Played on PC
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl follows in almost every way the path of the first game: both projects were postponed several times, for which they received the popular nickname “zhdalker”, and were replete with technical problems at release (more on this later in the text). And, of course, both “Shadow of Chernobyl” and “Heart of Chernobyl” have an incredibly addictive, thick and unique atmosphere – a curious curiosity for gamers outside the CIS and such a close-to-the-heart environment for residents of the former Soviet republics. The sequel also follows the paths of “Shadow” in the narrative and game design direction, so diligently that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 hardly feels like a significant breakthrough – rather, a leisurely development of the ideas contained in the previous “Stalkers”. After all, globally the project offers everything the same, and the changes appear only in minor details aimed at increasing the overall comfort of the gameplay. However, calling Heart of Chornobyl “comfortable” is still hard to come by…
For some it’s the whimsical romance of a half-life, and for others it’s the daily journey from work to home…
⇡#In the heart of darkness
From the very first minutes S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl demonstrates extraordinary inhospitability towards the player – primarily at the level of surroundings and narrative. The protagonist of the game, Skif, enters the Zone to understand the nature of the artifact that destroyed his home outside the exclusion zone, which is completely uncharacteristic of local curiosities. But before the hero has time to take even a couple of steps in the Zone, he is immediately drawn into a whirlpool of showdowns, intrigues, betrayals and complex moral dilemmas. In less than a couple of hours, Skif’s hands will be up to the elbows in blood, and the moral compass will turn off as unnecessary, because in this place there is no clear black and white, and the truth lies with those who quickly snatch the bagpipe.
The main story, as in previous games, is more mundane and functional than truly dramatic. However, this approach really suits this universe. Moving towards his goal, Skif will encounter bandits and military men, scientists and “jackets”, fanatics and rationalists – all with their own “truth” and conviction in their exclusively correct views. Of course, the situation in the Zone is tense: there is a serious discord in the ranks of the former Monoliths, here the military is trying to take control of more than other factions are comfortable with, here various gangster groups are trying to climb to the top of the Zone’s food chain, and meanwhile in the local scientific complex Preparations are underway for an experiment that should once and for all change the face of humanity…
The story of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.2 contains many references and even plot elements related to previous games in the series
This string of plots and characters is presented both through dialogues (written, as befits the series, in an extremely colorful and pretentious manner) and rather well-choreographed first-person videos. And, in addition to passively observing the development of collisions, we often have to make important choices for the further plot. Which side of the conflict to join or, say, to save or take the lives of certain characters – all this will affect both the appearance of the Zone and the ending of the story.
On the road of the main storyline, there are also minor local stories, where there are slightly fewer ethical forks, and most of them come down to completely ordinary “kill-bring-kill”. But even here there are quite memorable mini-plots. For example, I was sincerely amused by the task where the local “bruises” instruct Skif to put a bottle of “Cossacks” vodka in the equipment of three stalkers – to protect against radiation, of course. The dust-free work goes like clockwork, until we meet a stalker who doesn’t want to touch the fiery water anymore – while he drowned stack after stack with his “friends,” life passed by. And here it’s up to us how this little story will end – whether the stalker will return to the bottom of the bottle or will cope with radiation with the help of other drugs.
Share the swag with the bandits, or kill everyone and take the loot for yourself – such dilemmas will be encountered at almost every turn
Or here is the standard beginning of the story, where Skif is signed up for the next “case”, but bad luck – bandits are already waiting for him at the meeting place with a not particularly tempting offer to choose between his wallet and life. The further development of this difficult situation can go in many directions: we can give the bandits cash and hope that they will let us go on good terms; or waste everyone, and then return to the customer with a substantive complaint; Or you can come to an agreement with another victim of this “set-up” and deal with the gang fundamentally. Branching!
