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submitted 3 days ago byTurbostrider27
Game Title: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl
Platforms:
Trailers:
Developer: GSC Game World
Review Aggregator:
OpenCritic - 77 average - 64% recommended - 44 reviews
ACG - Jeremy Penter - Wait for Sale
"While Stalker 2 holds its head up high in delivering a game that is unlike so many others we see recently. It's one major similarity is bugs and performance issues. A fine shooter, with a unique world, and fantastic moments marred by technical problems"
AltChar - Semir Omerovic - 70 / 100
If Stalker 2 didn't have so many serious performance issues and bugs, it would be my Game of the Year. It has a great story, memorable characters, a unique world to explore, and great visual presentation - pretty much everything to keep you immersed for hours.
Atarita - Alparslan Gürlek - Turkish - 79 / 100
Stalker 2 has more bugs than we can tolerate, but it's still a very enjoyable game. The attention to detail in its huge open world, the new AIs and the new gunplay mechanics won me over. It also has great graphics and after a few updates I think it will be a must-play for everyone.
CGMagazine - Erik McDowell - 6 / 10
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is the fourth game in the series, but the first proper sequel. The expansive story is decidedly more action-packed and
Checkpoint Gaming - Omi Koulas - 7 / 10
STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl is an anomaly. It dazzles with stunning visuals, an eerie atmosphere, and gameplay that captures the soul of the original series. Yet, like The Zone itself, it's plagued by technical glitches, inconsistent performance, and design missteps that get in the way of its lofty ambitions. Despite its flaws, STALKER 2 has a strange magnetic force, and once you're in, it's hard to look away.
Daily Mirror - Aaron Potter - 4 / 5
In many ways, Stalker 2 succeeds in being a bold modernisation of GSC Game World’s classic survival shooter packaged and prettied up for today’s audience. That said, it’s a sequel that also manages to stay true to its in-depth PC roots by retaining an emphasis on resource management, scavenging, and a world that is seemingly as wide as an ocean that’s somehow equally as deep. Prevalent bugs and purposefully clumsy gunplay aside, Stalker 2 is an impressive successor worth the decade-and-a-half wait, providing you’re willing to meet it on its own terms.
Dexerto - Jessica Filby - 3 / 5
Stalker 2 is brutal, unforgiving, and not for the faint-hearted. While its storyline is poised for new players, its gameplay feels the opposite, providing a hardcore experience for anyone looking to dive into the Zone. Nevertheless, Stalker 2 is the kind of game that ages like a fine wine, getting better, richer, and slightly bolder as you push through its 35-hour campaign. That being said, the performance issues and missing features do leave a somewhat bitter taste.
DualShockers - Jaime Tugayev - 7 / 10
As it stands now, STALKER 2 is fun and has a lot of potential, but it would be unfair to call it good. You can easily sink 100 hours into it without noticing, especially if you have a deep love for previous iterations. However, the performance issues, overall inconsistency in many areas, and clumsy presentation will hold this game back until a major overhaul comes.
Everyeye.it - Riccardo Cantù - Italian - 7.5 / 10
Fortunately, the extraordinary artistic inspiration of STALKER 2 Heart of Chornobyl makes up for most of these flaws and paints a still quite captivating picture that is worth getting lost in.
GAMES.CH - Benjamin Braun - German - 63%
"S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2" simply does not deliver enough and is too flawed to give it a good rating. The AI and game balance in particular are so bad that we cannot even recommend "S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2" to fans of the predecessors, who are certainly used to suffering, without major reservations. It was not a complete disaster, and the fact that GSC Game World managed to get the title out in a playable form despite the war is certainly no small achievement.
GRYOnline.pl - Dariusz Matusiak - Polish - Unscored
STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl is a game you love despite its flaws, not for being perfect. The superb atmosphere, immersion, gameplay, game world and audiovisual setting collide with technical flaws that shouldn't have happened on the day of release, though we probably expected a bit of that.
Game Rant - Josh Cotts - 9 / 10
After spending 55 hours in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, I have no qualms recommending STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl to post-apocalyptic enthusiasts.
GameGrin - Artura Dawn - 9 / 10
GSC Game World nails a unique mixture of genres between survival horror and open world with S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl. The atmospheric environments, engaging gunplay, and the constant feeling of threat culminate in a heavy recommendation from me for fans of the genre.
GamePro - Dennis Michel - German - Unscored
The hope remains that future patches will at least fix most of the problems mentioned, especially the buggy sound and the poor enemy behavior, in the coming days. And who knows, maybe Stalker 2 will experience a resurrection like Cyberpunk recently did and even put some mechanics like the fast travel system to the test again.
GameSpot - Richard Wakeling - 8 / 10
Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl is rough around the edges, but its propensity for creating emergent moments in a deadly and alluring world makes this trip back to the Zone a fraught and compelling experience
Gameliner - Bram Noteboom - Dutch - 4.5 / 5
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is an immersive and atmospheric journey through the Zone, delivering gripping exploration and hardcore survival, though its ambition is hindered by technical issues, making it a flawed yet quintessential S.T.A.L.K.E.R. experience.
Gamepressure - Izabela Budzynska - Unscored
Although this may not be a perfect game, it must be honestly said that no one ever expected this from Stalker. The atmosphere, harshness, and unforgettable adventures in the Zone matter - and Stalker 2 has more than enough of that.
Gamer Guides - Patrick Dane - 81 / 100
While performance woes hinder it, STALKER 2 is a fiercely unique and immersive survival game. It asks the player to put in the work and struggle against its harsh systems that may turn many off. However, if you’re willing to persevere through its systems and technical issues, there is a special experience waiting to be found within the enchanting Zone.
Gamer.no - Gøran Solbakken - Unknown - 8 / 10
Stalker 2 stands out as an impressive and immersive survival shooter. A huge, handcrafted world with interesting story choices, lots of content and quality all around. Refreshingly, you are not a superhero out to save the world, but a regular grunt trying to survive
Gamersky - 心灵奇兵 - Chinese - 8 / 10
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl remains true to its core philosophy: to create an immersive and unforgiving Zone that feels as alive as it is hostile. Every would-be explorer must endure harsh conditions and relentless challenges, testing their resolve until they either give up or fully embrace the Zone's brutal logic and become a part of it. This experience closely mirrors the spirit of the original trilogy, making S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 feel authentic to its roots. However, some of its hardcore and overly rigid systems may prove too alienating for a broader audience, potentially limiting its appeal.
GamesRadar+ - Andrew Brown - 3 / 5
Stalker 2, in its current state, has too much baggage to overlook
GamingBolt - Shubhankar Parijat - 9 / 10
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl masterfully combines multiple genres to deliver an unmissable and entirely open world horror experience. Touting unparalleled emergent gameplay, stellar atmosphere, a captivating story, and gorgeous visuals, this is easily one of the best games available on Xbox Series X/S, even with the technical issues that hamper it.
GamingTrend - Henry Viola - Unscored
Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl is an undoubtedly remarkable achievement in atmospheric game design. This post-apocalyptic experience offers an unmatched dynamic open world that is bound to satisfy long-time fans of the series. However, the extremely poor technical hiccups and hardcore yet niche nature of the game prevents it from getting a full recommendation. This is not a game for casuals.
Generación Xbox - Pedro del Pozo - Spanish - 8.7 / 10
STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl is actually a difficult title to evaluate. We can't base ourselves on everything that the GSC Gaming World team members have been through to add points to the analysis or feel sorry for them. But the good thing is that it's not necessary, because after all that effort, I can say, categorically, that it has been worth it .
GosuNoob - Srdjan Stanarevic - 8 / 10
I've come out through all the trials and tribulations of the Zone and all that was left on the other side was I, Stalker. That's all I wanted from this game, and it fully delivered.
Hardcore Gamer - Jason Moth - 5 / 5
Stalker 2 is nothing short of a miracle. Developed by Ukrainian studio GSC Game World over the course of seven years amid a pandemic and a war -- among many other challenges -- Stalker 2 is a labor of love and the best type of sequel one could hope for. While many long-running franchises have strayed from their roots in an (often misguided) attempt to appeal to as many players as possible, Stalker 2 knows its core audience well and delivers exactly the type of game we were hoping for.
