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

ap_puff

ap_puff

Banned
Roblox_oof.wav

That said it's understandable that things were rough given the circumstances. Might pick it up down the line.
 
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Bry0

Bry0

Member
DragoonKain said:
I don't know about that seems like it goes pretty extreme. For one, he used an example where picking up one big gun and some ammo made him over-encumbered. Which seems really extreme. And if that's the route you want to go, then at least give the player options to be able to quickly travel to base to dump off your stuff rather than having to crawl back, this seems tedious to the point of absurdity.

And also, if you get over-encumbered that fast when you're in a game that offers so many things to loot, it's essentially taunting you constantly with loot that you can't ever pick up and seems counterproductive.

Hard choices are fine, but when they come at the expense of making games tedious and a bore, then it seems to defeat the purpose. Games are supposed to be fun and what I saw in the reviews if they're accurately portrayed is something I consider the opposite of fun.
Click to expand...
You don’t need to collect every little thing, you drop some items to carry that big gun, or just skip it because if you aren’t willing to drop anything then you probably didn’t need it anyway. I’m going to be honest, I don’t think you are familiar with the game loop in this franchise, and may be basing your expectations on other titles. If you could just carry everything around and fast travel back to a stash, well that sounds really boring to me. Things like different suits can change your carry weight too.

Tarkov was heavily inspired by stalker, so you have to look at it mechanically in that lense. Maybe the game just isn’t for you.
 
splattered

splattered

Member
From what im seeing in reviews its a really good game but tons of bugs... good thing i have an enormous backlog i'll never get to haha i will grab this later on down the road after it's been all patched up.
 
GymWolf

GymWolf

Member
Karak said:
I don't know. But some of the issues folks are reporting were patched 2 days ago like guns missing sounds. Then again its PC...so you never know what bugs you may get. But on 3 pc's the gun sound issue went away Monday as DF reported.

Stealth worked for me overall but it was finicky and also got better with patches. Better than most overarching games of this type but possibly a bit "harder or more exacting?"
Click to expand...
How about the human ai during combat? (When it work obviously)

Covers, flanking, self preservation etc.

Like i'm not asking if it work or not, i'm asking how good it is when it actually work.

Are we at least on the level of tlou2\division 2 (or hopefully better)?
 
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Denton

Denton

Member
foamdino said:
This should have been given way more time - because the dev team were under such ridiculous restrictions/conditions. What publisher would make them rush this out? Looks like the core stalker game is there, but it's just not finished/polished up.
Click to expand...
GSC are self-publishing. But I would not be surprised if they were running out of money given the length of development.

Karak said:
What I wasn't in love with is that I felt I had to dial the controller in way more than usual. Lots of finickiness until I felt its sensitivity was correct.
Click to expand...
Please post your controller settings if possible, so we know how to set it up.
 
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King Dazzar

King Dazzar

Member
Sorry but this is awful on XSX. Even with VRR, there's hitching and stutters. And whilst the 30fps mode is more stable. The controls feel off. There's no deadzone adjustment and its set far too aggressively. Which results in occasional drift with the slightest of movement. But even over looking that, the actual movement of the cross hairs feels off. Fidelity is actually not so bad, but it runs/feels horrible.

I'm out. This is shit in its current state.
 
DragoonKain

DragoonKain

Neighbours from Hell
Bry0 said:
You don’t need to collect every little thing, you drop some items to carry that big gun, or just skip it because if you aren’t willing to drop anything then you probably didn’t need it anyway. I’m going to be honest, I don’t think you are familiar with the game loop in this franchise, and may be basing your expectations on other titles. If you could just carry everything around and fast travel back to a stash, well that sounds really boring to me. Things like different suits can change your carry weight too.

