In one segment, I arrive to establish contact with a bunker only to find out everyone inside’s been killed—I slink around corners, cautiously search for a laptop, and await whatever butchered everyone to jump out at me—perhaps, if I’m lucky, with an ‘ooga booga’. Stalker 2 resists this urge, however, and it just made me even more nervous. This is a trick I imagine the full game’s going to use with cruel efficiency, after all, the monsters you can’t see are the most frightening.

This is what I love about STALKER, the lonely, desolate and tense moments. Jump scares are great and all, but the atmospheric deserted locations and the constant fear and anticipation is what really sets it apart. Few games do loneliness as well as STALKER.