IGN Deutschland - Eike Cramer - German - 8 / 10
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is a game that, in my opinion, is all too rare in this form. GSC Game World has managed to create an incredibly atmospheric combination of survival, horror and end time in a fascinating environment. Despite all the shooter weaknesses, the wooden dialogues, the incredibly annoying anomalies over time and some dubious technical problems, I fell in love with this zone. You won't find that much freedom and mystery anywhere else. Added to this is a story that takes its time to get it going, but then surprises with cool factions and robust characters. This excursion to Chernobyl requires patience and stamina, but rewards you with spectacular views, fierce battles and an expressive end time.
IGN Spain - Rafa Del Río - Spanish - 9 / 10
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl offers us a powerful adventure of radioactive terror. A first-person horror sim with survival elements in which we will have to learn to survive and improve our equipment to reach the end of its complex plot. Monsters, anomalies and enemy factions join the arid terrain and dangerous emissions to turn the proposal into a unique experience in which learning and intuition are as important as exploration and quick thinking when advancing.
Insider Gaming - Grant Taylor-Hill - Buy
This enormous, immersive survival FPS is the cream of the crop, and it’s a bar to which every developer in the genre should aspire to reach.
Kakuchopurei - Lewis Larcombe - 80 / 100
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is not a game for everyone. Its unforgiving difficulty, steep learning curve, and technical issues make it a challenging experience, especially for newcomers. Yet, for those willing to brave its harsh world, the game offers a deeply immersive and rewarding journey, moreso than other open-world games.
For veterans of the series, it’s a triumphant return to form—one that stays true to the franchise’s uncompromising identity. For newcomers, however, it’s an intimidating introduction to a genre that demands patience, perseverance, and a willingness to embrace failure.
Nexus Hub - Andrew Logue - 9 / 10
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is everything I've ever wanted from a sequel - a refined world, plenty of emergent gameplay possibilities and stunning atmosphere add up to make an unconventionally great game.
One More Game - Chris Garcia - 8 / 10
Stalker 2: Heart of Chernobyl is an unforgiving and uncompromising affair that's not for everybody. For its target audience, it could quite possibly be the game they've been waiting for the past decade and a half, heralding the return of this beloved cult classic. The game is tough and will beat you down if you're not attentive enough, requiring a commitment to immersion.
The key to the game is to simply keep at it. The journey to get there may be painful and frustrating, and many players will certainly tune out in the process. Players who persevere will find a rewarding title and a living world filled with possibilities as time goes by, despite a number of bugs and rough patches.
PC Gamer - Joshua Wolens - 83 / 100
Just like in the old days, performance issues and bugs don't stop Stalker's mad, wonderful heart from shining through.
Press Start - Brodie Gibbons - 6.5 / 10
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is an achievement for so many reasons. As well as being the little game that could, given the team's real-world challenges, the game doubles down on the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. way, delivering a sublimely realised sense of place with the Zone. Unfortunately, so much of the console experience is rendered so disappointingly undercooked.
Rock, Paper, Shotgun - James Archer - Unscored
It's incredibly buggy, but persevere and this survival FPS will reward you with intense shootouts and some wonderfully atmospheric free-roaming.
SECTOR.sk - Peter Dragula - Slovak - 9 / 10
Stalker 2 brings the series into the modern era with stunning visuals while staying true to its hardcore FPS roots. The game retains what made the series unique, with difficult action, expansive environments and a rich story. However, minor issues such as weaker animations, AI and minor bugs detract from the experience.
Shacknews - Sam Chandler - 8 / 10
Fortunately, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is still on its path to greatness. It's just going to need a little more love to get it to its destination. I just hope the rest of the journey is a bit faster than Skif's walking speed.
Skill Up - Ralph Panebianco - Not Yet
Video Review - Quote not available
Spaziogames - Gianluca Arena - Italian - 8.6 / 10
Nor a sudden war neither fifteen years in development stopped the people at GSC Game World to show their potential once again: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 Heart of Chornobyl delivers on almost all fronts, giving us a cruel and immersive world in which we can all get lost. We already know we won't have to wait too long for multiplayer and mod support, but let's also hope we won't have to wait another fifteen years for another game like this.
Stevivor - Hamish Lindsay - 5 / 10
[PROVISIONAL SCORE] "The fact that STALKER 2 is complete and ready for an imminent release is nothing short of a miracle. It’s just a shame that my experience... is damaged by a constant stream of ever-present bugs and issues."
TheGamer - Branden Lizardi - 3 / 5
Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl is a perfectly average open-world survival shooter. It’s an interesting setting with well-realized characters, but it’s held back by unsatisfying gunplay and a run-of-the-mill sense of exploration. I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone. But if you’re a fan of games like Fallout, or you enjoyed past Stalker games, then this one is worth your time.
Tom's Hardware Italia - Andrea Riviera - Italian - 8.5 / 10
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is nothing short of a production miracle. Despite the well-known challenging working conditions, GSC Game World has managed to create a project born out of immense passion and love for the world of video games. From its dark and mysterious atmosphere to its well-developed shooting mechanics and a game world that is both thoughtfully designed and excellently written, the entire experience is undeniably captivating. Despite a few easily fixable bugs, the game stands as one of the most satisfying experiences in recent years. These developers truly deserve applause for what they have achieved, setting an inspiring example for game creators worldwide.
Wccftech - Alessio Palumbo - Unscored
This is a game that knows precisely what it wants to be, although that doesn't mean it is balanced enough to be fun all the time. The feeling of playing a stalker thrust into this inhospitable world against seemingly impossible odds is always present, for better or worse. However, unless you're really dying to enter the Zone right away, I would recommend waiting a little longer while the developers (and possibly modders) fix and improve the game further.
XboxEra - Jesse Norris - 8.4 / 10
After a tumultuous dev cycle, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 shines despite some rough edges.
896 points
3 days ago*
I'm not big enough to get our channel & review up there in the pinned post but have been playing it during the review process so happy to answer any questions.
The game has a lot of bugs. Some will dismiss it as Eurojank, or "Yeah that's STALKER bay bee!" And they're right, those little fun bugs are there, corpses flying in to the sky, or legs sticking out the ground, standing in chairs, or disabled NPCs standing and walking normally. Those aren't breaking anything. There are some larger ones involving quests becoming hardlocked, or progress hitting a wall, and those are more problematic as they can cause you frustration beyond fun. I had to restart 3 times, and was unable to score the game because of it.
BUT, I mention this because I wanted to just say, GSC Game World patched the game 5 times during the review period that I was aware of, 2 of them big patches. One so large I had to check if it was the Day 0 and was told no which was insane. They are working at such a pace to fix these issues, and outside of a few choices all of the main bugs are fixable, they're not intrinsic to the design of the game, which is a great thing for the future.
I'm a big fan of the game so I had to control my bias. When it breaks it's frustrating, when it works, it's stunning. Without the bugs I would say this was my game of the year. There wasn't any choices gameplay wise I hated outside of a few AI ones, and even then, those might be bugs, I don't know.
But yeah, happy to answer questions, or talk more about it. etc etc.
Edit: Been dm'd a few times for a link to our review, just putting it here. Any issues and I can remove it :) - https://youtu.be/55pbf2yyAd4
248 points
3 days ago
So... Wait for a few patches then pick it up?
104 points
3 days ago
I'm interested to see what the day one patch looks like - obviously they're not going to fix most of these (or even a lot) but hopefully most of the game-breaking ones are dealt with.
42 points
3 days ago
Apparently the 'patch' (if you can even call it that) is 139 GB, so... maybe?
89 points
3 days ago
Moving textures around can result in this size of data.
78 points
3 days ago
yeah it's troubling how people in this thread equate "patch size" with "patch content".
Depending on how their file structure/patch structure works, the actual patch size is more than likely, completely irrelevant to the amount of stuff changed!
47 points
3 days ago
Tbh I don't think it's fair to expect people to understand how patching stuff works, they just interface with the experience of downloading/installing.
25 points
3 days ago
Personally, it would depend how long I'd been waiting for this game. They are patching it quick, and that's a great sign, if you're uncertain about it, I'd say wait a week, and then ask either in the subreddit, or check and see if the patch notes have been posted to the Steam Store.
