S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
Shares rank 18 of 24 first-person shooters by recommenders
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.
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.
10 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 7
- criticize it
- 3
- approval share
- 70%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 7 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 2.3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Quirky engine charm
“In my experience they've always worked pretty well, though the games are quirky in general.”
Comment from 10 Apr 2026 in “France Launches Government Linux Desktop Plan as Windows Exit Begins” “it's probably the worst example of "Unreal slop" I've experienced”
Comment from 7 Jul 2026 in “Microsoft Fire IdTech Team at Id Software” Runs well, even on Linux
“In my experience they've always worked pretty well, though the games are quirky in general.”
Comment from 10 Apr 2026 in “France Launches Government Linux Desktop Plan as Windows Exit Begins” “the original games ran very well, with no (Linux specific) issues”
Comment from 10 Apr 2026 in “France Launches Government Linux Desktop Plan as Windows Exit Begins”
Other first-person shooters people recommend
The four most recommended other first-person shooters, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quake | 118 | 29 | 80% | 12 | 28 yrs8 owners | Approved |
| Doom by id Software | 102 | 24 | 81% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Unreal Tournament 2004 | 51 | 12 | 81% | 6 | — | Approved |
| Quake III Arena | 49 | 3 | 94% | 10 | — | Approved |
| S.T.A.L.K.E.R.This page | 7 | 3 | 70% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
10 of the 11 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Many of the best games - Rimworld, Dwarf Fortress, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Starcraft, Simcity - all automate their background tedium”
“I loved the old STALKER games, and the wackiness of their engines was a lot of the charm”
“it's probably the worst example of "Unreal slop" I've experienced”
“They famously overpromised and underdelivered”
“Game after game you get some half baked feature kept gimped by poor choices of values from the developers”
“modded Stalker is ways better than most of the USAjank”
“the original games ran very well, with no (Linux specific) issues”
“In my experience they've always worked pretty well, though the games are quirky in general.”
“Games like S.T.A.L.K.E.R. would consistently have issues with mouse input”
“This looks very playable to me”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.