STALKER 2 Follows A Franchise Tradition By Not Featuring Co-Op, But Installing The Right Mods Makes Other STALKER Games Less Lonely

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STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl has finally arrived with a positive reception after years of delays. While the long-awaited sequel successfully captured what made the original games so great, STALKER 2 still lacks one feature that fans have been craving to see for years. STALKER 2 lacks any multiplayer features at launch, and although multiplayer could come in the future, there are no plans for the addition of the co-op campaign.

Despite STALKER 2‘s lack of a traditional co-op mode, future multiplayer plans may expand on the playable versions seen in past games. The simplicity of the previous PvP modes in previous STALKER games made them something of a letdown when compared to the unique multiplayer experience, being watered-down versions of simple PvP from other games like Counter-Strike. The STALKER franchise is no stranger to complex factions or groups of Stalkers traveling the Zone, and while it would be difficult to add on a technical level, traveling in groups is the safest way to survive the deadly world of STALKER.

STALKER 2’s Lack Of Co-Op Is No Surprise

Following A Long-Lived Franchise Tradition

While the lack of co-op in STALKER 2‘s can be disappointing, it’s not something that any long-time fans should be surprised to see missing. The STALKER franchise has always striven to deliver an immersive and incredibly challenging single-player experience, with co-op likely standing in the way of the developer’s ideal STALKER experience. Not only would co-op remove some of the immersion and fear factor STALKER is known for, but it would be incredibly difficult to add without building STALKER 2 from the ground up with co-op in mind.

Skif from STALKER 2 crying with gameplay behind him.

More Games Need To Implement STALKER 2’s Coolest Feature

STALKER 2’s coolest feature not only makes it an incredibly immersive experience but also puts it leagues ahead of other RPGs like Fallout.

With STALKER 2 being released so long after the original franchise, it’s a much safer bet to focus on the franchise’s greatest strengths rather than experimenting with new mechanics like co-op. Fans hoping for a future co-op update to STALKER 2 will find themselves disappointed, but the full modding support thanks to Unreal Engine 5 offers a glimmer of hope in the form of community-made multiplayer mods. Players will also have to wait a while to receive the planned multiplayer update, as the developers work to stabilize STALKER 2 for a more seamless experience, with the 1.0.1 patch fixing over 650 known issues.

Call Of Pripyat Has A Proper Multiplayer Mod

Giving Players The True Co-Op STALKER Experience

While there’s no official STALKER co-op mode in any of its four releases, some dedicated members in the community have already made their own working co-op mods. While the mods themselves have varying levels of success, the X-Ray Multiplayer Extension for STALKER: Call of Pripyat by the xMPE Team on ModDB has come the closest to emulating the true co-op STALKER experience. This mod is still being worked on to this very day, with the latest update from November 10 serving as the release of a full Call of Pripyat co-op mode with features restored from the single-player game.

The X-Ray Multiplayer Extnesion mod also comes with changes and fixes for elements like UI and animations.

The X-Ray Multiplayer Extension works almost seamlessly for players, letting them experience the updated co-op campaign in its entirety with some additional modding support, making the post-apocalyptic open world feel much less lonely. While this multiplayer mod still has its share of minor issues and bug fixes, it’s the most stable yet and is an amazing community achievement, especially given how old the original STALKER games are. The concept of adding multiplayer mods to classic games has become a reality for more and more games over the years, with the legendary Skyrim co-op mod having helped to pave the way.

Multiplayer For Other STALKER Games Is Messier

STALKER 1 & 2 Don’t Have The Same Solutions

Unfortunately for fans hoping to experience STALKER: Shadow Of Chernobyl or STALKER: Clear Sky, multiplayer mods for the older STALKER games are much more unstable and less developed in comparison. While there’s been some success in adding co-op to these games by building off of the X-Ray Multiplayer Extension, they are often riddled with bugs, constant crashes, and a lack of necessary features like saving or open-world consistency. Despite these issues, it’s still possible to play the older STALKER games in multiplayer, but it’s far from the relatively ideal experience found in STALKER: Call of Pripyat.

The protagonist looking at a distorted entrance in Stalker 2

10 Things To Do First In Stalker 2 (Essential Beginner Tips)

STALKER 2 is a big game, and navigating it might be a challenge without a few hints to light the way and make the opening hours of the game easier.

While it’s uncertain if players will be able to solve the modding problems of the drastically older STALKER games, there’s still hope for STALKER 2‘s future community creations. Acknowledging the popularity of mods being an integral part of STALKER‘s success over the years, the developers plan to support community creations by adding a modding toolkit for Xbox Series X/S.

Not only are the developers planning to support the modding community over time, but the updated Unreal Engine 5 will make it drastically easier to edit compared to previous engines, being just the thing fans need to bring their creations to life. While it will be a mountainous challenge to add a true co-op mode to STALKER 2, the new release is bringing back some much-needed life into the cult-classic franchise, reinvigorating the even larger modding community to try once more.

Source: ModDB