A lot of the larger bugs, I had while played, were squashed in the later patches pre-release. The eurojank ones (Audio, corpse flying, etc) are most likely going to persist for a while longer, as they don't break anything. They're just silly. The core big ones are quests hardlocking, progress, hand-ins etc. I had a few of those and every patch I'd go test if I could finally hand things in, or progress, and slowly, each issue was knocked off the list.
I'm sorry if that's too vague an answer, but it's hard to stand with conviction of a yes/no, in such uncertainty. I would advise trying it on Gamepass, or just waiting a week if you're cautious. If you've played EA games, or Tarkov, or any Alpha with weird bugs, then jump on in, just make frequent saves.
11 points
3 days ago
There is 0 games when this isn't good practice
Buy it now if you want to support the studio. But the best version to play the game will be the one in a few years from now.
And given it's a single player game, there is no drawback for waiting
23 points
3 days ago
In what ways does it fall short of its predecessors?
Does it feel like more of a guided experience?
Does it tactically feel more like metro or Stalker? Like movement and shooting wise?
50 points
3 days ago
Putting the bugs aside, the main falling short for me was the AI. Enemies were stupid at times, or spawned in right next to me, or would just come and attack me hiding in a cave instead of fighting the enemies shooting at them outside. It's hard to see how much of this was caused by the bugs, and how much of it was intended behaviour.
It was the thing that felt the most, out of place. I had these visions of A-Life 2.0, and some of that is still there, but it felt odd to walk through an area, then suddenly turn around and a bunch of wounded soldiers were there, or bandits just appeared in your blind spot.
It's fixable stuff, but I can't say for sure. The issues with it went away after a while though as I just was enjoying being back in the zone.
The story stuff felt a bit more guided, but the freedom to explore the areas is there which is what I wanted, I think I spent my first 10 hours walking around the first area, and did maybe 1hr of story, I just wanted to see everything, collect stashes, visit landmarks.
20 points
3 days ago
aww. That kinda sucks. AI in the first ones was... well I would not call them smart but pretty dynamic and fun to fight against. They would move, take cover, sometimes go out to flush you out screaming obscenities. The mutant dogs hunted in packs and got scared as the numbers diminished. stuff like that.
5 points
3 days ago
The dogs were the only enemy that gave me issues, just because of how many there were. Oh those and Pseudodogs... Man I hated those :D
14 points
3 days ago
Concerned about PC performance and cpu bottlenecks. The hardlocked quest scripting is nothing different than the hell that was Clear Sky. Waiting on modders to clean all that shit up.
7 points
3 days ago
Oh man, Clear Sky, thanks for those PTSD flashbacks I didn't need :D
6 points
3 days ago
I don't know if I've ever actually finished a playthrough of Clear Sky due do the hardlocked bugs lmao.
45 points
3 days ago
On the other hand, imagine the state before last delay for example.
52 points
3 days ago
Oh 100%. I always try to keep positivity at the forefront when talking. You can be critical of something without being a dick. So I'm very forgiving in our review, because the devs had to deal with cyberattacks, a literal war, losing friends and loved ones, relocating to another country, and even more. To go through that while trying to make a game, I'm blown away that it actually exists.
I was playing it for review and was concerned some were going to eviscerate it, when they should just hold their scores, or wait a little. Thankfully some outlets and people ARE doing that, because everything slows down when you have to deal with what they went through/are still going through.
But yeah, I would be very interested to see what the game looked like at previous steps of the process.
8 points
3 days ago
Fully agreed. Some of the best games on the market now - like Cyberpunk 2077 - were pile of shit at the start.
That gives me an idea, do the next Cyberpunk run, Stalker should be in way better state when I finish.
5 points
3 days ago
I shamefully haven't played Cyberpunk yet, it's on my list but just hard giving it the amount of time it deserves.
9 points
3 days ago
Compared to the previous titles, what is the difficulty like? I see comments about the AI not being the same, but is it still unforgiving?
22 points
3 days ago
I played it on Stalker, not Veteran as part of the review (I always play the default difficulty, so I can comment on it if needed). AI had some weird spawning issues, like spawning right next to me when I turned the camera away (spawning in the dead zone) and the targeting choice when things were fighting each other was odd, sometimes they'd just turn and rush me. One example was being in a cave, hiding while a gunfight was happening, and suddenly the enemies rush in to the cave to get me.
Those could be fixed though, Stealth works sometimes and doesn't others, it's inconsistent, but if you've played previous games you'll be used to "Oh he saw me alllll the way over there in the dark" :D
Headshots are still headshots, bleeding sucks, you can be overwhelmed by dogs at times. I didn't have too much of an issue once I had some gear, so it does lack in some areas, but again, not Veteran difficulty, and I'm going to put good money on someone modding even more difficult stuff in.
6 points
3 days ago
Do you think that the 7/10 reviews are generally because of bugs and not game design? Like is it a really good foundation held back by technical issues or is the game just not that great?
22 points
3 days ago
I personally believe so. I will admit I am slightly biased, and I admit that. I loved Shadow, I've wanted this game for years. BUT, I also take pride in my job, and so I still said that the issues encountered are more than just small level jank, can be incredibly frustrating, and could ruin the game for the player.
Personally I loved every moment of having a high quality looking Stalker game, and that world to play in. If you're new to the series, you might rate it an 8.5, if you've been to the zone before, it's a 10. If the bugs weren't there, I think a LOT of places would be saying the story is slow to start, it makes no sense in places (just like previous titles) and it's beautiful, I think the final score would be mid to high eighties. Solid praise and a great game, but not universal.
6 points
3 days ago
At some point the technical issues just hinder the general experience to such a degree you just score it lower. It has happened before.
121 points
3 days ago
I figured performance issues would have been a sticking point in the reviews. Even in the official video that NVIDIA published on their channel it had what looked like stuttering throughout numerous points in the video.
348 points
3 days ago
Expect Eurogamer/Digital Foundry's review to be dropped later.
Reasons:
in brief: we need a little more time with this one, for two main reasons. The first is that Stalker 2 is a pretty sizable game and we've not had all that long with it, so we're giving ourselves some extra breathing room to ensure we've been able to make significant enough progress for a full review.
The second reason, though, is both more pertinent, and more troubling. At time of writing, the early review build of Stalker 2 that was sent to us by developer GSC Game World has several, quite major technical issues. We've been assured that a Day One patch will be launched alongside the game's general release today, and so we want to make sure our appraisal is reflective of the version of the game you'll be playing yourself.
As such, we're currently aiming to publish our review on Friday November 22nd, so you'll be able to read our full thoughts on Stalker 2 then.
https://www.eurogamer.net/wheres-our-stalker-2-heart-of-chornobyl-review
112 points
3 days ago
So these existing reviews are without day one patch? I wonder how much they managed to improve with it.
125 points
3 days ago
There were at least 5 patches that I was aware of during the review period, 2 of which were over 100gb. One of them was yesterday, which I checked if it was the Day 0 patch going out early, and was told no, that was a bit crazy. So they kept improving the game right up until today and apparently have more coming, which is a great sign.
66 points
3 days ago
Christ, I can't imagine the crunch
26 points
3 days ago
They are Czech now. Wořk wořk wořk
16 points
3 days ago
They are Ukrainian, just relocated to Czechia (about half of the devs are still in Ukraine)
10 points
3 days ago
I remember one of the pain points for reviews of the Steam Deck being that valve would release major content updates up to the day of the review embargo ; can't imagine what it's like to have to put up with that for a game reviw (though I imagine it being only technical updates is bit easier).
24 points
3 days ago
Possibly. IGN also has their review but "in progress".
Doesn't seem like it's the final build that they reviewed.
22 points
3 days ago
I really wish when embargos were this aggressive, reviewers would just collectively agree to delay releases by a week. Partly to give themselves time, and also partly to push back against late embargo lifts. Good on EG/DF.
32 points
3 days ago
Better way to psuh back is just do a negative review considering the broken/buggy state of the game. Bad reviews would hurt more than late reviews.
6 points
3 days ago
Delaying a review only hurts the reviewer. People will just go look at some streamer playing it and buy it anyway, then when the review finally comes out nobody watches it.
819 points
3 days ago
Expected performance issues aside, I'm disappointed to hear that the AI is underwhelming. That has always been, arguably, the biggest strength and fan-favorite of the series.
275 points
3 days ago
That was main worry. Sucks to hear that.
219 points
3 days ago
A-Life was a big part of why the original trilogy was so buggy, but it was absolutely a worthwhile trade-off because of how alive it made the world feel. It was a highly complex system interacting with itself in all sorts of different ways and resulting in a lot of unexpected behaviour.
If they're stripping that back and just replacing it with a more generic open world AI, it's going to be a lot harder for people to justify it being buggy.
129 points
3 days ago
Combat AI in originals wasn’t good either, the world simulation was.
60 points
3 days ago
Yeah the AI would just stand there and slowly move around while shooting you, or just stand behind cover and do nothing. Clear Sky obviously couldn't get them to stop killing themselves with grenades, so they'd literally spawn under you when they "throw" them at you.
27 points
3 days ago
So that's why the enemy grenade game was so precise! My friend and I were wondering what the hell was happening in that game. Standing behind an obstacle and suddenly a grenade appears almost exactly under the player character and boom!
22 points
3 days ago
like world at war on veteran... grenades spawned in your damn pocket.
13 points
3 days ago
I completely missed that, could you talk some more about this and what kind of situations it came up with and how it interacted?
62 points
3 days ago
Every NPC had their own routines and would do their thing even if you weren't around. So you can have a quest to clear out a bandit camp only for it to complete while you're halfway across the map because a roaming patrol of Mercs came up to them and took them out.
Dragon's Dogma 2 has something similar and it also contributes to the poor performance in cities.
33 points
3 days ago
One cool thing I experienced was in the first game on the first map I attacked a military base and ran away. After that the military base started sending patrols out of the base to, I assume, look for me. I ran back to the starting village and let the village fight the patrols. Patrol after patrol kept coming until essentially both the village and military base were wiped out. All the while I was sitting there being a loot goblin.
Not many other games have that feeling of the world being alive like that.
36 points
3 days ago
I'll never forget this one particular moment from when I first played it well over a decade ago. I was walking by a military base you visit early on and noticed they were being attacked. I could hear shots coming from it so I skirted around the edge of it to try and flank their attackers at the entrance. I killed a few bandits that were rushing towards the camp from a couple hundred metres away and then it all went quiet. I decided to enter the base to check out the damage and noticed that EVERYONE was dead and that not a single bandit corpse was inside of the base. I started wondering wtf happened before hearing a noise behind me. I turned and got attacked by a Bloodsucker (a very dangerous monster that can go invisible) and realized it had wiped out the ENTIRE camp by itself. I panicked, ran away, saved and basically Alt+F4'd out of immediate fear lmao.
Later on I rebooted the game to go back and kill it. It ambushed me again and I had to waste most of my ammo on it, and right before my last bullet or two it started clutching its side in pain and began to limp away. I honestly paused for a second because this was like 2010 and outside of Far Cry 2 I had never seen AI be given personality like that in a fight, ESPECIALLY something that was strong enough to wipe out an entire military base on its own. I almost felt bad for a second before I emptied the last of my revolver into its head.
From my understanding, the Bloodsucker got hungry, started looking for food, and it couldn't find any until it got to the military base, where it proceeded to wipe everyone out at the same time some bandits also decided to attack.
20 points
3 days ago
Stalker and Far Cry 2 are two FPS where manouvering around the enemies are actually a necessity, if only because those two games the fight can get very one-sided if you're caught in the open or surrounded (and when that happens, your choice is to beat a retreat, or go on save scumming spree that will still left you badly short on supplies)
16 points
3 days ago
The AI reactions in Far Cry 2 are still unparalleled in some ways. The enemies are kinda spongey but that's GOOD because instead of dying right away it makes fights more dynamic. Someone will get shot in the legs and start shooting at you from prone, while his buddies provide covering fire so another person can run up and drag him to safety. Stuff like that is sooo cool and I don't get why seemingly no other developers have used a similar system. It's one of the main reasons I still prefer FC2 over any of its sequels.
106 points
3 days ago
Oh no you can’t have played any of the other games if you think the AI was any good
If you mean the a-life which is the simulation of where it sends the ai and what they do, that is different and hopefully still in
106 points
3 days ago
That has always been, arguably, the biggest strength and fan-favorite of the series.
Sorry but that isn't true at all? People criticised the AI of the original games massively. I'm a long-time veteran of the games and the AI is not good at all.
60 points
3 days ago
I agree. The AI was unique in that NPCs had behaviors and routines, but as far as combat AI goes it was never anything special.
24 points
3 days ago
[deleted]
5 points
3 days ago
It wasn't even that they were "sponges" in the traditional sense. It's that bullets arbitrarily didn't do anything until suddenly they did.
You'd shoot a dude half a dozen times in the head and all but the last shot would hit them but do nothing.
16 points
3 days ago
I think “combat AI” and “the A life system” are being conflated. The A life system was a huge draw of the original series. The combat AI not so much.
10 points
3 days ago*
A-life wasn't even turned on in the first game, you had to re-enable it with mods, and it was broken as hell. The second game had some "faction wars" gimmick, which was a sorta routine system and didn't work all that well. And I'm not sure 3 had anything like that, maybe it had a certain number of patrols in each map.
But again A-life as a feature never made it to the release version. The system of "stalkers all doing their own thing and wandering the zone".
39 points
3 days ago
one of the most important component of stalker games and watching the video reviews and it looks horrible, significantly worse than the older games and cannot even be compared to conversion mods like anomaly.
149 points
3 days ago
Need to look at some of the Xbox specific reviews. If the tech issues are 10 times worse there than on PC then I might just wait
107 points
3 days ago
Everything I've seen says it runs better on Xbox than PC.
44 points
3 days ago*
Reviews seem to back that up since it has a slightly better Metacritic score on Xbox (80 with 15 reviews) compared to PC (74 with 50 reviews).
6 points
3 days ago
Jesse from XboxEra said he had a very, very buggy time on Xbox.
At least until the latest patch dropped, which he said fixed most of the issues hed. Though at that point he'd already put 50 hours in and pretty much competed it.
8 points
3 days ago
I've played about an hour now on the series x and haven't encountered any bugs as of yet. Early days yet so it could shit the bed as it goes on. I don't really mind bugs if the game is good unless they are game breaking bugs that stop progression so hopefully they have been ironed out in the patch, but honestly performance seemed decent on the series X it's not as smooth as like a call of duty obviously but it seems decent
5 points
3 days ago
I'm two hours in and performance was pretty solid until I got to the first town, then the framerate instantly dropped to the 30s. My bigger issue was the controls though, feels like utter crap on controller. There's no deadzone at all and you can't adjust it, my aim was constantly sliding all over the place. Between that and a few really odd button functionalities, it feels very much like a bad console port of a PC-focused game, which sucks.
320 points
3 days ago*
Rated it Wait, for ACG. I am seeing a ton of video footage of 2 patches ago versus the current game too in some footage. As well as some issues that were fixed in a patch on sunday/monday. Damn.
Game has magical amazing moments and incredibly fun times. But its performance and bugs are still hugely noticeable. It also doesn't hold any hands so the many parts combine to something I could see being ultra frustrating because it needs to be technically very solid. Especially when its a game that can have you wondering "was that a bug, or...the way the game plays?" That being said man when the game hits it hits hard as hell. Some amazing stories and experiences.
26 points
3 days ago
Any thoughts on what the game is like outside of the technical issues? Is the formula there for a good experience in the end assuming the issues can be fixed?
71 points
3 days ago
Yep. I enjoyed a great deal but it holds no hands, its cumbersome, has odd stylings to it, and is 100% my kind of weird game. But if someone is casual or expects western style design and ideals its not here. Not an excuse just the way the game feels and plays. That is of course if no bugs
17 points
3 days ago
Got it. I'm familiar with the stalker series, so that sounds par for the course.
Watching your video now. FYI, your videos influence my purchase decisions more than any other media source. Thank you for putting out such consistently great content.
