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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Sarénya\"](\"https://avatars.akamai.steamstatic.com/fef49e7fa7e1997310d705b2a6158ff8dc1cdfeb.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t![\"This](\"https://store.akamai.steamstatic.com/public/shared/images/userreviews/icon_review_counted.png\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https://store.akamai.steamstatic.com/public/shared/images/userreviews/icon_thumbsUp_v6.png\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https://community.akamai.steamstatic.com/public/images/apphubs/bigpicture/thumbs_upselected.png\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tRecommended
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t375.2 hrs on record\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t(300 hrs at review time)\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tPosted: September 28\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDirect from Steam\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tThis will be a long commentary, but I assure you it won't be boring. Thanks for reading. ;)
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 makes much more sense once you stop treating it like a conventional open-world FPS.
Unlike many open-world games where you focus on a checklist of mundane activities, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 takes a different approach. It has comparatively fewer missions and side jobs, but instead presents you with a gigantic, highly detailed 60+ km² open world (even more with the Cost of Hope), all seamlessly connected without loading screens. This adds a tremendous amount to the immersion.
I have only seen a similar approach in Far Cry 2, nearly two decades ago.
Which brings us to the concept of an expedition. What does that mean?
An expedition is, literally, a planned journey with a specific purpose. In my opinion, the expedition concept is the skeleton of the game.
In the Zone, expeditions can revolve around main missions, side jobs, artifact hunting, exploration, or simply scavenging. Depending on your destination and route, you start by preparing your equipment and supplies at a hub, considering your carry weight, ammunition, consumables and the journey ahead. You then travel to your destination, complete your objective(s), return to a hub, sell your loot, repair your equipment, restock and repeat.
Travelling is one of the best parts of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2. Many locations are incredibly detailed, with a strong focus on industrial decay, military culture, Soviet aesthetics, and recognizable pieces of Ukraine.
The game also features the A-Life 2.0 system, which simulates NPC and mutant activity around you across a large area. This can create countless emergent moments: mutant migrations, faction clashes, NPC looting, new artifacts appearing in anomalous zones, and much more.
You can travel through the same location from the same starting save and have completely different experiences. You might encounter a group of mutants. You might arrive to find that a hostile faction has already killed them. You could stumble into two factions fighting each other. An Emission might suddenly begin, forcing everyone to seek shelter, only for the fighting to continue indoors.
Travelling and combat rarely feel predictable because of these emergent situations. Every expedition can turn into a different experience.
And when the chaos finally ends, it's time to salvage the corpses for valuables and collect mutant parts — assuming you still have enough carry weight.
Looting is one of the primary ways to make coupons, so you don't want to leave valuable items behind. Those valuables can ultimately pay for your ammunition, supplies and repair costs.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 doesn't throw 100+ nearly identical weapons at you that all perform essentially the same job. Instead, every weapon is highly detailed, has its own characteristics and serves a specific purpose.
Real-time weapon modification adds a lot to the immersion, while weapon upgrades can make a massive difference compared to a weapon's base configuration.
The gunplay is extremely satisfying. You can feel the impact and weight of the bullets, the animations are realistic and sleek, weapons can jam — another feature reminiscent of Far Cry 2 — and bullets aren't hitscan.
Speaking of bullets, apart from different caliber diameters, there are also various ammunition types designed for different purposes, such as armor-piercing, hollow-point, high-grade, slug, dart and many more. Each type has its own characteristics and can make a noticeable difference in combat.
And that's only scratching the surface.
Armor and artifact choices are equally important.
If you wear heavy combat armor, you can afford to make more mistakes during firefights, but you'll need to be much more careful in hazardous areas, anomalies and highly radioactive environments.
If you wear a hazmat suit, your protection against bullets and explosives is considerably weaker, but your expeditions through hazardous areas become much safer.
The result is a combination of emergent gameplay, satisfying gunplay and meaningful equipment choices, which makes combat and exploration feel consistently engaging.
No commentary needed here.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is one of the most ambitious Unreal Engine 5 titles ever made. The graphics are impressive, and the game offers a wide range of settings to tune performance to your hardware.
The engine combines rasterized and ray-traced lighting techniques rather than relying entirely on ray tracing, allowing the game to achieve impressive visual quality while keeping performance more manageable.
That said, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is still a demanding game. But being demanding doesn't necessarily mean being poorly optimized. There are plenty of graphical options available to fine-tune performance, and, if necessary, you can always lower the resolution or adjust individual settings.
For reference, I get approximately 45–60 FPS at 4K Ultra Native, depending on the location, without making any graphical compromises.
With FSR 4 Quality + Frame Generation + Anti-Lag 2, that increases to around 110–125 FPS, giving me a high-refresh-rate 4K experience while maintaining low latency.
Overall, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is somewhat of an acquired taste.
If you're looking for a story-driven open-world game built around character sheets, RPG statistics, constant quest markers and gameplay that revolves around the player, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 may not be for you.
However, if you're looking for a hardcore experience with a massive open world built around seamless traversal, emergent expeditions, NPC simulation, exploration and solid FPS gameplay, then dive straight into the Zone.
Don't treat it like a conventional open-world game.
Treat it like an expedition.
Good hunting, Stalker.
10/10\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\tS.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 makes much more sense once you stop treating it like a conventional open-world FPS.
1. SOLO EXPEDITION
Unlike many open-world games where you focus on a checklist of mundane activities, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 takes a different approach. It has comparatively fewer missions and side jobs, but instead presents you with a gigantic, highly detailed 60+ km² open world (even more with the Cost of Hope), all seamlessly connected without loading screens. This adds a tremendous amount to the immersion.
I have only seen a similar approach in Far Cry 2, nearly two decades ago.
Which brings us to the concept of an expedition. What does that mean?
An expedition is, literally, a planned journey with a specific purpose. In my opinion, the expedition concept is the skeleton of the game.
In the Zone, expeditions can revolve around main missions, side jobs, artifact hunting, exploration, or simply scavenging. Depending on your destination and route, you start by preparing your equipment and supplies at a hub, considering your carry weight, ammunition, consumables and the journey ahead. You then travel to your destination, complete your objective(s), return to a hub, sell your loot, repair your equipment, restock and repeat.
Travelling is one of the best parts of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2. Many locations are incredibly detailed, with a strong focus on industrial decay, military culture, Soviet aesthetics, and recognizable pieces of Ukraine.
The game also features the A-Life 2.0 system, which simulates NPC and mutant activity around you across a large area. This can create countless emergent moments: mutant migrations, faction clashes, NPC looting, new artifacts appearing in anomalous zones, and much more.
You can travel through the same location from the same starting save and have completely different experiences. You might encounter a group of mutants. You might arrive to find that a hostile faction has already killed them. You could stumble into two factions fighting each other. An Emission might suddenly begin, forcing everyone to seek shelter, only for the fighting to continue indoors.
Travelling and combat rarely feel predictable because of these emergent situations. Every expedition can turn into a different experience.
And when the chaos finally ends, it's time to salvage the corpses for valuables and collect mutant parts — assuming you still have enough carry weight.
Looting is one of the primary ways to make coupons, so you don't want to leave valuable items behind. Those valuables can ultimately pay for your ammunition, supplies and repair costs.
2. COMBAT
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 doesn't throw 100+ nearly identical weapons at you that all perform essentially the same job. Instead, every weapon is highly detailed, has its own characteristics and serves a specific purpose.
Real-time weapon modification adds a lot to the immersion, while weapon upgrades can make a massive difference compared to a weapon's base configuration.
The gunplay is extremely satisfying. You can feel the impact and weight of the bullets, the animations are realistic and sleek, weapons can jam — another feature reminiscent of Far Cry 2 — and bullets aren't hitscan.
