With an explorable world of over 60km2, Stalker 2’s depiction of the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone is massive. I’ve spent over 40 hours exploring its secrets already, coming face-to-face with its many dangers and feeling the sting of loneliness while hunting for the Stalker 2 achievements, and yet, I’ve barely managed to scratch the surface of GSC Game World’s gorgeous hellscape. Whether you’re new to the series or a seasoned Stalker looking to return to the gritty world of anomalies, survival, and unwavering hope, Stalker 2 is a post-apocalyptic treat. Read on for our Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl review.Tom — Stalker 2 is my favorite open-world of the yearFor a studio that has endured a pandemic, hacking, and a full-fledged war, it must be some kind of miracle that Stalker 2 isn’t an entirely unplayable mess (we’ll get to the bugs in a bit), let alone that it’s made it to launch on Xbox Series X|S and PC today. GSC Game World, and Ukraine as a whole, has been through hell in recent years — I highly recommend you check out the documentary War Game: The Making of Stalker 2 before you play — and yet, Stalker 2 is not just playable, but is also an immersive and extremely addictive open-world survival shooter that constantly teases you to play for just ten more minutes. With that in mind, I urge anyone with an interest in survival shooters to dip their toes in its irradiated waters for “just ten minutes,” because you’ll likely find yourself quickly submerged in its beautiful, yet deadly, world.Despite it being a direct sequel to the original 2007 Stalker game, Shadow of Chornobyl, you don’t need any prior knowledge of the series to enjoy Stalker 2. That’s all thanks to Skif, the game’s protagonist. His house on the mainland is blown up by a strange artifact. Powerful items like that only lie within the mysteries of The Zone, so he ventures there in search of answers and compensation. Having never ventured into the deadly area before, Skif knows nothing about stalking or the many factions that call The Zone home, and as such, is on as much of a learning journey as us. Skif is in for one hell of a rude awakening to the dangers awaiting him, thanks to the game’s prologue. What was supposed to be a quick excursion, turns into a deadly adventure as Skif takes a crash course in the dangers of anomalies, the invisible threat of radiation, mutants, artifact hunting, and human deception.The prologue is a painful lesson in the realities of The Zone, but once you’re on the other side, things drop to a snail’s pace as the vast 64km2 world opens before you and you meet the game’s most violent but amazing character: The Zone itself. Sure, warring factions, bandits, the plethora of mutants prowling the shadows, and a list of environmental hazards longer than your arm are all a threat to your health, but it’s The Zone that controls it all, making it the most deadly adversary you’re going to come across. While the prologue and many of the story beats are crafted experiences, the open world is run by a computer-controlled simulation called A-Life 2.0, which randomly spawns encounters as you’re exploring. It adds a dynamic twist to the world and keeps you on your toes, as at any instant you might need to fight for your life. It’s a fantastically unpredictable system that could see you exploring a building in silence one minute, only to hear shouting and gunshots in the next as two factions spawn outside and begin a war. GSC has toned down the spawns since I initially started playing, and it feels far more natural in its current state. During my earlier hours with the game, I had one experience where I cleared out a pack of Blind Dogs from a village — a brutal task to face at the beginning of the game — only to have a pack spawn in again five minutes later along with two groups of humans. It was carnage as a three-way battle took place, obliterating my supplies in an instant. Still, it’s in these moments when the game’s charm shines brightest, never really letting you feel completely safe.Speaking of supplies, Stalker 2, similar to its predecessors, piles on the pressure by limiting you to a maximum carry weight of 80kg, with incremental reductions to your movement speed as you close in on the limit. It makes your adventure as a Stalker a constant struggle with loot as you decide what to carry and what to leave behind. Your equipped weapons, armor, helmet, food, drink, anti-radiation items, ammo, med kits, bandages, and the like, all add up, leaving you with a small amount of space left to fill as you explore. It’s a tough system to contend with. Equipment repairs are expensive, so you need extra loot to sell, but The Zone is also vast with a lot of ground to cover if you need to return to your stash, so you don’t want to overfill your pockets. I’ve felt the pang of despair on many occasions as I’ve had to leave a shiny new gun behind because I was already carrying some other exciting items, but that’s the nature of the beast. There isn’t any form of leveling system in Stalker 2, and instead, you increase your effectiveness via new gear and upgrades. It’s a steady, natural process, making the new weapon you find far more exciting when you realize it’s better than what you’re carrying — named, already modded guns are usually the better variants. There are also thumb drives with blueprints for additional modules that aren’t available for weapons as standard upgrades, again leading to yet more exciting items to uncover, especially as the majority of the loot you find will be basic survival items — it’s always worth grabbing these to sell to fellow Stalkers you might come across on your travels. Artifacts found from braving areas filled with hazardous environmental anomalies allow