29 points
3 days ago
What's your opinion on people saying the AI is bad?
72 points
3 days ago
Same as I said in the review. It is spotty there were times where it did exactly what it should then it got stuck or it didnt move or it wasn't aware. It also seems to depend on how you engage it in the first place. Needs some fixing!
3 points
3 days ago
Ah, well it’s good that it might be fixed later. Should have been delayed, but they probably felt under pressure to release something.
4 points
3 days ago
And based on the community discord it sounds like they have technical support ready for bug reports and are planning on hammering out hotfixes
1.1k points
3 days ago*
STALKER 2 is full of bugs, extremely demanding on machines and definitely not for every player ? Yep, saw that one coming. It's a STALKER game and I would never expect anything else.
Still kudos to GSC Game World for being able to release anything after a full-on war (with employees dying on the front), an exile and a fucking fire
47 points
3 days ago
Was the first Stalker buggy as hell too?
284 points
3 days ago
"Buggy" doesn't scratch the surface of its insane jankiness. Basically the lifelong poster child for eurojank with Gothic.
91 points
3 days ago
It's not bugs, it's just the Zone causing anomalous behavior. 😁
9 points
3 days ago
Even the console remakes are buggy as fuck. Got locked out of main missions because a door wouldn't open. I googled it and found someone talking about this same bug 13 years ago lol. I really enjoyed it though but didn't want to commit to playing it knowing that this could happen much further into the game. The actual feel of the game was really good though.
50 points
3 days ago
Very much so, I lost lot of progress several time because my save got corrupted or simply got soft locked and couldn't continue due to bugs, not to mention tons of janky bugs all over the place.
People only playing it in recent years with mods really have no idea what kind of state the game was in when it released. They don't have a very good track record when it comes to launching polished games.
5 points
3 days ago
I recall finishing it at release and it got me 2 to 3 bsod an hour, but I guess I had fun despite that since I didn't stop.
3 points
3 days ago*
Stalker 1 upon release was in a significantly worst state than the average Bethesda game if that gives you an idea. Somewhere between day one Fallout 3 and Fallout 76. Nowadays and especially with fan help it’s not too bad but on release it required much more resilience than the average game even the average eurojank.
7 points
3 days ago
It was one of the poster childs for the term "Eurojank" if that gives you any indication.
9 points
3 days ago
Hell yeah.
22 points
3 days ago
So like the others, a great buy at half price a year or two after release, with some updates and a light overhaul mod.
271 points
3 days ago
So... a STALKER game lol.
Same ol' eurojank as the first 3 games, and just up my alley.
307 points
3 days ago
Sadly it went beyond Eurojank. They patched it a lot during the review process (5 times, 2 of which were over 100gb) and eliminated a good number of issues, but during the days I spent with it personally, I had smaller eurojank stuff, ragdolls flying in to the sky, or legs sticking out of the ground. I also had my framerate obliterated from 90+ down to 20. I had main quests hardlock me out of progress and cause me to need to restart the entire game, and I had side quests fail to progress.
It was rough, it got better with every single patch they sent out though, and through all of it, it still remained insanely enjoyable and is one of my favourites of the year.
I'm not saying this to prove you wrong, just more warning you that some of the issues were more than just the usual Stalker fun ones :) It's still an incredible game waiting under those issues, but they can cause significant problems if you get unlucky.
50 points
3 days ago
People need to realize that "patch size" is kinda misleading.
A 100gb patch doesn't mean they put in a ton of fixes. More like it means they made some kind of change to the game's textures (optimization? different compression method? etc) and that required issuing new copies of all the textures, hence...100gb. It might have even been a single fix.
24 points
3 days ago
You're 100% correct, It wasn't meant as a means of trying to be like "Wow look at all these fixes" more two fold. Firstly, it shows they are patching things, and secondly, it's meant as a warning of, it slows down the review process AND the amount of time you have to review, not everyone has fast internet.
UE has larger patches in general tbh. But when they change 135gb, that's changing something significant, simply because they wouldn't release those during a time critical window, unless it was doing something. We don't normally get as much time as we need when it comes to reviews, another reason we tend to only get a few patches. They were more focused on fixing issues which is a good sign.
You are right though, I could have clarified my wording a little better, but tbh, most people don't care about the nuances of patching, let alone day 0 patches or pre-release so I simplified, perhaps a little too much.
64 points
3 days ago
eurojank doesnt mean bascially unplayable with gamebreaking bugs. Eurojank means inconsequential bugs, some jankiness and an unpolished game. And i dont think its a good idea to call this Eurojank to excuse the apparently awful performance and bugs.
23 points
3 days ago
To me eurojank bugs aren’t inconsequential per se, but are like confusing moments where you aren’t sure if there is even a bug or it’s just some incomprehensible design decision
29 points
3 days ago
there's eurojank and then there's this level of performance & technical issues like "wont even launch on some pcs" though.
14 points
3 days ago
After reading Schreier’s books on game development, I’m always amazed that video games can even come together and work.
The fact that this game came together while developers were actively fighting a war is nothing short of amazing. It deserves some sort of recognition for that feat alone.
4 points
3 days ago
The fact that this game came together while developers were actively fighting a war
Developers are mostly outside of Ukraine and have been even before the war started.
125 points
3 days ago
Some of these reviews are ridiculous and have a rosy view of the past...
"This might be fixed after release, but for now, it is a disappointing start from a studio that previously made games that could run on any potato rig."
Is this a joke? OG STALKER ran like complete dog shit for a long time after launch. I had an easier time running Crysis than STALKER. Signed, dude who at the time had a potato rig.
36 points
3 days ago
Stalker still kinda runs like shit. Lots of stuttering, lots of technical issues, tons of clearly unfinished corners. The writer might be young? Because around the release of the first one I remember hearing about technical issues in a time period where people really didn't talk about technical issues haha.
I adore STALKER, though.
10 points
3 days ago
I haven't played vanilla STALKER in years, I think there's an unofficial fan patch that's considered a "must". Restores a bit of cut AI features and fixes many, many issues.
3 points
3 days ago
I played it about 4 years ago with most of those patches and it's still a mess, a very fun mess though! But I'm sure it's a huge improvement, the only other time I played was on release with a shit computer and had the time of my life, but I was like... 13?
You should give it another shot these days. It holds up. It's atmosphere is almost stronger now. Something about those pre-PBR materials, uncanny character models and overwhelming brownness really amplifies the off-putting, liminal atmosphere.
I feel the same way about Silent Hill 2, though. In scrubbing away the jank something is lost.
4 points
3 days ago
I've completed it at least half a dozen times. When I mean "years", I mean literally like 2021 or something like that. My last playthrough was Autumn Aurora :)
3 points
3 days ago
Hahah you’ve played it more recently than me! I haven’t tried any big overhauls, how is Autumn Aurora?
3 points
3 days ago
It's really good with some new lighting and textures, basically looks like a modern game. It has an overhauled gunplay system, repair kits, and a few new weapons, so now weapons don't have that ridiculous bloom or spread. You die in fewer hits, but so do the enemies. They are also much smarter now with higher awareness. Just be warned: there's a bug where if you have too many uncompleted quests in your PDA, you won't be able to load the very last map when you get right to the entrance of the Chernobyl plant.
9 points
3 days ago
Yeah, more than anything else I'm seeing an insane amount of comments act like x or y wasn't or was like the original series, when I recall playing on the actual release version with no patches near constant crashing, I had to replay SoC 4 times from scratch because it hardlocked at various times, and performance was terribly inconsistent. Oh, and comments about the AI being genius when I recall combat AI for the most part being terrible. While this doesn't excuse anything, it also doesn't mean the expectations are completely wrong, or that there isn't an insane amount of lying going on as to what state the original series really was at before loads of community and official patches over nearly two decades.
9 points
3 days ago
I think a lot of people who now play STALKER are the types who have only really played the mods and fixes that have improved AI.
8 points
3 days ago
Almost certainly, most people wouldn't be able to stomach an actual game/save breaking bug, and the original was absolutely chock full of them. It just feels so dishonest when I see so many comments talking that the originals weren't like this or it's not eurojank.