Speaking of bullets, apart from different caliber diameters, there are also various ammunition types designed for different purposes, such as armor-piercing, hollow-point, high-grade, slug, dart and many more. Each type has its own characteristics and can make a noticeable difference in combat.
And that's only scratching the surface.
Armor and artifact choices are equally important.
If you wear heavy combat armor, you can afford to make more mistakes during firefights, but you'll need to be much more careful in hazardous areas, anomalies and highly radioactive environments.
If you wear a hazmat suit, your protection against bullets and explosives is considerably weaker, but your expeditions through hazardous areas become much safer.
The result is a combination of emergent gameplay, satisfying gunplay and meaningful equipment choices, which makes combat and exploration feel consistently engaging.
3. PERFORMANCE / GRAPHICS
No commentary needed here.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is one of the most ambitious Unreal Engine 5 titles ever made. The graphics are impressive, and the game offers a wide range of settings to tune performance to your hardware.
The engine combines rasterized and ray-traced lighting techniques rather than relying entirely on ray tracing, allowing the game to achieve impressive visual quality while keeping performance more manageable.
That said, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is still a demanding game. But being demanding doesn't necessarily mean being poorly optimized. There are plenty of graphical options available to fine-tune performance, and, if necessary, you can always lower the resolution or adjust individual settings.
For reference, I get approximately 45–60 FPS at 4K Ultra Native, depending on the location, without making any graphical compromises.
With FSR 4 Quality + Frame Generation + Anti-Lag 2, that increases to around 110–125 FPS, giving me a high-refresh-rate 4K experience while maintaining low latency.
CONCLUSION
Overall, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is somewhat of an acquired taste.
If you're looking for a story-driven open-world game built around character sheets, RPG statistics, constant quest markers and gameplay that revolves around the player, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 may not be for you.
However, if you're looking for a hardcore experience with a massive open world built around seamless traversal, emergent expeditions, NPC simulation, exploration and solid FPS gameplay, then dive straight into the Zone.
Don't treat it like a conventional open-world game.
Treat it like an expedition.
Good hunting, Stalker.
10/10\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tReviewer's PC Specs:
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWindows 11
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tAMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D 8-Core Processor - RAM: 31 GB
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tAMD Radeon RX 9070 XT - VRAM: 16 GB
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\tWas this review helpful?\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https://store.akamai.steamstatic.com/public/shared/images//award_icon.svg\"){kind=icon}
Award\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t84 people found this review helpful\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
3 people found this review funny\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t3 people found this review funny\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Helpful\"](\"https://store.akamai.steamstatic.com/public/images/loyalty/reactions/still/26.png?v=5\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t4\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t4\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Plus](\"https://store.akamai.steamstatic.com/public/images/loyalty/reactions/still/32.png?v=5\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t2\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t2\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Winner\"](\"https://store.akamai.steamstatic.com/public/images/loyalty/reactions/still/24.png?v=5\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t1\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t1\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Fire\"](\"https://store.akamai.steamstatic.com/public/images/loyalty/reactions/still/27.png?v=5\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t1\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t1\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"One](\"https://store.akamai.steamstatic.com/public/images/loyalty/reactions/still/29.png?v=5\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t1\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t1\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Smart\"](\"https://store.akamai.steamstatic.com/public/images/loyalty/reactions/still/33.png?v=5\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t1\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t1\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Pure](\"https://store.akamai.steamstatic.com/public/images/loyalty/reactions/still/34.png?v=5\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t1\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t1\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Wholesome\"](\"https://store.akamai.steamstatic.com/public/images/loyalty/reactions/still/35.png?v=5\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t1\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t1\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![](\"https://store.akamai.steamstatic.com/public/shared/images//award_icon_blue.svg\"/)
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t5\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t5\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Wafflebasket\"](\"https://avatars.akamai.steamstatic.com/f6ed94bb537f64d5a9212df8b7188ce27dbf5809.jpg\")
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\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https://store.akamai.steamstatic.com/public/shared/images/userreviews/icon_thumbsDown_v6.png\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https://community.akamai.steamstatic.com/public/images/apphubs/bigpicture/thumbs_down_selected.png\")
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\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tNot Recommended
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t39.7 hrs on record\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tPosted: September 28\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDirect from Steam\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tI highly warn against buying this product.
Maybe if you're really into the STALKER story.
It's still riddled with bugs, dying randomly by enemies through walls really ruins your immersion.
The economy is absolutely broken, it doesn't take much to become an 1%'er in this game.
Items are distributed randomly and without a thought. You'll find 20x bread and vodka in a single village.
The worst part is their egregious lie about Alife 2.
What made STALKER great was that the world was actually alive around you. The factions didn't stop fighting simply because you weren't around, they kept making moves.
A single NPC squad could cross 3 maps, take over a settlement and actually influence economy. Without the player ever being present for any of it.
Now comes Stalker 2, they heavily advertised Alife 2.0. Bigger, better and stronger.
Meanwhile they knew from the start it wasn't achievable in UE5, but they buried it and kept advertising it.
Day of release comes, and they silently remove any mention of Alife 2.0, absolving them from any lawsuits since it wasn't advertised when player bought it.
Don't forget they promised 'Multiplayer' too, which has also been 'redefined' so they do not have to do that anymoreand can now just implement an arena pvp shooter to get rid of liability.
I'm not entirely unsympathetic towards GSC, as they did have a hard time. War isn't fun.
Regardless of their hardships, they have promising things they couldn't ever deliver.
They knew, they decided to obfuscate and lie to their fans. The internet doesn't forget.\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\tMaybe if you're really into the STALKER story.
It's still riddled with bugs, dying randomly by enemies through walls really ruins your immersion.
The economy is absolutely broken, it doesn't take much to become an 1%'er in this game.
Items are distributed randomly and without a thought. You'll find 20x bread and vodka in a single village.
The worst part is their egregious lie about Alife 2.
What made STALKER great was that the world was actually alive around you. The factions didn't stop fighting simply because you weren't around, they kept making moves.
A single NPC squad could cross 3 maps, take over a settlement and actually influence economy. Without the player ever being present for any of it.
Now comes Stalker 2, they heavily advertised Alife 2.0. Bigger, better and stronger.
Meanwhile they knew from the start it wasn't achievable in UE5, but they buried it and kept advertising it.
Day of release comes, and they silently remove any mention of Alife 2.0, absolving them from any lawsuits since it wasn't advertised when player bought it.
Don't forget they promised 'Multiplayer' too, which has also been 'redefined' so they do not have to do that anymoreand can now just implement an arena pvp shooter to get rid of liability.
I'm not entirely unsympathetic towards GSC, as they did have a hard time. War isn't fun.
Regardless of their hardships, they have promising things they couldn't ever deliver.
They knew, they decided to obfuscate and lie to their fans. The internet doesn't forget.\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\tWas this review helpful?\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t488 people found this review helpful\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
28 people found this review funny\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t28 people found this review funny\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t27\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Perfect\"](\"https://store.akamai.steamstatic.com/public/images/loyalty/reactions/still/31.png?v=5\")
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t8\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t3\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t3\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Life](\"https://store.akamai.steamstatic.com/public/images/loyalty/reactions/still/30.png?v=5\")
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\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Quiefer](\"https://avatars.akamai.steamstatic.com/a627d3c0e9fe310d6ce9538c3594376522acbb00.jpg\")
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tNot Recommended
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t7.6 hrs on record\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t(6.6 hrs at review time)\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tPosted: September 20\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDirect from Steam\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tUnplayable on 7900xtx since launch. Was able to play right up until after tutorial area. CTD no matter what after a few mins. This is happening before and after the most recent update.
