Every so often we get a game that’s been in development hell for a variety of reasons. Funding, poor management, creative changes just to make a few. Those games typically, though not always, end up being average at best, and usually not very good. Stalker 2: Heart Of Chornobyl is another game that went through development hell, but for a much different reason. It was developed in a warzone. Now that it’s finally released did it suffer the same fate as others, or rise above?
Despite having never played a Stalker game before Stalker 2 was on my radar from the moment it was first announced. A shooter with an interesting premise and unique world? Sign me up. I even had the limited edition preordered since 2022 (definitely worth the purchase for the pack ins alone). Needless to say I was excited to dive into the Zone. What I ended up with was a game that has a ton of bright spots marred by a few major issues that really hold it back from putting it in the upper echelon of gaming in 2024.
The Zones Story Is Deep
Most shooters these days have solid gameplay as most developers have figured out the genre, but what tends to really set certain games apart of their story. So I was quite happy across my roughly 40 hours in the Zone that the story kept me engaged and had me on more than a few occasions surprised with where it was going.
You play as Yevhen Martynenko, or better known as Skif, an army vet of 3 years who’s house was hit with a strange anomaly back on the mainland. As he looks for answers he is sent into the Zone to set up a machine only to be ambushed and left for dead. When you come to, a man named Richter helps guide you and thus Skif the Stalker is born.
Across 34 main missions and countless side missions you will meet many characters from all sides of the Zone. All told there’s actually 12 different factions within Stalker 2, however only a handful seem to play a significant role. SIRCAA and the Wards, the Monoliths, Spark, the Noon and finally the freedom fighters are the main players here.
There’s also of course the mutants created out of the radiation. There aren’t that many different ones but each one is unique and and a terror to run into. Some are completely invisible to you until they are right on top of you, while another can pull your weapons right out of your hand and fire them on you. They do a great job splitting up the fighting with the humans, although they don’t factor into the story too much.
As you work your way through the campaign you will have many choices to make which will dictate how the story unfolds for you. With 4 different endings there is a lot of different paths you can take. And while some decisions you make will have effects on the finer details of the story, ie kill person X or let them live, there is only a couple key decisions that will affect the overall outcome of your playthrough.
As far as the side missions are concerned, they are some of the best parts in the game and I’d recommend doing at least some. Not only do they add a lot of backdrop to what is going on in the Zone, they come with nice amounts of the games currency, coupons, and often times lead to some solid new weapons and gear.
Survival Is Tough But Rewarding
While the story certainly is good, what Stalker 2 is at its core is just a damn good survival game. Developers GSC Game World have done a fantastic job with the survival mechanics. You will spend a lot of time engaging with humans or mutants and then scouring the land (or dead humans) for whatever you can get your hands on.
Food, energy drinks, booze, medkits, bandages and of course weapons and ammo are always at a premium in the Zone. And deciding what to loot has consequences as well thanks to the weight system. When I first got to the Zone I was looting everything. Whatever I didn’t want I could sell at the next town right? Well didn’t take long til I was in a fight with a mutant I couldn’t win and was too weighed down to run away.
I then went to a new strategy. I’ll stay as light as I can and only buy what ammo I need in town. That worked until the first major gunfight and I ran out of ammo and medkits. Ok time to be a proper Stalker and start looting only what I need.
I will say the one survival part that didn’t really seem to matter much was sleep. I think in my 40 hours I slept 3 times and that was mostly because I just didn’t want to go out at night. Sure I’d blink once or twice but as far as I know it never affected my actual game play.
Finally perhaps the best part about the survival aspect is the actual gun play. The shooting is smooth, so long as you keep your guns in tip top shape. Should you decide to just constantly go guns blazing your gear will quickly wear down and be less effective. Makes sense in a radioactive land right?
The one small drawback to this is it felt like my gear became ineffective almost too quickly. Pretty much after every mission I had to go back to town and fix my gear. I get my gun wearing down after 1000 rounds fired, not so much a couple hundred.
