S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl - Before You Buy

[@kimjongun4343]

Honestly one of those times I could excuse the unfinished state. Having one of the lead devs die in a war, the actual war happening, covid and the numerous attacks from russian hackers are quite a series of events to go through

[@dridda9117]

damn i didnt know all that, glad they pushed through tho hard times make hard men hard men make good game

[@aneeshazmaton3358]

Man is that true? If so, poor guys and kudos to them for sticking with it

[@Studenthj-m1m]

​@@aneeshazmaton3358yes it's true you xan search documentary film about development that film is a memory to devs who died due to russian invasion

[@drholmes921]

@@aneeshazmaton3358 Yep, it is. russians are mad becouse that's ukrainian made game, and GSC specificly took off russian and if I'm not wrong they blocked the possibility to buy Stalker 2 on russian steam market

[@mythicgoose]

that’s not an excuse for a shit game what smoke are you on? you sound like you get bent over by men, it’s a business end of the day it should of been delayed

[@dominykaszakrys3373]

Vodka does not protect, nor purge radiation, although during the Chernobyl accident the liquidators were all given vodka shots regularly after shifts as it was believed it helps

[@TeronRedoran]

Might be wrong, but I think somewhere in one of the earlier stalkers or a mod for them that they mentioned mixing antiradiation drugs into vodka.

[@deepdivevr7244]

in theory if you drink alcohol your body is dehydrated .it helps with getting in less radiation

[@BrownDist-b1l]

In fact, it was vodka with iodine mixed into it. It specifically stopped iodine-131 from entering your body

[@brendonnorris6831]

Sometimes helping a nervous mind is equaly as important as helping your body

[@TheTrueMerrio]

3.6 Roentgen... not great, not terrible.

[@sethg1338]

TIP! At the end of the prologue, when you have to place the scanner for the 3rd time, before you do, drop ALL your equipment. The next cutscene removes all your equipment, but if you drop all your gear you can return and pick it all back up.

[@Linguinishitfist]

Im about 2 hours in but now I want to restart just to do that and sell all those guns and whatnot lol

[@jadenr1514]

Wish I saw this comment sooner 😂

[@Reverjet]

That are some Clear Sky moves there

[@Reverjet]

That are some Clear Sky moves there

[@LonghornsLegend]

I love comments like these 🙏🏾

[@muaxh03]

Needs optimization for sure but the gameplay is solid imo

[@Travis_Scorsese]

exactly

[@ni7aa425]

Unplayable on console, we have non stop joystick drift since the deadzone of the joysticks is set to 0 and we cant change it yet...

[@Scuba7400]

put scaling method on tsr or dlss then put on frame gen

[@brimestoneopp]

@@ni7aa425 same issue with pc controller.

[@Travis_Scorsese]

@@Scuba7400 thats called the game needing a crutch and its a giant red flag the game is unoptimized.

[@VirginSoccerMom]

Sometimes, a guy in a ghillie suit domes you

[@maze8974]

sometimes, u walk in the woods and a guy in a ghillie suit domes you

[@stevanator69loco]

@@maze8974 rofl* I was scrolling down to find these comments

[@dufflebagg]

Sometimes you'll be walking in the woods and a guy in a ghillie suit you didn't even see just domes you.

[@impe04]

DOMES you

[@spencercorpuz]

Why did he say this twice 😂

[@keithmaliwanag7705]

Vodka can get rid off anything; radiation, problems, depression, wife, family, etc. i mean anything hahahahah

[@lnordin4854]

9:40, enemies so good they dome you twice lol

[@brandonnelson94]

Thought I was having a stroke lol. Good ol editing

[@buckiesmalls]

It will be patched out.

[@geegeeproductions6634]

Even tho I bought the game already I still watch the Before You Buy from gameranx

[@ChristmasLore]

I only watch the Flacon videos.

[@RoccaFelipe]

Did they patched smth already ?

[@taylor-xs8cx]

Same. Watching this while the game downloads lol

[@Coo1gle]

I do that every time lol

[@ChiekoGamers]

Enjoy the bugs on day 1.