Do not buy if youre using amd. Give it a year or 2.\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\tDo not buy if youre using amd. Give it a year or 2.\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tReviewer's PC Specs:
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWindows 11
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tAMD Ryzen 7 5800X 8-Core Processor - RAM: 32 GB
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tAMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX - VRAM: 24 GB
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\tWas this review helpful?\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t51 people found this review helpful\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
15 people found this review funny\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t15 people found this review funny\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\n\t\tA developer has responded on Sep 20 @ 12:08pm
(view response)
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\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"efir\"](\"https://avatars.akamai.steamstatic.com/735c2c6f1abea2bba69a5bc967a7567e321326a5.jpg\")
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\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tNot Recommended
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t26.1 hrs on record\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tPosted: October 1\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDirect from Steam\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t☢️ The game is just too big for its own good. Gunplay and animations are definitely a big improvement, but in terms of depth, the gameplay is still pretty much the same as in the first games. And this depth is plastered over a much longer campaign and a much bigger game map. For the first 10 hours it was a blast. But for 40 or even 80? Iam really not sure.
🗺️ The huge map is especially a problem. I realize that the first stalker games were not some kind of hidden gem in terms of level design, but still: the zones were the right size for their gameplay, POIs felt connected, with clear progression and direction. Here, while it has a bunch of memorable anomalies and landmarks, it all feels too disconnected, same-y, and just big for the sake of it. Similar to a ubisoft game with a huge map filled with question marks all over it. The abundance of loot is not helping either. Even on the second-highest difficulty, you are given so much stuff that it can outright negate some of the game mechanics. Upgrade costs balance this out to some extent, and gunfights are tuned quite well imo, so it is not all bad.
📖 Storywise, it has some fun cutscenes, and it is also nice to see that choices have at least some consequences later. But again, its just too big. More than half of the main missions felt like filler, and I was constantly asking myself: what am I doing, or why? who is this guy? etc. There is just not much stuff to care or invest emotionally. Side quests on the other hand, are quite good, a great evolution of the Call of Pripyat ideas.
📝 And in general, it has so many great details, like fully modeled artifacts, eating animations, really varied and interesting anomalies/mutants, nice visuals and atmosphere. But as a game as a whole it just doesnt click for me, unfortunately. But if the stuff I mentioned doesnt seem that bad to you, then try it. Many people clearly enjoy this game, so why not. And it is definitely not buggy anymore. From all my playtime, i encountered maybe only a few weirdly placed/dropping from the sky ragdolls, and thats all.\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t🗺️ The huge map is especially a problem. I realize that the first stalker games were not some kind of hidden gem in terms of level design, but still: the zones were the right size for their gameplay, POIs felt connected, with clear progression and direction. Here, while it has a bunch of memorable anomalies and landmarks, it all feels too disconnected, same-y, and just big for the sake of it. Similar to a ubisoft game with a huge map filled with question marks all over it. The abundance of loot is not helping either. Even on the second-highest difficulty, you are given so much stuff that it can outright negate some of the game mechanics. Upgrade costs balance this out to some extent, and gunfights are tuned quite well imo, so it is not all bad.
📖 Storywise, it has some fun cutscenes, and it is also nice to see that choices have at least some consequences later. But again, its just too big. More than half of the main missions felt like filler, and I was constantly asking myself: what am I doing, or why? who is this guy? etc. There is just not much stuff to care or invest emotionally. Side quests on the other hand, are quite good, a great evolution of the Call of Pripyat ideas.
📝 And in general, it has so many great details, like fully modeled artifacts, eating animations, really varied and interesting anomalies/mutants, nice visuals and atmosphere. But as a game as a whole it just doesnt click for me, unfortunately. But if the stuff I mentioned doesnt seem that bad to you, then try it. Many people clearly enjoy this game, so why not. And it is definitely not buggy anymore. From all my playtime, i encountered maybe only a few weirdly placed/dropping from the sky ragdolls, and thats all.\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\tWas this review helpful?\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t17 people found this review helpful\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
3 people found this review funny\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t3 people found this review funny\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\n\t\tA developer has responded on Oct 5 @ 1:26pm
(view response)
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\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Karas\"](\"https://avatars.akamai.steamstatic.com/c2ecfb0a7b404639d9d4be46e3c4ea2784710f25.jpg\")
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tRecommended
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t121.5 hrs on record\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t(75.4 hrs at review time)\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tPosted: September 28\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDirect from Steam\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tWhile playing S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 I think I found my biggest challenge in the Zone - the 'E' key. Every time I accidentally press it, my stalker instantly chugs all the beer and gorilka I had. While others survive among mutants and radiation, I'm out here struggling with a hangover and an empty flask.\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\tWas this review helpful?\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t20 people found this review helpful\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
11 people found this review funny\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t11 people found this review funny\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"BlackFire\"](\"https://avatars.akamai.steamstatic.com/55ed647138d350f3396112212108fb102dc9dda6.jpg\")
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tRecommended
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t103.8 hrs on record\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t(100.3 hrs at review time)\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tPosted: October 14\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDirect from Steam\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tI have just crossed 100 hours of playtime, and I’m writing this review having just reached the main Freedom base.
Honestly? that summarizes how I’ve been playing the game.
While I have done a mix of main story content and DLC content, my core experience has been driven by pure curiosity: “Hmm, there’s something over there, I want to go check it out.” So, I just walk over, and it has been incredibly fun. Through this, I have found so many fantastic, unique weapons, upgrades, attachments, and new armor sets. It has been a fantastic journey.
This game really reminds me of, and feels like. the first three games, just built inside a modern engine. I especially appreciate this because I recently started playing Anomaly/G.A.M.M.A. While G.A.M.M.A. feels a bit more hardcore, they are all S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games at their core, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is awesome. If someone is a little scared of jumping straight into the older titles or a modpack like G.A.M.M.A., I honestly think S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is the best entry point to experience the series, at least as a beginner. I highly recommend it on that front.
Additionally, I love a lot of the quality-of-life improvements. The game controls way better than any of the previous titles, including G.A.M.M.A. The weapon customization is fantastic; it has honestly become my main drive to keep playing. My goal is to collect every single unique weapon, plus one of each standard weapon type. I might do the same for armor eventually, but that's a lower priority for now.
The environment is gorgeous and beautifully realized. It feels exactly how the Zone would look and behave in real life. It is also incredibly rewarding to play this after completing the original trilogy because I can literally walk somewhere and recognize an area or landmark from the first games. Having that prior knowledge actually gives you a massive advantage. While some locations are slightly different, it makes perfect sense given the in-universe passage of time and the fact that a modern engine allows for far greater detail and better graphics.
Regarding the story, I won't spoil anything, but it’s pretty good. It's not a mind-breaking narrative, but rather a straightforward one. The main focus is really about what you do outside of the main storyline: who you talk to, who you ally with, and how you navigate the world.
As a final note, the game features modding support, which can elevate the experience. Mods aren't strictly necessary unless there is a specific mechanic that irks you. For example, I installed a mod that allows you to fully upgrade a weapon. Normally, the upgrade trees force you to choose between path A or path B, but this mod lets me choose both. hough I still have to earn the rubles to pay for them.
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\n\n\t\t\t\tHonestly? that summarizes how I’ve been playing the game.
While I have done a mix of main story content and DLC content, my core experience has been driven by pure curiosity: “Hmm, there’s something over there, I want to go check it out.” So, I just walk over, and it has been incredibly fun. Through this, I have found so many fantastic, unique weapons, upgrades, attachments, and new armor sets. It has been a fantastic journey.
This game really reminds me of, and feels like. the first three games, just built inside a modern engine. I especially appreciate this because I recently started playing Anomaly/G.A.M.M.A. While G.A.M.M.A. feels a bit more hardcore, they are all S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games at their core, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is awesome. If someone is a little scared of jumping straight into the older titles or a modpack like G.A.M.M.A., I honestly think S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is the best entry point to experience the series, at least as a beginner. I highly recommend it on that front.
