If I have a dream about a game I usually know I'm really into it. Side note, dreaming about a random emission hitting while you're out in a park with some friends? Kind of pants-shittingly terrifying!
Rarely am I excited to find out what happens next or see what I'll find when I play again with games now. Even with all it's obvious issues this game is very fun
Also a good benchmark for me is that "I'll just play a couple of hours before going to bed", but then suddenly you realize that the sun is already rising
@@nemorianderson Too real for me. The amount of times I've been like "alright I'll wrap this up and - oh those are the birds chirping" is a bit embarrassing.
Same here. First time STALKER player. I beat 2 and bought the trilogy. You know what is killing games? Not buggy launches, but soulless launches. Games that don’t believe in anything, let alone themselves. STALKER 2 oozes confidence. Look at how frail and shakey Starfield is as a game compared to Fallout 3 or Skyrim. Then look at Shadow of Chernobyl and STALKER 2, and you’ll see that this series does something different: it believes in itself, and wants so desperately for you to enjoy it. I’m only 2 hours into Shadow of Chernobyl after finishing STALKER 2, and it is equally as gripping and compelling from the start. PLEASE SUPPORT THIS TEAM! THEY MADE MAGIC WITH THIS SERIES!
I'm happy to hear your enjoying Shadow of Chernobyl, I'm a long time fan of the series and as far as non-modded mainline games goes my favorite even after S2 remains Call of Pripyat it's still S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s absolute peak. I've loved the 45 hours of 2 that I've played so far, only dissapointed there aren't any mutants/bandits/stalkers etc just roaming around the world.
Forgive my ignorance, but isn't Shadow of Chernobyl Stalker 2... 🤔 (Quick Google Search) Okay, I'm More confused. If Heart of Chernobyl is actually Stalker 4, WHY is it called STALKER 2... 🤔
Paid shill for sure. As a long time fan this game has none of the feel of the OGs and is a disgrace to the STALKER name. A soulless cash grab that you people slop up and wonder why gaming is dying.
as a 30 year old dude, it was hard for me to keep my attention in the most recent games. I thought that I won’t be able to enjoy single player games again, that I am getting old. but this game proven me wrong. 60 hours in just 2 weeks and keep counting, and I keep coming back to it.
I have 126.6 hours in STALKER 2, and it is a blast because yes, it has a storyline, but really, the story is getting from point A to point B and what happens along the way. I was early in my first run when an emission rolled in and I had no cover. I was running like a chicken with its head cut off when a lone stalker hauled ass past me. I followed him and sure enough, he headed straight for a shelter. He and I hunkered down, and we both pulled guitars and waited out the storm. That's just one of dozens of great unscripted moments that you get in this game that no one planned and is going to be unique to your playthrough. And the loot in this game? You won't care that there aren't 4 tiers of quality where you're current gun is obsolete and power curved in three levels. In STALKER, you can get in a bad mess and it'll wipe out most of your supplies, and all the sudden that crust of bread and a few bullets are worth their weight in gold. It's really great game design when items that were valuable to you at the start of the game are still valuable to you at the end.
Been playing games since the 80's. PC gaming since the 90's. Have a 5 digit Steam ID. I was there when the book was written. Throughout all my years in gaming I can say with certainty. This was one of the most atmospheric most immersive worlds I've ever experienced. I put in 100 hours. finished the game and moved onto Wukong and Indiana Jones but every time I finish a session I find myself thinking of Stalker 2 again. That's why I'm here actually. This popped up on my recommended and I wanted to see the world again from someone else's perspective. This dude knows what's up. Subscribe to him as he's gonna be keeping it real. I'll be doing another run through when Alife 2.0 gets implemented. For now. I'm just gonna let them cook and stay patient.
When people say stalker 2 is an unfinished game, I look at my backlog and see a bunch of unfinished games. The difference between stalker 2 and my backlog is that I came back. When I'm not playing a game, but my mind is still playing it, that says something profound to me!
When I think of the good times I had as a kid, it often comes with the painful realization that things will never be the same. Stalker 2 reminds me of what gaming used to be, and it shakes me to my core
Really awesome game. It even more awesome that u can imagine actually, cose u are not in context of a lot of things in this game. As Ukrainian I can say that I greatly proud that we have this from our studio)
Haven’t bought a game day one in a long time but after the first reviews were solid I bought this game immediately. Shout out Ukraine and shout out the devs that fought for their country
Awesome breakdown man. This game has brought me back to the FALLOUT series, and the joy of exploration, looting, and upgrading weapons. I love the open world, and never get bored of looking in every corner, room, roof, or cave. By far my GOTY.
@@exgebe4407 it is a masterpiece why you laughing? The current state isn’t even bad at all. But the core gameplay, immersion and fundamentals are masterful. A small bug here or there doesn’t take away from what the game brings at its core…a masterful immersive gaming experience
Finished the game and it still sits in my mind very strongly, no other game has done this to me for a decade. Can't wait to jump back into the zone after a couple updates haha.
This is one of those games where it is just as fun to head out in any direction just to see what's out there than doing the main or side missions. I'm at 120 hours and am only to malachite. Finding stashes that aren't marked on your map and poking around anomaly fields is half the fun of the game. Surviving a chance encounter with a chimera by running away, screaming like a little girl only to run into a pack of snorks who then proceed to fight the chimera, giving me a chance to get away with my last shred of life is freaking fantastic! For those saying to stay away until all the bugs are fixed, I say nuts to you. Play this now. Heck, I'm on a CPU that is ? generations old and not up to the minimum specs, a 3060 and 32GB and I don't have any issues. I play on medium settings and leave the fancy lighting off. Still looks great and plays butter smooth. Some crashes but only after playing for extended periods. I would warn you to save often but you will learn that lesson yourself after playing any game where you could die around any corner. Do NOT sleep on this one.
I played all STALKER games. I was a fan before it was even a thing. When GSC announced Shadow of Chernobyl (back then it was called Oblivion Lost) I was instantly a fan. I collected every trailer, every screenshot, I bought ever gaming magazine where STALKER was mentioned. The vision of this world was something never seen before. Then game came out and it wasn't what it supposed to be. Plans were too ambitious. Would be even now, even for big developer. But I couldn't stop playing. I played it day and night on my barely minimum spec machine. Always under 30fps, had to reset my PC ever hour, but I had a blast. And here we are, two sequels, countless mods (with Lost Alpha, Call of Chernobyl, Anomaly, Misery, Gamma among so many others) later. What a jurney it was. I was waiting for S2 for long time. I had the same fire like before SoC. I started playing and it was the same story - not what it supposeed to be, but again - every single free minute of my time I spended in The Zone. 100h in I finished it. I started playing it again right after. Lots of problems, some broken promises, some bizzare decisions made by devs. But I have a great time. And seeing familiar places from trilogy in that game - what a moments for old fan. It reminds me of CP2077. Great game, with lots of problems, but with so much potential. I just hope they can pull Cyberpunk in more that one way and like CDPR make it what it should be.
I'm pretty burnt out on games where you're always cast as the hero or the chosen one in the story. Lately I'm drawn to games where you're basically a nobody, and the entire goal is just to survive. That's basically how I like to play Fallout 4... Ignore the main quest and most of the side quests, turn survival mode on, and install a few mods to make it more immersive, then just scavenge for scrap, weapons, ammo and supplies to build my base.
Same here. It doesn't feel rewarding when all the reward is granted. Knowing I would lose a ton of progress if I died in fallout 4 survival was a bit sadistic, but I can't deny how heart-pounding of an experience it was. We need more games with stakes
As a 38-year-old Ukrainian, born in 1986, in the third Zone. I have a Chornobyl certificate of the third zone. I remember the time when I was just watching our Ukrainian TV. And there the creators of Stalker talked about their dream of creating a special game. And I believed them. I don't know why, but then there was real inspiration in their words...
Im glad more people are finding out about the stalker games ive been into these games for like 15 years. Even with all the bugs in stalker 2 it takes me back to that feeling of playing SoC for the first time.
