S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 Heart of ChornobylReview
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Title: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl
Release: November 20, 2024
Platform: PC Xbox X|S
Developer: GSC Game World
Publisher: GSC Game World
Genre: FPS Open World
ESRB: M
Reviewed on: PC
Time Played: 48 Hours
Intro:
Where it starts
The Zone is filled with anomalies, hazardous environments, and extraordinary wonders. One day, an unknown entity emerges from the Zone, crashing into Skif’s apartment building and upending his life. To uncover the reason behind this incident and discover who—or what—was responsible, he must venture into the Zone. Armed with a special scanner and his trusty pistol, Skif prepares to face the myriad challenges that await him inside.
Can the kids watch
The Zone is a harsh place full of harsh people who are no strangers to harsh language. The dialogues did have curse words peppered throughout, but nothing extreme. As far as violence goes, there was blood and a lot of gunshots to take down enemies, and sometimes a sneaky knife to the neck to take a person down. Some areas placed heads on spikes as a warning before entering.
Skif
The protagonist of the story you play is Skif, an ex-military man who is venturing into the Zone in search of answers. His prior skills enable him to handle the various weapons found in the Zone and survive day-to-day challenges. As you progress through the story, Skif will make numerous friends and enemies based on your decisions in conversations or encounters in the wild. A simple mistake, such as saying the wrong thing or accidentally shooting the wrong person, can turn an entire faction against you.
Skif has limited stamina that is essential for jumping, running, and swinging a knife. The stamina bar is located below the health bar, indicating how much stamina remains. As your inventory becomes heavier, your movement slows down, and you expend stamina more quickly. If the base stamina regeneration is not sufficient, you can consume an energy drink to replenish it immediately. However, using energy drinks will cause Skif to feel hungry more quickly. When hunger sets in, a small food icon will appear, signaling that it’s time to eat. It’s important to pack some snacks while exploring to avoid collapsing from hunger.
PDAs
While exploring, you may come across PDAs scattered around or found on the bodies of defeated enemies. Some PDAs will provide hints about a stash of items hidden away, marking the location on your map for you to find. These stashes typically contain some ammo and healing supplies in a bag, and you might also discover a new piece of gear alongside it. Other PDAs might feature small conversations about the area or past events, helping to expand the in-game world. It’s beneficial to read every PDA, as some may reveal the location of hidden treasure secured by a code. To solve the puzzle, you’ll need to find all relevant PDAs, as there will be no indicators on the map to guide you.
Anomalies & Artifacts
The most common health hazard found in the Zone is anomalies. These can appear as puddles of acid on the ground or giant soap bubbles floating in the air, so it’s best to avoid them whenever possible. You are equipped with a sensory system that beeps progressively faster as you get closer to an anomaly, which helps in steering clear of these dangers.
However, some anomalies contain artifacts, which are remarkable objects within the Zone. These small radioactive stones provide various benefits when equipped, such as increased defense, enhanced carry weight, or faster healing.
At the beginning of the game, you will have a basic artifact scanner. As you progress, you can find or purchase better versions of this scanner. While holding the artifact scanner, it will notify you if an artifact is nearby within an anomaly. The game functions like a game of “hot and cold,” guiding you as you get closer to the artifact. Once you are near enough, the artifact will suddenly appear for you to collect.
Gear
Surviving the dangers of the Zone heavily relies on your skills and the gear you’re wearing. You need two main guns, a sidearm, and some armor. As you engage in fights or encounter anomalies, your equipment will start to degrade. The worse the condition of your gear, the more it will hinder your progress. Damaged armor will provide less protection during attacks, and guns may lose accuracy or even jam in the middle of a confrontation. It’s essential to seek out technicians who can repair your gear and potentially add upgrades that enhance its capabilities, although this will come at a modest cost.
Throughout the Zone, you’ll find settlements where you can sleep, store excess loot, and visit shops to sell unwanted items and accept various missions. You’ll also come across technicians in these places. Keeping your gear in top shape and purchasing new guns or ammunition can be quite expensive. To earn more credits, you can sell items and complete missions. A straightforward way to lower your purchasing costs and increase your selling prices is to complete missions in the area, which will improve your relationship with the locals.
Factions
The Zone is inhabited by several different factions, each with their own goals and aspirations. As you progress through the game, you can choose to befriend some factions while alienating others based on your dialogue choices and actions. Certain settlements are aligned with specific factions, and they will attack you on sight if you are not on friendly terms with them. It is impossible to navigate the Zone without encountering at least one group that wants to harm you.