[@lifeisagiftdontwasteit]

I have never played the original, but the way you describe this game - the immersion, the need to really pay attention to your surroundings in a gun fight, the lack of ammo, and feeling the effects of every little improvement, the survival aspects, no hud indicators, etc... this to me sounds like everything I am looking for in FPS shooter. This is going straight to #1 on my wish list! Thank you for this amazing, HONEST review. btw seeing that wall tapestry 8:21 was so surreal, I grew up seeing those all over the place in my childhood.. I don't think I've ever seen those anywhere else in a videogame.

[@ghandi1387]

Maybe go play the original, they are on sale.

[@jsalas5400]

Idk what game he played but mine ran and played excellently....super fun, exactly everything you described above. And more. It's a mini horror game mixed with fallout exploring. The more you look around the better. Hope in soon as you can is my suggestion

[@elijahpelito4722]

From what you described I'd recommend going for the metro series next. Ex-devs of the same game inspired by it so they turned it into a linear, russian game(no crafting except the 3rd installment, but doubles the immersion and horror). Highly suggested

[@Desh282]

My childhood

[@slavcow]

In the originals there is no lack of ammo haha, I think I had over 6000 rounds of ak ammo at one point

[@Aussie_Tom]

Day one patch seems like it's improved a lot of the issues I'm seeing reported in reviews. 5 hours in, running it on a 3080ti and i7 12700 with most setting on epic and DLSS on balanced and it's been a very solid 60+ fps, with no overly egregious bugs. Gameplay though, it's STALKER through and through, and as a massive fan of the original trilogy this is exactly what I wanted from a STALKER 2

[@oliverdurgen5953]

you are so full of crap. this reviewer has played the patch. tell us again how you didn't watch the video and you are here as a corporate cuckold to defend the product of a company that doesn't even know you exist. ya wanker. it's ok if people don't like what you like. it's not a personal attack. if you weren't so insecure, you'd already know that. dumb, dumb.

[@OzoneDepleter]

​@shoulderoforion115 i think overall it has to with hardware compatibility. They seem fairly competent, and are pushing patches so soon to make the game better. If they continue to improve it I would expect better frames within a month. For reference I get between 30-75 dlss quality w 3080, 32gb ram, 5950x. Do you have it downloaded on a ssd?

[@DDcasanova]

@@shoulderoforion115 "my pc is better than yours" What you present is interesting, I have an EVGA 3060ti and an AMD 5600GT, barely overclocked, graphics at high and some mediums, I'm at 75fps (some fps drops), vertical on, I'm at 1080p, what resolution are you at? what are you calling lowest resolution? I've seen a lot of people complain that they can't play while trying to force a 4k resolution on a system so poorly optimized that it barely runs Tetris, or without updating the drivers.

[@shoulderoforion115]

@DDcasanova 1080p. I actually just got an update for the game and it fixed the game running so terribly! No longer have a problem it just needed a patch! Can comfortably play at high settings with 120fps without the fsr fram generator!

[@Gandalfthegoldenbird]

4080 here everything on max only issue I have is when I load into a save it takes an absurd time for everything to load in if I’m outside.

[@socrates1000]

Not sure what pre release copy he is reviewing, but I can say, as a day one player, this game is about damn near flawless for the consumer copy. This is GOTY material if ever there has been. It's so refreshing to have a game release that actually feels like it is a completed game. I am over 10 hours in now, and have experienced exactly one bug. and that was when I hit "continue" on the main menu, it crashed. But that is the only bug I have had. Absolutely amazing game, and if anyone is wondering, should I pick it up now, I can fully say, absolutely. This game is about as polished as they come, and it is day one. 10/10 in my opinion. As someone who plays GAMMA, I do wish they would have added in a hardcore mode that allows for that truly desolate feeling of needing to repair weapon and armor components.. but that's why we have modders, and they have added mod support. This is truly a must buy.

[@victorjeannet8014]

Yeah same ! The game feels gooooood

[@SeriousDragonify]

Not even close t goty. Gameplay is boring and very repetitive. Wukong definitely is GOTY.

