Stalker 2 was made in the midst of war. You’ve probably heard how Ukranian studio GSC Game World bussed workers out of the country shortly before the Russian invasion. Or how some developers have died in the war. While the first-person shooter released this week doesn’t assault the player with overt references to that ongoing conflict, small glimpses of Ukrainian nationalism do peek through – the flag’s colours on a box of matches, a field of poppies marking the eerie resting spot of fallen soldiers.
Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl review Developer: GSC Game WorldPublisher: GSC Game WorldPlatform: Played on PCAvailability: Out now on PC (Steam) and Xbox Series X/S
In the end, there are far fewer references to Europe’s geopolitical nightmare than there are glitches and bugs. You’re not getting an ambitious but broken shooter with Stalker 2, you’re getting an ambitious but broken shooter that has more reason to be glitchy than any game in recent history. It can feel petty, in such circumstances, to mention the twitching leg of a random NPC. And yet, to ignore those bugs would be an equal disservice, especially when they almost feel like an essential part of Stalker as a series. After 30 hours of traipsing the wasteland, there is a weird sense that Stalker 2 is more of a Bethesda game than even Todd Howard can ship.
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For those unfamiliar with the previous games, you’ll be thrown into its world as forgivably as can be expected. Your character, Skif, has his home destroyed by a meteor-like macguffin, and comes to “the Zone” to find out what said macguffin is. The Zone is a huge tract of land around Chornobyl, cordoned off by a massive perimeter wall, behind which lies all sorts of mutants, anomalies, radiation, and paramilitaries. And when I say huge, I mean that. It’s 64km squared, meaning you can squeeze Fallout 4 into it six times – or three Death Strandings, which is maybe a better comparison, considering the amount of quiet walking through deserted space you’ll be doing.