Missions
Stalker 2 is an open-world game that allows for exploration at your own pace. However, I noticed that some areas were devoid of people, yet still had loot available if I hadn’t accepted a mission that took me there. I’m not sure if this was by design or a bug. There is a main story mission that guides you all over the zone, complemented by numerous side missions you can pick up along the way. These missions are a great way to earn extra credits. If you’re struggling to find larger side missions, bartenders can offer a few generic tasks to complete.
Getting around
A significant portion of the game involves walking back and forth, which can lead to long periods of inactivity where the only notable event is getting hungry. While traversing previously explored areas might become repetitive or dull, the game does offer a fast travel option. However, it isn’t your typical fast travel system. To travel quickly, you must find a guide in a settlement. For a fee, the guide will take you to any settlement you’ve previously visited, as long as they have a favorable opinion of you. Additionally, their prices will decrease if your relationship with them improves.
Dangerous Enemies
As if anomalies and mean people weren’t enough, the Zone is full of mutants who won’t think twice about ripping your head off. Sometimes in groups, sometimes by themselves, and even a few that create groups that can tear you to shreds. Running is always an option, but some mutants will keep you from progression or an awesome piece of gear. The worst part about fighting mutants was the fact the only reward for killing them was you get to live. No loot or anything to make some credits with.
Outro:
I would love to hear your thoughts or questions about the game or my review, so leave me a message in the comments below. While you do that, let’s move on to my final thoughts and ratings.
I put very little time into the original *Stalker*, as I found the lack of tutorials off-putting while I was expected to learn and survive. Much like the first game, *Stalker 2* offers minimal guidance on how to navigate and survive in the Zone. However, I enjoyed the gradual process of figuring the game out. Within the first half hour, I was burned by acid while trying to follow a mission and attacked by a terrifying monster that could kill me in two hits—all on the standard difficulty!
As of now, I’ve invested nearly fifty hours into the game, and I’m nowhere near finishing. Although I am enjoying the experience, it’s not without its annoyances, including bugs and gameplay issues. Some of the bugs have permanently altered my game in unwanted ways, such as being unable to complete a time-sensitive mission that resulted in the loss of an entire settlement. However, I believe these bugs will be resolved through future updates and patches.
Regarding gameplay, the market system for spending and earning credits is extremely unbalanced. It took me a while to figure out what to carry with me and what to sell in order to barely break even while upgrading my gear and ensuring I had enough ammunition. Another major frustration was the inability to vault everything. Some hidden stashes were located high up, requiring a bit of jumping to access. While the environment seemed to have ideal spots for climbing, Skif couldn’t vault a relatively low ridge. In such cases, I either gave up or found a very roundabout route to reach my destination. I’m uncertain whether this is a bug or a deliberate feature.
Stalker 2 looks fantastic. Although the environment is drab due to its setting, the character models have great facial expressions, and the mutants are genuinely terrifying.
The story is expansive and dynamic, changing based on the choices made by the player. The main storyline is excellent, but there is also a wealth of smaller narratives presented through notes you can find or side missions. The various possibilities available in a single playthrough significantly enhance the game’s replayability.
I’ve often found myself cursing and feeling frustrated with certain situations in the game, but I can’t get enough of it. I’m having a blast hunting for treasures and exploring the Zone. I’m confident that any issues I encounter will be addressed through future updates or mods created by the community.
We’ve discussed gameplay mechanics and my personal thoughts, so now it’s time to break it all down and determine which shelf “Stalker 2” belongs on.
The visuals are impressive, effectively bringing to life a dreadful and unforgiving environment for players to explore. I’m giving it a score of 4.
The story, or rather the various stories you can uncover in the game, is in-depth and multifaceted. A lot of great work has been put into it, so I’m handing out another score of 4.
The gameplay had its ups and downs. I found it challenging to discern what was a bug and what was intended. However, I’ve developed my own way to play and enjoy it, which earns a score of 3.
There is a good amount of replayability in the game, thanks to the choices available and the inevitable mods that will emerge. The only drawback is the large size of the game. Despite this, I’m giving it a score of 4.
Despite some frustrations, I am having so much fun that I can hardly put it down. I’ve invested a significant amount of time into this game and plan to play even more, which easily earns a score of 5.
Overall, “Stalker 2” achieves an average score of 4 out of 5, placing it on the top shelf. It is a fantastic first-person open-world game that draws heavily from the history of the first installment. I enjoyed everything without prior experience, but I would have understood much more if I had known what happened previously.