[@nfals6134]

There's no way this is GOTY man, stop the glazing. i've been 8 hours in and encounter several bugs, some are gamebreaking

[@starioncostumes]

7 hours livestream, 0 crashes, only minor bugs. But beautiful world, great story, interesting characters.

[@Juliencharb]

Console or Pc?

[@MegaWizarrd]

If so than good. Kinda expected cyberpunk like launch (im from ua so i can preemptively shit on our developers:3 )

[@Zachc895]

@MegaWizarrd Game is in a much more playable state than Cyberpunk was at launch at least on PC could personally care less though just wanted to support UA devs

[@sirdernosoftides8137]

12 hours 12 bugs Corrupted save T-pose characters, bodies cut in half walking Falling through the world on saves PC

[@MegaWizarrd]

@ eh, 12 bugs in 12 hours is not that bad, i expected it to be infested like Asmons house tbh

[@alexdietrich7975]

As a veteran player I will say this is one of the toughest starts to a stalker game. I definitely died a LOT in the first 3 hours from situations that were just completely out of my capabilities, or some interesting AI bugs at the beginning of the game that made npc's only aggro me at moments when they usually would in-fight. Frustrating. But baby we are so back.

[@Darkdiver28]

I felt exactly the same way. Its the hardest start for a stalker game. Especially when you get encounters with (you know the mutant) very early in the game. Its nuts. Im surprised devs didnt hold back. Definitely a work worthy successor. Newcomers are going to be shitting their pants

[@thischannelhasanameright1954]

These are not bugs, buddy. There is no A-life system im this game, it's a feature, not a bug!

[@Jake-777-7]

Stop calling yourself a veteran. You play video games. You are not a veteran just because you play video games.

[@freda7961]

@@Jake-777-7 What's the problem? Probably he's had long experience in the field of playing video games? This fits the dictionary meaning of "veteran." So a veteran player.

[@D-Boy22]

@@freda7961 thats exactly what he meant. The other guy is just high or something.

[@actualyoungsoo]

I love the Bethesda-style quick save system. Being able to save before jumping off a radio tower or shooting a random NPC by pressing F5 is just awesome. Every single player game should implement this.

[@Cyan37]

Bethesda did not invent quick-saving but yes, it's neat.

[@colbylikes7906]

You mean the Stalker style saving? Bethesda didn't create that

[@vr_vlad]

I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic or not, but most PC shooters had quick saves since as early as late 80s, and that was the standard until publishers started prioritizing consoles.

[@BasedBebs]

F5 quick-save has been an industry standard key-bind for over a decade, where have you been?

[@MrFarquar]

​@@BasedBebswell, Bethesda have been about for longer than a decade 🤣 for sure they didn't invent quick saves, but it also wasn't invented 10 yesr ago 🤣

[@Hitithardify]

Waited so long for this game to come out, that I actually went to Ukraine as a volunteer during the war in the meantime. Happy it’s finally here!

[@shmilk]

based

[@dumpinieks1809]

based

[@Сайтамен]

Became a stalker irl.

[@4rl0ng]

Damn, what a chad

[@puppykitten4779]

Don't let the dogs bite you, stalker

[@lucasvellios3162]

Who up gamin their ranx rn?

[@Azari99]

Hella ranx gamed rn

[@DuSeun]

rn up ranked games

[@hydro3672]

Reset my Ranx just so I could game them again 🫡

[@brandonreyes7113]

Ranxed mine 20 mins ago

[@2Guys1ControllerShow]

Huh?

[@synysterkatz6911]

4:08 ksi referenced

[@GreezyCreEEepZz]

Yea

[@SeriousDragonify]

Who?

[@jadenwallace]

Who ?

[@Toje87]

I am a huge fan of Stalker series, played all of them. I had read original Strugatsky brothers book, later I read fan fiction books as well. And the most cool thing I experienced was real life RP games with airsoft guns. Guys made bar, bases, played real characters, made monster costumes and RP monsters. I remember when I first time stepped in the bar and heard the music from the game I felt sooo in.

[@anaguma90]

That sounds really cool

[@soluciones11s.a.s81]

Holy shit man that Airsoft experience sounds dope!

[@Toje87]

@@soluciones11s.a.s81 yeah. In my first game I was a free stalker obviously :) I just tried to survive, no money no experience only pistol and 10 rounds. But you can by a weapon in the bar( your own rifle you gave to barman before the game start). I was looking for artifacts and was hiding from monsters and bandits. But the next game I joined bandits and did old good “gopstop” :) but still ran away from duty and military guys )))

[@tenr0h]

@@Toje87 which country?

[@iconoclast_rain]

dude. dope. as. fuck.

[@SpadGame]

Sounds like it's a "wait a month or two for patches" type of game. Look really cool though!

[@adity-m2g]

Literally any PC game these days trash optimization is like a new must for PC games

[@shpeeva]

more like a year

[@TwistedFuchsia]

shewt its wait a year or two and get it 50-75% off for any game nowadays.

[@decus9544]

No it's a 'play it now, enjoy it for the buggy mess it is, then play it again in 2 years once they've ironed out most of the bugs and there are mods for it' game :) Just like the original!

[@littleaxtedeath]

I've played for 10 hours straight there's a couple bugs but none game breaking

[@RufioGamerPlays]

Best review on the internet so far. For the newcomers, all STALKER games are buggy, that’s just the way it is. I won’t even get into mods. If you haven’t played any STALKER game before, you’ll struggle a lot at the beginning. But for veterans, it’s just too easy, tons of loot, crazy amounts of healing, etc. It’s not a 100% survival mode. Whether you play on Veteran or Easy, both feel like Easy mode. If you’re looking for a real challenge, wait for mods or play STALKER GAMMA. They’ve kept so much of the “old-school” vibe but also catered to newcomers. Peace!👍

[@jacobb-c7946]

i've played about an hour, the only bug I had was I had to restart the game because the first artifact wasn't spawning in so I couldn't progress. other than that its honestly feels exactly how I wanted it too. I'm not too bothered by bugs, I mean I loved cyberpunk when It first came out and we all know what that was like. if you love the franchise and don't mind putting up with some bugs (and can run the damn thing) then its definitely worth considering now or at least keeping informed on updates.

[@superblahblah666]

I just had the same thing happen to me on PC submitted a bug report on their website

[@deathrowy2k]

Could you not load a previous save? I save often in every game because you never know.

[@ColdFear6666]

"The only bug I had was a gamebreaking bug at the start" the ONLY, lmao 😂

[@yotadinz270]

​@@ColdFear6666well he did say only. so?

[@jacobb-c7946]

@ I did multiple times, didn’t fix it until I restarted the game, I even started a new save and that didn’t even help.

[@splitt2678]

game is great tbh

[@2Guys1ControllerShow]

I hope it's fixed soon. I've already had to restart the game four times because of hard crashes and problems with the UI that just will not go away.

[@ionutbalta6607]

​@@2Guys1ControllerShow Its not a STALKER game if you don't need to save constantly from fear fear of bugs.

[@umb3rto641]

i fucking lost game saves from 3hrs of gameplay an had to start again, so xbox app version is.. mid at best rn, other than that game itself is wjat metro could have been like

[@Travis_Scorsese]

this game is very unoptimized, they need to fix that and it'll be playable. im on a 3080, 5800X3D which should be able to run this in a good state.

[@IsaacSerene]

Nope

[@agentham]

7:34 As a Tarkov player, I can 100% relate. Scavs have been going WILD with nades the past wipe or 2.

[@SeriousDragonify]

Yeah but Tarkov is in Russia. This game isnt because theyre xenophobic.

[@Sevo-]

Get ready Stalkers! Its time I hope to see you in the zone. Remember these aren't glitches or bugs theyre anomalies. Beyond excited.

[@isaactrejo2926]

If only it not being able to run good on my 4070 super was a glitch 🙄 they need to fix this shit i was so excited

[@Frisky_Panda]

Nah this game runs like crap

[@Travis_Scorsese]

get ready stalkers! lets lower our gaming standards because forget good performance and a general expectation of quality. lets fork over money for a terribly made game that should've been delayed and play tested.

