'These creatures ceased being human: they have no cognitive abilities, and so their behavior is the result of whatever remains of their purely animal instincts.'
― Professor Sakharov's explanation on the origins of zombies.
Zombies are made by the "Psi Field" given off by psi emitters such as the Brain Scorcher in Lab X10 and the Miracle Machine in Lab X16; when unprotected Stalkers are exposed to Psi emissions for a sufficient period of time, they start "to lose their minds". This results from irreversible damage to the higher functions of the brain, eventually resulting in a Zombified Stalker.
Stalkers approaching the "Miracle Machine" Emitter of Lab X16 in the factory complex at Yantar reported that once they get close to the gate, they began to hear voices and hallucinate. Following this they felt their brains literally boiling and melting inside their skulls, and they felt weak. If you are lucky enough to get away from the Psi field with your brain intact, you may also suffer from some detrimental side effects of exposure; for example, some Stalkers reported that they temporarily forgot their names after escaping the factory in time. Stalkers from all factions across the Zone may become Zombified, except those from Monolith. Monolithians are an odd case, in that while they display some signs of being zombified, they still retain tactical knowledge and some measure of sentience; it can be assumed that this is the result of their influence by the C-Consciousness.
Controllers can also turn hapless Stalkers into Zombies by reaching into their minds and making them lose control of their brains until they become Zombified.
Behavior
According to Professor Sakharov, these zombie stalkers in turn rely on whatever remains of their animal instincts, such as hunting and feeding,.
Zombified stalkers however, still retain their skills to operate mechanical devices, such as firearms although they can't aim it like regular stalkers where they often inaccurately spray-and-pray their weapons from the hip.
Although Zombified Stalkers are still able to use their firearms and even reload them, they are rather stupid, and will often charge right in the middle of a firefight without cover, walking and firing from the hip. Upon encountering zombified stalkers one can hear them murmuring bits of meaningless phrases, establishing that zombies are incapable of coherent speech. In time, the zombie stalker's mind will eventually decay to a point where it will turn into a full fledged Zombie, unable to even operate mechanical devices anymore and rely on their arms and teeth for attacks.
Sometimes one may spot zombified stalkers around a campfire, sticking their hands out towards the fire. This may be a sign that they still hold some form of self preservation. In combat zombie stalkers are most dangerous when they see a target, as their utter disregard for personal safety results in a relentless assault, giving a stalker no time to recover if ill-prepared; in contrast, ordinary stalkers would usually seek cover upon engaging a target. Zombies however, are utterly inaccurate when shooting at long range and so it's most advisable to take them out from a distance. Zombies also have distinctive grey bandages tied around their mouths. Most stalkers seen without a gasmask have similar shrouds over their mouth and noses, as a very makeshift filter against dust, or possibly just to keep warm. In Call of Pripyat, Zombies are never seen wearing gas masks, helmets or even hoods, suggesting they instinctively try and remove anything on their heads.
A group of zombified stalkers
In Combat
Although they are mindless zombies, Zombified Stalkers are actually quite capable with weaponry and can pose a significant threat, even when one is only facing a small number of them. Despite firing their weaponry from the hip zombie stalkers are quite accurate, especially in large numbers, thus making it inadvisable to get too close for a headshot unless you are undetected. They also seem to be tougher than their normal human counterparts, most likely because they do not feel pain; Zombified Stalkers do not flinch no matter how many times they are shot, and unless they are shot in the head (which does not receive armour benefits), they can easily survive several shotgun shells to the torso, or even 2-3 magazines of assault rifle rounds. Zombified stalkers are sometimes even capable of surviving a headshot with a handgun, though this most usually incapacitates them, requiring either a knife wound or one more bullet to kill. It should be noted, however, that given enough time, an incapacitated zombie will stand back up again. The best way of dispatching zombies is the stereotypical bullet to the head, as the head of any stalker does not receive the defensive benefits that armour gives. Grenades can also be used effectively against zombified stalkers, since they do not recognize grenades in their zombified state, they will not attempt to escape the blast. The use of armour piercing rounds may decrease the number of rounds needed to kill a zombie, barring headshots.
Zombified Stalkers can be first encountered in the Agroprom Research Institute (near the entrance to Yantar) where the player helps a group of Loners. Later, they can be encountered in Yantar and Red Forest.
Call of Pripyat
Zombified Stalkers can be encountered in all 3 areas of the game (especially after the Blowouts), spawning randomly in every location. Interestingly, if the player grabs the Rough Tools from Sawmill in Zaton without killing the Zombies there, they will become much more common in the game.
Trivia
Although it is said that any stalkers caught in a psy emission will have his brains scrambled and be turned into a zombified stalker, it was never seen in any of the games. In Shadow of Chernobyl, stalkers caught in an emission will only be incapacitated. In Clear Sky, stalkers will always seek cover, and anyone scripted to stay outside will be removed from the game until the emission is over. In Call of Pripyat, emissions simply kill anyone who happens to be outside during them, except for quest/plot important characters who seem to be completely immune.
The zombified stalkers in Call of Pripyat can sometimes be found crouched around a fire pit, murmuring
Zombified Stalkers "Talking"
meaningless words to each other, this can be a sign that they still hold some form of humanity, and attempt to communicate with each other.
In Call of Pripyat, zombified stalkers will even loot weapons and artifacts, and will even use the weapons if they are better than their current weapon. This is why you can sometimes find multiple weapons on the last zombified stalker killed in a horde.
They rarely engage in combat with mutants as mutants never seem to attack them.
They normally carry the same amount of supplies as normal stalkers.
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