Imagine that you wait for a video game for years, you want to know what’s new and you make efforts to understand the delays. Not once or twice, but up to five times. And now imagine that when it falls into your hands it doesn’t even meet the minimum standards. It’s not a pleasant feeling. Even so, you do your part to enjoy it, because you like it despite having more mistakes than you tolerate.
This is not the definitive analysis of STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl. And not for lack of desire! I’ve been playing for a little over a week and I’ve accumulated +30 hours of gameplay in different versions… even though the Steam scoreboard insists on saying it’s just over 20 hours. Considering its developers estimate 35-40 hours, I’m sure I could have finished it in time…
But the numerous errors and problems I have encountered along the way have prevented me from progressing and enjoying it as much as I would like. I hate writing badly about what I like, I don’t enjoy it, but this time I have no choice. Don’t take this as a complete judgment, because several important updates have arrived before launch. The largest one a few hours away. More like a warning of what you might encounter during the first few days.
STALKER 2: the anomaly has been not finding problems
I’m a little disappointed with S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl. When we received the game code we were warned that there would be errors, but even so I did not expect the rocky road that I have traveled so far. And even so, I have managed to enjoy many moments. I admit that my predisposition to like him plays a very important role in this story.
I’m playing the PC version. I have a machine that can handle everything I throw at it, but it doesn’t have the latest components on the market. I can tell you that I have had no problems with performance in any of its graphic settings: low, medium, high and ultra. I’ve only experienced a few FPS scratches during urban shootouts (Ultra) and a couple of crashes. I tend to prioritize framerate, so I’ve played on High most of the time. Even so, the game looks tremendously beautiful and has a lot of detail.
The story is very interesting, the setting has me completely in love, the exploration has completely captivated me, the controller controls (Xbox) are very successful and are really comfortable, and the gunplay is very cool… at least when things work correctly. Because unfortunately the anomalous thing so far during my adventure has been not finding errors and problems at almost every step.
Reboots and quests that didn’t work
I have had to restart my game up to two times due to errors in the main missions. Getting hit by a truck would have hurt less than the second restart. I’m sure you now understand why I haven’t completed the game yet. I’m on my third game (I hope it’s final, I’m crossing my fingers) and I’ve had to juggle a couple of times to avoid restarting again.
For example, the main quest line took me to a warehouse full of anomalies. I needed a card to enter, the same one that the main mission required, and to exit. I interacted with the panel, but obviously couldn’t open it. I accessed the building through a non-return channel and took the card in question. And what happened to me when I returned to the initial door, but on the other side?
The game wouldn’t let me interact with the panel. I tried everything: loading a previous checkpoint, killing myself, restarting, reinstalling the game… I even checked the place several times in case I had taken the wrong card. Nothing. Coincidences of life that let me interact while I was doing the action of eating a can of preserves because the character started to get hungry. I almost cried with joy.
Same in multiple side quests. Some with core errors like the previous one and others simply did not complete the steps. I have a failed dog kill mission with active icons on the map and compass. Another asks me to leave vodka in certain stashes and it is not completed when I leave one or more bottles (Could it be another brand?).
Another required following a character who never made it to his destination, so I couldn’t talk to him to complete the optional objectives. And another did not completely allow me to get some keys after taking them from the corpse and I had to advance without directions until completing it. Luckily I pay attention to the dialogues.
Sound, bugs and design decisions
It must be added that the sound has been completely destroyed for most of my adventure. And I’ve played several games and reinstalled the game several times! I have heard very little the sound of weapons. I have also suffered problems with the sound of enemies approaching, ambient noises that do not correspond to what is happening, and volumes that do not correspond to the distance of things or the volume.
The most annoying: when I reloaded my AK with an extended magazine, the magazine made a very loud noise as it rolled on the ground. Aside from the fact that it should not roll, it was heard louder than the enemy shots and shouts. I sincerely hope that the updates actually fix this issue completely. Of course, I have taken my hat off the few times that the sound has worked correctly. S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 It sounds amazing, even without having the best sounds.
Other drawbacks are added, such as the FOV being misconfigured after a cinematic and visual bugs such as objects levitating in too many places. I’m not just talking about bottles, bread and other things sitting on tables or the floor. I have come to see how a character’s helmets move in the air while the body remains motionless.
Finally, I have a love-hate relationship with menus. This is very personal and updates do not fix it. I would have liked to see the PDA screen from the character’s view and not as a menu that covers the entire screen. I thought this was obvious after the previous installments, all the mods available and how other games like Fallout do it.
On the other hand, I don’t really like the menus dedicated to inventory. They’re very conservative, which many veterans will like, but I think GSC Game World has missed a huge opportunity to modernize them and make them a little more attractive. At the risk of pissing off the veterans, I would like it much more if this menu was managed from the PDA.
Last minute patches and conclusions
This has been my experience so far, but everything indicates that you should not go through the same thing. GSC Game World has noted in an email a few hours before launch that the latest updates have fixed up to 1,125 problems. The most important thing is that they point out that the sound is completely fixed, they have improved the animations and effects of the menus, added environmental corrections, lighting and the appearance of the character.
It also improves performance and some quality-of-life adjustments. In general, the notes cover almost all the problems mentioned. If they are solved correctly, you should not have even a quarter of the hardships you have read so far… but I still prefer to warn you in this preview just in case. Having said that, I move on to the conclusions.
I think that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl It has the potential to be a great game. History, setting, exploration, survival, gunplay… The proposal is incredible in general terms and can also satisfy any type of player, from those looking for a walk and enjoy the story to those who crave a very hardcore challenge. The greatest difficulty is to live it at least once.
I admit this post had a much more negative tone before I received the update notes. I don’t think they are a sufficient guarantee that the game will be released completely polished. My experience so far has been quite disappointing. Playing like this has been sad. I don’t like starting another game to check that everything is really fixed, but I will do it for the final analysis! Please use this article as a warning and as insurance in case GSC Game World does not deliver as promised.
In iGamesNews | You can now watch War Game, the documentary about the creation of STALKER 2 during the invasion of Ukraine, for free on YouTube
In iGamesNews | “We thought it would be impossible”: bringing STALKER 2 to Xbox Series S was a headache, but its creators believe it will go better than expected
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