Stalker Online is a new massively multiplayer online take on the franchise that spun off from the 1979 Andrei Tarkovsky film. It offers players an open world in an alternate-history post apocalypse in the territories of the Soviet Union. But unlike S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl and the upcoming STALKER 2 from developer GSC Game World, Stalker Online puts you in a world with other players. And now developer Mobile Technologies is showing the game in action in its first trailer.
Stalker Online is due out on Steam later this year. And Stalker Online looks a lot like many other postapocalyptic survival sims on Steam.
Here’s how Mobile Technologies is pitching the game.
“Featuring a large open world that has been meticulously detailed, Stalker Online presents a desolate landscape with post-Soviet ’90s architecture,” reads a Mobile Technologies press release. “Players will have to explore the deep reaches of the zone if they wish to uncover its mysteries as well as collect valuable supplies to ensure their continued survival. Venturing out into the zone isn’t without its perils, mutants, anomalies, and other players await.”
The trailer shows squads of players with big backpacks working together and fighting off hordes of mutants. And these moments should all seem familiar to anyone who has played DayZ.
As with other survival games, Stalker Online will focus on realistic weapons and a player-determined economy. It also has a progression and job system. That should force you to fill a niche. In turn, that will encourage players to work together to efficiently gather resources.