STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl Hands-on - Delaying the Release Was the Right Call
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is in the final stretch before its release. Comparing the current gameplay to the first demo a year ago, the difference is like night and day!
It was supposed to be a simple task - to collect a debt from someone who doesn't like violence. Even the road to the indicated building, where he was supposed to hide, was quiet. No mutants, a few weak anomalies easy to avoid. The ruined, small block had several entrances - I entered through the southern one and even before entering, I overheard some loud exchange of words. Someone was arguing fiercely. I went to the other side of the building through the staircase, encountering a group of people. They were so absorbed in their affairs that they didn't even threaten me with a weapon.
It turned out that the person I was looking for had barricaded himself in the basement of that block, because he owes money to more than one person in the area - I had to get in a queue to get back the money. Initially, the conversation with the creditors who had found the debtor earlier was quite calm, focused on information, but it quickly turned out that I could either wait for the situation to develop, or force my way into the queue. I don't know when the threats started, but suddenly a weapon appeared, shots - I saw that someone fell, but I got hit, too. I had to retreat to the building, quickly wrap my arm with a bandage to stop the bleeding, and reload the saw-off shotgun. Lucky that I had a shotgun, not some weak pistol.
This was the only photo we could legally take at GSC Game World HQ.S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, GSC Game World, 2024
I knew that someone else was lurking outside and we started a waiting game - I didn't leave my corner, and he wouldn't come inside. Until he finally leaned out and I took the opportunity. I collected the stuff from their bodies, the debtor came out of the cellar. A few blunt sentences and he agreed to repay all the loans he had - but should he repay them to other residents waiting for their money, or should I just take care of my task? It was another choice that morning, the consequences of which I did not yet know...
There are 4 different endings. You cannot see all the content in one run. It is not about joining certain factions but being more or less favourable towards the ideology of them. These choices and consequences are not obvious. Sometimes you may think you are doing the right thing and it turns out with something that you will have to live on with because it is not exactly what you expected. There are certain smaller stories with certain characters when your decisions may influence the outcome, like series of side quests. And there are like some bigger stories when your action will determine the outcome of the story.
It will be very hard to see decisions and their consequences, because they are not always clear. A lot of these decision belong to the grey morale zone, so you will have to sacrifice something to have something in return. There is always a payoff and the prize. You will need several playthroughs to see everything, and not just the endings but also all the content connected to that endings.
Zakhar Bocharov, PR Manager, GSC Game World
Technical change beyond recognition
There were many different small choices in the quests, sometimes also surprises, like returning to the quest giver who in the meantime got killed for some reasons. But during my second session with the pre-release version of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, two things struck me. The first is how very different the gameplays were among the journalists gathered in the room. We only had three hours to play in the initial portion of the open world that becomes available after the prologue. Each of us, after some time, ran with a different weapon, performed different tasks, visited different areas, made different decisions during the conversations. However, open world games have managed to get us used to this.
The eastern post-apocalypse is appropriately gritty, dirty, and rusty - the objects in the game look great.S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, GSC Game World, 2024
It's hard to currently assess how the game's economy and the mentioned credits will work, but during the short gameplay, I could already feel that the mechanic will prevent players from getting rich fast. Weapons obtained from killed enemies are quite an easy loot. However, they are often somewhat damaged, which makes them unsellable. Repairing them, on the other hand, is much more expensive than the profit from the sale, so it is only worth carrying them as spare weapons.
What surprised me even more was how S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 has changed in just over a year. I had the opportunity to play it during gamescom 2023, when the developers showed the playable version for the first time ever. I complained about the technical issues and that the game will definitely come out unfinished, buggy, and will have to make up for it with atmosphere.
Poisonous fumes and searching for artifacts - the norm for a stalker.S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, GSC Game World, 2024
Now I saw a completely different S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, and this is comparing the exact same fragment of gameplay that happens right after the prologue. A technical nightmare straight out of the worst early access has turned into a polished product. I experienced smooth gameplay with no bugs or glitches and with absolutely beautiful graphics. Even the ugly mutant dogs that attack us have become more detailed, refined. The facial animations in conversations with NPCs are now better too, something I have complained about a year ago.