Just finished the main story for the first time today, and 5 minutts later i started a new save to try sone different choices and see where they take me
Sam here, brother. They proved that a single player story focused FPS can be good, is wanted and can make money. One thing that I often see overlooked when people talk about Stalker 2 is how emotional the story gets. Like, this is not your "cheeki breeki" fun fest. There are hard hitting moments in the story and I still haven't recovered from all of them. All in all, despite the bugs and technical performance issues... I just can't stop playing. I passed 110 hours this weekend.
this is my fallout 5. ive always wanted the grim and dark feeling of classic fallouts back into modern fallout, and this hits the spot. the music and ambience really ties everything together for me.
Stalker 2 is the game of the century for me. And what I must say is the fans of the original trilogy are going to get double the enjoyment. So many easter eggs to the past games, lore development, characters from older games re-appearing and changing as well. Watch a seasoned Stalker enjoyer play this game, randomly getting excited meeting a regular NPC in the wilds, because he remembers the guy. The same goes to the locations, that received more details. Iconic items, phrases... It's a love letter to the fans of the game. Make sure you play both the trilogy and this game. You'll find out the games share A LOT. Stalker 2 receives every 'check' from a fan of the series. While not being in its peaked condition, same as the original trilogy, it nails everything it should've to be considered a stalker game. (bugs too are a part of the Stalker experience XD) And I truly believe, the GSC Game Wold WILL keep on delivering the quality with the patches, possible DLCs etc. I hope we ever get to see Stalker 3 as well. :)
If you crouch walk through glass anomaly fields, they wont cut you. One thing I love about stalker, is that everything (even in the originals) has counters and strategies to deal with. There is nothing in the game that's just straight un-fair, everything in some manner or another can be countered. And technically speaking you could do a zero damage run of these games. (Psi damage would be tricky tho) Most gravitational and electric anomalies; throw a bolt and run through. Acid anomalies are the easiest to avoid and most clearly marked, just don't step in the puddle. Acid cloud anomalies (usually alongside the above); come and go, wait for it to disappear, then move. Lava/Magma anomalies have very limited range and are slow to react. Fire anomalies do more direct damage than indirect, usually you can walk around them even though they hurt you in proximity. Bubbles, pop with a bolt and walk around, or just walk around them (you really 'need' to touch them to get hurt by them. If you go right near them they do slightly drift towards you) Electric anomaly following you around? Unequip your artifacts. Glass anomaly? Crouch walk and move slowly. Wirligigs must be avoided but they are easier to avoid than other anomalies are. (in old games you could use the wind/pulling affect of them to launch you and escape them, haven't been able to pull that off in 2 tho) Flash Anomaly (the one that spawns ontop of you); just walk and run-jump the moment it spawns on you, there's a delay to it's explosion, you have sooo much more time than you think. Additionally all anomalies can be countered with adequate equipment Artifacts/Armor Every mutant also has a trick, or number of tricks and tips to fight. Other stalkers just need a good bullet to the head.
@Tenacityfromtheglass I think part of what makes it so great is that more than anything else, the game rewards your knowledge of the world rather than anything else. Understanding why and how you take damage in stalker is the best way to avoid it. Unironically, the same is said about radiation in real life, too. The man who recorded the inside of the CNNP multiple times and lived famously said,'The best defense from radiation is to understand it." In much the same way, the zone in its entirety is that. The more you know, the safer you'll be. And to fight the zone is to fight nature itself.
@@sesad5035 I hereby diagnose you officially with skill issue. And saying it's not a stalker game cause a difficulty option isn't there for you is straight delusional. The Chimeras in 2 can be killed with the basic pump shotty you get early on. I'd agree they have too much health, but you saying your using something with mags already tells me enough. Your not a real stalker player if your seriously taking on high end mutants with something other than buckshot. Grenades of some form, or an RPG.
Lol I kind of get what you are saying even though Stalker 2 is light on RPG elements. I ended up modding Fallout 4 to be more like Stalker with faction wars and overhauled minutement and it was a lot more fun than vanilla.
The game itself is the very definition of role playing. When I can look down and actually see my legs, I feel like I'm in the game for real. Its the immersion
I don't understand how people can't get themselves to enjoy walking through the wilderness in skyrim, and now stalker 2. It's just so pretty all the time. And periodically interrupted by stalkers wandering, or mercs that are after you, or mutants.
I think it has to do with people basing their opinions around reviews. The only reason I gave it a chance was because it was on gamepass. Ended up canceling gamepass and buying it on steam
I completed the first stalker game and almost finished the second ten years ago. Both were great games. I always wanted to go back and finish the second one. I felt that Call of Pripyat was just awesome. Everything that you mentioned you liked about this game and even watching the game play is identical to Pripyat. These days I play most games on the steam deck and unfortunately this game is not compatible. Plus game library...you know stupid large and not enough hours for the rest of my existence to finish. Anyway loved the review!
It's funny you mention the steam deck. I've actually been streaming the game on the highest difficulty on steam deck oled. That wifi 6e chip is insane with how low latency it is
You're braver than me. I was just exploring an abandoned building and got the absolute shit scared out of me. I could've swore someone threw like 5 grenades at my feet until I realized It was just the sound of me stepping on empty bottles. I had to quick save twice 😂
My favorite complaint i hear is "YoU CaN't FaSt TrAvEl!" Like yeah you gonna fast travel in real life i wanna walk 60 kilometers because who knows what i find or encounter its the fun of it
There is fast travel. It just costs credits and takes in-game time to do it. Inquire with your local guide. I think most journos don't know about them because the barely play past the tutorial then try to tell us what to think about the game.
Recently saw a Fallout video and realised why i love Stalker 2. I wouldn't ever dream of playing fallout because of the gameplay. The lore, world and unique decisions in that universe does look great. I get the appeal
Don't miss on Stalker Anomaly - especially if the original games will feel dated or limited. Also there are huge mod packs for Anomaly such as GAMMA that expand on some things but they can be overwhelming and too complex for a new player.
I've spent well over 40+ hours so far in the game and only been to about 4 zones. It nails what i love about fallout which is the exploring. Reading notes or PDA i found. Finally finding a cool weapon and artifacts. I'm taking my sweet time getting through the campaign because i love being in this world and dont want to end it.
I have a game-breaking progression bug on the main quest and I guess I just need to wait for the patch, some day. I am also getting tired of having to reset inverted look controls every time i launch the game, and random guns appearing in my inventory and in my pack causing me to be overweight. You are correct about the world and immersion though, it's an incredible game and I get excited when I think about what modders will make out of it =]
I don't think we will see A-life 2.0 implemented as a world wide simulation. The devs already have talked a little bit about how they had to trim A-life for optimization purposes. However, if they manage to fix it and implement it similarly to how it was in the old STALKER games, that would be great! In the older games, packs of mutants, bandits and stalkers would roam around the entire area you were in. Nothing would just spawn in as you walked around the corner, instead these NPC's were active from the moment you loaded into the specific area. They'd tend to gravitate towards points of interest like anomalies for artefact hunting or camp sites to rest at and they would often get into fire fights completely irrelevant of what you the player was doing. It wasn't uncommon to reach a previously visited stalker camp only to discover that all the stalkers were wiped out by bandits or mutants.
Yes! Stalker 2 is close to how I mod Fallout Survival to play as. I toggled off all but the health/stam/rad and quickslot hud elements. The game played pretty well; there was only a handful of things i got a little lost looking for. And i really have to take my time before i pull the trigger on random people. I found the infinite stamina glitch by accident as well; except I was 100 hours in so I was NOT trying to get rid of it. It happens if you are crouched then speak to someone that pulls up the dialogue interface. Then it cancels if you crouch again. I run double thunderberrys but i dont mind using this so much. Maybe when A Life gets implemented ill be more enticed to stop and smell the roses again.
@_The_God_King_ If you like playing low hud, you should try toggling everything off. It's crazy how much the game tells just in world elements. For example, when you have the bleeding status, blood will drip down the camera instead of red edges like when health is low, stomach growls when hungry, and all that. These devs really do know their community, I swear
@ I might have to try that!; I enjoyed running the metro series on Ranger Hardcore and that removed all HUD (not in Exodus it was limited but not entirely gone). Id be down to give the full no hud a shot in S2. I hope they patch the quick slot items not working sometimes tho!
