At last, STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl is finally upon us. First announced 14 years ago, brought back to life in 2018, and then delayed from 2022 into late this year due to the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, the release of the hardcore open-world FPS has been a long-time coming. And as I write this on launch day — mere minutes from the release of the Xbox and Windows PC exclusive — its review embargo has passed, resulting in dozens of critic opinions being published across the web.
At the time of writing, STALKER 2 has a "Generally Favorable" overall review score of about 77/100 on the aggregation site Metacritic, with an average of 76/100 based on 44 Windows PC reviews and an average of 79/100 taken from 12 Xbox Series X|S reviews. Most evaluations give it a rating that falls somewhere in the 80-90 range, but there are quite a few reviews in the 70s and even the 60s as well. Here's a roundup of quotes and scores that shows the range of opinions:
- Hardcore Gamer (100/100): "Stalker 2 is nothing short of a miracle. Developed by Ukrainian studio GSC Game World over the course of seven years amid a pandemic and a war -- among many other challenges -- Stalker 2 is a labor of love and the best type of sequel one could hope for. While many long-running franchises have strayed from their roots in an (often misguided) attempt to appeal to as many players as possible, Stalker 2 knows its core audience well and delivers exactly the type of game we were hoping for."
- Game Rant (90/100): "Overall, Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl is truly something special. It's not perfect, but it manages to succeed in some major areas that many other games fall short in. Its open world is one of the best I've been in for quite some time, but its morally gray choice-driven narrative is also something worth writing home about, with the immense amount of player power it offers. Stalker 2's combat is challenging and exciting, and there is almost never a dull moment as players explore the Zone. So long as players can look past some of its blemishes that are arguably overshadowed by its best features, they'll find a memorable and worthwhile experience in Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl."
- PC Gamer (83/100): "Just like in the old days, performance issues and bugs don't stop Stalker's mad, wonderful heart from shining through."
- VG247 (80/100): "Making games is hard, regardless, and the fact that the team was able to put together a package like this that's so earnest, so passionate in its revisit of a world enshrined in PC gaming's history, is more than impressive. It's an admirable feat that I hope isn't lost on the general gaming crowd who don't know too much about the games outside of their time playing them. I would recommend Stalker 2 to fans of the Stalker series, obviously, and as anyone with a love of open world FPS games and distinct sci-fi. The good thing is it's available on Game Pass, so you can pay less than full price and try it out."
- TheGamer (60/100): "All in all, Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl is a perfectly average open world survival shooter. It’s an interesting setting with well-realized characters, but it’s held back by less-satisfying gunplay and a run-of-the-mill ‘good enough’ sense of exploration. I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone. But if you’re a fan of games like Fallout: New Vegas, or you enjoyed past Stalker games, then this one is worth following up on."
- VGC (40/100): "Stalker 2 could be a great game in a few years, but what's presented at launch is a technical mess that doesn't capitalize on its best ideas. Compelling side stories and a brilliant setting do a lot of the heavy lifting, but at launch Stalker 2 isn't an adventure we'd fully recommend embarking on."
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After reading through many of these reviews, it seems like most critics agree that STALKER 2's open-world exploration, action, and survival systems are well done. With that said, the game — much like the original STALKER titles — has garnered a reputation for being a bit on the buggy side, though it's worth noting that developer GSC Game World was regularly patching the review build ahead of the shooter's release, with a day one patch coming at launch today as well. Some also lament certain problems with the combat and open-world design, though these generally seem to be fairly minor.
Windows Central has a STALKER 2 review penned by yours truly, by the way. I gave the game a rating of 4/5 stars (or 80/100), stating that it "stands tall as one of the most captivating open-world shooters I've ever played, with palpable atmosphere and deeply rewarding exploration that kept me glued to my seat along with addictively intense and dynamic action that kept me on the edge of it." Like other reviewers, I feel that there are some glaring issues with aspects of the combat balancing and the game's performance and stability, though I ultimately still love it and can't wait to dive back in soon. Despite its flaws, it's exactly the kind of sequel I've longed for as a longtime STALKER fan.
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As I wrote in my review, that STALKER 2 is actually here at all is a testament to GSC's tenacity; the developer has had to build the game amid working conditions none of us can scarcely imagine, with many of its employees fighting on the frontlines in Ukraine or working from its new headquarters in Prague after evacuating from their homes when Russia's war began. I'm glad to see that it's reviewing well overall, and sincerely hope it's a big success for the beleaguered studio.
It will be interesting to see how the game performs in its opening days, with it just minutes away from releasing as I type this. Ahead of its launch, though, it's already proven that it has the potential to be the next big hit; it's been the fourth most-wishlisted game on Steam for many months, and right now, it's also at the top of the platform's top sellers list.
STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl has arrived on Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC, and is one of this year's best Xbox games and best PC games. It has a $59.99 MSRP, but notably, you can get it for a discount at CDKeys right now. You can also play it through Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass, and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
