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[ZehDon]

More like it’s GamePass fodder jank

Holy fuck STALKER 2 can be called a lot of things, but "GamePass fodder"??? Jank? Sure - it's STALKER, that's a given. But you're seriously trying to tell people these devs of all people dumped STALKER 2 without a care as fodder for some quick Microsoft bucks? Really? Really!?

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Holy fuck STALKER 2 can be called a lot of things, but "GamePass fodder"??? Jank? Sure - it's STALKER, that's a given. But you're seriously trying to tell people these devs of all people dumped STALKER 2 without a care as fodder for some quick Microsoft bucks? Really? Really!?

Being gamepass fodder has nothing to do with what the developer intentions are. It just means it's kinda meh at the end of the day on a sea of meh content and options on that service, which per Metacritic and some reviews, seems appropriate so far. Doesn't make it a bad game (although the bugs can make it pretty unbearable until they get patched).

 

[Buggy Loop]

So it's good?

The more he's downplaying it in a thread for a game he can not even buy or play means the better it is.

Now reviews are back to very positive on steam, has ~50 times the concurrent players of concord, and it won't close a studio down!

 

[Rush2112]

Funny because I skipped the original because it had the same issues. Kinda saw this coming. Also, I couldn’t care less about European politics (that’s right). So no, I won’t ‘support’ any devs who don’t want to ‘support’ my shitty PC.

 

[rubik's dude]

Games like Stalker are from an era of jank lol. Stalker, Gothic, Two Worlds, all games with tons of heart and tons of jank. Just like back then, gotta hope the devs fix it. If not, the community eventually will.

 

[ZehDon]

Being gamepass fodder has nothing to do with what the developer intentions are. It just means it's kinda meh at the end of the day on a sea of meh content and options on that service, which per Metacritic and some reviews, seems appropriate so far. Doesn't make it a bad game (although the bugs can make it pretty unbearable until they get patched).

Might need to recalibrate, friend. Casually dropping your console war "GamePass Fodder" moniker for a game years in the making, whose developers walked through literal hell to deliver it, because it's less polished than whatever reads as pretty callous, frankly. Is it perfect? Not at all. But does it go in the same category as "fodder" for Microsoft's subscription service? Absolutely not.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Might need to recalibrate, friend. Casually dropping your console war "GamePass Fodder" moniker for a game years in the making, whose developers walked through literal hell to deliver it, because it's less polished than whatever reads as pretty callous, frankly. Is it perfect? Not at all. But does it go in the same category as "fodder" for Microsoft's subscription service? Absolutely not.

Callous? I have not commented whatsoever on their geographic situation. Frankly, that has zero bearing on whether or not the game is released in a good, quality state. Which is ALL I'm talking about. While it's understandable it has taken longer to release, it sounds like it needed even more time in the oven.

 

[ZehDon]

Callous? I have not commented whatsoever on their geographic situation. Frankly, that has zero bearing on whether or not the game is released in a good, quality state. Which is ALL I'm talking about...

Actually, you're talking about GamePass and "a sea of meh content and options on that service". You decided to bring your "GamePass fodder" non-sense to the review thread and equate it to STALKER 2, to declare it as some POS flipped for a quick buck. You don't have to gush over the game to virtue signal, and you're absolutely free to criticise its faults - but like I said: might need to recalibrate, friend. Given the background - which you clearly know - painting STALKER 2 with console war non-sense so you can roll out the "GamePass fodder" line is pretty bloody callous.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Actually, you're talking about GamePass and "a sea of meh content and options on that service". You decided to bring your "GamePass fodder" non-sense to the review thread and equate it to STALKER 2, to declare it as some POS flipped for a quick buck. You don't have to gush over the game to virtue signal, and you're absolutely free to criticise its faults - but like I said: might need to recalibrate, friend. Given the background - which you clearly know - painting STALKER 2 with console war non-sense so you can roll out the "GamePass fodder" line is pretty bloody callous.

I never said it was a POS, you're putting words in my mouth. I said it doesn't look to be exceptional based on reviews with plenty of issues to go around. Being GamePass fodder just means it's unikely to stand heads and shoulders above many games on the service that are also okay but not great.

The only one virtue signaling is yourself bringing up geopolitical issues into this when they were never raised by me at all.

