S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl

Stalker 2 is nothing short of a miracle. Developed by Ukrainian studio GSC Game World over the course of seven years amid a pandemic and a war -- among many other challenges -- Stalker 2 is a labor of love and the best type of sequel one could hope for. While many long-running franchises have strayed from their roots in an (often misguided) attempt to appeal to as many players as possible, Stalker 2 knows its core audience well and delivers exactly the type of game we were hoping for.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is a unique gameplay experience in which stress is part of the fun. While a multitude of bugs and other issues stand in its way, the game’s appeal is strong enough to overcome these shortcomings. While difficult to understand for newcomers, the story is a perfect culmination of the series and the ultimate love letter to its fans.

And yes, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 needs to improve and if you're not that specific type of player we mentioned above, you'd probably better wait a few weeks to give the studio time to fix certain bugs, but despite everything, our experience in The Zone, with its inhabitants, its dangers and even its glitches has been very special and, at least the person writing this, would like to see more games of this type that become cult games over time, with their errors, glitches and room for improvement than the umpteenth AAAA adventure or cookie-cutter multiplayer game, something too common these days.

Bugs and performance issues aside, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is an excellent game. Despite all the hurdles, GSC Game World has matched and exceeded expectations with this dystopian shooter. An addictive game world, satisfying and challenging gunplay, combined with plenty of characters that bring the Zone to life makes the whole package an experience I won't soon be forgetting.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is a unique experience in the modern video game landscape that deserves to be commended. GSC Game World's FPS offers total immersion in a fascinating post-apocalyptic universe, a survivalist vision that is (too) rare in video games and an unparalleled atmosphere. Unfortunately, it also suffers from several problems that prevent it from achieving excellence, starting with its technical delay, its improvable AI and its story that struggles to assert itself. Stalker 2 will appeal above all to fans of the genre who will be able to ignore all its mistakes.

An experience that is as frustrating as it is engaging.

Stalker 2 could be a great game in a few years, but what's presented at launch is a technical mess that doesn't capitalise on its best ideas. Compelling side stories and a brilliant setting do a lot of the heavy lifting, but at launch Stalker 2 isn't an adventure we'd fully recommend embarking on.

Optimization was poor at launch, but now everything is great. The game is very atmospheric. And it's good that there is no Russian voiceover. The Ukrainian voiceover is very beautiful.

I was incredibly hyped for Stalker 2 and it honestly looked gorgeous. I put almost 23 hours into it but just couldn't bring myself to finish it. The save system is awful and the optimization is still a total mess. It has so much potential but the technical bugs make it practically unplayable for me. Every single NPC just treats you like an errand boy. Go here do this go there fix that now run all the way over there to grab an item and bring it back. I got so sick of these constant fetch quests that I lost all motivation to even walk around the map. The fact that the character slows down to an absolute crawl when your inventory gets heavy drove me crazy. I get that some hardcore players love that kind of realism but I hated it and really wish there was an option to just toggle it off. Sure you move okay if you keep your weight in the green but your stamina still drains constantly and takes forever to recharge. Dealing with all that just burned me out. The story didn't grab me at all either. Mostly I just felt like I was wandering around aimlessly and the storytelling was so weak that I honestly didn't understand what was going on half the time. Fast travel is super annoying too since you have to track down specific guides in certain areas and even then you can only go to a handful of places. To be fair making choices that actually lead to different endings was pretty cool and I enjoyed that part. Even with all its glaring technical flaws I still managed to sink 23 hours into it because just walking around and taking in the world is genuinely nice. The graphics are sweet and the atmosphere is top tier but the bugs just completely killed the vibe for me. Exploring is barely rewarding too. You travel all that way just to find a place and get absolutely nothing that makes the trip feel worth it. That totally kills your desire to keep exploring as the game goes on. Honestly for my last 3 or 4 hours I just rushed through the main story. Also the enemy AI is a complete joke right now. Sometimes I would literally walk right past them and they wouldn't even react. Despite everything it clearly could have been an incredible game but with how it is right now I'd give it a 7/10

In its heart, S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2: Heartof Chornobyl is a good game. But it has too many lags, too many bugs and for me, it‘s too long.

Şu oyunu bir türlü sevemedim. Aradan tam onbeş ay geçti tekrar deneyim dedim yok abi olmuyor. Ya şu oyuna bir vuruş hissiyatı ekleyin. Çatada patada vurdu mu hissedelim hocam düşmanı. Neye ateş etsem bomboş ne ses var ne hissiyat. B*k gibi oyun.

Сюжет — 4 Следить за историей в целом интересно, пока ты не поймёшь, что в Сталкер 2 полностью переписали канон вселенной, полностью убили тем самым сюжет предыдущих частей серии, сделали из Шрама поехавшего ебаната, и главная мотивация героя в игре — это вернуть хату -_- Графика — 3 За абсолютно ублюдское освещение и отражения. Это не уровень даже Теней Чернобыля, а Чистое Небо по части графики ебет Сралкер 2. Скажите спасибо UE5 с его ебанным люменом и чехославянам, которые не додумались добавить поддержку RTX на ПК :) Атмосфера — 5 Вообще не зацепило, но это субъективно. Музыка — 5 Абсолютно стандартный саундтрек для современной игры, а по части радио — какая-то шляпа. Геймплей — 6 Тот самый добрый сталкер в плане геймплея. Различий реально мало, кроме отсутствия A-Life и NPC, которые появляются буквально у тебя за спиной, а также теперь в игре есть кинематографические катсцены (реально годные, мне понравилось). Итого моя оценка данного проекта — 4.6 / 10. Пятикратно переваренный кал.