S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl Reviews
Just like in the old days, performance issues and bugs don't stop Stalker's mad, wonderful heart from shining through.
After spending 55 hours in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, I have no qualms recommending STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl to post-apocalyptic enthusiasts.
Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl is a perfectly average open-world survival shooter. It’s an interesting setting with well-realized characters, but it’s held back by unsatisfying gunplay and a run-of-the-mill sense of exploration. I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone. But if you’re a fan of games like Fallout, or you enjoyed past Stalker games, then this one is worth your time.
Stalker 2, in its current state, has too much baggage to overlook
Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl is rough around the edges, but its propensity for creating emergent moments in a deadly and alluring world makes this trip back to the Zone a fraught and compelling experience
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.
It's incredibly buggy, but persevere and this survival FPS will reward you with intense shootouts and some wonderfully atmospheric free-roaming.
As it stands now, STALKER 2 is fun and has a lot of potential, but it would be unfair to call it good. You can easily sink 100 hours into it without noticing, especially if you have a deep love for previous iterations. However, the performance issues, overall inconsistency in many areas, and clumsy presentation will hold this game back until a major overhaul comes.
STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl is a unique experience in post-apocalyptic games. Unfortunately, it all falls flat due to a myriad of bugs and technical issues. We are hopeful, as beneath the radiation lies a game with enormous potential, but for the time being it is not advisable to venture into the Zone.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl crumbles under the weight of its own ambition.
Fortunately, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is still on its path to greatness. It's just going to need a little more love to get it to its destination. I just hope the rest of the journey is a bit faster than Skif's walking speed.
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Review in Italian | Read full review
In many ways, Stalker 2 succeeds in being a bold modernisation of GSC Game World’s classic survival shooter packaged and prettied up for today’s audience. That said, it’s a sequel that also manages to stay true to its in-depth PC roots by retaining an emphasis on resource management, scavenging, and a world that is seemingly as wide as an ocean that’s somehow equally as deep. Prevalent bugs and purposefully clumsy gunplay aside, Stalker 2 is an impressive successor worth the decade-and-a-half wait, providing you’re willing to meet it on its own terms.
This is a game that knows precisely what it wants to be, although that doesn't mean it is balanced enough to be fun all the time. The feeling of playing a stalker thrust into this inhospitable world against seemingly impossible odds is always present, for better or worse. However, unless you're really dying to enter the Zone right away, I would recommend waiting a little longer while the developers (and possibly modders) fix and improve the game further.
Stalker 2 is brutal, unforgiving, and not for the faint-hearted. While its storyline is poised for new players, its gameplay feels the opposite, providing a hardcore experience for anyone looking to dive into the Zone. Nevertheless, Stalker 2 is the kind of game that ages like a fine wine, getting better, richer, and slightly bolder as you push through its 35-hour campaign. That being said, the performance issues and missing features do leave a somewhat bitter taste.
The hope remains that future patches will at least fix most of the problems mentioned, especially the buggy sound and the poor enemy behavior, in the coming days. And who knows, maybe Stalker 2 will experience a resurrection like Cyberpunk recently did and even put some mechanics like the fast travel system to the test again.
Review in German | Read full review
Fortunately, the extraordinary artistic inspiration of STALKER 2 Heart of Chornobyl makes up for most of these flaws and paints a still quite captivating picture that is worth getting lost in.
Review in Italian | Read full review
STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl is actually a difficult title to evaluate. We can't base ourselves on everything that the GSC Gaming World team members have been through to add points to the analysis or feel sorry for them. But the good thing is that it's not necessary, because after all that effort, I can say, categorically, that it has been worth it .
Review in Spanish | Read full review