Additionally, I love a lot of the quality-of-life improvements. The game controls way better than any of the previous titles, including G.A.M.M.A. The weapon customization is fantastic; it has honestly become my main drive to keep playing. My goal is to collect every single unique weapon, plus one of each standard weapon type. I might do the same for armor eventually, but that's a lower priority for now.
The environment is gorgeous and beautifully realized. It feels exactly how the Zone would look and behave in real life. It is also incredibly rewarding to play this after completing the original trilogy because I can literally walk somewhere and recognize an area or landmark from the first games. Having that prior knowledge actually gives you a massive advantage. While some locations are slightly different, it makes perfect sense given the in-universe passage of time and the fact that a modern engine allows for far greater detail and better graphics.
Regarding the story, I won't spoil anything, but it’s pretty good. It's not a mind-breaking narrative, but rather a straightforward one. The main focus is really about what you do outside of the main storyline: who you talk to, who you ally with, and how you navigate the world.
As a final note, the game features modding support, which can elevate the experience. Mods aren't strictly necessary unless there is a specific mechanic that irks you. For example, I installed a mod that allows you to fully upgrade a weapon. Normally, the upgrade trees force you to choose between path A or path B, but this mod lets me choose both. hough I still have to earn the rubles to pay for them.
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tReviewer's PC Specs:
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWindows 11
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tAMD Ryzen 7 5800X 8-Core Processor - RAM: 32 GB
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tNVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 - VRAM: 10 GB
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\tWas this review helpful?\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t4 people found this review helpful\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Halüsinasyon\"](\"https://avatars.akamai.steamstatic.com/4d360fdcb6a3b0ef8d9000e3b39143260f68006a.jpg\")
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\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tRecommended
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t179.6 hrs on record\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tPosted: September 25\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDirect from Steam\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tAs an enthusiast of every Stalker media, this game is a mess and a miracle at the same time. It has a pretty messed up canon problems and unnecessary retcons thats doesn't even make slight sense. It relies heavily on old trilogy and rarely becomes something original. But when it becomes its own thing through such points like Faust, Strider and future of monolith and Cost of Hope dlc sections it shows its beautiful real colors. Spirit and mysterious air of the zone is still here and it is well preserved, every exploration you do in the zone gets you greatly rewarded. I was there for this game since its release day and I experienced and got effected by performance problems directly, however, that is not an excuse to overlook the sheer amount of work that is put on this game, but still don't forget that game optimization is becoming a lost art. Finally, This is a rough piece of work from people that experienced literal war in their development period, in fact some of them died in that war. It is a miracle that this game did not stuck in development hell and it actually exist now, since miracles does exist in the zone.
It was a joy to admire the zone once again.
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\n\n\t\t\t\tIt was a joy to admire the zone once again.
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\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\tWas this review helpful?\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t5 people found this review helpful\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
1 person found this review funny\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Tetony\"](\"https://avatars.akamai.steamstatic.com/536b37bed15d99687a0b48a80b87d8709a1221b4.jpg\")
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t132.7 hrs on record\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t(101.2 hrs at review time)\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tPosted: October 4\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDirect from Steam\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tSo what if the game is great if it crashes like crazy?
No matter what "fix" (and I tried all i found) I apply once I try to continue the main mission in Malachite game crashes. And is not the only instance there are other zones where the game today works fine and after 10 hours starts crashes like crazy, and if i run away from that location all is good.
I did not even got to the DLC... because I like exploring and this is a great place to explore... until it crashes again.
I will not post all the thing I tried (too many) but lets say performance is not a problem, hardware not even close and the game crashes with or without mods.
A great game when it works...\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\tNo matter what "fix" (and I tried all i found) I apply once I try to continue the main mission in Malachite game crashes. And is not the only instance there are other zones where the game today works fine and after 10 hours starts crashes like crazy, and if i run away from that location all is good.
I did not even got to the DLC... because I like exploring and this is a great place to explore... until it crashes again.
I will not post all the thing I tried (too many) but lets say performance is not a problem, hardware not even close and the game crashes with or without mods.
A great game when it works...\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\tWas this review helpful?\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t7 people found this review helpful\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
1 person found this review funny\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\n\t\tA developer has responded on Oct 5 @ 5:23am
(view response)
\n\t\t\t(view response)
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\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"RuntCaustas\"](\"https://avatars.akamai.steamstatic.com/3e2fa90f735cc8462103161d918bb5ba9f12ff71.jpg\")
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t70.4 hrs on record\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tPosted: October 2\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tIf I could choose neutral I would, but I'm going to choose negative since it was mostly the endings and story that left a bad experience.
TLDR: Play for the world, but suffer through the main quest.
The atmosphere and gameplay are fantastic. They really draw you in and immerse you into what you are doing. The complete zone feels great and I had fun exploring it. Anomalies are great, Emissions are done well, and monsters are fine.
Gunplay is good but can get annoying against some tanky enemies, even with the right ammo. 'Stealth archer' is ideal for most situations until you can get some sweet exo armor.
Performance was fine except some times around 100 rads it would drop down to 5fps. Also the DLSS was annoying and left a lot of extra particles. (Before the main rant, I will also say that pacing of the story was fine. I started to explore less and do more story after a certain amount of time since I just wanted the game finished, but you would normally do a bit more exploring than what I did.)
The story kind of sucks.
I felt like I was forced to back factions that I didn't care for and that I was being used the entire time, which Skif (your character) seems to be okay with. There are several endings, but they vary from very grey to just down right bad. It's never a good thing when an npc that you just met, who was never mentioned until 2 mins before you meet them, tells you your backstory, that the player didn't know, 20 hours into the game. This npc is also not mentioned or seen again until the end of the game, depending on the the ending. The backstory that is given is also just an expanded cutscene and some additional info that they just didn't show you in the prologue for some reason.
For the main story, you are forced to choose between two and a half factions on who you will back through the story. I say 2.5 since two factions are actually teaming up together against the other one. I hope you like both of them since if you choose one you choose both, and they have very different motivations. The new factions are not bad and I did generally like them, and had to qualms with them in the story. The problems only started when you had to choose one side and then you turn hostile towards the one you didn't choose. (For clarity, Faction A vs Faction B and C)
This annoyed me more when the faction in the 1.5 team up, that I liked (Faction B), was changed and now I was stuck backing the psychopath in the .5 faction (Faction C) while everyone else hated me including Faction A. Who again, I didn't hate, I had just liked Faction B more (But now we are mortal enemies, I guess).
The game continues with a few more faction introductions and choices, at one point allowing you to change who you backed between Faction A and Faction C, which then changes who likes you and who hates you. You get introduced to more characters, some which are from the first three games and they completely character assassinate some of them depending on the ending that you get/choose. From that point you are kind of locked in on an ending unless you decide to start making counter discissions to what you did earlier. The entire time it felt like I was being bossed around and having to help one of the many crazy people do what they wanted to do (Again, Skif seemingly being okay with everything).
(more specific spoilers)
The endings go from "we might have been the bad guys *wink wink*" to "everyone in the zone dies because I changed my character motivation and need to protect the zone because I'm special" to "Everyone gets zombified, but its okay since you feel good inside while you slowly die in an illusion" to "Everyone gets to experience the hellhole which is the zone.. *Destroys world*"
This is all so you could get a new apartment, mind you. That's your characters motivation through this entire thing.
What this story needed was two things. Either a Neutral option where you kind of helped each faction without getting into their politics and craziness, which would probably include either a random ending or a status quo ending of sorts.
Or they needed the DUTY ending. Destroy the zone.
I mention them specifically because DUTY is very much a minor part of the game. I saw them a few times on patrol and they have a small base, but they are not part of the main story. Why?
The game has a specific theme that the zone is alive and that it is Home to a bunch of people and that it needs to be protected. Richter being one of the main npcs that pushes this. I liked his character at first, but I wanted to shoot him part way through the game (Especially since he'll threaten to kill you at one point when you are locked in with a few factions and will attempt to kill you at a certain story point. But you can't).
If your definition of home is walking down through a swamp, dodging anomalies that will tear your skin from your bones, while trying not to get your face eaten by the countless monsters that are everywhere, and then trying not to get murdered by bandits, greedy stalkers, brainwashed zombies, or the several factions that are at war with one another for petty to ideological reasons about how the zone should be controlled (or controlled at all) and will shoot each other (and you) on sight. If this is your definition of home and that it needs to be protected and more people need to experience it, then you need to go to a psych ward.
The Zone should be destroyed. It is dangerous and it brings out the worse in people.
This thought wasn't even an option, even though it was a major theme in the first three games. The Ward kind of says it a few times, but their actions and words show that they don't really believe it. They want that power. Not only to control the Zone, but everyone outside of it.
I wasn't a major Duty fan going into this game, but by the end, they were the only right decision and they weren't an option.
With the standard endings I don't even know what they would do if they wanted to make a Stalker 3. All the endings suck.
As a note: I know the DLC for the game is a story about Duty and Freedom, but that takes place before the events of the main story. So the ending would be the same. I don't feel like spending more money to buy it and play it since I don't think it would change my opinion of the base game.\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\tTLDR: Play for the world, but suffer through the main quest.
The atmosphere and gameplay are fantastic. They really draw you in and immerse you into what you are doing. The complete zone feels great and I had fun exploring it. Anomalies are great, Emissions are done well, and monsters are fine.
Gunplay is good but can get annoying against some tanky enemies, even with the right ammo. 'Stealth archer' is ideal for most situations until you can get some sweet exo armor.
Performance was fine except some times around 100 rads it would drop down to 5fps. Also the DLSS was annoying and left a lot of extra particles. (Before the main rant, I will also say that pacing of the story was fine. I started to explore less and do more story after a certain amount of time since I just wanted the game finished, but you would normally do a bit more exploring than what I did.)
The story kind of sucks.
I felt like I was forced to back factions that I didn't care for and that I was being used the entire time, which Skif (your character) seems to be okay with. There are several endings, but they vary from very grey to just down right bad. It's never a good thing when an npc that you just met, who was never mentioned until 2 mins before you meet them, tells you your backstory, that the player didn't know, 20 hours into the game. This npc is also not mentioned or seen again until the end of the game, depending on the the ending. The backstory that is given is also just an expanded cutscene and some additional info that they just didn't show you in the prologue for some reason.
For the main story, you are forced to choose between two and a half factions on who you will back through the story. I say 2.5 since two factions are actually teaming up together against the other one. I hope you like both of them since if you choose one you choose both, and they have very different motivations. The new factions are not bad and I did generally like them, and had to qualms with them in the story. The problems only started when you had to choose one side and then you turn hostile towards the one you didn't choose. (For clarity, Faction A vs Faction B and C)
This annoyed me more when the faction in the 1.5 team up, that I liked (Faction B), was changed and now I was stuck backing the psychopath in the .5 faction (Faction C) while everyone else hated me including Faction A. Who again, I didn't hate, I had just liked Faction B more (But now we are mortal enemies, I guess).
The game continues with a few more faction introductions and choices, at one point allowing you to change who you backed between Faction A and Faction C, which then changes who likes you and who hates you. You get introduced to more characters, some which are from the first three games and they completely character assassinate some of them depending on the ending that you get/choose. From that point you are kind of locked in on an ending unless you decide to start making counter discissions to what you did earlier. The entire time it felt like I was being bossed around and having to help one of the many crazy people do what they wanted to do (Again, Skif seemingly being okay with everything).
(more specific spoilers)
The endings go from "we might have been the bad guys *wink wink*" to "everyone in the zone dies because I changed my character motivation and need to protect the zone because I'm special" to "Everyone gets zombified, but its okay since you feel good inside while you slowly die in an illusion" to "Everyone gets to experience the hellhole which is the zone.. *Destroys world*"
This is all so you could get a new apartment, mind you. That's your characters motivation through this entire thing.
What this story needed was two things. Either a Neutral option where you kind of helped each faction without getting into their politics and craziness, which would probably include either a random ending or a status quo ending of sorts.
Or they needed the DUTY ending. Destroy the zone.
I mention them specifically because DUTY is very much a minor part of the game. I saw them a few times on patrol and they have a small base, but they are not part of the main story. Why?
The game has a specific theme that the zone is alive and that it is Home to a bunch of people and that it needs to be protected. Richter being one of the main npcs that pushes this. I liked his character at first, but I wanted to shoot him part way through the game (Especially since he'll threaten to kill you at one point when you are locked in with a few factions and will attempt to kill you at a certain story point. But you can't).
If your definition of home is walking down through a swamp, dodging anomalies that will tear your skin from your bones, while trying not to get your face eaten by the countless monsters that are everywhere, and then trying not to get murdered by bandits, greedy stalkers, brainwashed zombies, or the several factions that are at war with one another for petty to ideological reasons about how the zone should be controlled (or controlled at all) and will shoot each other (and you) on sight. If this is your definition of home and that it needs to be protected and more people need to experience it, then you need to go to a psych ward.
The Zone should be destroyed. It is dangerous and it brings out the worse in people.
This thought wasn't even an option, even though it was a major theme in the first three games. The Ward kind of says it a few times, but their actions and words show that they don't really believe it. They want that power. Not only to control the Zone, but everyone outside of it.
I wasn't a major Duty fan going into this game, but by the end, they were the only right decision and they weren't an option.
With the standard endings I don't even know what they would do if they wanted to make a Stalker 3. All the endings suck.
As a note: I know the DLC for the game is a story about Duty and Freedom, but that takes place before the events of the main story. So the ending would be the same. I don't feel like spending more money to buy it and play it since I don't think it would change my opinion of the base game.\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\tWas this review helpful?\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t4 people found this review helpful\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
1 person found this review funny\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t1 person found this review funny\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"WeskerRezo\"](\"https://avatars.akamai.steamstatic.com/efb6643e27bb3f1cc559be8d94b9b81f4a772bc1.jpg\")
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\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tRecommended
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t123.7 hrs on record\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDirect from Steam\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tWhen I played this game first time in 2025 december, it had terrible optimization, was playing on medium and low and still had insane fps drops and high cpu temp like near 80, but still finished it.
Now when I tried again I can't believe devs finally fixed it, no more issues. Played the game very smoothly on high graphics with no upscaling, native resolution and it was really amazing experience. Also got to finally play first dlc expansion which released recently on 20 august, experienced both 2 endings in it. Can't wait for second dlc expansion.
Overall I really loved this game. Amazing graphics and gameplay, with finally amazing performance. The story was pretty interesting and dark. Devs really cooked with this one. Its been very long time we haven't had new stalker game since stalker trilogy.
I know most people prefer og stalker trilogy but to me this one was really amazing too. I honestly loved everything about it. So no regrets on getting ultimate edition.\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\tNow when I tried again I can't believe devs finally fixed it, no more issues. Played the game very smoothly on high graphics with no upscaling, native resolution and it was really amazing experience. Also got to finally play first dlc expansion which released recently on 20 august, experienced both 2 endings in it. Can't wait for second dlc expansion.
