STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl | Review
(I know it's S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, blame google and how people search)
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is out today on Xbox Series X|S, the Microsoft Store, and Steam. It’s included Day One in Game Pass. As a fan of the original trilogy, it has felt surreal to finally play this sequel. GSC Gameworld has gone through so much over the past few years, and they’ve released a stellar title. It’s a Stalker game through and through. That means it’s hard as hell, tells a unique and moving story, and isn’t going to be for everyone. There are a lot of rough edges as well, so let’s break down what this game is and why I loved it so much.
What is S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
The most difficult part of this review is how to properly explain just what a Stalker title is. In more casual terms think of the shooting of PUBG inside of one of the largest game maps I’ve ever seen. This is a 60+ square kilometer chunk of the Ukraine, and it is daunting. The game offers up an easy mode, though any true series fan will play on at least default. You are Skif, a new Stalker joining in on the looting of the zone around Chornobyl.
The Zone is the star of every S.T.A.L.K.E.R. title. The previous three playable areas are all here, alongside more than you could ever imagine. Entire areas may not be accessible depending on your choices. As you navigate through this world you’ll go on various expeditions. Preparation is key, as you’ll need to make sure your gear is fixed and upgraded, and you have enough provisions for the mainline campaign.
This is a world to live in, and I did so for nearly 60 hours in the 6 days we had for our review period. I could see truly dedicated completionists spending hundreds of hours finding every hidden stash and doing all of the available content across multiple playthroughs. In this wild, dangerous zone the Chornobyl explosion happened twice. Once as we know it and again in 2006. The area around the Nuclear Plant is full of anomalies that can kill you in an instant, or zap half of your life away in a flash. There are mutants, militants, and zealots all vying for various artifacts of magical power. So why would anyone ever want to visit?
Skif’s journey through the zone
You’ll begin the game with a short tutorial quest as you sneak into the zone and attempt to recharge an anomalous artifact that destroyed your apartment. Things go poorly, as they tend to do, and you’ll be stripped bare of all your gear. From there the chase is on as you’ll knife, shoot, and explode your way to every upgrade you can find to try and get back what was yours.
There is no leveling system in the title, instead, your power ramp is entirely gear-based. There are various pistols, SMGs, assault rifles, snipers, and more to locate and earn as you become an artifact hunter in the zone. What you want, how you get it, and the consequences of your actions can lead to multiple endings. I saw two of the four available as I ran out of time to do another complete playthrough to see the other options.
Early on you are weak, with little food and healing items. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 demands your patience as both anomalies and enemies alike can tear you apart in an instant. Rookie difficulty mitigates this heavily and is available for those looking to see the world and story without the incredible challenge. The gameplay loop consists mainly of you taking jobs in town to earn coupons (the game’s money). Once you have enough you can buy new gear, fix up what you have, and stock up on provisions so that you can comfortably push the main quest ahead.
You will want to maintain your gear whenever possible by bringing it to a tech-head in town. Once weapons go below 50% durability they tend to jam often, leaving you vulnerable in firefights as Skif fights to free the round. This mix of exploration and story content is entirely up to you on Rookie difficulty. You will need to explore and grind out better items to have any shot on the normal or above, however.
Combat and Gear
Skif has two main weapon slots alongside a pistol. For armor, you have body and head slots. Some body pieces come with helmets attached to them, which tends to happen later on. As you find better gear you’ll attain more artifact slots. These are items you can find in the game world that will enhance certain abilities, though many feed radiation into your body while in use.
To fight off this radiation you can find better armor, drink alcohol like beer & vodka, or use anti-radiation drugs. For your weaponry, there are multiple ammo types and the game’s UI does a good job of highlighting it so you’ll know which gun uses which. Skif gets hungry and needs to eat occasionally, so you’ll have to scavenge something to eat as well. All of it has weight and depending on your gear setup it can severely slow you down if you’re too much of a packrat.
Every base has Skif’s private stash. This is a magic box that can store a ton of gear that travels from base to base via video game magic. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 knows when to push realism and when not to. I never felt overly frustrated by the game mechanics no matter how punishing they may be. There were a few times later in the game when I didn’t realize I was going into a big fight, so I had to reload an old save and restock, though.
