my time was spent just being confused because I sat at an objective that was something like "wait for someone to help claim point," but no one ever came for 20 minutes. Eventually I just left the area and did some side stuff and then all of a sudden the objective was complete, then I got to cordon only for the game to spawn you in front of a turret that insta kills you, I tried to get past it for like 10 mins but could only get a few steps before the turret took me out every attempt, I would hide behind stuff but it would just wallbang me, I just gave up at that point, it wasn't worth it imo.

[Slayrix]

Originally posted by Death Approaches:

If that's what you want, by all means, go enjoy Gamma (shudders) or Anomaly. You might be the person they were made for and you'll be happily playing it for 100 hours. Who knows? Someone's got to like them. And if not? You'll have formed your own opinion on it/them, not listened to others, and that's no small feat these days.

The best advice I can give you: Lower your expectations before installing. No, lower. Still lower. No, dude, you misunderstand... lower.

I've tried it, I think I just need a few mods then it will be pretty fun. There just seems to be an extreme lack of ammo and healing and every item is in broken condition, but there are apparently mods that help this so I guess we'll see.

[Jesus Christ]

Originally posted by Wei:

Instead of having quests that motivate you to explore the dangerous parts of the zone, they make your only motivation earning money to buy food and resources. Also, the quests are pretty much just fetch and bounty missions, which become repetitive quickly. The maps in Stalker aren’t designed for a survival game either, and that becomes more and more apparent as you play.

There is a main quest in Gamma. That being said.

OP, if you want to play Gamma why are you asking people if you should? It's free. Just go play it.