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S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl (PC/Xbox Series) - update (12/23): GSC Game World plans next-gen console patch for Legends of the Zone Trilogy and PC version update of original games

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Spawn_of_Apathy

Spawn_of_Apathy

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, AbsolutSurgen said:

My strategy was to buy the original Stalker bundle for $5 on CDKeys.  I assume if I like the first game, I'll like the second. 


saw some impressions that the new game isn’t as difficult at least not in all the same ways and is modernized. But the new game is still quite hard. So yeah, I would say if you like the first game you may like the second. But if you don’t like the first game that doesn’t mean you won’t like the second. 

Commissar SFLUFAN

Commissar SFLUFAN

Posted
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Barely 20 minutes into a Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl demo a gravity-distorting anomaly orb turned my insides into my outsides. It was my fault, I guess: Following a linear tutorial sequence, the game spat me out into the open world surrounded by the strange orbs, and instead of treating them like deadly hazards, I kept hurling bolts at them and inching as close as possible to their murky exterior to learn what their deal was. Their deal was, evidently, "Stay the hell away from me or you're dead," which turned out to be universal advice for playing Stalker 2.

 

The best thing going for Stalker 2 is how weird it is. It's far less structured and "triple-A videogamey" than games I expected it to resemble like Far Cry or Metro Exodus. There are parallels—open world maps with compounds you can approach from any direction—but where Far Cry leans into the player's role as an apex predator, I spent most of my Stalker 2 time running away from monsters that would literally eat me.  

 

 

Best

Best

Posted
Posted

This is a pretty unique game it seems like. Thankfully it's on gamepass but I just can't read how this game is going to turn out. Reviews will be interesting. 

Commissar SFLUFAN

Commissar SFLUFAN

Posted
Posted

More previews from GamesRadar:

 

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When I sat down to play three hours of Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl, the game's sheer openness caught me unawares. After a brief introduction, you're dropped into The Zone and set loose, free to start hoovering up side quests or scavenging for gear. Exploring The Zone is driven through equal parts curiosity and practicalness – yes, that ominous cave looks tantalizing, but do you have enough bullets to face whatever inevitably calls it home? 

 

It's a far cry from the original Stalker trilogy, which focused on narrower slices of The Zone, which by their slimmer nature, played a stricter role in guiding your journey. Though Stalker 2's difficulty and scrappy shootouts makes it unlike any post-apocalyptic game around, it's easy to see its expanded open world offering more common ground for, say, Fallout fans to find their way in through. Even the likes of Metro and The Last of Us have flourished in the 15-year gap between the last Stalker and Stalker 2, meaning now feels like the perfect opportunity to open the series to new fans. 

 

 

 

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The Stalker series - a mish-mash of first-person shooting and survival horror across a naturally disturbed disaster zone - is somewhat known for its jank. It's even often cited as the very best 'Eurojank' series around, where low-budget ambition creates something that's both wildly out-of-the-box and sometimes technically clunky. But Stalker 2 is aiming to sidestep the technical woes that its predecessors became associated with.

 

"Everyone at the moment, they are absolutely dedicated, all of themselves to make it as polished as possible," Game World's PR lead Zakhar Bocharov says in an interview with GamesRadar+. The studio is supposedly focused on releasing Stalker 2 in a stable state, though it's also bracing itself to work on post-launch updates "if we need to address technical stuff."

 

"We don't want this game to be forgotten in a week or two," Bocharov continues. "We're gonna do that. We're gonna receive the feedback from players and listen to them carefully. And we did that in the past, the good occasions and probably not-so-good occasions both. So we really care about what players think. We will follow that closely. We will [make] changes, and we will do that in a timely manner."