In the previous stalker games a-life was actually quite basic and the devs wanted it to be much more interactive. In reality it was something like this: depending on the overall population of mutants and stalkers, the game would spawn mutants to chill at certain spots, they didn't move much, and it would spawn stalker groups at bases, with a leader who the rest of the group follow, they can chill at a poi, decide to move to another poi, or decide to take a poi that was occupied by an enemy faction (that one was quite rare and only happened in clear sky), most fights happen as stalker groups pass through mutant territory or cross paths with another stalker group, either in the open world or if both groups decided to go to the same poi. They could do basic things besides combat like say jokes, buy items from traders and loot corpses. That was it really. The clever implementation comes from the fact that the moment they leave a certain radius around the player they effectivly despawn and continue their activity in a very simple to calculate abstract state, where what they do isn't exactly done in real time but rather as units, which would either succeed or die based on their stats and random chance. Even this very simple system was very hard on the CPUs of that time, hence why it was so simple. Stalker 2 probably fell in the same trap, with the game being hard to run as is, a-life 2.0 was effectively cut until most pcs can handle the cpu load that would come from the simulation. Can't wait for them to fully realize their vision. And after that of course all the mods that will come from this game's incredible community
Im glad to see more fans being made every day. If you love the game already, in it's absolutely broken and feature missing state; you're gonna blow your detector when it's actually finished. Once you're done a playthrough of Stalker 2, you NEED to play the older games and check out the plethora of mods that give it a more immersive and updated feel. Im also willing to bet you may even like the older ones even more than this one. :)
It's sad that "fallout with metro esthetics" is a fitting description for Stalker 2. In the OG Stalker, you had a radius around the player where NPCs COULDN'T spawn. You could walk into a scene of dead dogs, stalkers and a dead chimera, wondering wth went on, seeing they looted the dogs for meat and got jumped by the chimera, killing it but then bleeding out. And stuff like this happened all over the game world without you even being in reach. You would just happen to walk in on the scene a day later. And if you met the squad before, you could know by their names that it's been them. Truly the "you're just some random fuck among many" experience. Now I can notice that there's a system that spawns stuff around me to entertain me. Making me center of the world again, which is exactly what I seek not to be in a game like Stalker. I stopped playing the moment I couldn't shake off that feeling anymore. Anyways, there's Anomaly to the rescue. It's remarkable how these hardcore mods manage to be way more punishing in terms of "do something wrong and it'll have consequences", very hard gunfights with NPCs oneshotting you regularly, while not having bullet sponge enemies that take like 8 mags to take down (I think they patched that a bit by now, but holy f. Just missing the benny hop loop
Fortunately, Stalker 2 spawning things near you is a stop-gap measure until they fix A-Life and its performance issues (there's a mod that re-enables it, but good luck actually playing on higher than 20 FPS lmao).
Finished the game on release version and now waiting for more patches to be released to beat it again making different choices and to properly explore places I've missed with hopefully working a-life. Open world wise it is very similar to KKD and I envy you that you haven't played it yet. Both games are handcrafted and just bring up that childhood feeling of exploration, when you stop following quest markers to take some screenshots of beautiful pond with willows, or to check some buildings on the horizon that have no relevance to story, but they just look interesting. It is also fun to play, if you are properly immersed. Same as Stalker, it is eurojunk in a good sense, especially in terms of quests, I've never seen so original and down to earth quests as in KKD. Actually started playing it just because devs promised that part of the main quest would involve living in monastery, following its schedule, which turned out to be true. It was a bit frustrating, but still very memorable experience.
great game. I just beat it yesterday. I plan on replaying it and doing more exploring. You know theyre gonna drop multiplayer right? thats gonna be awesome.
Stalker series is my favourite game series. I bought the first one when it was first released and I've played them all including the various mod packs. This game is awesome and is a worthy entry in the series. There are a few bugs (I do regularly get the random guns appearing in my inventory) but I've played the whole main quest, and I'm on my second playthrough. I've used console commands twice to get past quest bugs but I'm sure they'll be fixed in the next patch or so.
Grate, no need to play tarkov, by that you support russian developers that ofc support war, but also directly sponsor terrorists (from so called republics). The amount of people comparing stalker with tarkov makes me throw up
Also same thing about war thunder but i still see their advertisements way too often for their reputation and what they are doing like directly supporting russian military pilots that said, that he is bombing Ukraine everyday
US is the true terrorist here and of the world, how many countries US invaded and how many wars they made in last 50 years, yes, to many to count. This time making Russians and Ukrainians fight each other, make no mistake this is a civil war, a proxy war between US and Russia. Go do your search, search deep for the truth. Search independent news. Do not follow Russia or US propaganda.
The only big bug I got beside being stuck in dialogue is I started the last mission before continuing to explore and now it only rains. No other weather
The game is incredible. But if you are a new player in Stalker, wait for bug fixes. There are certain bugs that can newcomers very much discourage from this amazing game. Something similar was the case with cyberpunk, in the beginning the game was very repulsive with bugs and you had to wait for fixes. But once the game works as intended, this will be one of the unforgettable games in your collection.
This video proves there are still true gamers among us, able to see this game is so much more than many titles are today, and no incompetent 'gaming' journalist can dictate them otherwise.
All that brain rot content and player retention trickery to make us stay in the game long enough to buy microtransactions doesn't make a video game. I can get that experience on my phone. Stalker 2 isn't pay to win. It's not a movie disguised as a game, either. It's a true to life authentic video game, and "GAME" journalists can't prove to me otherwise.
There are lots of mods that reduce the difficulty but those may change the experience from an "edge of your seat" to "a stroll in the park" so I think anyone thinking of using mods should consider the impact
Even with the bugs I still enjoyed the game. One thing about stalker games is that it always releases with bugs and it took time to patch them all up. I've played stalker cop in all the pc's I've built to see if my newer hardware was able to handle it. I have played COP so much that I knew all the nook and crannies of the zone in that game and that was without getting help from the internet. I'll do the same with this game and will play it on a new pc when I upgrade. But for now I'll just enjoy it as it is without any mods cause it's more than good enough for me. I just hope the newer patches will help stabilizing the game more.
Game still needs a good bit of work put into it. Despite that I have been absolutely loving every second I spend in the zone. They really nailed the atmosphere. I feel like I genuinely have to prepare for a journey if I'm going to walk from one side of the zone to the other. Along the way there's so many cool things to discover, a lot of which don't even have map markers. Don't stick to the roads, get out there and explore.
It’s honestly very similar to fallout 4 and one of the coolest games I have ever played. I’m like 80hours in now and still a long way to go. This is the first game since Elden ring where I truly want to explore every possible part of the map.
Wait until u play Anomaly or GAMMA. But for real. A buddy of mine recommended SoC (Automn Aurora) and CoP Misery as my first experiences. Still have the CoP install from GOG in my hard drive. The mods drove home the kind of atmosphere that the devs wanted to portray. As a newbie I was hooked.
i am an old fan, and i love how to zone is spreading. good hunting stalkers! read the book it is amazing, the movie as well but it is a art movie just to let you know
Once you’re done with the original trilogy, go try Anomaly and or Gama. Modded versions of the originals that combine them into a single playable experience. Gama being the more hardcore. I am extremely excited for the modding community’s creative flex with stalker 2 in the coming years.
Thank you for this review everyone been talking hella shit about this game and I was worried to invest my time into this game but I’ll give it a try now
I have so many half finished games in my backlog. It's hard for a game to stick, ya know. I'm closing in on the 50-hour mark, and it still feels fresh. Stalker 2 is a massive game, but it doesn't feel like it's just big for the sake of padding out the runtime. Whatever you do, don't pass on that poppy fields quest. You'll see what I mean
Iv been following stalker 2 since it got announced, as a fan of the older games im so happy it blew up the way it did, it has its share of issues but its a damn good game
I just downloaded it but I’m gonna play it when I finish shadow of Chernobyl which I’m almost done with. I’ve always been a fallout NV fan but the environment in shadow of Chernobyl is so well crafted and immersive and even better than fallout NV even with all the jank. I know I’m almost 2 decades late but I’m now in love with the game
If you liked Stalker 2, then you should try Stalker Gamma aswell! The short: it's basically all 3 previous Stalker Games combined + 500 Mods and is pretty much the ultimate Stalker experience for people who already played a Stalker game and are familiar with the Stalker formula. Or simply try out the first Stalker game, Shadow of Chernobyl, it's an amazing adventure.
