So... Stalker 2 is a black sheep from the franchise. Id say even more so then gamma despite not playing gamma but I saw enough footage to know what gammas about.
Keep in mind I only completed shadow of chenorbyl out side of heart of chernobyl. But I know how the older STALKER games plus anomaly is soppossed to be. Let begin.
STALKER 2 feels less like a STALKER game then any other STALKER game out there. To be honest the story and characters feel like a mixture of combining Sniper Ghost Warroirs 3 caimpaign(SGW 3 is actually kick ass you should try it out plus contracts 1& 2). But STALKER 2 feels like a blenderized cluster fuck between Sniper ghost warrior 3 and Cyberpunk 2077... Wile in the Chernobyl exclusion zone.
One nice thing about HOC is that you dont have as shitty of a bullet spread unlike the origonal STALKER games or the origonal trilogy. Somthing I wish wasnt so exagerated like in the first 3 games. Another thing is it feels nice be actually able to sneack around even more now that the patch from november 2025 allows use of night vision goggles. Somthing I wish they had to begin with. Another tiny but cool thing was the night stalker pistol. That was fucking based.
Now for the down sides. Now ok it says the Steam deck isnt recomended despite the fact I was able to complete the game on the deck. But still in the shit ass economy, GSC did not need to jump the gun with unreal 5 without taking the time to make it run as good as it deos now. Not until the PS5 patch did the game becone massivly playable on PCs even more powerfull then the deck.
Another problem is no A-life. Or it isnt as good as the origonal 3 games due to the fact GSC wanted to give you the wow pow of open world. Like they couldnt just wait 5 years to make A life better or simply choose not to make the game open world. Leave it into divided sections like the old games and keep the old A-life. Another problem is well, the monolith spamming.
Now I get this games a RPG-ish experience. But do they really need to spam exo monolith fucking everywere in prypiate? Prypiate is sopposed to be the most interesting and fun to explore area. And its ruined by all these fucking Jehova slavic chads in the fucking city. Its the equivelent of replacing every normie in the world beside the main character with a giga Chad. Its fucking overwhelming.
Next problem. Somthing I wish they kept from Call of Prypiate was the lower TTK. Bullet sponges are not fun. There shit, not based. Stop it with bullet sponges. Bullet sponges is why I never touched division franchise.
Now for the next problem. The weapon degradation is still fucking exagerated. Its to the point were they wear out way faster then they even would in real life. Like a AK isnt gonna explode in 300 rounds unless your rocking PLUS P ammo. Most guns in real life will degrade in like 50K rounds to 6K rounds.
Back to good stuff. I like how the NV works were you kinda have to be relistic with it. Deosnt look as pretty as in the trailer but oh well. Geuss Ill have to wait for a Steam deck 2 or steam machine for that better NV look. But I like how your forced to tilt all primarys with a small handfull of exceptions. And that NV wont turn every darck ass crack into day light bright, it simply amplifys existing light like in real life.
I also like how they use anomalys like that big ass black whole in Rostok will work as a fast travel and not a major death point like I thought it was the first time I saw it.
Choices. Now the game has 4 endings. Next thread will actually be on why I picked the ward(not for the reasons you think) but I actually thing the 4 endings and the story is actually done perfectly. STALKER is like that one franchise that has a belivable story minus the lab Xs sounding edgy like from a early 2000s game. I also like how the zone is depicted as this malicous beast not worthy of love but theres people that either love the zone or wish to exploit it or wants it dead.
I do feel weapons are slighty and I mean slightly are slightly underwhelming. I feel they could have done a bit more. Like there is no 6P9 depsite there being art of the pistol in the game. I also wish the guns from STALKER anomaly would be on HOC. Like despite anomaly being a fan game, its the ultimate STALKER experience and the big flagship of the franchise so adding some stuff from anomaly would be nice.
Conclusion:
STALKER 2 feel like a game with more potential if it wasnt rushed. Multiple things could have been done better, the story was actually perfect plus characters as well. But everything else kinda needs a bit of love done. Id say its the equivelent of putting a average chef and have them work for one of Marco Peir Whites resturaunts. Its not gonna live up to the standered unless you give it some time & paitience. I hope GSC deos more for HOC. And I have faith they will. But untill then I'll give STALKER 2 a 6.5/10. Still fun but needs some work done.