Tarkov was heavily inspired by stalker, so you have to look at it mechanically in that lense. Maybe the game just isn’t for you.
Click to expand...
I mentioned as much in one of my previous posts. That if it's a game where you're constantly needing to worry about being over-encumbered and have to micromanage inventory and it's slow and tedious then it is not going to be a game I'm going to like. I like loot in games and as a gamer I have zero patience. If I encountered the experience Skill Up did I would not be able to tolerate this game for very long.
 
simpatico

simpatico

Member
Gotta say I will be editing the spelling of Chernobyl in my Steam library just for continuity. Can’t wait to pick this up Friday.
 
Shadowstar39

Shadowstar39

Member
Already bought and 4 copies of the previous games on different systems. All their games are buggy out the gate but they do play and are atmospheric. If you expected perfection going in you aren't a stalker fan and don't know shit about this series or history. It's disheartening seeing people say "ill wait or pass" when they will buy up crap f2p gaas or cod game #521...

Single player needs support, people bitch but won't shell out the cash. These guys are on in a war zone too. From the reveiws, it looks like this will be great, but have some initial bugs (which will be patched) .
Already bought on Series X (needed a reason to boot it up again). Can't wait to have some time to play this.
 
JackMcGunns

JackMcGunns

Member
Gamezone said:
So mediocre.
Click to expand...

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.
Click to expand...


Sounds like that day one 150GB patch makes sense and one should hold judgement until it's been applied and tested. As for the game itlself, they're talking about Game of the Year potential.

Nothing mediocre about that.
 
dok1or

dok1or

Member
GymWolf said:
Oh cmon, the enemy ia is worse than previous games?
It was one of the things i was looking forward to try.

I don't really trust this dude tho, hopefully he was just on drugs :lollipop_grinning_sweat:
Click to expand...
From hardcore gamer review:

Fighting NPCs in Stalker 2 isn't dissimilar to fighting human opponents in an online multiplayer FPS. Enemies work together to outflank you and use grenades to flush you out whenever you try to take cover. To some degree, this even extends to fighting mutants. Combat is dynamic and never feels like a shooting gallery. Opening the inventory doesn’t pause the game and there’s no mid-combat saving either. Actions like reloading weapons, swapping armor or using consumables have to be done in real time while you’re fighting some of the smartest enemies found in gaming.
These encounters are made possible thanks to GSC Game World’s proprietary AI system dubbed A-Life 2.0. A similar system can also be found in the original games, but the developers made a lot of improvements to it in the meantime. It's not perfect just yet, though. Enemies often don’t have any reaction when you make noise in their vicinity but can easily spot you even when you’re hiding behind a wall in a pitch-black room. They also seem to be suspiciously proficient at landing grenades at your feet regardless of where they’re throwing them from. Bullets have realistic flight times and trajectories, but the grenades feel iffy. Most other weapons are enjoyable, although it would have been nice if they added a few options for melee.
 
GymWolf

GymWolf

Member
dok1or said:
From hardcore gamer review:

Fighting NPCs in Stalker 2 isn't dissimilar to fighting human opponents in an online multiplayer FPS. Enemies work together to outflank you and use grenades to flush you out whenever you try to take cover. To some degree, this even extends to fighting mutants. Combat is dynamic and never feels like a shooting gallery. Opening the inventory doesn’t pause the game and there’s no mid-combat saving either. Actions like reloading weapons, swapping armor or using consumables have to be done in real time while you’re fighting some of the smartest enemies found in gaming.
These encounters are made possible thanks to GSC Game World’s proprietary AI system dubbed A-Life 2.0. A similar system can also be found in the original games, but the developers made a lot of improvements to it in the meantime. It's not perfect just yet, though. Enemies often don’t have any reaction when you make noise in their vicinity but can easily spot you even when you’re hiding behind a wall in a pitch-black room. They also seem to be suspiciously proficient at landing grenades at your feet regardless of where they’re throwing them from. Bullets have realistic flight times and trajectories, but the grenades feel iffy. Most other weapons are enjoyable, although it would have been nice if they added a few options for melee.
Click to expand...
Too many contrasting opinions, it seems like checking by ourselves is the only option.
 