I played the original for years. Turn off thebin game music, and run the OSTs through a music player whole playing. And listen to Bor Ren and Der Club of Gore. Its dark jazz atmospheric. Goes perfectly with stalker.
I agree with the thumbnail stalker 2 is everything fallout wish it could be... The same way that Kingdom come Deliverance was everything Skyrim wish it could be
Im on love/hate relationship with this game, ive been having a blast with it, until recently, a bug that doesnt let me load any of my saves is making me drop it until its fixed, game is great and all but the amount of glitches and bugs is something that really kills the experience for me
I planned on playing through the older STALKER games due to wanting to play Gamma Anomaly. Playing the old games very fun (giving the games a lot of slack due to age), that saying, I am a fairly new fan of STALKER and have been loving my time with STALKER 2! Edit: waiting for a review/thoughts video on the older stalker games, love this video!
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the old games seem a bit dated in 2024 but i highly recommend them, the sound design is amazing in the OG 3 games, most of the characters from stalker 2 are in the OG 3, you can pick them up very cheap,
Wait the random guns in your backpack thing is a bug? I thought it was a psi radiation thing. Or like a mutant thing, swapping out my rifle for a nearly broken, jammed shotgun.
I would very much like to hear more detail as to why you don't like breath of the wiled as much. I would like to see a video about Dying Light. I also have a recommendation for you. Sleeping Dogs is the best GTA clone ever made. So good it's hard to go back to GTA after playing it. Great video mate.
No wokeness, no pronouns, no cringey DEI characters, etc. Just exploring the huge map, looting, side quests (hope they add more), awesome firearms, hunting artifacts, getting shot by your own gun controlled by a Burer, literally just trying to survive. What a game! I've already played the trilogy and they are amazing. Clear Sky was alright tho. It could've been better.
I’ve spent 121 hours and finished Stalker 2, got my “omfg” ending and in an hour started a new game to go through a different story line. I can’t get enough from this game, also it’s a first game I play in full-Ukrainian (both dialogs and subs) and it’s even more immersive to me. This is a magic that this game is even exist considering what devs and Ukraine is coming through.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R world is awesome 🧙♂ a 70 year old kid again have all 3 of the games and played Anomaly then Gamma for years and this game feels like it going to be better💯
Great review, man! I agree with you on most points. I always loved immersive open world games and for me the hallmark of it remains Morrowind. It was revolutionary for its time and just a great game overall where everything (well, almost) made sense. I was searching that experience ever since. Lately I had fun playing Cyberpunk 2077. I love the style but surely it’s not so lively as Morrowind and Stalker 2 simply because it’s a much bigger world in terms of people and environment count. I have never played previous Stalker games. But this one looked promising. The fact that I grew up in this environment was an additional immersion factor. Though I guess it made me more sensitive to flaws. In example I didn’t love the Ukrainian voice acting, I believe it could be much better. But I guess it’s kind of on Skyrim level. Overall sound left me unsatisfied. Not the sound itself, but how uninformative it is. Voices go through walls, people talking with different voices, how dialogues are written. Some sounds when you just walk. How different environments sound. It all could be much better. Speaking of bugs I also haven’t really encountered many bugs. There was a wounded man floating in the air and some minor stuff. I guess the game crashed once for me. Lightning could be better. It would be so much better if we had actual shadows from the headlight. Why those gas lamps don’t emit any light? Also would be great if we could start dialogue standing really close to a person. For now seems like you can start dialogue only from a specific distance, which is not very easy to catch. What you said about a map and exploration in general. I hate that many games make you just follow the gps when we usually have beautiful worlds around. Morrowind in example just had a map with no quest points. You had to follow text instructions. And it was fun. You said that interiors made sense in Stalker 2 and sometimes yes, but in many cases not really. Just because I’m familiar with these kind of interiors it didn’t look too real to me 😉 Greetings from Ukraine! 🇺🇦
I beat the game regretfully my save before I went to the part of no return didn’t save for some reason and I have to return to a spot 8 hours of gameplay back and lost all my good loot
I have had barely any bugs, and my pc is seriously outdated (1660 Super, ryzen 3400) other than having to play on low settings, i have had an amazing time
My pc is pretty outdated, too. I've been playing it on steamdeck through geforce now. It runs at 60 on epic settings, but man, I feel stupid knowing I'm paying to play a game I paid for
"When I am at work, I am thinking about this game"...
That is actually my benchmark if a game is good or not.
10 years from now, I'm gonna be thinking about rolling through hyrule field, sitting at firelink Shrine, and exploring the zone
If I have a dream about a game I usually know I'm really into it.
Side note, dreaming about a random emission hitting while you're out in a park with some friends? Kind of pants-shittingly terrifying!
Rarely am I excited to find out what happens next or see what I'll find when I play again with games now. Even with all it's obvious issues this game is very fun
Also a good benchmark for me is that "I'll just play a couple of hours before going to bed", but then suddenly you realize that the sun is already rising
@@nemorianderson Too real for me. The amount of times I've been like "alright I'll wrap this up and - oh those are the birds chirping" is a bit embarrassing.
Same here. First time STALKER player.
I beat 2 and bought the trilogy. You know what is killing games? Not buggy launches, but soulless launches. Games that don’t believe in anything, let alone themselves.
STALKER 2 oozes confidence. Look at how frail and shakey Starfield is as a game compared to Fallout 3 or Skyrim. Then look at Shadow of Chernobyl and STALKER 2, and you’ll see that this series does something different: it believes in itself, and wants so desperately for you to enjoy it.
I’m only 2 hours into Shadow of Chernobyl after finishing STALKER 2, and it is equally as gripping and compelling from the start. PLEASE SUPPORT THIS TEAM! THEY MADE MAGIC WITH THIS SERIES!
Fucking true in every word. This post is 10 tons weight.
I'm happy to hear your enjoying Shadow of Chernobyl, I'm a long time fan of the series and as far as non-modded mainline games goes my favorite even after S2 remains Call of Pripyat it's still S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s absolute peak. I've loved the 45 hours of 2 that I've played so far, only dissapointed there aren't any mutants/bandits/stalkers etc just roaming around the world.
Forgive my ignorance, but isn't Shadow of Chernobyl Stalker 2... 🤔
(Quick Google Search)
Okay, I'm More confused. If Heart of Chernobyl is actually Stalker 4, WHY is it called STALKER 2... 🤔
Paid shill for sure. As a long time fan this game has none of the feel of the OGs and is a disgrace to the STALKER name. A soulless cash grab that you people slop up and wonder why gaming is dying.
@@giovannibermudezjr no, S2 is Heart of Chornobyl
I thought I was soooo over open world games, then STALKER 2 hit
Same🎉
Yeeeeeep I feel that.
Mee to
And it hit HARD.
And it hit like a truck!
as a 30 year old dude, it was hard for me to keep my attention in the most recent games. I thought that I won’t be able to enjoy single player games again, that I am getting old.
but this game proven me wrong. 60 hours in just 2 weeks and keep counting, and I keep coming back to it.
I have 126.6 hours in STALKER 2, and it is a blast because yes, it has a storyline, but really, the story is getting from point A to point B and what happens along the way. I was early in my first run when an emission rolled in and I had no cover. I was running like a chicken with its head cut off when a lone stalker hauled ass past me. I followed him and sure enough, he headed straight for a shelter. He and I hunkered down, and we both pulled guitars and waited out the storm. That's just one of dozens of great unscripted moments that you get in this game that no one planned and is going to be unique to your playthrough. And the loot in this game? You won't care that there aren't 4 tiers of quality where you're current gun is obsolete and power curved in three levels. In STALKER, you can get in a bad mess and it'll wipe out most of your supplies, and all the sudden that crust of bread and a few bullets are worth their weight in gold. It's really great game design when items that were valuable to you at the start of the game are still valuable to you at the end.