⇡#Through trials… to suffering
In addition to the mundane, dark narrative and characters with gray morals, Heart of Chornobyl has an inhospitable world with a carefully built atmosphere. From the overall visual aesthetics, the rapidly changing weather of the Zone, sudden emissions and fading architectural delights of Soviet modernism, to hundreds of little things like bizarre nicknames of bandits, colorful inscriptions on the walls, idle conversations of stalkers around the fire – every detail helps to thoroughly immerse yourself in the world of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2.
Random skirmishes between stalkers and mutants occur quite often in the vastness of the Zone, sometimes it’s easier not to interfere…
The inhospitable environment is also supported by basic game mechanics. Heart of Chornobyl is full of dangers, and death awaits around every turn: take a wrong step and another anomaly sends Skif to the last save point; radiation kills more slowly, but reliably, if anti-irradiation remedies are not found in time; various mutants are ready to tear the stalker to pieces as soon as they see it, and some will even psionically crawl into the head; and, as a rule, you shouldn’t expect anything good from people, and only if you notice a group of suspicious individuals in the distance, you should immediately prepare for a mutual exchange of olives.
By the way, shooting in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.2 is implemented with dignity, and the pleasure from shooting will be directly proportional to how deeply you want to delve into the many nuances. And there is a lot to delve into: the arsenal is impressive – a lot of different pistols, sniper and assault rifles, submachine guns, shotguns, and each model has its own bullet spread, effective range, firing modes and caliber. And each barrel also has an indicator of strength – once the barrel wears out, you can forget about confidence in battle – the barrel will jam at the most inopportune moments, which will naturally lead to a fatal outcome for Skif. So it’s worth monitoring the condition of your armor and weapons and repairing them in a timely manner, taking into account the weight of each weapon, cartridges and consumables, leaving room for swag, and, of course, not forgetting about energy drinks, which make it possible to quickly restore stamina, and without which the stalker is safe sooner or later it will turn into torture.
Upgrading the barrel will cost a pretty penny, but such a pipe will not let you down in battle
Loyalty to the ideas of the first S.T.A.L.K.E.R. the sequel also maintains the level of game design decisions that raised questions back in the decade before last. The first thing that catches your eye is the unintuitive and not always logical design of many tasks and locations: run around the entire territory marked by the quest, shouting “where to go, what to do?” will happen more than once or twice. Another unpleasant atavism is the lack of fast travel and transport. You can, of course, use the services of guides (stalkers who act as fast travellers), but this is expensive, and you might as well go find them in an open field. And if at first walks around the Zone are captivating thanks to what is happening around (both the events laid down by secondary quests and those created by the life simulation A-Life 2.0), the thick atmosphere and mesmerizing views, then already in the middle of the passage the stock of interesting events becomes scarce, and Skif rushes from point to point, tirelessly absorbing energy so as not to slow down. Not a particularly atmospheric picture.
There are also big questions about the balance of difficulty: at the very beginning of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is unbearably harsh and immediately dumps all the burdens of stalker life on the player. There are no decent weapons to be found here, and the mutants simply have an indecent amount of health, capable of digesting all your ammunition, and the anomalies are scattered so generously that you get the feeling of playing a “bolt throwing simulator.” But after just a couple of hours, Skif acquires stronger armor and a pair of powerful pipes (some cool “Vintar”), and now “it wasn’t us who were locked up with the inhabitants of the Zone, but they were locked up with us.” The sense of danger disappears, all threats are familiar and no longer scary, and the gameplay literally comes down to shooting not-so-fierce opponents.
In the midst of battle, healing yourself with a jar of stew is just the thing!
However, dealing with enemies turns out to be extremely easy also because the AI in Heart of Chornobyl is terribly bad. Enemies may not notice Skif at point-blank range, lose sight of him two steps away, or shoot in front of him at the steel wall of the container. What can we say about the dummies’ ability to perform tactical maneuvers: no going to the rear or using a numerical advantage—just a confident march right under Skif’s bullets. Because of this, the very interest in shootings, despite the excellent weapon system, is quickly lost.