[@youMatterItDoesGetBetter]

@@Travis_Scorsese There is no money in QA/play testing anymore. You just release an unfinished product and update it along the way. I miss the 90s/2000s when there were no updates.

[@reed1645]

@@Travis_Scorsese I mean considering what the dev team went through to get the game ready i'd say they deserve a pass more than most. Plus the actual game seems pretty great, they just need more time to get the bugs patched.

[@grxveyard5304]

Bit of a warning for those playing atm: If you go into your inventory and then to your menu whilst inventory is open to save your game, it WILL cause your game to become unresponsive. I was stuck looking in one direction, couldn't attack, crouch, jump or pull out any weapons and was stuck moving only in one direction up until the moment I opened the menu and closed it again. This then ended up breaking the game entirely and forced me to restart the game. *LUCKILY* my game autosaved before this happened. I'm also on Series X, so, I'm not sure if this is a bug on Series S or PC; but be careful not to do this. You could lose some progression if you haven't manually saved for a bit or autosave hasn't kicked in yet. The one enemy who can turn invisible to walk around you and turn visible once close to attack also has a bug that causes them to *STAY* invisible, making it extremely frustrating to deal with them and kind of makes it look like you're fighting a ghost.

[@ThePuppetMaster33]

Xbox problem only

[@teknodopamine0479]

Thanks for the heads up 👍

[@roastchicken7732]

Yeh I lost all my progress no idea why, I manually saved before closing the game down and numerous auto saves, frustrating but the game is so good so it softened the blow a little

[@GrimWarJeff]

Happened to me on PC. I was so confused and thought the game was focusing me to enter a building but then it just kept auto pointing in and out of the door. It didn't happen while in any menus but just getting close to that door and building would cause it to happen . Thank god it was only an outside cabin area with no loot inside. So I reloaded a save from right before going close to that building and avoided that area at all costs. So far it's fine but PC is having a problem with random massive fps drops that I need to shut down the game and reload and go through that long loading screen before the start menu. I have a healthy computer with a 4070 card . But I'm powering through all that cause the game is pretty damn good. It's nothing game breaking for now but knowing it'll all get better as the days pass makes me have hope and keep going. Great game

[@ThePuppetMaster33]

@GrimWarJeff your original comment said xbox series x. Now your talking about being on pc? Lol sounds like you're just a bot commenter.

[@igorp.7853]

Played yesterday for 3 hours, didn’t see any gliches, only a FPS drops in the first village. Other than that - the game is superb, atmospheric and immersive! Graphics are astonishing and the Zone feels unforgivable for those who rush or act lightheaded (playing on Veteran difficulty)! I am very happy with this game!

[@Puck_out]

Is it hard on the graphics?

[@matejnovotny8909]

@@Puck_out Yep, unfortunately it is, i have a 3080 and am running it on middle settings in 1080p, probably could go to high with a bit of tweaking. The optimization will get better as patches come out but its not a light game. If you have a low end pc try the older stalker games, they are amazing (especially with a few mods) and run on a toaster.

[@Clarke73lol]

How do you pick up the fire attract in the cave behind where you save that guy who was capture due to gambling debt?

[@Puck_out]

@@matejnovotny8909 Thx bud!

[@igorp.7853]

@@Puck_out I strongly disagree with @matejnovotny8909's statement. I have an RTX 3080, AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D, 32GB of DDR5 RAM running at 6000MT/s, and I'm playing Stalker 2 on an ultra-wide monitor (3440x1440 resolution, roughly 3K) with the game installed on an M.2 SSD. All my settings are maxed out on ULTRA, and I'm consistently getting 54-58 FPS. The only significant FPS drop occurs in the village, where it dips to around 32-38 FPS. However, aside from that, the performance remains stable at 54-58 FPS. The graphics and animations-especially during bad weather events like storms, lightning, and electric anomalies-are absolutely stunning!

[@Medicbobs]

Been playing for 8 hours today and it's pretty damn amazing!!