Been playing games since the 80's. PC gaming since the 90's. Have a 5 digit Steam ID. I was there when the book was written. Throughout all my years in gaming I can say with certainty. This was one of the most atmospheric most immersive worlds I've ever experienced. I put in 100 hours. finished the game and moved onto Wukong and Indiana Jones but every time I finish a session I find myself thinking of Stalker 2 again. That's why I'm here actually. This popped up on my recommended and I wanted to see the world again from someone else's perspective. This dude knows what's up. Subscribe to him as he's gonna be keeping it real. I'll be doing another run through when Alife 2.0 gets implemented. For now. I'm just gonna let them cook and stay patient.
When people say stalker 2 is an unfinished game, I look at my backlog and see a bunch of unfinished games. The difference between stalker 2 and my backlog is that I came back. When I'm not playing a game, but my mind is still playing it, that says something profound to me!
The most depressing part of the game isnt in the Game, the Game has the Longest “In Memory Of”
Their sacrifice wasnt in Vain 😞
As a Ukrainian this video is music to my ears.
When I think of the good times I had as a kid, it often comes with the painful realization that things will never be the same. Stalker 2 reminds me of what gaming used to be, and it shakes me to my core
Playing this game makes me feel like it’s 2010 again and I’m playing Fallout 3 for the first time. (Got the game late)
Really awesome game. It even more awesome that u can imagine actually, cose u are not in context of a lot of things in this game. As Ukrainian I can say that I greatly proud that we have this from our studio)
Haven’t bought a game day one in a long time but after the first reviews were solid I bought this game immediately. Shout out Ukraine and shout out the devs that fought for their country
Awesome breakdown man. This game has brought me back to the FALLOUT series, and the joy of exploration, looting, and upgrading weapons. I love the open world, and never get bored of looking in every corner, room, roof, or cave. By far my GOTY.
Stalker 2 is a Masterpiece and one of the best games to come out in a very long time.
Stalker 2, compared to most aaa game releases, is like looking at the Mona Lisa next to a banana duct taped to a wall.
Agreed
A masterpiece? 😂🤣
Current state? Oh Boy!
@@exgebe4407 it is a masterpiece why you laughing? The current state isn’t even bad at all. But the core gameplay, immersion and fundamentals are masterful. A small bug here or there doesn’t take away from what the game brings at its core…a masterful immersive gaming experience
@@exgebe4407it will be within 2 years
Finished the game and it still sits in my mind very strongly, no other game has done this to me for a decade. Can't wait to jump back into the zone after a couple updates haha.
Zone won't let anyone go, bro ;)
I know subnautica was a crazy comparison, but this is that exact reason for it. For me, this game ends the debate for what makes a game immersive.
This is one of those games where it is just as fun to head out in any direction just to see what's out there than doing the main or side missions. I'm at 120 hours and am only to malachite.
Finding stashes that aren't marked on your map and poking around anomaly fields is half the fun of the game.
Surviving a chance encounter with a chimera by running away, screaming like a little girl only to run into a pack of snorks who then proceed to fight the chimera, giving me a chance to get away with my last shred of life is freaking fantastic!
For those saying to stay away until all the bugs are fixed, I say nuts to you. Play this now. Heck, I'm on a CPU that is ? generations old and not up to the minimum specs, a 3060 and 32GB and I don't have any issues. I play on medium settings and leave the fancy lighting off. Still looks great and plays butter smooth. Some crashes but only after playing for extended periods. I would warn you to save often but you will learn that lesson yourself after playing any game where you could die around any corner.
Do NOT sleep on this one.
I played all STALKER games. I was a fan before it was even a thing. When GSC announced Shadow of Chernobyl (back then it was called Oblivion Lost) I was instantly a fan. I collected every trailer, every screenshot, I bought ever gaming magazine where STALKER was mentioned. The vision of this world was something never seen before. Then game came out and it wasn't what it supposed to be. Plans were too ambitious. Would be even now, even for big developer. But I couldn't stop playing. I played it day and night on my barely minimum spec machine. Always under 30fps, had to reset my PC ever hour, but I had a blast. And here we are, two sequels, countless mods (with Lost Alpha, Call of Chernobyl, Anomaly, Misery, Gamma among so many others) later. What a jurney it was.
I was waiting for S2 for long time. I had the same fire like before SoC. I started playing and it was the same story - not what it supposeed to be, but again - every single free minute of my time I spended in The Zone. 100h in I finished it. I started playing it again right after. Lots of problems, some broken promises, some bizzare decisions made by devs. But I have a great time. And seeing familiar places from trilogy in that game - what a moments for old fan.
It reminds me of CP2077. Great game, with lots of problems, but with so much potential. I just hope they can pull Cyberpunk in more that one way and like CDPR make it what it should be.
I’m just sorry more people hadn’t discovered the stalker series before now
Sooo many are soooo late to the party I’m super happy there giving it so much shine though
Guilty here. So glad I tried Stalker 2, it's fantastic!
The open world is 10x better than the older games maps, but stalker 2 need heavy optimization and bug fixes
@ I never realized the Hank of the originals map till I experienced a truly open world zone
Don't feel sorry. You're about to see a lot of new fans
I'm pretty burnt out on games where you're always cast as the hero or the chosen one in the story. Lately I'm drawn to games where you're basically a nobody, and the entire goal is just to survive.
That's basically how I like to play Fallout 4... Ignore the main quest and most of the side quests, turn survival mode on, and install a few mods to make it more immersive, then just scavenge for scrap, weapons, ammo and supplies to build my base.
Same here. It doesn't feel rewarding when all the reward is granted. Knowing I would lose a ton of progress if I died in fallout 4 survival was a bit sadistic, but I can't deny how heart-pounding of an experience it was. We need more games with stakes
Try kingdom come deliverance
You should try STALKER Anomaly mod
You should try Lost Alpha, Anomaly is no good.
@@robinhood263 no. Alpha has terrible graphics and doesn't allow for non-storymode freeplay. Anomaly does and there are TONS of addons for it.
As a 38-year-old Ukrainian, born in 1986, in the third Zone. I have a Chornobyl certificate of the third zone. I remember the time when I was just watching our Ukrainian TV. And there the creators of Stalker talked about their dream of creating a special game. And I believed them. I don't know why, but then there was real inspiration in their words...
Im glad more people are finding out about the stalker games ive been into these games for like 15 years. Even with all the bugs in stalker 2 it takes me back to that feeling of playing SoC for the first time.
I’ve enjoyed the metro series 😊👍 soon as I installed this stalker two this week enjoying it so much
Stalker is one of the series that made open world popular in the first place. We were just missing games that really utilised the open world formula.
Spot on review! I'm absolutely addicted to this game. I'm about to hit 100 hours.
I'm 30'ish hours in, and it still feels fresh. That has to be an anomaly or something these games don't exist
Just finished the main story for the first time today, and 5 minutts later i started a new save to try sone different choices and see where they take me
Sam here, brother.
They proved that a single player story focused FPS can be good, is wanted and can make money.
One thing that I often see overlooked when people talk about Stalker 2 is how emotional the story gets. Like, this is not your "cheeki breeki" fun fest. There are hard hitting moments in the story and I still haven't recovered from all of them.
All in all, despite the bugs and technical performance issues... I just can't stop playing. I passed 110 hours this weekend.
this is my fallout 5. ive always wanted the grim and dark feeling of classic fallouts back into modern fallout, and this hits the spot. the music and ambience really ties everything together for me.
I’ve been enjoying it SO much. Even with the jank. I missed Stalker so much man. I’m so glad it’s back
I feel like I'm gonna have this same feeling but in reverse when I play the rest of the series
Stalker 2 is the game of the century for me.
And what I must say is the fans of the original trilogy are going to get double the enjoyment.
So many easter eggs to the past games, lore development, characters from older games re-appearing and changing as well. Watch a seasoned Stalker enjoyer play this game, randomly getting excited meeting a regular NPC in the wilds, because he remembers the guy. The same goes to the locations, that received more details. Iconic items, phrases...