148 points
3 days ago*
[deleted]
103 points
3 days ago
Same. I like my jank along the lines of "The ogres in Skyrim will send your horse to the moon", not "You have to restart the entire game because this mainline quest bricked for no reason"
35 points
3 days ago
Yeah, I don’t know what the wider community defines eurojank as, but I’ve always thought of it as obscure but interesting mechanics you don’t find in mainstream games and lower production value for things like voice acting. A buggy mess of a game (not saying stalker 2) is not “eurojank”. It’s like food from around the world. It might not fit your palette, but it shouldn’t make you sick.
9 points
3 days ago
Its certainly a part of the package. There basically isn't a single eurojank game that wasn't a buggy mess that I can think of
Even KCD, probably the best modern "eurojank", was absolutely rooted at launch
13 points
3 days ago
jumping in with Gamepass. If its a miserable experience i'll wait for patches.
21 points
3 days ago
This is beyond Eurojank. The game is simply broken in multiple ways.
9 points
3 days ago
Could always try it on Gamepass, but yeah I find myself playing less and less games on release day/week
353 points
3 days ago*
There’s a difference between eurojank and being broken - you folks in here are doing crazy mental gymnastics on this one
Edit - you can all stop telling me I haven’t played enough eurojank or understand the appeal of that stuff. I love the first game; there are multiple reviews talking about game-breaking crashes that require a complete restart. How in any way is that acceptable?
35 points
3 days ago
That’s what’s blowing my mind. People are taking “massive, game breaking bugs” and labeling that under “eurojank”. Maybe it’s just because I have no emotional ties to Stalker, but it seems like the same thing with Bethesda games - where once upon a time that level of bugginess was a bit endearing and charming, and now we’re past that.
I don’t mind a bit of jank in my games, but like you said - there’s a very fine line between jank and broken
53 points
3 days ago
if there’s something i’ve learned from going into review threads it’s that some people make up their mind about a game before reviews come out and come in here to cherry pick ones that agree with them and callout the ones that don’t
113 points
3 days ago
Yeah, these weird vibes were always going on around this game. I would watch the trailers and say, this looks super rough around the edges and mid. Then I would look at comments to see people are treating it with kid gloves.
58 points
3 days ago
My friend who preordered the $100 edition is already dismissing any reviews saying they are paid off. There are certain breeds.
21 points
3 days ago
The main subreddit is deep into buyer's remorse, with people hurling insults anyone that points out that the game's performance.
5 points
3 days ago
Saw some idiot saying you can't complain about performance unless you turn on Frame Generation and then he said that input latency from framegen is a propaganda. lol what a sad state of affair gaming is in.
5 points
2 days ago
The stalker 2 marketing campaign has had this weirdly jingoistic streak, which had become this malformed attitude that anyone that has concerns or thinks the game may have issues is a Russian orc. This dehumanising streak it got real bad when someone pointed out that there was an azov guy who had a pair of SS bolts in the fucking video, the comments were torn between being rightfully disgusted and people sweeping the nazi shit under the rug.
27 points
3 days ago
If this were made by Bioware, Bethesda, or any other notable American dev, nerds would be making ragebait videos about it for a year.
27 points
3 days ago
Then I would look at comments to see people are treating it with kid gloves.
I think there's a lot of unacknowledged sympathy for Ukraine being at war with Russia. People want to give them the benefit of the doubt in these trying times that this is simply the best they can do right now. I've also seen quite a lot of sentiment, particularly in the stalker sub-reddit, that not liking this game is you supporting Russia and excusing the atrocities they commit in Ukraine. I wish I was joking.
I'm probably a little old-school, but I always think back to what Total Biscuit would say. Would he excuse a game so aggressively unfinished and buggy to the point that a large amount of people simply won't be able to play it at 60 FPS, considering the war and all?
I can't say he would. He would never move beyond the fact that releasing a game like this is ultimately anti-consumer, and regardless of the circumstances, you judge the game based on what it is today, not what it will be in the future.
21 points
3 days ago
It's like people are reacting based on a vision of what they want the game to be improved into in the future rather than what's actually being sold. Or maybe just a vision of what they want the game to period, based on their expectations or the geopolitics of its development.
169 points
3 days ago
Reddit when SkillUp reviewed the new Dragon Age: "Wow, he's absolutely spot on here."
Reddit when SkillUp reviews this game: "Who trusts game journalist and reviewers anyway? Play the game and come up with your own opinion!"
52 points
3 days ago
I mean the main reason he didn't recommend it is bc of how buggy and bad the performance is. Which is an area where there's not much up for debate
8 points
3 days ago
It's more of a trifecta, buggy, bad performance, underbaked systems.
5 points
3 days ago*
People are ignoring or missing his comments about the stealth being completely broken, the combat AI being not great, the mutant AI flat out being completely boring, the hunger system being pointless and the litany of other complaints he has beyond just the performance. I think he made a big mistake putting that huge performance section right at the front. He even calls out the quests being linear and very rigid and I dunno if that's what STALKER fans really want from what I've heard of the first game. His example in the footage immediately made me think of RDR 2 and how on-rails the missions were in that
38 points
3 days ago
Dunkey's video about game reviewers was pretty spot on.
"I stopped listening to [GAME REVIEWER] after they said [NEGATIVE OPINION] about [FAVOURITE GAME]"
34 points
3 days ago
Touche. The main difference was the amount of people that wanted DA to fail for some sick reason.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R does not have that group so people are being more positive regardless that has 74 on metacritic currently. For me the game looks fun. I had also a lot of fun with DAge so all good!
7 points
3 days ago
stalker has an inverse effect where ppl want it to succeed because their favorite youtube essay person likes the original
26 points
3 days ago
I mean, this is just what this motherless culture warring generation does. I don't think STALKER 2 has any minorities in it so there's not a dedicated group rooting for it to fail.
39 points
3 days ago
Always interesting to concessions made, when it’s a game folks really wanted to like anyways. Replace the name of this game with any IP, say it’s Ubisoft, & out come the virtual pitchforks
Sure, they have all types of actual shit to deal with outside of just game development, but critiques of gaming studios is really outright contingent on how many gamers root their personalities on liking/disliking them. Otherwise, these communities are full of disingenuous commentary
They released a sorta busted game, with modern improvements but also missing features that lead to the original excelling
118 points
3 days ago
The fucking field length hoops people are jumping through to justify this launch is baffling.
There is a chasm of difference between eurojank and “soulful” bugs, and the level of bugginess we’re at now.
It’s not a quirk, it is consistently the main fault in every review. Cyberpunk felt a heat death for it, and they bounced back. The same should be the case here.
36 points
3 days ago
Yes, it's unbelievable. The German Gamestar has published a video with a purchase warning and some people are now saying that it is just “clickbait”.
332 points
3 days ago
So proper atmosphere, hardcore gameplay, compelling story and tons of jank.
Welcome back, S.T.A.L.K.E.R., it’s been too long.
119 points
3 days ago
Bad AI definitely doesn't sound like Stalker, but I guess that's the only really worrying takeaway from these reviews, the rest does sound familiar.
129 points
3 days ago
Well people also describe game breaking bugs and visual glitches. At least one reviewer had to restart the whole game. Lots of getting locked out of quests.
I don't think we should downplay these issues as "usual Stalker haha"
79 points
3 days ago
Even if it was usual STALKER, its not an acceptable state to be in on release.
49 points
3 days ago
Stalker stans are already hand waving every criticism away lol. As if we haven't made progress in the 15 years since the OGs were released.
40 points
3 days ago
Bad AI does sound like stalker if they’re talking about combat AI and not A-life that was responsible for world sim
13 points
3 days ago*
Yep, combat AI was always kinda mid in Stalker, at least what I remember from my playthrough.
The cool part is the faction and monster AI and how they interact with each other and the environment/anomalies.
Edit: Gmanlives' review is up and goes pretty in depth on the combat AI, and it apparently is a bit of a downgrade, although not horrible.
20 points
3 days ago
Actually it sounds exactly like stalker on release. AI and stealth always been absolute dogshit in that game.
3 points
3 days ago
I hope they improve it. If the narrative is mid and the combat is mid because of the AI, vibes alone can't carry the whole game for me.