However, the unfinished AI is just the top of the mountain of technical problems in the release version of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl. Even the notorious Cyberpunk 2077 at launch did not encounter players with so many critical bugs that completely ruined the pleasure of the process and involvement in the game. And I’m not talking about the copious amount of minor annoyances or visual oddities like stuttering, slowdowns, artifacts, poor facial animation, peculiar lighting behavior, and regular interface disappearances.
Here you won’t understand for sure – either the whims of the Zone, or a bug… More often, alas, it’s the latter
But when during the course of a story quest the game manages to issue a “softlock” several times (a condition that blocks the possibility of further progress) – this is much more serious. And this happens too often for a project in release state! Either the key doors close tightly, or the story characters fall into a stupor and do not lead Skif to the goal – this can only be cured by reloading the save. Other times, the saves themselves break so much that you have to roll back your progress half an hour ago and hope that the problem will disappear, or at least the unpleasant part will simply be skipped. Another transfer and a couple of months of polishing the game would obviously not hurt. I sincerely recommend waiting for a couple of healing patches if you want to get acquainted.
***
Like the first part of the series, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is far from a perfect game, with a lot of problems, controversial game design decisions, a ton of bugs and a lingering feeling of haste and unfinished. And even without taking into account weak optimization and polishing, not everyone will like the project. But if its viscous atmosphere, gloomy, down-to-earth narrative and the romance of the stalker’s path resonate in your heart, then this is exactly the “same Stalker” you’ve been waiting for all these years. There will be no other.
Advantages:
- A large, atmospheric and incredibly rich in details world;
- Grounded and action-packed main story;
- Some secondary quests turned out to be really interesting;
- Realistic shooting and detailed weapon system.
Disadvantages:
- The quality of optimization and technical polishing is at an unacceptably low level;
- Artificial intelligence is mostly impossibly stupid;
- Tangible problems with balance, game mechanics and systems.
Graphic arts
The vastness of the Zone with its rusty dilapidated factories, dilapidated huts, crumbling monumentalism, ominous laboratories and gloomy claustrophobic caves turned out to be atmospheric, convincing and detailed. The spirit of the series is conveyed perfectly – this cannot be taken away, although the picture on Unreal Engine 5 does not cause any delight.
And technically the game is implemented at an extremely low level: the lighting behaves strangely, the frame rate jumps from a comfortable sixty to a slide show, various graphic artifacts interfere with immersion.
In addition, I note the unconvincing facial animation – the characters’ articulation and facial expressions are unnaturally sharp and do not always coincide with the movement of the lips, which naturally creates the “uncanny valley” effect.
Sound
Excellent sound design supports the overall aesthetic of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2. – and the ferocious howl of mutants chills to the bones, and in shootouts bullets whistle over the ear, dispersing adrenaline through the veins, and the oppressive silence of abandoned industries creates a distinct feeling of anxiety. It’s a pity that there are also technical problems here, such as stuttering sounds and incorrect playback.
As for the soundtrack, it turned out to be diverse and truly emotional, collecting an incredible variety of sounds: from the lyrical and philosophical modulations of a classical orchestra to the disturbing metallic-industrial cacophony.
Single player game
An atmospheric action game with elements of survival in an open world, which is extremely spoiled by technical flaws, problems in balance and game design.
Estimated time of completion
Traveling through the Zone to the end of the story through mainly the main quests will take about twenty hours, but for stalkers who like to immerse themselves in local showdowns, the game has prepared about fifty hours of various assignments, searching for hiding places and random shootings… unless, of course, there are technical anomalies will get in your way, and the process itself will not get boring, at least because of the strange balance.
Collective game
Not foreseen.
General impression
Despite the depressing technical condition and relic game design, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl gives exactly those emotions for which players fell in love with the series many years ago, and confidently immerses them in “that same” atmosphere – existential, inhospitable and scary, but so familiar and alluring.
More about grading system
Rating: 6.0 / 10
Video: