That is not technically true. It started development nearly ten years ago, but was on haitus for a good while (AFTER people thought GSC had closed for good).
Its for the multiplayer. If theyre adding in skins and costumes that means its a significant enough portion of development - and a significantly shit enough thing to make me concerned.

Sort of but in what context are you saying that here ? potential quality of the game or pre order content to squeeze early sales out of gullible people.

You dont want to see PIONER then...

Yeah, I forgot about that one. Yeah, liked the days when Stalker and Metro had a monopoly on the general idea.

(yes, I know Metro is not exactly Stalker, but they share some common DNA)

I'm looking forward to it, but of course I gotta hear what the word about the game will be once its out.

Marauder is also worth a look (based on a book series like Metro). No anomalies etc, jut good old fashioned societal collapse. Some similar feel to Stalker though.

Dont think theres a fully drm free version sadly.

I have nothing against several games established in a similar setting. That said, Atomic Heart still looks better/more intriguing than all of these. ;)

It looks weird. Not always a bad thing though.

Where is the bullet bouncing and visually see that you shot a bullet?
The bullet bouncing made for some fun gameplay.

Is there even such a mechanic implemented in the Unreal Engine?

I'll hold out until the game has been reviewed.

Shadow of Chernobyl was reviewed very mixed too, the game on release had more bugs than Starship Troopers but became mostly playeble after patching.
That it's multiplatform doesn't bother me that much, the consolelandscape has changed a lot since the Xbox 360 days and consoles have become walled garden PC's at this point, complete with mouse and keyboard support. Unless it becomes a CoD/Halo/Killzone shooter because than I wlll be bothered.

The most important thing will be wether they nail the atmosphere of the original games.

No plans for GOG version, for now...