 

 

 

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Stalker 2 has some of the best FPS action I've played in 2024, thanks to its "old-school" formula that treats players as "highly expendable" | GamesRadar+

WWW.GAMESRADAR.COM
By staying true to the original Stalker games, Heart of Chornobyl makes every firefight feel like you're "battling for your life"

 

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Blink, and you'll miss the hubris-to-heartbreak pipeline that precedes most deaths in Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl. After visiting The Zone myself for a three-hour preview, I've unfortunately got the receipts to prove it. Where to start – the time I killed a group of bandits, only to collapse before bandaging my gunshot wounds? Another death mere minutes later, when I was jumped by a fourth stalker I'd failed to count before going in guns-blazing against his three friends? Choices, choices.

 

In most game previews, I'd be turning beet-red with every death, equating failure with wasted seconds I could have been Seeing Stuff. But in Stalker 2, I caught myself grinning at respawn screens and victorious shootouts alike. Given how squishy protagonist Skif is, the difference between the two can come down to a single bullet. The result is more of the same unforgiving firefights that defined the original Stalker trilogy, where headshots drop enemies in gratifying crumples and dashing from cover to cover feels like having to run over live wires.

 

I realized how much I was enjoying Stalker 2's difficulty during an unnamed side quest to kill a group of bandits for their bounty. The wanted men were camped against a river, and – as I learned the hard way – there were too many for me to attack head-on. My first attempt at dispensing justice ended with dying ignobly in the nearest bush, while returning to try sniping them from afar resulted in a similar fate. Yet through trial and error that felt closer to a roguelike than a traditional shooter, I workshopped a plan to lure the bandits out of their camp by lobbing grenades at them from a distance. From there, the goal was to quietly let them hunt for me in a patch of nearby woods, wait for them to spread out, then pick them off one by one.

 

 

Commissar SFLUFAN

Commissar SFLUFAN

Posted
Posted
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Stalker 2 Is Going To Turn A Lot Of People Off, And That's A Good Thing

WWW.THEGAMER.COM
This isn't your average open world game.

 

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Stalker 2 spits in the face of that trajectory, taking us simultaneously back in time and directly into the future with its freeform exploration, challenging combat, and a player experience that seldom pushes you in a specific direction. The zone is your oyster, and in 2025, it defies any and all convention. Whether that will result in global success or niche appeal seems unclear, but I’m proud of GSC Game World for sticking to its creative vision even if it pushes people away.

 

You don’t need to play Stalker 2 in a specific way, quite the opposite. But no matter how you decide to begin your journey in the Zone, you will be met with friction. During the preview, there were a few times in which I saw an abandoned hut on the horizon and decided to check it out, only to be ambushed by a pack of wild dogs or rogue mercenaries eager to grant me death.

 

It was a lesson learned, so I stocked up and tried again, hitting my head against the problem until my enemies met their end and I could walk in to claim my rewards. Sometimes there will be a treasure chest containing oodles of resources and a new firearm, and sometimes there could be nothing at all. This is frustrating, but it’s also brilliant in how it wants the player to feel.

 

 

unogueen

unogueen

Posted
Posted
On 10/21/2024 at 2:38 PM, Spawn_of_Apathy said:


S.T.A.L.K.E.R : the original souls like

STALKER is one of the most rarest oysters. Diegetic to hell and back, You were nearly ever allowed a fake door, boxes full of nothing but basic life shit Virtual tourism at it's finest.

Best

Best

Posted
Posted
26 minutes ago, unogueen said:

STALKER is one of the most rarest oysters. Diegetic to hell and back, You were nearly ever allowed a fake door, boxes full of nothing but basic life shit Virtual tourism at it's finest.

 

I honestly can't comprehend this post. 

  • 2 weeks later...
Commissar SFLUFAN

Commissar SFLUFAN

Posted
Posted

PC system requirements:

 

Minimum:

  • OS: Windows 10, Windows 11
  • Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 1600X / Intel Core i5-7600K
  • Memory: 8 GB RAM
  • Graphics: AMD Radeon RX 580 8GB / NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB
  • Storage: 150 GB available space
  • Additional Notes: SSD

Recommended:

  • OS: Windows 10, Windows 11
  • Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X / Intel Core i7-9700K
  • Memory: 16 GB RAM
  • Graphics: AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 8GB / NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8GB / NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB
  • Storage: 150 GB available space
  • Additional Notes: SSD
  • Commissar SFLUFAN changed the title to S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl (PC/Xbox Series | 20 November 2024) - Information Thread, update (11/04): PC system requirements
Mr.Vic20

Mr.Vic20

Posted
Posted
Just now, Best said:

I am wondering if this will have a performance option on consoles?

