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[Zaydin]

I'd say Call of Pripyat, myself. It's the most accessible, for starters, and playable 'out of the box', meaning you don't need to install any mods to enjoy the game.

 

[Old Father Eternity]

I'd say Call of Pripyat, myself. It's the most accessible, for starters, and playable 'out of the box', meaning you don't need to install any mods to enjoy the game.

Eh, again, comes down personal preference.
ShoC was one of my favourite games when it came out in 07 and still is (as it is the one I play the most out of the three)

 

[Strelok]

I'd say Call of Pripyat, myself. It's the most accessible, for starters, and playable 'out of the box', meaning you don't need to install any mods to enjoy the game.

You don't need mods to enjoy any of them, they were patched well enough years ago, only helps the graphics for SoC and fixes up some minor issues with both SoC and Clear Sky. Starting with CoP makes me think you didn't understand any of the story.

On Topic: Start with SoC that is the beginning, sort of, next do Clear Sky the prequel (both either vanilla or Complete mod) then finish with Call of Pripyat to get the complete story and to understand it, especially the motivation of the main character of SoC, Clear Sky adds a lot to this back story. What can you expect? The most immersive and atmospheric game I have played in years, none have even come close to rivaling it so far.

 

[beastro]

Early game tip for SoC, though I assume it works for the others: Avoid overloading yourself on return trips to sell junk. Instead dump everything onto a dead body and drag it back to the store. Doesn't matter how much is on it, you drag it at the same pace, which is very very slowly, but a good haul can more than make up for the time spent and is a hell of a lot less bothersome than running back and forth carrying small loads on yourself.

It's been ages since I last played it, but I think there's an auto run button. Walk in the general direction of a store along the main road then alt tab out and do other shit while you pay attention to the in game sounds. The pack of dogs near the starting town can sometimes aggro you if you wander off the road.

 

[Mersadeon]

Not to be a dick, but we kinda had that not that long ago.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/9.835241-Stalker-a-good-buy#20449512

To reiterate what was written there: The last one is the best one mechanically, but doesn't have a tutorial, so if you need that sort of thing go with the first. Avoid the second one since it's just overall less good.

 

[LeQuack_Is_Back]

I'd go with Call of Pripyat. The lack of being able to fix stuff in SoC bugged the hell out of me. There's probably a mod that fixes it, though.

Expect death. Well, maybe. Depending on your difficulty.

And pack a shotgun for mutants.