I’ve also have to talk a bit about the artifacts. Honestly for how much emphasis is put on them I thought they were a bit underwhelming. You have a detector that you can pull out to hunt for them. Artifacts are typically hidden in an anomaly field that you need to navigate by avoiding them or throwing bolts into them. Find the artifact and enjoy its benefits and drawbacks.
The problem is they just never really felt worth hunting for. Maybe I just never found a crazy good one, but they were usually just an artifact that will help your weight capacity slightly but hurt your radiation protection. By the time I found a few worthwhile I had gear upgraded enough that it never really made an impact. They might be out there earlier, I just never found them.
The Zone Is A Beast In The Best Way
For me personally the Zone itself is the absolute best part about Stalker 2, and ultimately also the biggest thing holding the game back from being something special. If that sounds odd, let me explain.
The Zone itself is truly a master class in world building for a survival game. As a Stalker you are meant to feel alone, and boy do you ever. Every little noise has you on edge. The single sniper fire off in the distance, the sudden roar of a nearby mutant. Everything about it makes you feel alone and like it’s you against the world, truly fighting for survival. I’ve never been to a desolate radioactive land, but I’m guessing this is what it feels like.
You will occasionally come across a few houses or areas of interest and can be greeted by anyone or anything. These are the moments outside the main missions that help remind you that you aren’t alone. These areas again are always a great spot to find new gear. Entering a tunnel or cave always made the hair on the back of my neck stand up anticipating a mutant attack.
They also did a great job with how Skif reacts to the world. If your radiation levels go up your screen begins to fill with flashing dots. Get hurt even a little bit the world looks darker. If your health is full it’s a bit more crisper and colourful. These small details might not matter to most, but they are a nice touch.
And we have to talk about the storms. Quite possibly the best storms I’ve ever seen in a game. Even if you don’t play the game I’d tell you to find a clip of a storm. Even the emissions are great. When an emission comes you are meant to take shelter as they will kill you. Naturally I stayed out for one just to see what it was like. It was more or less the same as a regular storm just with a reddish tinge to the sky, but it was intense nonetheless.
A Tale Of Two Games
Unfortunately what is the games biggest strength does indeed become its biggest weakness about halfway through the game. The Zone is massive. It feels even bigger when there’s no vehicles and a very limited fast travel system.
The only fast travel you have is guides in towns which will take you to other towns, so long as you are in good standing with the factions that occupy those towns. In the first half of the game this system works well. Missions and towns are fairly close to each other so it’s manageable.
In the second half of the game however it’s a bit of a nightmare. The missions are spread out so much that you will likely finish one mission and spend 10 minutes walking back to the nearest town to resupply. From there you will spend another 10 minutes fast travelling/walking to the next mission.
This ultimately turns the game into a bit of a slog in the second half. While I think the idea was to make the player do a lot of exploring inbetween each mission it just isn’t well done for those that want to focus more on the main missions. If they simply made the Zone about 30% smaller or had a better fast travel system a lot of this could have been avoided. The game quite frankly turned into a walking simulator at times trying to get to the next mission.
A smaller Zone also likely could have helped with performance. It’s no secret that Stalker 2 was a buggy mess for reviewers. While I’m happy to report that a lot of those have been fixed, there’s still some issues. I didn’t find anything game breaking until the very last mission where a cutscene just kinda glitches out on me and I missed some of it. However I did come across many technical glitches.
At one point I stealth killed an enemy who was close to a building only to find myself underground once the kill animation ended. I also saw a few floating objects and enemies out in the wild. Again nothing game breaking but not ideal. Perhaps a smaller map could have helped with polish in other areas.
Conclusion
Stalker 2 is proof of a game being too ambitious for it’s own good. If it had a much more condensed map or better travel system it would have made for a much more enjoyable experience and would have likely helped with polish. It had genuine Game Of The Year potential.
As is, Stalker 2 is a good game with a story that will keep you engaged with its twists and turns. The games survival mechanics fit the game well and add to its challenge. The few bugs that remain arent game breaking and in general if you step into the Zone you should enjoy your time there. As much as one can enjoy a radioactive land filled with mutants anyway.
Stalker 2 was reviewed on Xbox Series X. The game is available on Xbox and PC and available on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass.
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