It's a love letter to the fans of the game.
Make sure you play both the trilogy and this game. You'll find out the games share A LOT.
Stalker 2 receives every 'check' from a fan of the series.
While not being in its peaked condition, same as the original trilogy, it nails everything it should've to be considered a stalker game. (bugs too are a part of the Stalker experience XD) And I truly believe, the GSC Game Wold WILL keep on delivering the quality with the patches, possible DLCs etc.
I hope we ever get to see Stalker 3 as well. :)
If you crouch walk through glass anomaly fields, they wont cut you. One thing I love about stalker, is that everything (even in the originals) has counters and strategies to deal with. There is nothing in the game that's just straight un-fair, everything in some manner or another can be countered. And technically speaking you could do a zero damage run of these games. (Psi damage would be tricky tho)
Most gravitational and electric anomalies; throw a bolt and run through.
Acid anomalies are the easiest to avoid and most clearly marked, just don't step in the puddle.
Acid cloud anomalies (usually alongside the above); come and go, wait for it to disappear, then move.
Lava/Magma anomalies have very limited range and are slow to react.
Fire anomalies do more direct damage than indirect, usually you can walk around them even though they hurt you in proximity.
Bubbles, pop with a bolt and walk around, or just walk around them (you really 'need' to touch them to get hurt by them. If you go right near them they do slightly drift towards you)
Electric anomaly following you around? Unequip your artifacts.
Glass anomaly? Crouch walk and move slowly.
Wirligigs must be avoided but they are easier to avoid than other anomalies are. (in old games you could use the wind/pulling affect of them to launch you and escape them, haven't been able to pull that off in 2 tho)
Flash Anomaly (the one that spawns ontop of you); just walk and run-jump the moment it spawns on you, there's a delay to it's explosion, you have sooo much more time than you think.
Additionally all anomalies can be countered with adequate equipment Artifacts/Armor
Every mutant also has a trick, or number of tricks and tips to fight.
Other stalkers just need a good bullet to the head.
I really appreciate that type of game design. I literally thought I had to take damage in certain spots. I'm glad I know about the glass trick now
@Tenacityfromtheglass I think part of what makes it so great is that more than anything else, the game rewards your knowledge of the world rather than anything else. Understanding why and how you take damage in stalker is the best way to avoid it. Unironically, the same is said about radiation in real life, too.
The man who recorded the inside of the CNNP multiple times and lived famously said,'The best defense from radiation is to understand it."
In much the same way, the zone in its entirety is that. The more you know, the safer you'll be. And to fight the zone is to fight nature itself.
"Fair." Chimeras tanking 10 mags in 'Veteran', and it ain't a real stalker game if it has no 'Master' difficulty.
You can also stand inside them to avoid mutants and they stop bullets.
@@sesad5035 I hereby diagnose you officially with skill issue. And saying it's not a stalker game cause a difficulty option isn't there for you is straight delusional.
The Chimeras in 2 can be killed with the basic pump shotty you get early on.
I'd agree they have too much health, but you saying your using something with mags already tells me enough.
Your not a real stalker player if your seriously taking on high end mutants with something other than buckshot. Grenades of some form, or an RPG.
This what fallout 4 should have been. But got a open world doom shooter.
how many RPG elements did you managed to find in Stalker 2?😆
Lol I kind of get what you are saying even though Stalker 2 is light on RPG elements. I ended up modding Fallout 4 to be more like Stalker with faction wars and overhauled minutement and it was a lot more fun than vanilla.
@@avishnevsky7394 weapons,armour, and a inventory
@@Chosen_Ash and dialogues, you missed dialogues!
The game itself is the very definition of role playing. When I can look down and actually see my legs, I feel like I'm in the game for real. Its the immersion
You perfectly articulated everything I wanted to say about the game. Thank you for this amazing video!
I don't understand how people can't get themselves to enjoy walking through the wilderness in skyrim, and now stalker 2. It's just so pretty all the time. And periodically interrupted by stalkers wandering, or mercs that are after you, or mutants.
I think it has to do with people basing their opinions around reviews. The only reason I gave it a chance was because it was on gamepass. Ended up canceling gamepass and buying it on steam
I completed the first stalker game and almost finished the second ten years ago. Both were great games. I always wanted to go back and finish the second one. I felt that Call of Pripyat was just awesome. Everything that you mentioned you liked about this game and even watching the game play is identical to Pripyat. These days I play most games on the steam deck and unfortunately this game is not compatible. Plus game library...you know stupid large and not enough hours for the rest of my existence to finish. Anyway loved the review!
It's funny you mention the steam deck. I've actually been streaming the game on the highest difficulty on steam deck oled. That wifi 6e chip is insane with how low latency it is
Call of Pripyat is not the first, neither the second. It was the third game in the series. First was Shadow of Chernobyl, second was Clear Sky.
Subscribed on you after the phrase about 20 mg dose of melatonin. You are so awfully awesome!
It cured my insomnia, so 10/10 experience in terms of feeling well rested 😂
@Tenacityfromtheglass 😂😂😂
Im gonna pull off my F5 key on my keyboard and turn this game into Dark Souls. I love suffering and getting tortured
You're braver than me. I was just exploring an abandoned building and got the absolute shit scared out of me. I could've swore someone threw like 5 grenades at my feet until I realized It was just the sound of me stepping on empty bottles. I had to quick save twice 😂
There’s mods makes s2 even harder, but I think we should wait until A-life will be implemented
Great review!!
already on my second playthrough, i too think about this game when at work haha
My favorite complaint i hear is "YoU CaN't FaSt TrAvEl!" Like yeah you gonna fast travel in real life i wanna walk 60 kilometers because who knows what i find or encounter its the fun of it
There is fast travel. It just costs credits and takes in-game time to do it. Inquire with your local guide. I think most journos don't know about them because the barely play past the tutorial then try to tell us what to think about the game.
If a game makes me want to use fast travel, it has already failed at being worth exploring
Your explanation for how stalker hits all the boxes is EXACTLY why it turned into my favorite franchise very quickly
Can’t forget 3:36 about QE LEAN
Finally a review made by sane person.
Recently saw a Fallout video and realised why i love Stalker 2. I wouldn't ever dream of playing fallout because of the gameplay. The lore, world and unique decisions in that universe does look great. I get the appeal
Don't miss on Stalker Anomaly - especially if the original games will feel dated or limited. Also there are huge mod packs for Anomaly such as GAMMA that expand on some things but they can be overwhelming and too complex for a new player.
GAMMA was honestly some of the best gaming experiences I had.
Brainrot
I've spent well over 40+ hours so far in the game and only been to about 4 zones. It nails what i love about fallout which is the exploring. Reading notes or PDA i found. Finally finding a cool weapon and artifacts. I'm taking my sweet time getting through the campaign because i love being in this world and dont want to end it.
Last night, I saw a video of a playable guitar in the game and thought it was a mod! I don't want it to end, either
@@Tenacityfromtheglassnah, this guitar is next to your bed in Zalissia
This game makes me come back to it every day.
Had to take a break due to getting sick, but I can’t wait to go back to the Zone
I have a game-breaking progression bug on the main quest and I guess I just need to wait for the patch, some day. I am also getting tired of having to reset inverted look controls every time i launch the game, and random guns appearing in my inventory and in my pack causing me to be overweight. You are correct about the world and immersion though, it's an incredible game and I get excited when I think about what modders will make out of it =]
I don't think we will see A-life 2.0 implemented as a world wide simulation. The devs already have talked a little bit about how they had to trim A-life for optimization purposes.
However, if they manage to fix it and implement it similarly to how it was in the old STALKER games, that would be great!
In the older games, packs of mutants, bandits and stalkers would roam around the entire area you were in. Nothing would just spawn in as you walked around the corner, instead these NPC's were active from the moment you loaded into the specific area.
They'd tend to gravitate towards points of interest like anomalies for artefact hunting or camp sites to rest at and they would often get into fire fights completely irrelevant of what you the player was doing.
It wasn't uncommon to reach a previously visited stalker camp only to discover that all the stalkers were wiped out by bandits or mutants.
