S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl - Standard Edition
Description
Newest patch available!
Discover the legendary S.T.A.L.K.E.R. universe and experience:
Unique gameplay built on a blend of FPS, horror, and immersive sim
It is a non-linear story, with a variety of paths that lead to one of the several endings
Benchmark-setting graphics developed using cutting...
Discover the legendary S.T.A.L.K.E.R. universe and experience:
Unique gameplay built on a blend of FPS, horror, and immersive sim
It is a non-linear story, with a variety of paths that lead to one of the several endings
Benchmark-setting graphics developed using cutting-edge photogrammetry and scanning technologies
Advanced artificial intelligence systems that will keep engaged even the most hard-boiled players
Immersive survival mechanics like hunger, sleeping, bleeding, radiation effects that enrich the gameplay
Dynamic day-night cycle and weather will add even more realism to the gameplay experience
Mod support gives the freedom to the creative stalker to extend and enrich the game universe
Multiplayer mode, will be added after release as a free update
Chornobyl Exclusion Zone has changed dramatically after the second massive explosion in the year 2006. Violent mutants, deadly anomalies, and warring factions have made the Zone a very tough place to survive. Nevertheless, artifacts of unbelievable value attracted many people called S.T.A.L.K.E.R.s, who entered the Zone for their own risk, striving to make a fortune out of it or even to find the Truth concealed in the Heart of Chornobyl.
EPIC NONLINEAR STORY IN SEAMLESS OPEN WORLD
Take over a role of the lone stalker and explore photorealistic seamless open world in a 64-km² radioactive zone with a variety of environments that reveal post-apocalyptic atmosphere from different angles. Make your way through the Zone to define your destiny as you choose your paths within highly branching epic story.
VARIETY OF ENEMIES AND HUNDREDS OF WEAPON COMBINATIONS
Meet members of different factions deciding who of them worth your friendship and who deserve a bullet. Engage intense gunfights with a variety of enemies that follow different tactics trying to outsmart you. Choose your preferable firearms from 30 types of weapons with numerous modifications that allow creating hundreds of distinctive lethal combinations.
LEGENDARY MUTANTS WITH DIFFERENT BEHAVIOUR MODELS
Prepare to encounter horrifying mutated creatures that will try to slaughter you following different behaviour model. Each mutant may appear in different subtypes which makes their behaviour less predictible. Truly extreme danger represent regions with lairs with numerous mutants hunting in large groups.
ARTIFACTS OF INCREDIBLE VALUE AND UNFORGIVING ANOMALIES
The most valuable artifacts and secrets of the Zone are hidden in the most dangerous places. Beware of the hazardous anomalies and unique devastating arch-anomalies as you hunt for highly valuable artifacts scattered around the Zone. Will you dare to unveil the mysteries of the Zone that took lives of many others before you?
Main things for me are poor optimization and AI being a little underwhelming but in time it will improve. Atmosphere, quests and gunplay are all super good.
Those claiming this to be like cyberpunk's day 1 release are seriously delusional. Its rough, but still a LOT more stable than CP2077's first day at launch. Also, it seems people forget that GSC developed this game IN THE MIDDLE OF A WAR.
Ignore the overly negative idiots. This game has limitless potential.
So, I love this game and I love GSC, I've been with them since Cossacks: European Wars. This game however needs some serious polishing.
+ Great framework for a Stalker game, I can already see tons of possibilities for DLCs, mods and overhauls.
+ Graphics are really pleasing, even if you don't like Unreal Engine 5 aesthetics.
+ Quests are written nicely, they give you proper narration as well as enough Ukrainian-style profanities and cussing, to make things believable.
+ There's some role-playing involved as you are forced to make decisions. It's nothing fancy like in cRPGs but it's really nice to have these little things affect the world.
+ All in all the atmosphere is unmatched: the soundtrack, aesthetics, dialogues, narration as well as worldbuilding and luddic narration – all these things make Heart of Chernobyl immersive.
However...
- The game, as of today (22.11.2024) is sadly plagued by awful optimization. It's best to cut some slack to your PCs guys because no matter what kind of guts yours have, it won't run this game smoothly. So there's that.
- Bugs and glitches – some of them are slightly game breaking but nothing over the top that haven't been found in the Stalker franchise.
- Incomplete A-Life system that made the previous installments so immersive and believable.
- Broken AI at times – enemies forget to shoot or they act illogically.
- Irrational, mean AI of some pack mutants – dogs will run away from you and hide behind obstacles if you jump on a car or have the high ground over them.
- Busted balance: some enemies are bullet sponges, repairs are too expensive and stuff like that.
- You can't loot mutants to sell their parts.
- There are NO binoculars
- There are NO night vision devices
- Enemies spawn behind you at times.
Will it be patched? Probably yes. Is it going to take some time? Very likely. Should you buy it? Yes, if you don't mind having unstable framerate, glitches and messed up balance, you'll love it.
GSC sought to be true to the STALKER legacy when they created this game, and that is precisely what they have accomplished - in more ways than one, and not always positively. What they have released is a game that absolutely oozes atmosphere, but has some rough edges.
Before we get into it, my PC specs are as follows:
- CPU: Intel i7-8700k (stock clocks, 3.7GHZ)
- GPU: Nvidia RTX 3060 Ti-8GB
- RAM: 16GB @ 3200 MHz
- Primary display: 1920x1080 @ 60Hz
I can hit 60FPS no problem on a mix of High and Medium settings, only experiencing frame drops in settlements. To ensure I hit 60 as often as possible, I play with DLSS "Quality." I have not experienced any crashes, serious stuttering, or major bugs as of this writing.
First, the bad, since it's noticeable but pretty quick to sum up.
- AI spawning and persistence (called "A-Life" by the devs and community) is a bit busted. This is my biggest disappointment, since it's constantly palpable; the Zone isn't as lively as it used to be. I say "busted" rather than "absent" because the devs seem to indicate that it's not working as intended.
- The difficulty curve is a bit off. HP/damage of mutants are way too high for how often you encounter them, and you find mutants that were considered rare or late-game in previous entries much more frequently.
- The quick selection controls are pretty strange on PC and there's no good way to rebind them.
- Sometimes, the lighting effects freak out a bit, creating overly dark situations.
The rest is so, so good. Sound effects, textures, models, and animations are top-notch, aided by some truly impressive lighting effects. UE5's Lumen is definitely a bit heavy on performance, but with the shadow quality turned up it's often very beautiful (though I do hope for a hardware RT solution to be available in future patches). I've managed to squeeze just under 9 hours of play in a few very busy days' time. After a few patches - and a few mods, no doubt - STALKER 2 will shine brightly indeed.
This game is much more of a worthy sequel to the original trilogy than I had anticipated. However there are two glaring problems with STALKER 2.
1. The performance. It's horrific. Stuttering, CPU bottlenecks, and memory leaks that completely destroy framerate, especially in towns.
2. There is no A-Life. The devs claim that it is in the game but not working, but I am skeptical. I suspect it will never be in the game or will be a sad shadow of its former self.
Other than that, the game is very immersive and carries the spirit of STALKER. Unfortunately I have put the game down until the devs fix this mess.
NOW THIS!
I cant post the error code because this garbage app and platform identifies it as "giberish" handled expection 14 0with 38 at the end.
Tried literally everything to fix this error ,but it keep crashing after some seconds in game.
NOW
Irritated as i was and off i went ahead and downloaded the pirated version , yes downloaded another 135 gb , just to test , same updated version BEHOLD !!
It does not crash....
you don't deserve any money or any fans !
Each time i want to play this game ,it also has to update ..how much??? 122, 135 gb
HEI DEVS ARE YOU THE ONES PAYING MY INTERNET CONNECTION MONTLHY IN SWIZERLAND???
NO RIGHT???
STOP THIS BS!
in the last 4 years i did not buy a single modern game , and gave oportunity to this one because its a series i have played and replayed for a very long time , BUT this???
Im not a fan who also swallow everything you want ok ? when im done with certain thing im done forever, this is a promise , here and now ,in the next years there will be 0 money from me 0!!!!
SINCE my previous review was removed for no reason , becasue i pointing all the problems i got so far , i will rewrite what i posted.
So far it has been a tottal mess of Anger and extreme frustration with the game its so constant ,This game exceeds all 3 previous games and more!
i have died more 78 time most by trampling on objects and instantly dying , being very distant from enemies and them having a 100% on me , no matter what i do enemies will aways get me , the mutants are f tanks no matter what and how you shoot them , it takes a very long time to end them and they are very overpowered to , so much if you encounter those who can lift objects in the air and throw them , even if the object alredy fell to the ground it will make damage as much as if it hit directly, i don't know why but everytime i kill a bloodsucker , 2 or 3 more show up ALWAYS . the armor seems to make some sense when you get something better but its so low , its like using one that you get in the begining of the game , wight carrying in some cases make no sense and becomes frustrating , the time weapons last until they break has been changed but still makes no sense since the update now dead bodies on the ground as you aproach they will t pose for a second and imediatly drop to the ground , when a mutant pushes the weapons from you , sometimes they will disapear and you need to reload the save , the costs in the game are f**** insane repair costs sometimes are higher than the gun itself upgrading something is over expencive , if you rely on what the character gets and not selling artifacts and weapons you will not manage to buy any upgrades or repairs .
BUT the most frustraing of all is runing while reloading a weapon ,always interrupted animation .... It needs to be fixed ok? how many times i thought i had reloaded just to ear the f*** clicking sound of a empty magazine?? Right in the face of the enemy , or the gun jammed right after you reload?
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