This game still has issues that haven't been fixed since launch and features that still haven't been added that should have been there on launch. The performance is still suffering and a large amount of the playerbase cannot even play this game at a stable 60 fps withought having to resort to upscaling or frame generation. This game has been out for 6 months already and it still doesn't have even half the features and game mechanics you would expect from this game series, biggest one being A-Life. I wouldn't be nearly as mad if this game was released as an early access game with a lower price but it wasn't it was released as a full game at full price and this is a massive insult to anyone that believed that GSC would deliver on a product that they paid for.
I have had fun with what I played so far. Immersion in this game is pretty good and the environments look nice. I have only crashed once during my playtime which is around 14 hours at the moment of review. The gameplay is about what I remember from playing S.T.A.L.K.E.R SOC with some extra mechanics added in. With all that said, the reason I am only giving it 3 stars is because of the other issues the game has given me. 1. The game has to cache shaders every launch. Now on most games this isn't a problem as it goes through fairly quickly. However on this particular game it takes about 10 to 15 mins to get to the main menu on each launch of the game. 2. When loading a save, the game will usually have a long loading screen followed by it telling you to press any key to continue. During my playtime if you press any key as soon as it allows you to you will have to stand still for a minute or two longer just to let everything load in around you. 3. Every time I get close to or enter a settlement the game will freeze for around a minute before finally letting me move again. 4. Most of the time when loading a save you will not be able to access your inventory, PDA, weapons, or pause the game until the game is completley loaded in around you (enemies can and will still attack you). 5. There is some pretty bad pop in at certain areas of the game. Structures in the distance can be seen popping in and out of existance as you get closer, clearly trying to load in higher quality models but it doesn't hide it well. There are other issues I have had but those are the biggest ones. Again, I have enjoyed what I have played so far but some of these issues are starting to get very annoying over time. Hopefully they can get these issues fixed soon.
Pretty good experience, I have played through the game 3 times and am about to start my 4th.