Yes! Stalker 2 is close to how I mod Fallout Survival to play as. I toggled off all but the health/stam/rad and quickslot hud elements. The game played pretty well; there was only a handful of things i got a little lost looking for. And i really have to take my time before i pull the trigger on random people. I found the infinite stamina glitch by accident as well; except I was 100 hours in so I was NOT trying to get rid of it. It happens if you are crouched then speak to someone that pulls up the dialogue interface. Then it cancels if you crouch again. I run double thunderberrys but i dont mind using this so much. Maybe when A Life gets implemented ill be more enticed to stop and smell the roses again.
@_The_God_King_ If you like playing low hud, you should try toggling everything off. It's crazy how much the game tells just in world elements. For example, when you have the bleeding status, blood will drip down the camera instead of red edges like when health is low, stomach growls when hungry, and all that. These devs really do know their community, I swear
@ I might have to try that!; I enjoyed running the metro series on Ranger Hardcore and that removed all HUD (not in Exodus it was limited but not entirely gone). Id be down to give the full no hud a shot in S2. I hope they patch the quick slot items not working sometimes tho!
The perk tree is the artifacts.. I found some that's given me 100 carry weight. Combining the artifacts help tremendously
In the previous stalker games a-life was actually quite basic and the devs wanted it to be much more interactive. In reality it was something like this: depending on the overall population of mutants and stalkers, the game would spawn mutants to chill at certain spots, they didn't move much, and it would spawn stalker groups at bases, with a leader who the rest of the group follow, they can chill at a poi, decide to move to another poi, or decide to take a poi that was occupied by an enemy faction (that one was quite rare and only happened in clear sky), most fights happen as stalker groups pass through mutant territory or cross paths with another stalker group, either in the open world or if both groups decided to go to the same poi. They could do basic things besides combat like say jokes, buy items from traders and loot corpses.
That was it really. The clever implementation comes from the fact that the moment they leave a certain radius around the player they effectivly despawn and continue their activity in a very simple to calculate abstract state, where what they do isn't exactly done in real time but rather as units, which would either succeed or die based on their stats and random chance.
Even this very simple system was very hard on the CPUs of that time, hence why it was so simple. Stalker 2 probably fell in the same trap, with the game being hard to run as is, a-life 2.0 was effectively cut until most pcs can handle the cpu load that would come from the simulation. Can't wait for them to fully realize their vision. And after that of course all the mods that will come from this game's incredible community
The reason they're basic is because the waypoints placed at smart terrains are static, not dynamic
Im glad to see more fans being made every day.
If you love the game already, in it's absolutely broken and feature missing state; you're gonna blow your detector when it's actually finished.
Once you're done a playthrough of Stalker 2, you NEED to play the older games and check out the plethora of mods that give it a more immersive and updated feel. Im also willing to bet you may even like the older ones even more than this one. :)
It's sad that "fallout with metro esthetics" is a fitting description for Stalker 2.
In the OG Stalker, you had a radius around the player where NPCs COULDN'T spawn. You could walk into a scene of dead dogs, stalkers and a dead chimera, wondering wth went on, seeing they looted the dogs for meat and got jumped by the chimera, killing it but then bleeding out.
And stuff like this happened all over the game world without you even being in reach. You would just happen to walk in on the scene a day later. And if you met the squad before, you could know by their names that it's been them.
Truly the "you're just some random fuck among many" experience. Now I can notice that there's a system that spawns stuff around me to entertain me. Making me center of the world again, which is exactly what I seek not to be in a game like Stalker. I stopped playing the moment I couldn't shake off that feeling anymore.
Anyways, there's Anomaly to the rescue. It's remarkable how these hardcore mods manage to be way more punishing in terms of "do something wrong and it'll have consequences", very hard gunfights with NPCs oneshotting you regularly, while not having bullet sponge enemies that take like 8 mags to take down (I think they patched that a bit by now, but holy f. Just missing the benny hop loop
Fortunately, Stalker 2 spawning things near you is a stop-gap measure until they fix A-Life and its performance issues (there's a mod that re-enables it, but good luck actually playing on higher than 20 FPS lmao).
Because A life is bugged
It's not working as intended
Finished the game on release version and now waiting for more patches to be released to beat it again making different choices and to properly explore places I've missed with hopefully working a-life. Open world wise it is very similar to KKD and I envy you that you haven't played it yet. Both games are handcrafted and just bring up that childhood feeling of exploration, when you stop following quest markers to take some screenshots of beautiful pond with willows, or to check some buildings on the horizon that have no relevance to story, but they just look interesting. It is also fun to play, if you are properly immersed. Same as Stalker, it is eurojunk in a good sense, especially in terms of quests, I've never seen so original and down to earth quests as in KKD. Actually started playing it just because devs promised that part of the main quest would involve living in monastery, following its schedule, which turned out to be true. It was a bit frustrating, but still very memorable experience.
great game. I just beat it yesterday. I plan on replaying it and doing more exploring. You know theyre gonna drop multiplayer right? thats gonna be awesome.
I am hoping that we will soon get a UEVR mod that includes touch controller support as this game in VR is something I have been waiting for for years
Stalker series is my favourite game series. I bought the first one when it was first released and I've played them all including the various mod packs. This game is awesome and is a worthy entry in the series. There are a few bugs (I do regularly get the random guns appearing in my inventory) but I've played the whole main quest, and I'm on my second playthrough. I've used console commands twice to get past quest bugs but I'm sure they'll be fixed in the next patch or so.
Grate, no need to play tarkov, by that you support russian developers that ofc support war, but also directly sponsor terrorists (from so called republics). The amount of people comparing stalker with tarkov makes me throw up
Also same thing about war thunder but i still see their advertisements way too often for their reputation and what they are doing like directly supporting russian military pilots that said, that he is bombing Ukraine everyday
Who cares if they are Russian STFU.
You're not too bright.
@@KanadeTachibana12 dude never heard about taxes🥺
US is the true terrorist here and of the world, how many countries US invaded and how many wars they made in last 50 years, yes, to many to count. This time making Russians and Ukrainians fight each other, make no mistake this is a civil war, a proxy war between US and Russia. Go do your search, search deep for the truth. Search independent news. Do not follow Russia or US propaganda.
It feels like far cry x fallout x resident evil it’s everything I’ve always wanted from a video game
The only big bug I got beside being stuck in dialogue is I started the last mission before continuing to explore and now it only rains. No other weather
This Skyrim and fallout all have the same vibe and make you feel immersed.
Great video STALKER.
The game is incredible. But if you are a new player in Stalker, wait for bug fixes. There are certain bugs that can newcomers very much discourage from this amazing game. Something similar was the case with cyberpunk, in the beginning the game was very repulsive with bugs and you had to wait for fixes. But once the game works as intended, this will be one of the unforgettable games in your collection.
This video proves there are still true gamers among us, able to see this game is so much more than many titles are today, and no incompetent 'gaming' journalist can dictate them otherwise.
All that brain rot content and player retention trickery to make us stay in the game long enough to buy microtransactions doesn't make a video game. I can get that experience on my phone. Stalker 2 isn't pay to win. It's not a movie disguised as a game, either. It's a true to life authentic video game, and "GAME" journalists can't prove to me otherwise.
There are lots of mods that reduce the difficulty but those may change the experience from an "edge of your seat" to "a stroll in the park" so I think anyone thinking of using mods should consider the impact
Even with the bugs I still enjoyed the game. One thing about stalker games is that it always releases with bugs and it took time to patch them all up. I've played stalker cop in all the pc's I've built to see if my newer hardware was able to handle it. I have played COP so much that I knew all the nook and crannies of the zone in that game and that was without getting help from the internet. I'll do the same with this game and will play it on a new pc when I upgrade. But for now I'll just enjoy it as it is without any mods cause it's more than good enough for me. I just hope the newer patches will help stabilizing the game more.
Game still needs a good bit of work put into it. Despite that I have been absolutely loving every second I spend in the zone. They really nailed the atmosphere. I feel like I genuinely have to prepare for a journey if I'm going to walk from one side of the zone to the other. Along the way there's so many cool things to discover, a lot of which don't even have map markers. Don't stick to the roads, get out there and explore.