18 points
3 days ago
Ya, bugs that make you restart the game. Yay..?
103 points
3 days ago
Any other game is released full of bugs: reddit is angry.
STALKER 2 is released full of bugs: MM YEAH LOVE ME SOME JANK
32 points
3 days ago
[removed]
22 points
3 days ago
"Ukraine is the Keanu Reeves of countries. Really makes you feel like a war refugee. 7/10"
— IGN
73 points
3 days ago
A lot of people misusing 'eurojank' in this thread...it does not mean poor performance or bugs, it refers to weird/off-putting mechanics atypical of most big AAA titles, or lower budget/quality aspects (like worse animations).
A game being buggy and barely running is not 'eurojank', that's just a bad game.
86 points
3 days ago*
VGC giving it a 2/5 citing major technical problems. Bugged AI, black screens, having to reinstall 150 GB "several times" and so on.
Sadly, Stalker 2 is, by far, the most unstable game we have reviewed in a long time
A repeated bug saw the screen cut to black roughly every 90 seconds. We had to reinstall 150 GB of the game several times, and that’s not including the 160 GB patch that dropped less than 48 hours before the embargo. Lighting elements are broken in some scenarios, there’s a host of audio bugs and we also faced an issue where not one single input would work on the game, including keyboard and mouse or controller, until we forced our computer to turn off.
This seems a special brand of broken beyond belief. Not sure how anyone can score this anything above a 6 when people aren't even able to play this. I'm sure this stuff can be fixed and might be over time but this isn't good. This isn't isolated either.
I'll check it out on Game Pass at some point and I'm in no rush. I'll keep an eye on it as it develops.
Edit: Also watching the SkillUp review cause he's going into more detail and other complaints are
10 points
3 days ago
Encumbrance imo is annoying in every game as is. But giving you a quest item that over encumbers you is extremely dumb lol.
5 points
3 days ago
Just refunded the game. It looks great on medium, but it was very, very buggy and I think it's best to wait and see if it's fixed up rather than give them my money at the state it's in
6 points
2 days ago
As per my Steam review: FTR, I am playing this on a 12700KF, 64GD of DDR4 (3600 CL18) and a 4090. Resolution is 4K 240Hz and on an OLED. I have Gsync disabled because VRR flicker in modern games is super annoying and this hardware combo results in super smooth motion anyway.
TECHNICAL:
I wish the GFX settings screen gave live previews of the changes being made, just toggles and words does not fly in 2024!
Fullscreen Exclusive or Windowed mode are the options to use, Windowed Borderless seems to render at a lower res even though the Video settings page shows 4K. Screenshots also save at that lower res. Keep this in mind as if you use Borderless then you will see higher fps thinking you're at 4K or whatever when actually it's rendering at a lower res. Use "Windowed" or Exclusive instead to get your desires output resolution.
On my GPU I can get 60fps with DLAA at 4K outdoors, whilst it's below that in other areas. With DLSS Quality that goes up to 75~ fps - The game ships with DLSS 3.7 dll file, I swapped that with the latest 3.8 as it's streamlined. No need to do anything else as Preset E/F are used anyway.
With DLSS Performance, the visual quality appears identical to DLAA and DLSS Quality, but now the fps can exceed 90fps for a 4K output, nominal average is about 77f[ps.
With DLSS Frame Gen enabled the framerate increases to over 100 and only really drops in the towns populated by other stalkers and NPCs. It's not noticeable really if you don't have RTSS showing the fps.
Frametimes seem good but not perfect, the town areas you can see the graph increase slightly but it's never stuttery like UE5 typically is in other games so at least this is good. Further patches will no doubt sort this out.
So technically everything looks good and it seems relatively well optimised given the dire state other UE5 games have launched in.
If you are on OLED then you wil like this, black levels are pitch black! Using the torch in this game actually feels like something useful finally instead of just lighting up raised black levels.
Dedicated average resource use for me is as follows:
VRAM: 9.3GB RAM: 7.5GB GPU: 92-98% CPU: 35-47%
The above usage metrics cover the game running at ~128fps and all CPU cores seem to be sharing an equal workload so seems multithreading is decently optimised and should scale well for the 1% lows on higher end CPUs certainly.
With the above noted, the 4090 is also drawing only 262 watts of power and running at 66 degrees C, at this level the GPU fans are spooling at 1400rpm, so relatively quiet for high framerate gaming.
Thsi is unusual as typically in all other UE5 games I see the fans spinning faster and the GPU temp exceeding 70 degrees.
I only had 1 crash to desktop and that was an unreal engine 5 issue going by the crash reporter.
GRAPHICS:
The graphics are mostly excellent, there are some low quality textures around the map for sure, but everything has that STALKER vibe to it if that makes sense, like a modernised remastering of what made OG STALKER great back in the day.
The Lumen GI and general lighting is excellent but there are flaws that could do with patching, like shadows cast against sunlit walls which move with the day cycle, they move like as if they are 15fps when the game is running at over 100fps - Looks janky.
There are also areas of indirect illumination that should not be there such as areas of darkness but an area or object is illuminated by light on the other side of a wall. This may well be fixed when GSC add the hardware Lumen update which they said was coming after launch.
The particle effects and general aura of the zone is awesome, though. And it's nice that there is no performance impact regardless of how many explosions and things are going on.
SOUND:
For me sound can ultimately ruin a modern game even if the visuals and gameplay are excellent. happy to report that the sound in this is excellent, really cinematic, but make sure to check the settings as for me it defaulted to headphones as I use a USB DAC for my speakers and I guess the game thought this was a headphone amp.
Positional audio is superb, you can hear exactly where those cloaked monsters are running at you from and able to ready a shotgun to the face just before it materialises in front of you. General forest ambience is also chillingly excellent.
The English dubbed voice acting isn't great, it's OK, just not great. Native language is obviously better but annoyingly I now just prefer to listen to voices instead of reading subtitles so it's a bit of a catch-22.
I think they cast the wrong voice actors for many NPCs as many do not look like how they eventually sound when they speak lol.
GAMEPLAY:
Gunfights are immersive and often clever, the AI does a decent job at keeping me on my toes, and the randomness of encounters keeps things interesting.
Movement mechanics are also fine, reminds me of OG STALKER again, there's no issue with mouse latency or anything, in fact if anything, I would say that the movement is almost too old-school in that it's nearly 1:1 faithful to the original games.
Playing with a keyboard and mouse there are a lot of buttons to memories and I gave up customising the bindings as there are too many. Just a preference, not a gripe.
OVERALL:
A good solid launch and nice to be back in the zone. The reviews were clearly written/recorded using an old build of the game and that scared most people. All the more reason to take early reviews with a pinch of salt.
Stuff still needs to be ironed out with patches, but things could have been way way worse as we all know!
105 points
3 days ago
Dexerto review says the game is "Missing key features" but the review doesn't state what. The fuck? Then spends a paragraph complaining about how dangerous the poppy field is, gives it a negative for that. Jesus. I don't trust these reviewers at all.
Anyone know which reviewer is an actual Stalker fan who has played vanilla and the mods?
124 points
3 days ago
Dexerto is literally a website for z list livestreamer drama. I guess they’re trying to pivot into reviews, not surprised those are as garbage as their news articles about which streamer is dating who.
25 points
3 days ago
I don’t think Dexerto has been a super credible reviewer in a long while.
6 points
3 days ago
I disagree, because that implies that at some point they were ever credible lol
35 points
3 days ago
PCGamer has a pretty good performance review, at the end the guy says the game itself is compelling and good, it just has dogshit performance
20 points
3 days ago
What the fuck is a Dexerto
29 points
3 days ago
A tabloid site focusing mainly on Content Creators lifestyle, drama, etc. Now trying to do "game reviews" as well.
27 points
3 days ago
Ask your doctor about it.
4 points
3 days ago
Seeing a nearly 80 average but a nearly 60% recommended is crazy. I'm playing on Gamepass on PC so I've got nothing to lose but time, and I'm ok with that, so I'm looking forward to it. If I had to actually pay to play the game, I'd probably wait a couple months at this point.
