Back at Chernobyl in Stalker 2
By Ivan Reyes
Staff Writer
Stalker 2 has finally been released. It has been in development since 2010 and was reintroduced again at E3 2021 as part of Microsoft’s Game Pass service. It was also released on PC but not on any PlayStation platforms. The game was delayed numerous times, mostly due to the war in Ukraine, where the developer, GSC Game World, is located.
The gameplay loop revolves around getting stronger by getting better gear. It’s like a single-player extraction shooter in the sense that it is also an RPG, but you don’t get stronger by levelling up or increasing your skills. You get stronger through the loot you get. It also has features from survival games, such as fatigue, hunger, radiation, and bleeding. The story is non-linear; your choices do matter, and it has different factions that you can join.
From my experience playing it, the game’s atmosphere is excellent. During the tutorial level, I was jump-scared by a bloodsucker who attacked me when I exited a bunker. It was terrifying to run back into the bunker, scrambling to find a different weapon and camping in a corner, waiting for it to appear out of its invisibility.
Only for that experience to be ruined by lousy balancing; the bloodsucker was tanking all my bullets. I took all my ammo and med kits before it died, but it wasn’t like that in the older games. It felt more balanced then. I then encountered a group of thugs, which was exciting. Still, that experience also felt shallow as the AI isn’t as good, grenade spam was annoying, and they somehow have laser-point accuracy. For some reason, they detected me from afar even though it was pitch black and I was hiding in tall grass. Apparently, the AI system in the game A-Life 2.0 isn’t working, so it will be patched soon.
So, how does the game fair? I think it’s decent, but due to the bugs, optimization issues, and bad balancing. The game is challenging to love due to those setbacks, but because of them, it gives it the “classic stalker feels” of the 2000s. I hope the patches come soon, but due to the situation that the developers are in, I doubt that they will be quick to fix some of the issues. If you loved the original trilogy, you’ll love this one.