So good! Cant stop playing
It’s honestly very similar to fallout 4 and one of the coolest games I have ever played. I’m like 80hours in now and still a long way to go. This is the first game since Elden ring where I truly want to explore every possible part of the map.
This was my goty and should have got best open world or action game but bugs yeah still has more soul than most slop released this year
I'll take some jank over soulless inunspired slop any day.
You have to crouch and talk to some NPC to gain unlimited stamina. To lose it you need to crouch again :)
Wait until u play Anomaly or GAMMA. But for real. A buddy of mine recommended SoC (Automn Aurora) and CoP Misery as my first experiences. Still have the CoP install from GOG in my hard drive. The mods drove home the kind of atmosphere that the devs wanted to portray. As a newbie I was hooked.
i am an old fan, and i love how to zone is spreading. good hunting stalkers!
read the book it is amazing, the movie as well but it is a art movie just to let you know
Great job to the Devs!!!
The best game I’ve played in a long time
Once you’re done with the original trilogy, go try Anomaly and or Gama. Modded versions of the originals that combine them into a single playable experience. Gama being the more hardcore. I am extremely excited for the modding community’s creative flex with stalker 2 in the coming years.
Thank you for this review everyone been talking hella shit about this game and I was worried to invest my time into this game but I’ll give it a try now
I have so many half finished games in my backlog. It's hard for a game to stick, ya know. I'm closing in on the 50-hour mark, and it still feels fresh. Stalker 2 is a massive game, but it doesn't feel like it's just big for the sake of padding out the runtime. Whatever you do, don't pass on that poppy fields quest. You'll see what I mean
Great analysis. Subbed 👍
Fantastic review and exactly how felt about the game myself.
Iv been following stalker 2 since it got announced, as a fan of the older games im so happy it blew up the way it did, it has its share of issues but its a damn good game
Also skiff being so pissed his house got broken he goes into the zone because someone has to pay for it is so fucking funny to me
Absolute chad!
The only thing that matters. "Good games"
That comparison to Metro were a bit funny, cuz it's literally made by several GSC ex-employees. No surprise, that they have similarities. 😁
I just downloaded it but I’m gonna play it when I finish shadow of Chernobyl which I’m almost done with. I’ve always been a fallout NV fan but the environment in shadow of Chernobyl is so well crafted and immersive and even better than fallout NV even with all the jank. I know I’m almost 2 decades late but I’m now in love with the game
Stalker is definitely helping me realize the difference between how a game looks and how a game feels. Everything in stalker "feels"
Totally agree. This game kicks ass
If you liked Stalker 2, then you should try Stalker Gamma aswell!
The short: it's basically all 3 previous Stalker Games combined + 500 Mods and is pretty much the ultimate Stalker experience for people who already played a Stalker game and are familiar with the Stalker formula.
Or simply try out the first Stalker game, Shadow of Chernobyl, it's an amazing adventure.
I played the original for years. Turn off thebin game music, and run the OSTs through a music player whole playing.
And listen to Bor Ren and Der Club of Gore. Its dark jazz atmospheric. Goes perfectly with stalker.
The best scenario for an immersion - is to play all the trilogy first (if you didn't) and only then - play Stalker 2!
I agree with the thumbnail stalker 2 is everything fallout wish it could be... The same way that Kingdom come Deliverance was everything Skyrim wish it could be
A large open world where every inch of the map feels meticulously handmade! How is this even possible
It's great to see all of the original maps together
Most accurate review i saw so far
Im on love/hate relationship with this game, ive been having a blast with it, until recently, a bug that doesnt let me load any of my saves is making me drop it until its fixed, game is great and all but the amount of glitches and bugs is something that really kills the experience for me
I planned on playing through the older STALKER games due to wanting to play Gamma Anomaly. Playing the old games very fun (giving the games a lot of slack due to age), that saying, I am a fairly new fan of STALKER and have been loving my time with STALKER 2!
Edit: waiting for a review/thoughts video on the older stalker games, love this video!
the old games seem a bit dated in 2024 but i highly recommend them, the sound design is amazing in the OG 3 games, most of the characters from stalker 2 are in the OG 3, you can pick them up very cheap,
Great video, but I disagree on one thing, there is a LOT of parkour in Stalker 2! And the level design rewards it a lot too!
You're right. There's a lot of platforming in stalker 2. I wouldn't call it parkour, but I know what you mean
Wait the random guns in your backpack thing is a bug? I thought it was a psi radiation thing. Or like a mutant thing, swapping out my rifle for a nearly broken, jammed shotgun.
I would very much like to hear more detail as to why you don't like breath of the wiled as much. I would like to see a video about Dying Light.
I also have a recommendation for you. Sleeping Dogs is the best GTA clone ever made. So good it's hard to go back to GTA after playing it. Great video mate.
No wokeness, no pronouns, no cringey DEI characters, etc. Just exploring the huge map, looting, side quests (hope they add more), awesome firearms, hunting artifacts, getting shot by your own gun controlled by a Burer, literally just trying to survive. What a game! I've already played the trilogy and they are amazing. Clear Sky was alright tho. It could've been better.
Always funny to watch people who have never played a stalker game talk about stalker 2
I’ve spent 121 hours and finished Stalker 2, got my “omfg” ending and in an hour started a new game to go through a different story line. I can’t get enough from this game, also it’s a first game I play in full-Ukrainian (both dialogs and subs) and it’s even more immersive to me. This is a magic that this game is even exist considering what devs and Ukraine is coming through.
121 hours! Holy crap, I'm only 30 hours in!
@ you have so much fun ahead, enjoy! I want to wipe my memory and do all over again 😁
Try stalker gamma mod pack, it offers crafting system, hardcore surviving, nice battles, a lot of weapons and improvements
S.T.A.L.K.E.R world is awesome 🧙♂ a 70 year old kid again have all 3 of the games and played Anomaly then Gamma for years and this game feels like it going to be better💯
Great review, man! I agree with you on most points. I always loved immersive open world games and for me the hallmark of it remains Morrowind. It was revolutionary for its time and just a great game overall where everything (well, almost) made sense. I was searching that experience ever since. Lately I had fun playing Cyberpunk 2077. I love the style but surely it’s not so lively as Morrowind and Stalker 2 simply because it’s a much bigger world in terms of people and environment count.
I have never played previous Stalker games. But this one looked promising. The fact that I grew up in this environment was an additional immersion factor. Though I guess it made me more sensitive to flaws. In example I didn’t love the Ukrainian voice acting, I believe it could be much better. But I guess it’s kind of on Skyrim level. Overall sound left me unsatisfied. Not the sound itself, but how uninformative it is. Voices go through walls, people talking with different voices, how dialogues are written. Some sounds when you just walk. How different environments sound. It all could be much better.
Speaking of bugs I also haven’t really encountered many bugs. There was a wounded man floating in the air and some minor stuff. I guess the game crashed once for me.
Lightning could be better. It would be so much better if we had actual shadows from the headlight. Why those gas lamps don’t emit any light?
Also would be great if we could start dialogue standing really close to a person. For now seems like you can start dialogue only from a specific distance, which is not very easy to catch.
What you said about a map and exploration in general. I hate that many games make you just follow the gps when we usually have beautiful worlds around. Morrowind in example just had a map with no quest points. You had to follow text instructions. And it was fun.
You said that interiors made sense in Stalker 2 and sometimes yes, but in many cases not really. Just because I’m familiar with these kind of interiors it didn’t look too real to me 😉
Greetings from Ukraine! 🇺🇦
I beat the game regretfully my save before I went to the part of no return didn’t save for some reason and I have to return to a spot 8 hours of gameplay back and lost all my good loot
Great summary of a fantastic game 👍
Spot on! Amazing review, my feelings exactly...
I have had barely any bugs, and my pc is seriously outdated (1660 Super, ryzen 3400) other than having to play on low settings, i have had an amazing time
My pc is pretty outdated, too. I've been playing it on steamdeck through geforce now. It runs at 60 on epic settings, but man, I feel stupid knowing I'm paying to play a game I paid for