S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl

[Gerrard]

The game looks so bad on stream thanks to twitch's dogshit bitrate.

 

[Dishonoredbr]

It's peak then. It's buggy, has terrible performance and barely works. It's stalker.

 

[HoboForEternity]

So is it more broken than clear sky at launch? Doubt it tbh. Pripyat was the only stalker game that released with relatively little problem

 

[Old Hans]

Guys, what if it's not a bug but an anomaly?

is that the new "A-LIFE" 2.0 in action?

 

[Vic]

A for autistic.

 

[Iucounu]

I've played through most of the game now. First off, this thing is much bigger than the previous titles. I'm over 50 hours in and not done, and I've skipped stuff too then or I'll never be done (devs estimate 100+ hours for a full playthrough).

It is, however, just as buggy as previous titles. There's all kinds of shenanigans going on and I've had to reload earlier saves at points when quests seemingly broke. Critical bugs like that are, thankfully, not all that common but other bugs are. It also runs poorly (albeit better right now than when review codes were first distributed) despite not being a very pretty game. It's a shame because I'll just go ahead and say I am overall enjoying this. It has a weak start but gradually gets more and more immersive and interesting and feels like a natural evolution of the old titles. Similar, but bigger and better at just about everything. The open world is very large but hand-made from top to toe, no procedural crap here. It's also challenging and doesn't hold your hand, especially on Veteran (the hardest of the three difficulties, which I'll admit was too bloody hard at times). Combat is lethal and when both mutants and stalkers/bandits/whatever gets involved it gets frantic and very, very fun.

This is despite the AI, which I didn't find to be nearly as smart as GSC claims it is. They make poor use of cover (they might use it, but often limbs or such will still be visible, or they'll hide behind material that you'll just shoot through etc), and usually simply stand in the open. They don't care about crossfire and they don't move in coordinated ways, often leaving you with just one flank to bother with if you position yourself correctly despite facing numerous hostiles. This is also because they don't stay on the move much, preferring to stick to one spot. Sometimes the AI is just fucking laughable. I'll give you a specific example. At one occasion I almost ran into a gang of bandits. They started blasting, and I thought it was at me at first. Then I realized it wasn't. I hid, and they kept shooting and shooting. I realized that they were the only party shooting, so they must be facing mutants. But I didn't hear any damn mutants. Eventually I stood up and looked and they're all shooting at something behind a nearby building. I get my gun out and kill them rather easily as I get the drop on them, then walk over behind the building. There, there's a fucking gated garden with mutated rats running around. The bandits had been standing fifty yards away throwing grenades and wasting hundreds of bullets shooting at rats that were STUCK INSIDE A FUCKING CAGE. Wanna know how many rats they had managed to kill? Exactly zero.

I feel like most of this is non-intended and will get worked on post-launch, but we'll see. On the plus side, enemies are all very aggressive and use grenades freely, forcing you to stay on the move which I like. Mutants are where the real challenge is at though. They hit hard and are tough and they provide a varied challenge just like in the original games with some being agile, stealthy cunts, others being tanks, some using the environments against you while others disarm you or maybe they pounce from fifty yards and on it goes. The narrative is decent. You get to make a fair amount of choices and I got the impression that more often than not, they matter. This is supposed to be true for the ending as well, but as I've said I've not gotten there yet. You never know which prick to trust and what people's real angle is. People will try to cheat you, lie to your face and rob you. Some will try to lure you into traps. It's refreshing to get this kind of writing after the horror that was Veilguard. Speaking of horror, I've also damn near shat myself a few times. All in all a fun but very rough game and if you don't like to get fucked over by bugs you may as well hold off purchase for now. If you've waited 14 years you can wait a while longer.

Any DEI sightings?

How many cutscenes are there, and do they interrupt your playing?

Have you noticed any NPC replacement migration like in the original games?

 

[randir14]

So far my performance is fine but I'm not that far in. Getting 90-100 fps at 4K/ultra settings with balanced DLSS and framegen on. Specs are 4070ti Super, 5800x3d, 32gb ram. No stuttering either and the shader compilation took like 10 minutes.

 

[Stavrophore]

Any actually based person playing this instead of PC nigger? I want unadulterated assessment, like without any rationalizing of postpurchase feelings, hence we need actual autist to play the game, so he/she do not hesistate to trash it if necessary, despite just shelling dough for it.

 

[Konjad]

Any DEI sightings?

Yes, in fact, quite a lot, unfortunately. The zone is full of mutants.

 

[Iucounu]

In the comments they're calling it Eurojank like it's a good thing. Gamers really have become a pathetic breed.

It's a good thing when the jank is a result of trying to innovate (like in SoC and CS), as opposed to "streamlining" games (dumbing them down).

 

[Utgard-Loki]

i don't want to give the game too much credit, but maybe the reason he is so easily spotted even at night is the bright orange clothing he is wearing?

 

[Perkel]

Wait... so you are saying that this is like STALKER 1. Broken but awesome ?
Thanks, time to eat i guess. Loved S1 despite its brokenness.

 

[Konjad]

If it's not broken it's not an European game.

 

[Van-d-all]

In the comments they're calling it Eurojank like it's a good thing.

Because it is. As per definition even. Mechanics >> presentation. Pretty much what always separated Stalker from generic shooter.

 

[Heroic Liberator]

In the comments they're calling it Eurojank like it's a good thing.

Because it is. As per definition even. Mechanics >> presentation. Pretty much what always separated Stalker from generic shooter.

The Lada Niva of vidya))

 

[randir14]

A few minor things I noticed that I didn't see in any reviews:

Bullet wounds show on enemies (human and mutants)
Death scenes are different depending on how you die
You can automatically lean around corners if you want, or use the dedicated lean keys
You can pick up bodies and carry them around. Maybe this indicates the game has better stealth than the original series.
You can now mantle on things

 

[Readher]

7800X3D, RX 6800

I get 40-45 FPS on medium settings and at 1440p, not using any upscaling or frame gen bullshittery. Runs like shit.

 

[FLy1nRabBit]

 

[Morgoth]

It's peak then. It's buggy, has terrible performance and barely works. It's stalker.

And it's not woke!

C'mon guys, that's a Day 1 purchase! 10 million Steam sales by the end of the week!

 

[Perkel]

Before reviews i thought this would be western oriented sludge, simplified into obscurity with "stalker" name put on it to fish for nostalgia retards like Metro series.

I thought that until i watched ton of bugs^2, broken stuff etc. I knew then this is pure eurojank that runs like shit too.
And my heart became like a calm lake.

This is in fact STALKER2 we waited for. Jank included.

 

[Perkel]

 

[randir14]

Good news stealth is actually viable now, I entered a bandit base at night and was able to sneak around and stab people in the back. They aren't psychic like in the old games.

 

[Perkel]

Shit TRUMP was right. Now that Stalker2 is out russians and ukrainians will sign truce and go back homes to play S2 XD

 

[None]

Because it is. As per definition even. Mechanics >> presentation. Pretty much what always separated Stalker from generic shooter.

The Lada Niva of vidya))

Under Stalker's jank is a good game, whereas under a Lada's jank is just more jank. A better car comparison would be something overengineered like a 4th gen Supra.

 

[Lyric Suite]

Is this game actually like Stalker or are you guys just shit posting?

I mean not that it matters since from the looks of it i'm not gonna be able to run it but i'm curious.