According to the devs, even the Series S will have a 60FPS performance mode...somehow!  

  • Shocked 1
Best

Best

Posted
Posted
5 minutes ago, AbsolutSurgen said:

They claimed that Xbox SeX would be 60 fps.

 

Ok that's good to hear. 

 

So the Xbox Series S will be 480p 60fps. Got it. 

Best

Best

Posted
Posted
3 minutes ago, SoberChef said:

I'm thinking about this game daily at this point, just need it in my hands already!

 

I'm definitely hyped but I'm in the middle of Silent Hill 2 remake, Metopher ReFantazio, and Dragon Age Veilguard.

 

I just can't keep up. This year has really turned out fantastic. 

  • True 1
ShreddieMercury

ShreddieMercury

Posted
Posted

The old-school nature of this game definitely has me excited too.  I enjoyed my time with the Metro games but was ultimately a bit let down by Exodus, and this looks similar but much more interesting.  Hoping this delivers.

  • stepee 1
  • True 1
ShreddieMercury

ShreddieMercury

Posted
Posted
24 minutes ago, Best said:

From everything described in previews this might be a game this is either a hit or miss.

 

Definitely.  It seems like it'll live or die by its gameplay rather than the world or quest design, which sounds like a throwback.

  • True 1
XxEvil AshxX

XxEvil AshxX

Posted
Posted
15 hours ago, Best said:

From everything described in previews this might be a game that is either a hit or miss.

 

I think it's gonna depend on what people are expecting. It being in Gamepass is going to get a lot of people to try it that might not normally, which is a good thing, but also risks the opinion that "it sucks" if they're looking for a straight up shooter like what Metro Exodus turned into (which I really liked btw).

  • True 2
Best

Best

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, XxEvil AshxX said:

 

I think it's gonna depend on what people are expecting. It being in Gamepass is going to get a lot of people to try it that might not normally, which is a good thing, but also risks the opinion that "it sucks" if they're looking for a straight up shooter like what Metro Exodus turned into (which I really liked btw).

 

My dumbass completely forgot this is on gamepass when I posted what you quoted. 

SoberChef

SoberChef

Posted
Posted
On 11/6/2024 at 3:58 AM, TheLeon said:

I think part of the reason I’m having trouble sticking to any game right now is that this is just around the corner. 

 

Exactly! Legit all I have looked forward to playing for easily 6 months. My own issue is can I beat it before the next Sniper Elite in January!

 

18 hours ago, Best said:

From everything described in previews this might be a game that is either a hit or miss.

 

@Best come join in our optimistic joyous demeanor, it wont hurt! 

 

18 hours ago, ShreddieMercury said:

 

Definitely.  It seems like it'll live or die by its gameplay rather than the world or quest design, which sounds like a throwback.

 

I have heard/read that the gunplay happens to be quite satisfying! 

Best

Best

Posted
Posted
14 minutes ago, SoberChef said:

 

Exactly! Legit all I have looked forward to playing for easily 6 months. My own issue is can I beat it before the next Sniper Elite in January!

 

 

@Best come join in our optimistic joyous demeanor, it wont hurt! 

 

 

I have heard/read that the gunplay happens to be quite satisfying! 

 

Oh, believe me I'm hyped for this and even mentioned in this thread that it is my sleeper GOTY. It seems like it's got so much potential. And being on gamepass is phenomenal. 

  • stepee 1
  • Commissar SFLUFAN changed the title to S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl (PC/Xbox Series | 20 November 2024) - update (11/07): "Smoking Barrels" gameplay trailer

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