S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Legends of the Zone Trilogy Enhanced Edition Reviewed

I didn’t expect to feel this kind of fear from a game released almost two decades ago. But here I am, sitting in front of my Xbox, sweating over a pack of dogs that may or may not be mutants, with a half-broken rifle and no bandages left. Welcome back to the Zone.

This Enhanced Edition bundles Shadow of Chornobyl, Clear Sky, and Call of Prypiat into one radioactive package. I spent over 60 hours on Xbox Series X exploring all three, and I can honestly say this is the best (and most forgiving) way to dive into one of gaming’s most unforgiving worlds.

Let’s start with Shadow of Chornobyl. It’s the original, the legend, and still the most atmospheric. You begin as a nameless stalker with no memory and one goal: kill Strelok. What follows is a journey through a hostile wasteland filled with anomalies, mutated wildlife, and the most bullet-hungry enemies I’ve seen outside of Doom. It still feels immersive, especially with the new lighting effects and subtle haptic feedback on the Xbox controller. But I can’t lie – this one crashed on me several times. Enemies spawned in weird places. Some got stuck behind walls. A few even shot me while hiding in solid geometry.

Clear Sky is the weakest link. It’s a prequel that focuses on faction warfare. You get dragged into a conflict between various stalker groups, which sounds exciting until you realize that your AI allies have a death wish and the enemy snipes you through bushes. On Xbox, this one was also the most unstable. I had more crashes here than in the other two games combined. That said, the swamps looked incredible, and the atmosphere was even stronger thanks to the reworked weather system.

Call of Prypiat is where it all comes together. Better map design, smarter quests, and far fewer bugs. It’s more open, more player-friendly, and has features the others desperately needed – like the ability to sleep to pass time and upgrade your gear more easily. On Xbox, this one ran the smoothest. Only one crash in 20 hours, and the frame rate stayed steady in Performance mode.

Speaking of Performance mode, use it. The “Quality” setting looked a bit better on paper, but the trade-off wasn’t worth it. On Xbox, Performance mode gave me a reliable 60fps with cleaner movement and no blurry camera issues.

There are some clever touches here too. The controller vibrates subtly near anomalies. Radiation makes the controller speaker crackle (if you’re using a headset, you’ll hear it clearly). In one camp, I heard a haunting song get louder as I walked toward the fire – like it was actually playing on an old radio. These things might sound small, but they add to the immersion in big ways.

The new Ukrainian voiceover deserves credit too. It fits perfectly, making the world feel more authentic. The Zone is in Ukraine. It’s only right that the people in it sound like they’re from there.

Still, this is S.T.A.L.K.E.R., and it comes with its quirks. Menus don’t pause the game, so rummaging through your backpack during a fight is suicide. Subtitles are small and hard to read, especially in bright areas. And there’s no colorblind mode or remappable controls. Accessibility is a big miss here.

Auto-saves are inconsistent. Sometimes the game saves after a big event, sometimes not. If you forget to quicksave, expect to replay long chunks. I once lost 30 minutes of progress because I thought the game would be kind. The Zone isn’t kind.

Call of Prypiat is the clear winner. Shadow still shines with its mystery. Clear Sky… well, it’s there. Together, they form a trilogy that doesn’t just challenge your reflexes, but your patience, your planning, and sometimes your sanity.