Take a step back and cool your jets and not take this personally which you appear to be doing. They could make a GENUINE POS and that wouldn't be callous at all to call it out if that were the case. Critics shouldn't give the game a pass (tee hee, you see the pun??) just because of the context surrounding their development. This isn't some toxic positivity safe space. This is just objectively reviewing the game.

I may actually try this out for myself if they can fix all the issues with it at the moment, but I'm not confident they will. The atmosphere of this game definitely looks cool.

 

[FinalBossWithTheMostPower]

This game was always going to be meh.

 

[MiguelItUp]

So it's good?

It is good.

Stalker has always been a divisive IP. People love it, people hate it. If you loved the series already, you'll love this one. The issues that people are experiencing are varied per person. I've only experienced very minor bugs here and there. But visually it looks great, and the performance is great. I'm having a LOT more fun with it than I initially thought I would. Especially since I remember trying Stalker when it originally launched and it just didn't do it for me.

 

[Bumblebeetuna]

Actually, you're talking about GamePass and "a sea of meh content and options on that service". You decided to bring your "GamePass fodder" non-sense to the review thread and equate it to STALKER 2, to declare it as some POS flipped for a quick buck. You don't have to gush over the game to virtue signal, and you're absolutely free to criticise its faults - but like I said: might need to recalibrate, friend. Given the background - which you clearly know - painting STALKER 2 with console war non-sense so you can roll out the "GamePass fodder" line is pretty bloody callous.

You’re wasting your time on a warrior like that.

 

[ZehDon]

... They could make a GENUINE POS and that wouldn't be callous at all to call it out if that were the case...

I already explained that it's OK to be criticse the game - but that's not what you're doing. There's well documented effort behind the game, but you decided to decry it as low effort "GamePass fodder" even though you know that's simply not true. There's console warring, and than there's that. And that's just callous.

... This is just objectively reviewing the game.

Given you self-admittably haven't played the game, you're not "objectively" reviewing anything.

 

[Barakov]

seems like its not only a technical mess but also has some weird design choices and issues

Sounds like a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Given you self-admittably haven't played the game, you're not "objectively" reviewing anything.

I’m objectively reading and watching reviews and this game does not sound exceptional at all.

This is a review thread after all. Have you beaten it?

 

[ZehDon]

I’m objectively reading and watching reviews and this game does not sound exceptional at all...

Then say that instead of painting it with console war non-sense. By all accounts, the game's got some issues - being "GamePass Fodder" isn't one of them.

 

[James Sawyer Ford]

Then say that instead of painting it with console war non-sense. By all accounts, the game's got some issues - being "GamePass Fodder" isn't one of them.

I don’t know how many times I have to explain this but being on GamePass isn’t inherently bad, you’re just reading too much into that comment. It had nothing to do with them taking money or anything like that.

It’s not a game I would likely buy in its current state, it seems something more appropriate to try out on a sub service

Feel free to misinterpret it all you want and conjure up callous intent that’s not there. Anyways done with this convo. If you like the game that’s totally fine, many people do.

 

[Romulus]

It sucks there are issues with performance and glitches but they will be addressed. Sounds like a great game outside that.

 

[TheShocker]

Double post.

 

[Moses85]

 

[TheShocker]

I’ve played an hour or so. Game seems cool so far? It definitely plays better with mouse and keyboard versus a controller.

Performance still seems stuttery at times. And I’m playing on a 4090 with 64gb of DDR5 and a 14900kf.

 

[EDMIX]

I’ve played an hour or so. Game seems cool so far? It definitely plays better with mouse and keyboard versus a controller.

Performance still seems stuttery at times. And I’m playing on a 4090 with 64gb of DDR5 and a 14900kf.

ah fuck, I was worried about that. I also have a 4090 build and if its doing this even on that set up, we just waiting for a sale.

 

[TheShocker]

ah fuck, I was worried about that. I also have a 4090 build and if its doing this even on that set up, we just waiting for a sale.

It’s mostly in the prologue where there is lots of cuts from gameplay to cutscene. Again, I’ve played an hour, but it definitely wasn’t a deal breaker of an issue. I also have GP, so there’s that too.

 

[Fess]

I’m objectively reading and watching reviews and this game does not sound exceptional at all.

This is a review thread after all. Have you beaten it?

