Stalker 2: Shadow of Chernobyl- Deadly Confusion

As with other games I have not actually finished, this will be more of a thought-piece than an actual review, as I don't believe you can call it a review until you actually finish the game.

Disclaimer: Whilst I deeply admire the dedication that GSC GameWorld has had for releasing this game in the hostile conditions in Ukraine, and while I cannot understate just how remarkable it is that this game saw the light of day, I am also a firm believer in separating the art from the artist. I am here to give you my impressions of the game as it stands, and the criticisms I bring to the table must not stop you from supporting these developers if you so choose.

With those caveats out of the way, let us begin.

Immersion as game design

Stalker games have always been incredibly immersive, and this one is no different. Everything is grounded and believeable. Guns are imposing in both sight and sound, and enemies frail but deadly.

Everything from the clicking and clacking of you moving around with heavy gear, to the distant rumble of friends and foes alike, everything looks and feels realistic. This is also due to the use of Unreal as the game engine of choice, and while it does a wonderful job at being photorealistic, I ultimately feel its performance is lacking. NPC-dense areas exibit strange performance drops, and the game overall is rather hard to run, but if you do have a powerful enough rig, you will deeply enjoy the spectacle.

Inventory management is also a big part of what you will need to deal with on your playthrough. In a world where most games let you carry every single item you see scattered throughout the world, I welcome the decisionmaking of only being able to carry 2-3 weapons and a couple ammo types. It does a lot to sell the idea of a ruthless and unforgiving world.

I cannot speak for the story, as I have not finished it. What I have played seemed adaquate, but I had a hard time being drawn in. I suppose story is not neccesarily the big focus point for these games anyway.

Ruthless, but without a solid foundation

What I said earlier about both you and the enemy being deadly is a little bit of a double edged sword. It has fantastic potential to create a tense and rewarding experience, but only if it works correctly. Sadly Stalker 2 still (after close to a year after release) does not work correctly. Enemy pathing, decision making and constant random spawns do plenty to harm the overall experience and were detrimental to my lack of enjoyment. There is little fun to be had when enemies instantly lock onto your position after a silenced pistol shot, or when they literally spawn behind you at point-blank range and shoot a 12 gauge into your collarbone.

This felt very similar to Cyberpunk prior to its Phantom Liberty release in terms of enemy AI behavior, and that's far from ideal. I sincerely hope it can have a ressurection as CDPR's game did, but I am not holding my breath.

A-Life independent of player interaction

A big draw of prior stalker games was its realistic NPC life simulation. The system called A-life has been long-regarded as one of the best in open world games, and GSC Gameworld lead most of their marketing with a new and improved version.

Unfortunately though, at launch none of it was functional, and now only placeholder scaffolding hesitantly holds its place as a system just barely functional enough to be playable. This is perhaps the most blatant "false marketing" this game has, and I unfortunately cannot justify it.

Cooking, but still raw

There is no denying that the game is receiving meaningful patches that improve its overall outlook, but so much of the core functionality is still missing that I am doubting the possibility of it ever reaching a satisfactory stage. It sadly looks like a project that had to be pushed out the door in order to stop it from forever consuming budget, and I do not believe it will ever reach the cult classic status of the initial trillogy. Much like many of today's fan service sequels, it will probably die in obscurity in 2-3 years.

It is my sincere hope that my words from above prove to be false, and there are reasons to believe they might, but in situations such as this, I will always choose a pessimistic mentality as it helps me protect myself from emotional distress.