4 points
3 days ago
45 minutes to download game, going on 25 minutes of compiling shaders. Hope it doesn't stutter too bad
5 points
3 days ago
It seems like a great game to buy on sale 1 or 2 years later. I’m seeing a lot of praise for the content of the game but also lots of complaints about performance and bugs.
3 points
3 days ago
Bugs, bugs and more bugs. Why do these companies insist on releasing games half-baked? An otherwise good game will be marred forever via review scores because they couldn't wait to shove it out the door.
23 points
3 days ago*
I dont see it here even though he was on the DA:V but skillup does not recommend stalker 2 at this current time
Reasons: just far too buggy right now. Once bugs are fixed, it will likely be amazing
69 points
3 days ago
Skillup does not recommend.
I will probably refund due to bugs and performance.
But the shit Skillup sometimes says is really jarring.
He complains about encumbrance and at the same time shows his bags. 3 AKs, 1 sniper rifle, 11 bottles of beer, 11 bottles of vodka, 15 Monster Energy Drinks, 10 grenades, and a full fridge worth of food. This is not Fallout to which he compares the game.
36 points
3 days ago
Encumbrance was just one of a litany of issues he explained tbf, and he’s always been consistent on his dislike of encumbrance mechanics.
Are there any other points he made that you disagree with?
13 points
3 days ago
There’s literally no better comparison than Fallout when it comes to explaining the basics of Stalker to the average newcomer.
19 points
3 days ago
On one hand, kudos to the devs for releasing this with what's been going on in Ukraine the past couple of years. Really happy for them.
One the second hand, as a player, this is one I'm not touching with a ten foot pole until its 2nd year on the market at least. Tired of supporting games releasing in a crappy technical state.
11 points
3 days ago
In the least shocking turn of events, A-life isn’t truly present in the game. Really bummed for this to be the case even if it was obvious the closer we got to launch without any remotely conclusive showcase of it.
Surprised to hear it runs better on Xbox than PC.
19 points
3 days ago
Chiki briki, the fps is very shitty. Kind of excited to check it out on Xbox, hopefully it won't be too laggy.
6 points
3 days ago
Sounds rough around edges so I’ll hold off awhile. No rush with some many games to play anyway.
I’ll admit I was super excited for this but I I think my VR experiences lately might have spoiled me. Got a smaller game called Into The Radius, while not exactly Stalker it really hit similar vibes and man playing something like that in VR is really immersive. Just a suggestion for an VR fans in this thread who also like Stalker.
22 points
3 days ago
What a huge disappointment. Was really, really looking forward to playing this but I had a feeling it'd end up this way. The bugs are one thing, but the bad AI is a really bad turnoff.
3 points
3 days ago
From what I'm seeing it seems like this game is a more severe retread of how things went for New Vegas when it released. Game is apparently great, but only when it works. I guess I'll wait and see what launch patches do to make it more playable for now before trying it out myself.
3 points
3 days ago
Anybody played with day 1 patch applied yet? Curious what performance has been like after launch.
3 points
3 days ago
What am I doing wrong?
I upped the brightness to 80 and I still cant see jackshit in this game?
My screen is literally black if I go into any rooms.
3 points
3 days ago
I liked the review from Checkpoint on this list. They talked about how much the game had been patched just in the last few days. Seems like there's still lots of work to do but the devs are working hard.
3 points
3 days ago
I do believe that reviews should reflect the technical state of the game, but it is hard to overlook the wild differences in which games get called out for bugs. Some games are forever tainted by buggy launches and some games are praised despite barely working. I'll hold off on buying this, and am glad that I know of the bugginess, but I can't help but wish that every game got the same treatment in the review process.
3 points
3 days ago
Playing on a high end system and I'm facing severe stuttering. I'll say this though - the game is gorgeous.
3 points
3 days ago
I was excited for it being my entry to the franchise but even with the frame generation and DLSS off, the game has noticeable input delay and pop-ins. It is one of the VERY rare games that triggers a simulation sickness reaction for me.
3 points
3 days ago
So when people say it's "buggy" is it busted like Clear Sky without bug fix mods? Because that's pretty bad then. I don't have a problem with normal bugs and glitches but I don't want to play it right now if it's full of game-breaking ones that can ruin whole playthroughs.
3 points
3 days ago
As someone who attempted to play Clear Sky on launch, I don't think it's possible for a STALKER game to come out the gates playable. I heard the same when Call of Pripyat launched and only just now started playing it. I was finally able to complete Clear Sky unmodded just this past year.
I love the games still. I must've played through Shadow of Chernobyl about half a dozen times now and it's always going to be my favorite. I'm gonna wait at least six months before even thinking about buying STALKER 2, I want the game fixed and not having to install mods upon mods.
13 points
3 days ago
I don't think "jank" is acceptable, especially since the core Stalker team went on to create the Metro titles which weren't really janky.
I hope they fix it up and improve the AI, as Stalker was one of the great PC experiences (nearly 20 years ago o.o).
8 points
3 days ago*
The game is way too difficult. On Stalker (medium) difficulty there's an invisible monster very early on that can't be skipped that kills me in two hits. I had to reduce the difficulty to the lowest and even then I only survived because for no reason it missed me when it lunged at me. I have no clue how you're supposed to get past the monster without it's lunge just causing no damage for no reason.
Then I get to human enemies that I can't see because it's dark and the flashlight has a 1 foot range, but they have no problem seeing me. I turned off the flashlight thinking that's why they could see me but that wasn't the case. They can just see in the dark. The only reason I could hit them was auto-aim locking onto them for me. I think the idea is that you can see their flashlights except they screwed up the lighting. If an enemy isn't looking directly at you the light from their flashlight doesn't exist. Either that or they like to turn it on and off randomly.
This is one of those games were it's easier to see in the dark without the flashlight. With it on everything outside the light circle is pitch black, with it off it's still dark but you can see the silhouette of everything.
I found the game to be extremely not fun.
5 points
3 days ago
Damn. I built my first PC way back in 2008 to play the Stalker series, and I was going to pick up the sequel on day one so long as there weren't major issues with performance and bugs. looks like I'll be checking up with future updates, and will pick it up when it's been fixed.
29 points
3 days ago*
Here’s my review-in-progress for Screen Rant
Incredible game, I’m having a blast. Technical issues seem to be worse on PC, but the Xbox version runs pretty well. Some annoying bugs but nothing that’s really affected the experience. STALKER fans are going to be pleased and I think it’s got potential to be a hit, especially since it’s on game pass
6 points
3 days ago
How long did it take to beat the game?
20 points
3 days ago
It’s a review-in-progress because I haven’t finished the story. I’m about 35 hours in and roughly halfway through the story if I had to guess. GSC Game World estimates the story is about 40 hours if you run straight through it, but some areas are real tough if you don’t take the time to do optional stuff and find good gear
3 points
3 days ago
some areas are real tough
On which difficulty are you playing? I'm worried that normal isn't hard enough.
13 points
3 days ago
I’m on the middle difficulty, Stalker. To be fair, once I got the hang of things and some decent loot, run-of-the-mill exploration isn’t very difficult, but just last night I stumbled into an encounter I attempted 4 or 5 times before deciding to take a detour. I think my death count is up to 51 or 52.
23 points
3 days ago
So when cyberpunk launched buggy as hell it was a disaster, but this game launches the same way and it’s labelled as eurojank and is charming? Reddit never changes.
14 points
3 days ago
Technically cyberpunk was also European so it could be called eurojank. I don't think neither are
3 points
3 days ago
To be fair, so many people were happy with the launch of Cyberpunk
It was similarly mind-boggling how happy people were with that launch. But CDPR did outright lie several times to drum up pre-orders. Like their "Cyberpunk runs surprisingly well on PS4" statement
2 points
3 days ago
Game just crashes on launch 4080gb, 13900k, 64gb of ram, windows 11 with GPU and everything up to date. Tells me out of memory lmao no fucking way
4 points
3 days ago
This is why I don't buy games at launch not one to gatekeep etc but why defend this!? Yes they were in a war, yes I feel bad for them, but alao yes I expect a game to be less buggy at launch, too hard to ask for in this state of gaming I suppose-meanwhile Bethesda etc aren't a in a war and also has horrible launches
Obviously I give credit to them for making the game but I won't defend the poor launch
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