you to customize your gear further still with additional resistances and buffs. Half the fight is keeping your gear in tip-top condition, which isn’t always an easy thing to do when some areas are completely devoid of life. Once guns start breaking, they’ll jam, armor will stop giving you any benefits, and you’re left fighting with junk. I love the animation as your character attempts to dislodge a jammed round, but I’ll be damned if it isn’t a pain in the backside mid-firefight. Repair at every opportunity!Although it’s not always a great call to pick a fight, gunplay is a rewarding part of Stalker 2’s personality. Bullets will rip through you even with the decent gear you’ll come across later on in the game, causing bleeding that you need to patch up quickly with bandages and forcing you to use cover. Many of the mutants we’ve seen in the previous games make a return, with Bloodsuckers using invisibility to get close enough for a good swing at you, or Mimics using several decoys to swat you with claw-filled paws. However, sometimes things can feel a little unbalanced. I’ve come across numerous humans that can soak up bullets, and while I expect that kind of experience with a mutant like the zombie-controlling Commander, I expect an un-armored bandit to drop dead after I plug him in the head. In fairness, however, that’s becoming less of an issue towards the latter end of the story, so it does balance out, but it can be a problem earlier in the game when multiple sets of enemies spawn for a gunfight.It’s an unforgiving game at times, and The Zone is a relentless mistress. Catch it during the day, and you’re treated to a gorgeous vista of natural beauty, but once a storm rolls in (a regular occurrence), you bare witness to a show of Mother Nature’s fury. Thunder rumbles as forked lightening lights up the grey sky, striking random spots on the landscape — but watch out for Emissions, as they’re a death sentence for any wanderer stuck outside. Emissions are a hardcore storm that causes the sky to turn red before a deadly wind tears through The Zone, shredding all of your health in a matter of seconds.The only way to survive is to find a shelter with covered windows or something like a basement or a sewer. They’re just another random event that keeps you on your toes, as shelters can be tough to find, and if you’re over-encumbered with loot, good luck making it to safety in time. I’m 40 hours in and Emissions still send me into a heart-racing panic every single time as I scramble for anywhere that is going to save me — sometimes a spot already occupied by an unfriendly mutant overjoyed with the free meal that just dropped through its door. It’s not all action-packed fights for survival, however, and you find plenty of opportunities to soak in GSC’s gorgeous hand-crafted world. The developer hasn’t used procedural generation for any of its assets, and the quality of Stalker 2’s environments shine because of it, despite many bugs such as glitched lighting, reflections, and the like. Nothing game-breaking that can’t be rectified via a hotfix, but still very noticeable in parts. Despite that, this artistry gives every inch of The Zone a unique feeling, pushing you to explore that ruined shack in the tree line or the eerie cave you’ve found on a hillside. The world is remarkably detailed, and even its most basic environments, such as a sewer, are brought to life with rubbish, dislodged concrete, and other tidbits. Slowly sloshing through the grimy waters with nothing but a flashlight illuminating the passage in front of you while listening to the distant howl of some creature echoing through the chambers is chilling, and exactly what I had hoped to experience when I started my journey.As I mentioned at the beginning of this review, considering the circumstances, it’s amazing that we’re even exploring Stalker 2 right now. However, that’s not to say that it’s a finely tuned and polished experience. I’ve seen more than my fair share of bugs during my 40 hours with the game, ranging from freezing and crashes, loss of sound, erratic enemy spawns, and many visual issues, including one unfortunate gentleman whose head had dislodged from his body and spun around so I was talking to the back of his head. However, the game has excelled in the performance department, which is surprising considering the level of detail crammed into the world and the background processes used for the dynamic world events. The game almost always ran at 60fps on Xbox Series X in Performance mode, only dropping infrequently.As for the Stalker 2 Xbox achievements, well, I think this one might be a beast for completionists. Not only are there several endings to see, but your choices also affect multiple major plot points. In my 40 hours, I’ve unlocked 14 achievements worth 140G, and looking at the achievement list, it’s going to need multiple playthroughs if you hope to complete it.SummaryIt’s a miracle that we’re even playing Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl right now, yet GSC Game World has crafted a world so packed with detail and excitement that you’ll yearn to explore its mysteries from the moment you step foot in The Zone. While bugs are as rampant as its mutants, Stalker 2 outshines its adversities in every way, forcing you to face its darkest moments with courage and resilience — something its developer knows all too well. If you’re looking for a challenging survival shooter to lose hundreds of hours of your life to, this is it.9 / 10* Tom spent over 40 hours surviving the harsh environments of Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl, unlocking 14 achievements in the process. A key for the game was provided by the publisher and played on an Xbox Series X.
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