Overall I really loved this game. Amazing graphics and gameplay, with finally amazing performance. The story was pretty interesting and dark. Devs really cooked with this one. Its been very long time we haven't had new stalker game since stalker trilogy.
I know most people prefer og stalker trilogy but to me this one was really amazing too. I honestly loved everything about it. So no regrets on getting ultimate edition.\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\tWas this review helpful?\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t4 people found this review helpful\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"UrdnotWrex\"](\"https://avatars.akamai.steamstatic.com/840e41edf3bc1450f0bf5c175f392411b0583d68.jpg\")
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\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tRecommended
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t57 hrs on record\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tPosted: October 6\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDirect from Steam\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tI came into this game based on a recommendation from a friend who is really into the Stalker game lore and he warned me that it can be a hardcore survival game if you want it to be. While I enjoy realism in a game Stalker 2 can get very difficult to manage if you play it in any difficulty above normal not mention play it vanilla. At least to me. The game has many many good attributes and man it's fun once you get past the first 1-1.5 hours of the beginning parts of the game. It also has a few things about it that I found very annoying like not being able to vault over certain terrain obstructions, walls and fences, or the fact that you get hungry way too often or when you take a sip of an energy drink and find yourself immediately starving. Especially the part where fast travel is super limited so you will have to leg it for about 80% of the game. All of these things are easily fixed with mods which I highly encourage doing because I found myself having way more fun once I added a few quality of life mods.
Gunplay in this game is excellent and customization feels like a reward since weapon parts and mods are not easily found and not easy to unlock in one visit to the gunsmith. As soon as you feel like you're rich, half or more of your currency will be gone when you mod your armor and weapons. If you want to be kitted out to the max, you need to grind and earn money, of which there are many side missions to do from various characters in the game.
My 50+ hour playthrough was literally bug and glitch free and it's a well optimized game. Graphics are really good as well. I was able to max it out on DLAA and no FG and get about 80-100fps on average and it looks amazing on an OLED. I typically don't play dark and gloomy games but Stalker 2 changed that for me. I really enjoyed the last 10 or so hours of the game too. Pripyat was cool to explore.
I highly advise you watch a few lore videos on the Stalker series because I really enjoyed the story in this game and found myself wanting to find out more about it.
If you like shooters with a mix of survival set in a semi apocalyptic Eastern European environment, this game is for you!\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\tGunplay in this game is excellent and customization feels like a reward since weapon parts and mods are not easily found and not easy to unlock in one visit to the gunsmith. As soon as you feel like you're rich, half or more of your currency will be gone when you mod your armor and weapons. If you want to be kitted out to the max, you need to grind and earn money, of which there are many side missions to do from various characters in the game.
My 50+ hour playthrough was literally bug and glitch free and it's a well optimized game. Graphics are really good as well. I was able to max it out on DLAA and no FG and get about 80-100fps on average and it looks amazing on an OLED. I typically don't play dark and gloomy games but Stalker 2 changed that for me. I really enjoyed the last 10 or so hours of the game too. Pripyat was cool to explore.
I highly advise you watch a few lore videos on the Stalker series because I really enjoyed the story in this game and found myself wanting to find out more about it.
If you like shooters with a mix of survival set in a semi apocalyptic Eastern European environment, this game is for you!\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tReviewer's PC Specs:
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWindows 11
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tAMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D 16-Core Processor - RAM: 61 GB
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tNVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 - VRAM: 16 GB
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\tWas this review helpful?\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t3 people found this review helpful\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"martinD(CZ)\"](\"https://avatars.akamai.steamstatic.com/9b75cb8641bec11676f66f3d8eb4995ddec08908.jpg\")
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\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tNot Recommended
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t90.2 hrs on record\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t(10.1 hrs at review time)\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tPosted: September 27\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDirect from Steam\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tThe game crashes every 5 minutes (Radeon 7900XTX). I’m really not going to underclock the GPU or try other solutions I find online. The developers need to fix this. You’ve had two years to do it, and still nothing. And I paid for the Ultimate Edition. As it stands, the game is unplayable for me. It crashes, crashes, crashes.\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tReviewer's PC Specs:
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWindows 11
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tAMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 8-Core Processor - RAM: 63 GB
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tAMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX - VRAM: 24 GB
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\tWas this review helpful?\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t4 people found this review helpful\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\n\t\tA developer has responded on Sep 28 @ 11:11am
(view response)
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\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Olivier\"](\"https://avatars.akamai.steamstatic.com/162b51f4c7bd33096513415cf75709226974af22.jpg\")
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t158.2 hrs on record\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tPosted: October 2\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDirect from Steam\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tI'm a big STALKER fan, the original was my first single-player computer game back when I was playing on my parents' machine and as such I was very excited to finally play the sequel after all these years. And, after over 300 hours played across Steam and Gamepass, I'm pleased to say that... it is a mixed bag.
Gameplay-wise, STALKER 2 is probably the best feeling first-person shooter I've ever played. The guns all handle phenomenaly, with great sound and animation design. The core loop of exploring Zone, finding cool loot and upgrading your equipement is very satifying. The Zone itself is huge and looks beautiful and technical performance and stability is a lot better then it was at launch.
All that being said, there is a LOT of ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ as well (not unlike the original games, but I feel like it is worse here). You will die a lot, for many stupid reasons, especially early on in the game. Human enemies will shoot you with pinpoint accuracy from 100 meters across foliage, even in pitch darkness. Mutants will stunlock you to death out of nowhere. Fall damage is the most ridiculous of any game I've played, outright killing you after falling just a few meters. The boss fights, which have no reason to exist in a slow and gritty shooter like this, are absolutely terrible.
Lastly, I'd like to talk about the story, and that's because it was, for me, a massive disapointment. It is, in a word, a mess. While it has incredible production value compared to the previous games, with a lot of amazingly detailed cutscenes, it is all style and no substance (or rather the substance is kinda there, but all jumbled, confusing and unclear). There are so many characters and concepts constantly introduced to the player, just for them to immediately be forgotten and not be mentionned for hours, if they actually come back at all.
Your player character, Skif, is the blankest of blank slates, having the most tenuous and thin motivation for being in the Zone and working with the factions. All we know is that he was in the army, then his appartment was destroyed by an anomaly so he decided to go to the Zone to get reparation. Which begs the question... why? Why did he have to go to litteraly the most dangerous place on Earth when he could have just had his insurance pay for the damage or something? And the whole narrative is like that.
People do what they do with the most surface-level of motivations, there are no relationships between the characters, none of them have real personnal reasons for their actions, they all are just empty vessels giving Skif his tasks so that the messy, confusing plot can go forward.
It's a shame considering that Shadow of Chernobyl and Clear Sky both had great storylines, and I'm just sad Heart of Chronobyl couldn't also deliver on that front.
All that being said, even if the game is in my opinion very flawed, I think that if you can get pass its shortcomings, STALKER 2 is worth it as a great shooter with amazing gunplay, exploration and atmosphere, even if the rest of the package is a little bit scuffed.
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\n\n\t\t\t\tGameplay-wise, STALKER 2 is probably the best feeling first-person shooter I've ever played. The guns all handle phenomenaly, with great sound and animation design. The core loop of exploring Zone, finding cool loot and upgrading your equipement is very satifying. The Zone itself is huge and looks beautiful and technical performance and stability is a lot better then it was at launch.
All that being said, there is a LOT of ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ as well (not unlike the original games, but I feel like it is worse here). You will die a lot, for many stupid reasons, especially early on in the game. Human enemies will shoot you with pinpoint accuracy from 100 meters across foliage, even in pitch darkness. Mutants will stunlock you to death out of nowhere. Fall damage is the most ridiculous of any game I've played, outright killing you after falling just a few meters. The boss fights, which have no reason to exist in a slow and gritty shooter like this, are absolutely terrible.
