We Played S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 And It’s Still A Super Brutal Immersive FPS!

GamesRadar

We got a 40 minute hands-on preview of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: It's FINALLY the immersive-FPS we always knew it could be! Join us as we discuss S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl's combat, the environments and the series' legendary challenge spikes.

Transcript

00:00The last time GamesRadar saw Stalker 2 Heart of Chernobyl at Gamescom 2023,

00:04we were left a little worried about the state it was in. To call the early in-development build

00:10exceptionally rough around the edges would be an understatement akin to calling the Chernobyl

00:15Exclusion Zone a small hazard to your health. It wasn't long after Gamescom that the game was

00:22delayed. Again. So when we were given the opportunity to have a hands-on preview of

00:27Stalker 2 this year at Summer Game Fest, we couldn't wait to see the updates that had been made.

00:33The preview we saw hasn't just refined those earlier rough edges, but completely transformed

00:38the game. Crucially, is it finally the game so many Stalker fans have been waiting over a decade for?

00:47Developer GSC Game World let us blast through the first 40 minutes, and in the opening first person

00:52cutscene we were led outside the zone, through a fracture in the protective wall,

00:57and towards first contact with survivors living within the deadly landscape.

01:01The visuals have been overhauled entirely. The last time we saw the zone it felt flat and washed out,

01:08but this time it was filled with dense detail and a violent sky illuminating deadly anomalies.

01:15It's a world thick with decay, and a heavy atmosphere that would be tough to stomach if not

01:21for the intrigue it all generates. You see, in the zone, spheres of energy hover in the air,

01:27warping reality around the edges, while pathways are lit by warm glows of radiation pools.

01:32Which is… lovely? There's plenty of strangeness to draw your attention, but for the sake of not

01:39dying, or glowing slightly around the edges, we need to focus on fighting our way through the dangers to

01:45reach a way station. And the dangers are ever present, with some brutally efficient enemies in

01:51Stalker 2. The AI is sharp, with enemies pursuing us through foliage, while our healing reserves were

01:58quickly depleted thanks to incoming bullets and blind dogs. Then there was also dwindling ammo,

02:04radiation sickness, and inventory weight to factor in. The fighting's feeling more realistic here,

02:11thanks to recoil heavy guns prone to jamming, and weapons gradually degrading over time.

02:17It was made very clear to us that this still has the series' legendary challenge spikes,

02:22and few concessions for players who may be unaware of that. So, first time players… good luck?

02:29It seems like you're really going to need it. But Stalker 2 Heart of Chernobyl is more approachable

02:36than the previous games, something you can discover for yourself right now thanks to Stalker

02:40Shadow of Chernobyl arriving on Xbox. While we think the menus could use a little refinement,

02:46it's easy enough to deal with all the options the game has as you manage resources and equipment,

02:51apply mods to weapons, check your map, or equip a variety of anomaly trackers to avoid stepping on

02:57anything glowy. Everything feels grounded to the reality of the game's world, and only heightens the

03:03immersion. It does still need some polish though, as we encountered plenty of bugs in our 40 minutes.

03:10With everything from checkpoints creating death loops and objectives failing to trigger.

03:15Still, we're confident developer GSC Game World can fix everything.

03:21We're only a few months away from launch, and Stalker 2 Heart of Chernobyl is looking like the

03:26game countless trailers presented it to be. The zone is dense with danger, and the combat is

03:32delightfully brutal. Stalker 2 Heart of Chernobyl is going to be a Day 1 title for Game Pass and Xbox Series

03:39X, alongside a PC release on September 5th, 2024.

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