Read the positive reviews too, there are more positive critics than negative. The only enthusiast websites for gaming in my country rated it 9/10 and 4/5, despite the bugs.

I’ve only played it for 2 hours but so far it’s very unique and cool and I can’t wait to play more, it’s a mix of genres and I didn’t get that from pre-release talks, definitely more interesting than I expected. Also, the open world seems great, hand crafted, and it’s challenging too which imo is great.

 

[TheDarkPhantom]

This game is going to be lit on Pro, 2025 looking stacked for PlayStation

 

[Senua]

More like it’s GamePass fodder jank

 

[Connxtion]

Loving the game so far, only really had 1 issue & a shadow that doesn’t sit when at a camp fire, the issue is if you stand still for to long the lighting doesn’t change in a set desistance from your FOV. You need to look around to fix it or make your hands go offscreen so they update

Wish there was a 40 FPS mode as performance mode is nice and smooth, but half the effects are gone or turned right down. Quality is lovely to look at, but 30FPS. Lucky it has a similar feel to Hellblade 2 where it feels smooth to play at 30FPS.

Oh and drift stick due to dead zone being 0 (or minus, joke ) never had a game where if I breath on a stick it starts moving. Not sure why they done this, hopefully an oversight.

 

[Seomel]

I only played bit past prologue in 2nd area, but had no issues on pc. Feels and looks great too. Def playing more today

 

[Denton]

so... it plays like absolute shit on controller.
gonna have to download it on PC I guess.

once again developers who don't know that axial deadzones are objectively bad, devs that don't know that it's important to have deadzone settings, and devs that think the turn speed of a turtle is fast enough.

also, the left stick is badly mapped as well. while sprinting it's almost impossible to move straight forward. the moment you go off center even a nanometer, you'll sprint diagonally.

This is mindblowing isn't it? One would think that after decades of controllers existing it would be a solved problem. And here we are with AAA games being utterly broken on controllers. I just can't even.
It is especially jarring coming from CoD BLOPS6, where the default controller settings are flawless perfection.

 

[Buhaj]

This isn’t college or grade school a 7 doesn’t mean average. A 7 is a good game but flawed, mid games are around 5, 3 and below is dogshit.

 

[Nemesisuuu]

The more he's downplaying it in a thread for a game he can not even buy or play means the better it is.

Now reviews are back to very positive on steam, has ~50 times the concurrent players of concord, and it won't close a studio down!

He should have stayed on that damn island.

 

[Dr.Morris79]

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.

Think of it this way. The original Stalker (Which was quite a heavy PC game at the time and brutalised most PC's..) came out in 2007

The better 'consoles' at the time were the PS3 and Xbox 360

If you'd of put the PC version of Stalker on one of those consoles it would have run like dog shit

You're trying to run a very similar situation on a not capable console

It is what it is.

 

[BigLee74]

This is mindblowing isn't it? One would think that after decades of controllers existing it would be a solved problem. And here we are with AAA games being utterly broken on controllers. I just can't even.
It is especially jarring coming from CoD BLOPS6, where the default controller settings are flawless perfection.

CoD will ruin movement and shooting for every other game (not that its movement would work in stalker).

They need to address the crazy twitchiness.

 

[King Dazzar]

Think of it this way. The original Stalker (Which was quite a heavy PC game at the time and brutalised most PC's..) came out in 2007

The better 'consoles' at the time were the PS3 and Xbox 360

If you'd of put the PC version of Stalker on one of those consoles it would have run like dog shit

You're trying to run a very similar situation on a not capable console

It is what it is.

Yeah I played and loved the previous entries. I think some are forgetting that Call Of Pripyat was actually a far more rounded and polished experience. But as for your platform constraint point - sorry that doesnt wash with me. I've seen it running on a 4090 and it still had lots of technical issues. For me its unacceptable as is.

But we can agree it certainly is what it is. For sure.

 

[Little Chicken]

Being gamepass fodder has nothing to do with what the developer intentions are. It just means it's kinda meh at the end of the day on a sea of meh content and options on that service, which per Metacritic and some reviews, seems appropriate so far. Doesn't make it a bad game (although the bugs can make it pretty unbearable until they get patched).

Confirmation that Game Pass is an amazing, transformative service bursting with great games

 

[Desprado123]

Running at 3413x1920 (80% more than 1440P) resolution, Epic/High Settings, FSR Balanced+AMD Frame Gen on.