One major area of concern for me early on was the deadzone settings on Xbox. When I first got the game every controller drifted terribly. Thursday’s patch lowered it and then Monday’s helped again. Still, if you’re not using Hall Effect joysticks you are going to experience stick drift at times. I do not know when their next patch is due but one of the main things it needs to do is either up the deadzone slightly again or let us change it in the UI menu. (Update: A third patch just hit right before the embargo. After testing stick drift seems to be far improved. Only tested for an hour or so but I didn’t notice much if any)
A Version You’ll Never Play
Skif will find lots of odd jobs to do during his time in The Zone. Main and side missions are a familiar mix of fetch, kill, and explore quests. The game’s writing is solid enough, and its voice acting good enough that I never grew tired of it. There are two voiced languages, those being native Ukrainian and English. The English VO is a mix, with a lot of bad and some good. It’s good enough for those who do not want to read, but the game shines when the native VO is running.
That does make it quite hard during combat as you often need to pay attention to what is being said so that you don’t die. The game uses waypoints frequently and in the original version that I played, they broke, a lot. We got the game on Wednesday, one week before launch. On Monday two days before we got a 139 GB patch that fixed every major issue I had. Side missions, main campaigns, boss fights, they all broke constantly. I was hovering around a “review in progress” that gave the game a temporary 4 because it was nearly unplayable. My save only says 40 hours but I kept track and know I lost at least 15 hours to broken bosses and quests that I had to repeatedly reload.
You are lucky, and will never have to play that version of the game. Other reviewers might have only played that one though. So if you see them talk about it being a broken, buggy mess, just know that their issues might be fixed now, as mine were. Another issue that I doubt changes is that Mutants are still not that fun to fight. They soak up tons of ammo and rarely reward you with anything of value. Finally, the game’s performance even after Monday’s patch isn’t the best.
The Beauty of the Zone
This game ran terribly when I first got it. I did my review entirely on an Xbox Series X in performance mode and it both ran and looked poor for the first 15 hours. A patch on Thursday brought with it a huge framerate improvement. Monday’s 2nd patch then upped this even further, giving the game a clearer image. It’s not perfect and things look far superior on my PC still, but the game is both attractive & playable enough to be enjoyed.
Running on Unreal Engine 5 and using a lot of photogrammetry it can occasionally look stunning. Heavy weather effects and an excellent lighting system can make the Zone look both serene and terrifying in any area. When it is dark you need to put your flashlight on with a press of the right bumper. It is terrifyingly pitch black. Player faces during cutscenes look solid for the main cast, though many side characters look the same. Outside of cutscenes, you’ll get a soft image in performance mode as the game struggles to maintain 60fps in any urban area full of NPCs.
Out in the wilderness, it ran great for me, though I was using a variable refresh-rate capable display. Without VRR the wobbliness in the frame rate will be noticeable. On Series S you only get the game’s quality mode, thankfully it’s a ‘good’ 30fps. I still prefer the performance mode but quality feels about as good as 30fps can, thanks to solid motion blur and aim assist.
Right in the feels
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is a vibe. In this beautiful desolation, there is life to be found. There is life to be killed. It is a circle of existence and you become a key cog in it all. Journeying through the wilderness you’ll meet fellow Stalkers with whom you can trade. There are a ton of side quests and in-world events that make things feel alive in this wasteland. Music will mostly kick in when there is combat, and it gets the blood pumping. When you’re in a base and the radio is playing as everyone sits around the fire and tells jokes though, it just hits differently.
The English VO is what it is, but in the native tongue, you feel like you’re really there. In this broken, supernatural part of the world where various groups fight both to be free and to control. This release isn’t the smoothest. There’s still a lot of bugginess to it and performance can be rough. Compared to the original trilogy though it is astounding to think of how solid this game is despite what GSC Game World has had to go through.
During a time of war, where team members have been lost in combat, they’ve created something that speaks to our souls. Life is hard, and it isn’t always fair. If you do your best then nearly anything is possible in our minds, even when we know what reality has in store. I cannot ignore all of the frustration I had with this title, but I hope Monday’s late patch means that you will avoid those struggles.
Wrapping Things Up
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is everything fans of the franchise could have ever dreamed of. Twelve years after the last entry GSC Game World has overcome adversity and created something special. It will not be for everyone, but it is on Game Pass on Cloud, Console, and PC, so why not give it a go. The Zone is calling and I cannot wait to answer it once again.
Played on
Xbox Series X
PROS
- Fantastic shooting mechanics
- Story hit me hard
- One hell of a miserable yet happy vibe
- A few stunning locales
CONS
- Mediocre to poor performance on Series X in performance mode
- Mutants are bullet sponges
Thanks for adding the effects of pre and post launch patches. Most reviewers gave their review of the game pre-patched, and never updated their reviews.
We are lucky in that our reviews our generally one man shows. Each person does their own writing, audio recording, and video editing. Let’s us go later with things than larger sites can.