Keep in mind I only completed shadow of chenorbyl out side of heart of chernobyl. But I know how the older STALKER games plus anomaly is soppossed to be. Let begin.
STALKER 2 feels less like a STALKER game then any other STALKER game out there. To be honest the story and characters feel like a mixture of combining Sniper Ghost Warroirs 3 caimpaign(SGW 3 is actually kick ass you should try it out plus contracts 1& 2). But STALKER 2 feels like a blenderized cluster fuck between Sniper ghost warrior 3 and Cyberpunk 2077... Wile in the Chernobyl exclusion zone.
One nice thing about HOC is that you dont have as shitty of a bullet spread unlike the origonal STALKER games or the origonal trilogy. Somthing I wish wasnt so exagerated like in the first 3 games. Another thing is it feels nice be actually able to sneack around even more now that the patch from november 2025 allows use of night vision goggles. Somthing I wish they had to begin with. Another tiny but cool thing was the night stalker pistol. That was fucking based.
Now for the down sides. Now ok it says the Steam deck isnt recomended despite the fact I was able to complete the game on the deck. But still in the shit ass economy, GSC did not need to jump the gun with unreal 5 without taking the time to make it run as good as it deos now. Not until the PS5 patch did the game becone massivly playable on PCs even more powerfull then the deck.
Another problem is no A-life. Or it isnt as good as the origonal 3 games due to the fact GSC wanted to give you the wow pow of open world. Like they couldnt just wait 5 years to make A life better or simply choose not to make the game open world. Leave it into divided sections like the old games and keep the old A-life. Another problem is well, the monolith spamming.
Now I get this games a RPG-ish experience. But do they really need to spam exo monolith fucking everywere in prypiate? Prypiate is sopposed to be the most interesting and fun to explore area. And its ruined by all these fucking Jehova slavic chads in the fucking city. Its the equivelent of replacing every normie in the world beside the main character with a giga Chad. Its fucking overwhelming.
Next problem. Somthing I wish they kept from Call of Prypiate was the lower TTK. Bullet sponges are not fun. There shit, not based. Stop it with bullet sponges. Bullet sponges is why I never touched division franchise.
Now for the next problem. The weapon degradation is still fucking exagerated. Its to the point were they wear out way faster then they even would in real life. Like a AK isnt gonna explode in 300 rounds unless your rocking PLUS P ammo. Most guns in real life will degrade in like 50K rounds to 6K rounds.
Back to good stuff. I like how the NV works were you kinda have to be relistic with it. Deosnt look as pretty as in the trailer but oh well. Geuss Ill have to wait for a Steam deck 2 or steam machine for that better NV look. But I like how your forced to tilt all primarys with a small handfull of exceptions. And that NV wont turn every darck ass crack into day light bright, it simply amplifys existing light like in real life.
I also like how they use anomalys like that big ass black whole in Rostok will work as a fast travel and not a major death point like I thought it was the first time I saw it.
Choices. Now the game has 4 endings. Next thread will actually be on why I picked the ward(not for the reasons you think) but I actually thing the 4 endings and the story is actually done perfectly. STALKER is like that one franchise that has a belivable story minus the lab Xs sounding edgy like from a early 2000s game. I also like how the zone is depicted as this malicous beast not worthy of love but theres people that either love the zone or wish to exploit it or wants it dead.
I do feel weapons are slighty and I mean slightly are slightly underwhelming. I feel they could have done a bit more. Like there is no 6P9 depsite there being art of the pistol in the game. I also wish the guns from STALKER anomaly would be on HOC. Like despite anomaly being a fan game, its the ultimate STALKER experience and the big flagship of the franchise so adding some stuff from anomaly would be nice.
Conclusion:
STALKER 2 feel like a game with more potential if it wasnt rushed. Multiple things could have been done better, the story was actually perfect plus characters as well. But everything else kinda needs a bit of love done. Id say its the equivelent of putting a average chef and have them work for one of Marco Peir Whites resturaunts. Its not gonna live up to the standered unless you give it some time & paitience. I hope GSC deos more for HOC. And I have faith they will. But untill then I'll give STALKER 2 a 6.5/10. Still fun but needs some work done.