 

[SJRB]

One of the first things you do in the game is break a crate and I swear to god they forgot to animate this properly because if you break a crate it just completely despawns and then a second nothing and then debris and the crate items spawn in.

Sounds minor but it's very immersion-breaking and there's just goofy jank across the board.

 

[Dr.Morris79]

Yeah I played and loved the previous entries. I think some are forgetting that Call Of Pripyat was actually a far more rounded and polished experience. But as for your platform constraint point - sorry that doesnt wash with me. I've seen it running on a 4090 and it still had lots of technical issues. For me its unacceptable as is.

But we can agree it certainly is what it is. For sure.

Aye, it's got technical issues, Stalker did in 2007. As for a 4090, not sure how it runs on one. It doesn't run too bad on my 4070 so far, but like in 2007, I realised I was never going to be able to run it at full steam. So far it's been the only game I've had to actually drop to 1440 or its slide show time. There's certainly room for optimisation.

I haven't reached a city yet mind you, I guess thats where it really tanks off

I haven't tried it on my Xbox yet either but I can imagine what it runs like, which is where I draw the comparison to consoles

If it's this brutal on PC, I can equate what it'll run like on a console. I'll give it a try though later though, I need to see it there too.

 

[JackMcGunns]

Too many contrasting opinions, it seems like checking by ourselves is the only option.

In this environment is a must.

 

[TVexperto]

The A-Life 2.0 (they removed any mention of it from their steam page after launch) continues to have big issues. They don't spawn as close (like 10m behind) but they still spawn 50m behind which is pretty disappointing and I was able to observe they were spawning because they simply weren't in my FOV. Best way to describe it is the AI works like I’m playing a newer Far Cry. The game spawns AI right beside you to force encounters at the moment. I'd like for this to extend to much further ranges like 200-300m so that the zone feels more alive independent of the player, like the OG games.

 

[SJRB]

The A-Life 2.0 (they removed any mention of it from their steam page after launch) continues to have big issues. They don't spawn as close (like 10m behind) but they still spawn 50m behind which is pretty disappointing and I was able to observe they were spawning because they simply weren't in my FOV. Best way to describe it is the AI works like I’m playing a newer Far Cry. The game spawns AI right beside you to force encounters at the moment. I'd like for this to extend to much further ranges like 200-300m so that the zone feels more alive independent of the player, like the OG games.

It reminds me of Far Cry as well, the enemies also seem to insta-aggro so you have to fight no matter what. There's no tactical gameplay involved in these moments whatsoever, you can't evade or sneak or stealth-kill.

I dunno, the whole system seems kinda lame honestly.

 

[Astray]

This feels like a game that will have to be carried by the mod scene in some ways.

Definitely glad I didn't pick this up at launch.

 

[SJRB]

 

[Jesb]

On Reddit some are saying the game doesn’t even work with a controller via GFN. This game is sounding like a disaster.

 

[Mayar]

On Reddit some are saying the game doesn’t even work with a controller via GFN. This game is sounding like a disaster.

Everything is "great", a typical Stalker release, nothing new.

 

[dok1or]

On Reddit some are saying the game doesn’t even work with a controller via GFN. This game is sounding like a disaster.

Gamepas, xbox gamepad is not working for me. It show gamepad prompts, but nothing

 

[Gen.Grievous]

Oof. That is one of the best parts of the original Stalker games, it made the zone feel alive and you always needed to keep alert even when going through the same area multiple times.

 

[Luipadre]

Running at 3413x1920 (80% more than 1440P) resolution, Epic/High Settings, FSR Balanced+AMD Frame Gen on.

Yeah at the beginning... just wait until you get to the first settlement or other areas. Performance is dogshit in this game and the stuttering is horrible. Also even when i had "100" fps with framegen, it stil lfelt terrible. I already had 2 crashes in 2 hours and its probably the framegen

 

[Luipadre]

Oof. That is one of the best parts of the original Stalker games, it made the zone feel alive and you always needed to keep alert even when going through the same area multiple times.

Its confirmed to be broken by the devs on discord. Just wait a few months before playing this game imo

 

[Lucifers Beard]

Gonna give this one a miss for now and I'll play through Metro Exodus instead I think. Only one I haven't played and I think it'll scratch my itch for a shooter kind of like this.