Sub_Level

Sub_Level

wants to fuck an Asian grill.
IMG-8189.jpg
 
Buggy Loop

Buggy Loop

Member
Got a feeling a couple patches in it’ll have good user scores and meta critic will be frozen in time as a time capsule that sometimes games need a couple weeks more before reviews.
 
Gamezone

Gamezone

Gold Member
JackMcGunns said:
Sounds like that day one 150GB patch makes sense and one should hold judgement until it's been applied and tested. As for the game itlself, they're talking about Game of the Year potential.

Nothing mediocre about that.
Click to expand...

Just like any day one patch, it probably won't change much. They just re-download the entire game, but it doesn't mean they'll change much. I'll check back with the game in a year.
 
C

Corian33

Member
Excellent content, janky execution? Sounds like STALKER to me, I’m in.

OG stalkers will remember the NPC in the first game who would constantly say “get out of here stalker, get out of here stalker, get out of here stalker, get out of here stalker” nonstop when you walked into that one early location 😂. Janky bugs make for good memories sometimes.
 
A

azertydu91

Hard to Kill
Welp this looks like a stalker game to me...Released broken then gets fixed along the way with patches and/or mods...I'll probably get it but later.
 
bundylove

bundylove

Gold Member
Hmm.

I lov3d all stalker games. Got the trilogy for ps5.

Hope by the time this arrives on ps5 it will be fixed and will be a good game
 
XXL

XXL

Member
Yeah..I'll probably just play this on PC GP in a few months. I might just wait to see if Indiana Jones is any good.
 
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Solarstrike

Solarstrike

Member
analog_future said:
Wow, the game sounds straight up broken.

  • Performance is terrible, even with a 4090 using DLSS Performance
  • Awful texture pop-in.warping
  • Lighting is regularly busted
  • Reflections are glitchy
  • Light sources often don't work correctly (many areas that are clearly supposed to be properly lit are just black as if there's no light on)
  • NPCs and objects often glitch and just float in mid-air
  • UI elements flicker in and out for no apparent reason
  • NPCs will regularly stand on top of eachother during cutscenes
  • Weapon audio cuts out regularly and just straight up doesn't make any sound
  • Positional audio is completely borked and is completely inaccurate
  • Enemy AI is poor
  • When you complete an objective, it oftentimes won't update in the UI so you are unable to see that it's actually been completed
  • Map markers are regularly inaccurate (such as where stashes are, etc..), leading you to completely inaccurate locations
  • Stealth is totally busted; enemies can see you through walls
Click to expand...

*Performance is good for me so far:

Windows 11, Nvidia GeForce EVGA 24GB 3090:
Game installed to an Samsung 970 Pro 1TB M2 drive on the mobo
i9 12900KF RAM: Corsair Dominator Platinum 32GB
ASUS ROG Maximus Z690 Formula
Samsung Odyssey 165hz GSYNC 2k display

*Played in both 2k and 4k (Nvidia panel DSR 3840x2160p enabled) 70-95fps average everything on Ultra, DLSS to Quality, FSR3 On, motion blur Off, V-Sync Off

Enemy A.I is not "poor" in the least, especially the creatures/mutants. They'll know when you are in an elevated position and will attack once you think you're safe on the ground and/or running
I notice some tree/brush pop-in here and there, nothing terrible.
Friendly AI will attack enemies (just like the old games)
Lighting is excellent and atmospheric. Night gets darker as you progress I noticed. This game was made for HDR and with a capable display as it really makes a difference.
No issues with U.I flicker. I did get a graphical "glitch" after messing with settings. Exit game completely then reboot game if tinkering with settings/graphics.
Audio is excellent to include the music. I was searching some barn and it started to rain. I thought it was gunshots but it was the rain hitting the metal roof.
 
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ChoosableOne

ChoosableOne

ChoosableAll
We all played buggy games back in the day. Stalker was definitely one of those games. I can't wait no longer so I'm downloading it rn. It will be better in few months thats for sure, core experience matters more.
 
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