Lastly, I'd like to talk about the story, and that's because it was, for me, a massive disapointment. It is, in a word, a mess. While it has incredible production value compared to the previous games, with a lot of amazingly detailed cutscenes, it is all style and no substance (or rather the substance is kinda there, but all jumbled, confusing and unclear). There are so many characters and concepts constantly introduced to the player, just for them to immediately be forgotten and not be mentionned for hours, if they actually come back at all.
Your player character, Skif, is the blankest of blank slates, having the most tenuous and thin motivation for being in the Zone and working with the factions. All we know is that he was in the army, then his appartment was destroyed by an anomaly so he decided to go to the Zone to get reparation. Which begs the question... why? Why did he have to go to litteraly the most dangerous place on Earth when he could have just had his insurance pay for the damage or something? And the whole narrative is like that.
People do what they do with the most surface-level of motivations, there are no relationships between the characters, none of them have real personnal reasons for their actions, they all are just empty vessels giving Skif his tasks so that the messy, confusing plot can go forward.
It's a shame considering that Shadow of Chernobyl and Clear Sky both had great storylines, and I'm just sad Heart of Chronobyl couldn't also deliver on that front.
All that being said, even if the game is in my opinion very flawed, I think that if you can get pass its shortcomings, STALKER 2 is worth it as a great shooter with amazing gunplay, exploration and atmosphere, even if the rest of the package is a little bit scuffed.
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\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\tWas this review helpful?\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t6 people found this review helpful\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Degrees](\"https://avatars.akamai.steamstatic.com/45b93e1abf7639f4f9a936bb880592a219f92bfd.jpg\")
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\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tRecommended
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t1,037.5 hrs on record\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t(1,025.8 hrs at review time)\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tPosted: October 15\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDirect from Steam\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tWith over 1000 hours played, I can say i love the atmosphere and the amazing feel f thee gunplay. But its the lore that really gets me as well as the X lab horror feel to it at times.\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\tWas this review helpful?\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t2 people found this review helpful\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"lightmedelis28\"](\"https://avatars.akamai.steamstatic.com/8d71caa31d801bb44682c4672f24afb7d082557c.jpg\")
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tRecommended
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t202.8 hrs on record\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t(175.7 hrs at review time)\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tPosted: October 2\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDirect from Steam\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tI was absolutely tearing this game and its engine apart half a year ago for all the bugs, the mediocre gameplay, underwhelming visuals, and completely broken economy...
And now I’m genuinely happy to say: “Guys, you did it.” You fixed the game and turned it into an absolute gem.
The technical issues have been fixed, the visuals have improved significantly, and the performance is now stable. No more FPS slowly dying after 30-40 minutes of playing, or massive drops just because you enter a busy location.
They’ve fixed pretty much everything. And this isn’t just some cosmetic cleanup or a couple of patches for the sake of it. It’s a real, serious effort to address the problems.
It honestly reminds me of what CDPR did with Cyberpunk 2077 after its release.
The DLC deserves a special round of applause. The atmosphere and level design are absolutely fantastic. The storyline is more dynamic than the original campaign while being just as interesting.
Long story short, this is now one of those games you simply can’t put down.
If you had problems with the game at launch, Update 2.0 fixed almost everything. I highly recommend giving it another shot in its current state. You won’t regret it.\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\tAnd now I’m genuinely happy to say: “Guys, you did it.” You fixed the game and turned it into an absolute gem.
The technical issues have been fixed, the visuals have improved significantly, and the performance is now stable. No more FPS slowly dying after 30-40 minutes of playing, or massive drops just because you enter a busy location.
They’ve fixed pretty much everything. And this isn’t just some cosmetic cleanup or a couple of patches for the sake of it. It’s a real, serious effort to address the problems.
It honestly reminds me of what CDPR did with Cyberpunk 2077 after its release.
The DLC deserves a special round of applause. The atmosphere and level design are absolutely fantastic. The storyline is more dynamic than the original campaign while being just as interesting.
Long story short, this is now one of those games you simply can’t put down.
If you had problems with the game at launch, Update 2.0 fixed almost everything. I highly recommend giving it another shot in its current state. You won’t regret it.\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tReviewer's PC Specs:
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWindows 11
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tAMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D 8-Core Processor - RAM: 32 GB
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tNVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 - VRAM: 8 GB
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\tWas this review helpful?\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t3 people found this review helpful\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t7.2 hrs on record\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDirect from Steam\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tI have never had such an awful experience in my life. Because I couldn't play this broken game on launch day, I kept making excuses and delaying it, hoping to play it later in a more 'optimized' state. I am aware of the development process and its hardships, but I believe they rushed the release due to pressure from Microsoft or Xbox. Instead, they should have conducted proper R&D, won players' hearts, and presented this cult title with a great marketing strategy. Unfortunately, the game simply destroyed itself.
As someone who experienced flawed launches like Cyberpunk 2077, I can honestly say that even if this game had launched flawlessly, my opinion would still be negative. Setting aside the performance issues, the quest design, execution, dialogue, and so on are truly terrible. If we talk about the gameplay, yes, it is detailed and that's the end of my review. Do you know why? Because I could only endure this game for seven hours.
When I finally decided to give it another try, two years had passed and a new expansion pack was released. But what a surprise: you need to download a DLC just to continue playing the game. I checked countless forums and reviews, and I feel this issue isn't being discussed enough. Simply because of this mess, I now consider buying the game on console at a decent discount, because my current playthrough has been completely ruined here.
I pre-ordered the standard edition. Even though I don't own any DLC or pre-order bonuses, DLC skins and items appear in my save data, which completely prevents me from continuing the main story. It is truly embarrassing. The game engine refuses to load a save file if it detects DLC content such as exclusive weapons, armor, quests, or the Cost of Hope expansion in the inventory or active world without those packs installed.
I hope GSC shows more understanding and provides meaningful support regarding this problem, because I don't want to go through those seven hours of torture all over and over again. And no, I do not want to continue the story by downloading someone else's save file.
Let's hope, ''I can play this beautiful disaster passion open world game.\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\tAs someone who experienced flawed launches like Cyberpunk 2077, I can honestly say that even if this game had launched flawlessly, my opinion would still be negative. Setting aside the performance issues, the quest design, execution, dialogue, and so on are truly terrible. If we talk about the gameplay, yes, it is detailed and that's the end of my review. Do you know why? Because I could only endure this game for seven hours.
When I finally decided to give it another try, two years had passed and a new expansion pack was released. But what a surprise: you need to download a DLC just to continue playing the game. I checked countless forums and reviews, and I feel this issue isn't being discussed enough. Simply because of this mess, I now consider buying the game on console at a decent discount, because my current playthrough has been completely ruined here.
I pre-ordered the standard edition. Even though I don't own any DLC or pre-order bonuses, DLC skins and items appear in my save data, which completely prevents me from continuing the main story. It is truly embarrassing. The game engine refuses to load a save file if it detects DLC content such as exclusive weapons, armor, quests, or the Cost of Hope expansion in the inventory or active world without those packs installed.
I hope GSC shows more understanding and provides meaningful support regarding this problem, because I don't want to go through those seven hours of torture all over and over again. And no, I do not want to continue the story by downloading someone else's save file.