It's not perfect, as there were a few crashes to the desktop, but that's what the devs are working on now – polishing the game and eliminating bugs. Apart from this small inconvenience, the game completely absorbed me with its world. The Stalker's zone atmosphere just pours out of the monitor, especially when you play with the Ukrainian dubbing (casting local TV voice-over stars)!
UI made by UA - changes would be appreciated
The only things I could complain about this time are the interface and PC controls. And I'm not nitpicking the inventory menu here, which seems to consciously refer to the solutions from the original game. The PC controls are simply overcomplicated. The leaning keys, Z and C, are at the bottom - this is inconvenient and not intuitive. An even worse thing is interacting with vendors. First, you need to initiate a conversation and have general dialogues. The trade option is hidden here - as the Q key. However, if we are talking to a gunsmith and we want to repair a weapon - then the interaction menu is opened by the E key. Couldn't they just add a dialog line, like the rest of the games do...?
Gunplay and weapon models are perfect - shooting is a pleasure.S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, GSC Game World, 2024
The on-screen UI, in turn, evokes the worst of Ubisoft's solutions – the compass, the markers, the dialogue selection – it's all big and colorful, almost hurting the eyes. It doesn't fit an immersive sim at all, I would prefer something more minimalistic here. From what I saw later, the UI can be turned off, but not everything – there will be, for example, huge key icons that you have to press to interact with objects, e.g. open a chest. I submitted my comments to the leaders of GSC Game World - maybe something will be corrected here before the release.
Stunning Eastern post apocalypse
And if it doesn't, the mods will surely improve it. Although they won't have official support on release, we are expected to gain a lot of freedom in modifying the game shortly after it is out. A game in which we will spend dozens of hours, and that's with the initial content, because as I found out, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is a huge game with a huge world.
I think it is around 30-40 hours for the main story, but mostly main quests. You can’t do only main quests - you will have to do some side quests. But if you decide to look for everything and complete every side quest it is probably closer to 80 hours. And if you decide to watch absolutely everything - it will be more than 100 hours. It is a huge game!
Zakhar Bocharov, PR Manager, GSC Game World
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 impressed me with its world presentation. A year ago, I was already drawing attention to the excellently crafted objects, buildings with photorealistic textures, and now I was able to go even further into the zone and admire more things. The effects of anomalies or storms look very spectacular, during which we can admire the particle effects. The lighting powered by Unreal Engine 5 or the gunplay are also good. The weapons look great, have good reload animations, great firing sounds - you can feel the weight and caliber. I just missed some "gun porn" - the option to view weapons, inspect them.
The atmosphere of the STALKER universe pours out of every corner of the map.S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, GSC Game World, 2024
The poppy field known from the official screenshot looks simply amazing, creating an incredible contrast with the rotting objects of the eastern post-apocalypse around them. Everything here is appropriately destroyed, dusty, old, grim, yet very familiar. The developers took great care not only to recreate the areas of the Chornobyl zone, which they visited and documented in photos, but also to discreetly incorporate elements of their own culture. The ruins of the stops are decorated with Ukrainian mosaics, sometimes you can hear the music of Ukrainian performers on the radio. GSC Game World really wants S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 to become what The Witcher 3 is – a gaming national symbol associated with the country in which it was created.
It is very Ukrainian passion project - not product - straight form the beginning. Best efforts were put forward to show Ukraine to the world, to show what Ukrainians can do. Because of the full fledged war it is something bigger, something what Ukrainians can do not only on the battlefield but also on the cultural side. That may sound a little bit too much but we are like that at this situation at the moment. Our game will be something that presents our country and our culture to the rest of the world. It will be something that it is presenting the country and the Ukrainian culture to the world. It applies some pressure on us because there are just so big expectations but we are working really passionately to deliver it. It is something what Witcher 3 did for Poland. We hope Stalker 2 will do the same.
Zakhar Bocharov, PR Manager, GSC Game World
I really wish GSC the success, because their passion for creating the game and their modesty could be felt during many conversations with them. But in the end, what matters is whether S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 turns out to be a good game – and it looks like it will. I spent only 3 hours with the game and I already had the "one more..." syndrome known from the Civilization. Just not "one more turn", but one more side quest to complete, an abandoned house to explore, a visit into that building complex - or just to sit by a campfire with other stalkers and listen to them playing a guitar. The game promises delivering a climatic end of the year in the Zone!
