# S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

7 Hacker News commenters recommended S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and 3 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Fans recommend the games for their quirky charm, modding scene and smooth performance, including on Linux. Critics say the games are quirky and have mouse input problems.

## Why people recommend it

- Quirky engine charm (2 comments): "In my experience they've always worked pretty well, though the games are quirky in general." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47717122)) "it's probably the worst example of "Unreal slop" I've experienced" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48820251))
- Runs well, even on Linux (2 comments): "In my experience they've always worked pretty well, though the games are quirky in general." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47717122)) "the original games ran very well, with no (Linux specific) issues" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47717215))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Quake](https://hackerapproved.com/p/quake.md): 118 recommend
- [Doom by id Software](https://hackerapproved.com/p/doom.md): 102 recommend
- [Unreal Tournament 2004](https://hackerapproved.com/p/unreal-tournament-2004.md): 51 recommend
- [Quake III Arena](https://hackerapproved.com/p/quake-iii-arena.md): 49 recommend
- [Half-Life](https://hackerapproved.com/p/half-life.md): 42 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "S.T.A.L.K.E.R.", https://hackerapproved.com/p/s-t-a-l-k-e-r/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).