Let's hope, ''I can play this beautiful disaster passion open world game.\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\tWas this review helpful?\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t5 people found this review helpful\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
7 people found this review funny\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t7 people found this review funny\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\n\t\tA developer has responded on Oct 15 @ 5:19am
(view response)
\n\t\t\t(view response)
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\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Falcon](\"https://avatars.akamai.steamstatic.com/7e7717d81568f2e6d2767ccbd19f247c913b5a21.jpg\")
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tRecommended
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t139.9 hrs on record\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tPosted: October 8\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDirect from Steam\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tfun post apoc game.
reminds me of fallout and metro\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\treminds me of fallout and metro\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\tReviewer's PC Specs:
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWindows 11
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tAMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D 8-Core Processor - RAM: 31 GB
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tNVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 - VRAM: 16 GB
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\tWas this review helpful?\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t2 people found this review helpful\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Otto](\"https://avatars.akamai.steamstatic.com/67e726e114cb4dabecd15801d7f34c06f5c4189b.jpg\")
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t18.2 hrs on record\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tPosted: September 18\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDirect from Steam\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tits only like my 4 quest after being outside of the lesser zone and scripts have broken and stopped progressing all together. ♥♥♥♥ game so far...\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\tWas this review helpful?\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t1 person found this review helpful\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Laffey\"](\"https://avatars.akamai.steamstatic.com/1fd5c2cc58a8bf3b93ee6c9a832ff9401e392a02.jpg\")
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t131.3 hrs on record\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t(87 hrs at review time)\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tPosted: September 25\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDirect from Steam\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tAs a long-term S.T.A.L.K.E.R. fan, I was super excited to finally step into this game. This is one of the rare cases when I do a full-price game pre-order.
Although nothing can beat Shadow of Chernobyl for me in terms of "vibes," the visuals, the sound, and the gameplay are definitely a massive step-up (ikr?).
"The good" about this game:
The Zone is genuinely curious to explore; there are SO many hidden places, short "stories" told through the aftermath, charismatic NPCs, and mysteries you genuinely want to unveil. And visiting the locations from Shadow of Chernobyl, so close to my heart, feels like the famous scene from Ratatouille. Huge shoutout to the development team for making them look and feel as close to the original as possible.
I would also like to separately highlight the Ukrainian sound. It's just brilliant, borderline absolute perfection. It's so good I had zero intention to even try the English one.
I love the character diversity in this game. We finally got female, Asian, and Black characters, which adds more immersion to the Zone. And the balance is great, not like Netflix-level.
As much as it hurts to do, I must also mention "the bad" about this game.
First of all, the difficulty system. Initially, I picked "Stalker" because I wanted a balance between enjoying the game for the first time and the challenge so it doesn't feel like a tea party. Unfortunately, at this level you can die from 3-4 shots of the crappy-ass gun, 2-3 snork bites, and such; you get the idea. This doesn't seem too bad on paper, but in the game it's so unbearable. What's fun? After switching to "Rookie," the game feels 10x less challenging despite these levels being super easy (by design at least). In "Rookie" I can tank 3-4 enemies like it's nothing...
Second, the wear and tear system. Again, on paper, it's not that bad, but in reality the guns and the gear just wear down sooo fast. Like the game was supposed to be stealth when you encounter enemies once per day, while in reality the Zone is full of something to kill or something that wants a piece of you. Everything wears down very fast, and it's very expensive to fix, even on "Rookie".
Third, another side of the diversity. Devs deliberately avoid the Russian language as much as possible, even if it touches some legendary parts or original lore. So, the characters are not so diverse in the end. The "peremoga" does its part for sure. There's absolutely zero chance nobody speaks Russian in the lore-accurate Zone. Let's be clear, I'm talking about the Russian language (a widely spoken language in Ukraine) and not the country of Russia itself. It's extra sad I had to make this remark.
Forth, A-Life is just marketing. It's doesn't exist or function properly in the game. Simple example: I come to the location from south, fight a couple of mutants (takes 15-20 seconds), immediately after that a group of stalkers shows up from the south. Yea, it's definitely not a script. Example 2: you come to the location, you see there's a bunch of dead bodies, you come closer and realize they just spawned dead. Yea, truly immersive.
There are some other annoying parts of the game, such as weird fall damage (it's either damages you for like 20% or it kills you instantly), different armor doesn't provide any additional capacity, if you encounter 2-3 bloodsuckers, good luck being stunned non-stop, and too much parkour ♥♥♥♥ (bro, is this Banlieue 13 or S.T.A.L.K.E.R.?). Whoever came up with the "helicopter parkour puzzle" - good job, you finally ruined my desire to keep playing the game.\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\tAlthough nothing can beat Shadow of Chernobyl for me in terms of "vibes," the visuals, the sound, and the gameplay are definitely a massive step-up (ikr?).
"The good" about this game:
The Zone is genuinely curious to explore; there are SO many hidden places, short "stories" told through the aftermath, charismatic NPCs, and mysteries you genuinely want to unveil. And visiting the locations from Shadow of Chernobyl, so close to my heart, feels like the famous scene from Ratatouille. Huge shoutout to the development team for making them look and feel as close to the original as possible.
I would also like to separately highlight the Ukrainian sound. It's just brilliant, borderline absolute perfection. It's so good I had zero intention to even try the English one.
I love the character diversity in this game. We finally got female, Asian, and Black characters, which adds more immersion to the Zone. And the balance is great, not like Netflix-level.
As much as it hurts to do, I must also mention "the bad" about this game.
First of all, the difficulty system. Initially, I picked "Stalker" because I wanted a balance between enjoying the game for the first time and the challenge so it doesn't feel like a tea party. Unfortunately, at this level you can die from 3-4 shots of the crappy-ass gun, 2-3 snork bites, and such; you get the idea. This doesn't seem too bad on paper, but in the game it's so unbearable. What's fun? After switching to "Rookie," the game feels 10x less challenging despite these levels being super easy (by design at least). In "Rookie" I can tank 3-4 enemies like it's nothing...
Second, the wear and tear system. Again, on paper, it's not that bad, but in reality the guns and the gear just wear down sooo fast. Like the game was supposed to be stealth when you encounter enemies once per day, while in reality the Zone is full of something to kill or something that wants a piece of you. Everything wears down very fast, and it's very expensive to fix, even on "Rookie".
Third, another side of the diversity. Devs deliberately avoid the Russian language as much as possible, even if it touches some legendary parts or original lore. So, the characters are not so diverse in the end. The "peremoga" does its part for sure. There's absolutely zero chance nobody speaks Russian in the lore-accurate Zone. Let's be clear, I'm talking about the Russian language (a widely spoken language in Ukraine) and not the country of Russia itself. It's extra sad I had to make this remark.
Forth, A-Life is just marketing. It's doesn't exist or function properly in the game. Simple example: I come to the location from south, fight a couple of mutants (takes 15-20 seconds), immediately after that a group of stalkers shows up from the south. Yea, it's definitely not a script. Example 2: you come to the location, you see there's a bunch of dead bodies, you come closer and realize they just spawned dead. Yea, truly immersive.
There are some other annoying parts of the game, such as weird fall damage (it's either damages you for like 20% or it kills you instantly), different armor doesn't provide any additional capacity, if you encounter 2-3 bloodsuckers, good luck being stunned non-stop, and too much parkour ♥♥♥♥ (bro, is this Banlieue 13 or S.T.A.L.K.E.R.?). Whoever came up with the "helicopter parkour puzzle" - good job, you finally ruined my desire to keep playing the game.\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\tWas this review helpful?\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t2 people found this review helpful\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
4 people found this review funny\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t4 people found this review funny\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"Burden](\"https://avatars.akamai.steamstatic.com/f9db3117a3f7a2a456a9be3a66841b39b9d1329a.jpg\")
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\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tNot Recommended
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t87 hrs on record\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t(83.2 hrs at review time)\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tPosted: September 18\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDirect from Steam\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\tStay as far away from this game that you can, it has the worst AI that i have seen in a shooter, if you want to get lasered from max range or have boring ass AI stare at you not move and hit ever single shot then go for it and im tired of everyone glazing this game saying its good\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t6 people found this review helpful\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t
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