Why Stalker: Shadow of Chornobyl's difficulty modes have divided players for over a decade

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

(Image credit: GSC Game World)

Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl art

In Stalker’s fictionalised take on the region, The Garbage hosts some of the hottest and most frequent conflict. Visit one of its rubbish dumps for more than a few minutes and you’ll get caught up in a firefight between the Bandits and the Loners—who, despite their name, are among the most populous and organised factions in the game. Hang around for too long afterwards to pick bandages off the bodies, and you’ll likely get swept up in a second wave of shooting. This is a battle without end, where no resolution can ever be finally agreed upon.

(Image credit: GSC Game World)

Stalker

The same is true of the dispute over Stalker’s difficulty, which has been raging among fans for 17 years. If only GSC Game World had named one of their settings ‘Normal’, I might have managed to keep out of it. Alas, the four modes that pop up when starting a new game—Novice, Stalker, Veteran and Master—were just ambiguous enough to lead me to Google, and a debate that has occupied my brain for weeks now.

The trouble starts when players start trying to solve the accuracy of their weapons through tweaks to the game, rather than taking the time to adapt to its peculiarities. You’ll find various long-running threads in which old hands recommend switching to Master mode, Stalker’s highest difficulty. There, they claim, bullets hit harder and with greater accuracy, for both you and your enemies—paradoxically making the game easier to get to grips with.

(Image credit: GSC Game World)

Stalker

There is an unvarnished cruelty to Stalker’s world that suits a gnarly difficulty setting.

I’d rather get my advice from modders—those who’ve had their hands in Stalker’s files, and are therefore operating on a level beyond gut feeling. They often citethis chart—which suggests that hit probability in Stalker doesn’t change, no matter what difficulty mode you select. Whatdoesappear to shift as you climb the ranks to Master mode is your own damage resistance—ultimately dropping down to zero on the most extreme setting.

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals

That tracks with my own experience of Master mode, which of course I tried to stick with for a while. A friend told me they’d finished the game this way, but admitted they were reading Roadside Picnic at the time, and so perhaps took a masochistic pleasure in being dropped into a realm of brutal survivalism. In fairness, there is an unvarnished cruelty to Stalker’s world that suits a gnarly difficulty setting. In that sense, it’s the precursor to DayZ—which these days isfreezing players to deathin Russia’s far east.

(Image credit: GSC Game World)

Stalker

Playing on Master lends every scrap with a passing bandit or mutated boar a momentous weight. When even a glancing hit from a rifle can send you scrambling for bandages to staunch the bleeding, your approach becomes more considered, and conflict avoidance a necessary part of resource management. It’s a match for the dark fantasy of squinting suspiciously at the horizon—wondering whether a stranger walking the cracked tarmac wants to trade, or take your life.

But the highest difficulty also robs Stalker of some of its strengths. One is the enemy AI, a Half-Life-esque intelligence that isn’t afraid to flank and surprise you, in a way that’s become unfashionable in single-player shooters since. On Master difficulty, a single shotgun-toting bandit can sneak around the side and end the action with an instakill. It’s zero-sum, and leaves little room for you to dance with your opponents. Rather than scrambling to react to a developing situation, you’re reaching for the reload button instead.

Then there’s Stalker’s promise of a dynamic world, where NPCs can live and die according to your actions. Out in The Garbage, I helped a loner named Bis defend a scrapyard from encroaching bandits. In the aftermath, it emerged that Bis was a fugitive, wanted for GBH and two murders after taking revenge on a pair of vicious muggers. “I’ve done well in this place,” he said, “but the list of my crimes has got a little longer too. I try to fight the lawless just as I did on the outside. I train up rookies and teach them to survive in the Zone.”

(Image credit: GSC Game World)

Stalker

For now, I’ve plumped for Veteran, the Goldilocks option that sits between the lower modes and Master. It’s a choice that means I’m regularly exposed to the harsh reality of the Zone, a cold wind that teaches caution. But there’s also enough room to make and correct the odd mistake, a provision which leaves Stalker a little more human and easier to love. Who knows whether that’ll be the end of it, though. The debate over Stalker’s difficulty has sucked me in, like a physics-bending anomaly, and I’ll be lucky to ever emerge from it again.

More about fpsTeam Fortress 2 just had the single biggest trade in its history, with ‘the absolute best hat you can get’ going for around $40KThe most important tool in Remedy’s new co-op FPS is the shower: ‘Saving water is essential’LatestThe Last of Us season 2 trailer is a brief look at a story you should probably just play yourself in AprilSee more latest►

More about fps

Team Fortress 2 just had the single biggest trade in its history, with ‘the absolute best hat you can get’ going for around $40KThe most important tool in Remedy’s new co-op FPS is the shower: ‘Saving water is essential’

Money money money.

Team Fortress 2 just had the single biggest trade in its history, with ‘the absolute best hat you can get’ going for around $40K

FBC: Firebreak

The most important tool in Remedy’s new co-op FPS is the shower: ‘Saving water is essential’

LatestThe Last of Us season 2 trailer is a brief look at a story you should probably just play yourself in AprilSee more latest►

Latest

The Last of Us season 2 trailer is a brief look at a story you should probably just play yourself in April

the last of us season 2 trailer

The Last of Us season 2 trailer is a brief look at a story you should probably just play yourself in April

See more latest►

Most Popular

The Witcher 3’s now 2-year-old bonus quest is our first taste of the ‘vibe’ CD Projekt is going for in The Witcher 4

2024 was the year updates for old games beat out all the new ones for me

Train like you game with this adventure-inspired workout

‘It’s simply impossible to make a difficulty level that’s just right for all players’: How Final Fantasy 14’s lead battle designer has been playing a precarious balancing game for Dawntrail’s dungeons and raids

Please join me in getting super excited for all the cool looking survival games coming in 2025 (and beyond)

Competitive shooters are at a crucial crossroads in 2025: ‘sweaty’ teamplay vs. casual fun

Call of Duty’s $28 Squid Game skins are the perfect crossover for our capitalist dystopia, and Activision knows exactly what it’s doing

These are the 14 biggest upcoming RPGs of 2025—get ready for another amazing year for the genre

Five new Steam games you probably missed (January 6, 2025)

I’ve seen enough: No more forcing singleplayer studios to make mediocre live service games

HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS

1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

A bunch of the best Steam Deck accessories on a blue background.

1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop

Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop

3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most

Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most

4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands

Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands

5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested

Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested

1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits

Thank Goodness You’re Here review

1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits

Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits

2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback

Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback

3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review

WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review

4Ikea Utespelare desk review

Ikea Utespelare desk review

5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals#

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals