The developers have really captured the Zone, just like in the other S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games, despite the bugs and some performance issues. But they're working on it and I'm almost certain it will be a GOTY game once they fix the bugs and other issues. It's an incredibly atmospheric game with incredible gunplay. I thought the UI would ruin some of the experience, but no, not so much. However, some animations, mainly when you have pressed any key to start playing, but that is a matter of taste and a small thing. As soon as the bugs and problems are fixed, the game gets a really strong five points from me.
I have over 10 hours of gameplay through Lutris in EndeavourOS and 80+ hours on Steam and I just can't stop playing it. The graphics are beautiful (especially the water effect under water). The AI is very fun to play with. The story is extremely good, just like in the first game. I truly enjoy every bit of it. At first, I played with normal difficulty. After a while, I changed the difficulty to custom settings, set to the hardest you can set it to. Now it's just pure entertainment at the same time it's challanging sometimes. Highly recommending!