[@griffinneal640]

I'm so happy to see this game come to light after it being delayed due to the Russia/Ukraine war. And to have it come out as a banger earns my respect

[@PrimeNPC]

It was announced in 2010 lol. "Delayed due to war in 2022" what are you smoking?

[@breakinmadly]

@@PrimeNPC NPCs commonly attribute the games buggy unoptimized messes to the war in Eastern Europe. Truly clueless 😂 game has been in development for a decade and due to money mismanagement and staff mismanagement took that whole decade to come up with a product that is inferior to the original trilogy in one absolutely major aspect - the A Life is so shit in comparison with a limited range of 100 meters…in a map that’s 60km wide.

[@pavlomorhun]

@@PrimeNPCit was announced in 2018. The 2010 game was canceled, and studio have been closed.

[@PrimeNPC]

@@pavlomorhun It was announced again after several years had been spent working on it. You think they scrapped years of work and started fresh in 2018? The fan boy cope is hilarious

[@pavlomorhun]

@ only what you can save from 2012 year, some story, ideas and no more. Too much time passed and engine change, old team gone.

[@Pendy13131]

The Bloodsucker in the intro is such a Stalker way of filtering those thinking they are ready for the hardest difficulty.

[@roywennekes8548]

Liking that this one is in widescreen! Also, getting domed by a guy in a ghillie suit TWICE (9:41) is a vibe :)

[@BelmontWaltz57]

I gotta say that house clearing at 8:04 was smooth. You hit the headlamp for better visibility going inside, checked every corner moving in, and even when you were distracted by the yawning chasm in the floor you still checked the last room before you investigated further.

[@LodewijkVrije]

if its like what people are saying, that there currently is no A-Life system in the game, then it was not worth the wait, because then it can not be considered a proper stalker game. currently downloading so we'll see. but the A-life system is what made the previous games so unique compared to other open world shooter games. for those that don't know the A-Life system in the stalker games was a persistent AI system. even if you could not see a NPC on the other side of the map, that NPC was still being simulated in the background, it was not being rendered. but it was being simulated. there are very few scripted events in the original stalker games when you are in the open world. NPC squads of all factions are moving around the open world, they have the same needs as player characters in terms of food and water, they can trade with each other. so to fulfill their needs, they would go looking for food, or ways to make money, they would even attempt to hunt artifacts (they would die most times, but its besides the point) packs of mutant dogs would roam around hunting for food. this caused encounters to be very dynamic. as you could run into NPC's who were in the middle of a patrol, or scavving a location, or running from a pack of mutants. you could walk into a location, find a group of friendly scavs, and think this is a good place to stay during the night, and then you'd wake up in the middle of a gunfight because another group of hostile NPC's on a patrol, are now fighting the friendly scavs you were hanging out with. and it would not be just a scripted encounter that got spawned in when the player moved into a trigger box, they were fully dynamic encounters. there are allot of videos that show, and allot of people saying this system is completely absent in STALKER 2. and that lots of evens seem to be just scripted events that spawn in when the player comes within a certain distance. this is really sad.

[@Fjdjfjsz92938]

Stalker 2 is still a really good game though, also pfp Buuntas the goat

[@carrot6788]

Regardless of it being scripted or not unless you are slow and watch a whole ass series on the game before playing it the encounters will still be new and random to you you could obviously argue that it makes replays worse but the game is massive so good luck remembering all the scripted little events

[@cl0ckisg0d58]

I actually saw a developer video that was saying how the npcs are always doing their thing I. The world and you could follow them across the maps watching as they did things. So I think it is in there.

[@99bajakid]

If this can bring back that first time I played fallout 3 i'll be happy af. That was the first time I completely immersed myself in a world + the environmental storytelling was great

[@LordKarenn]

for me the game feels allot like when i played Fallout 3 for the first time.

[@BuckScrotumn]

That’s the goat. The single greatest gaming experience in my entire life was Fallout 3 the first time around.

[@ТАДАМ-ю4ж]

Mine was New Vegas, way better than 3​@@BuckScrotumn

[@mightykremit6068]

If you have the gear to run it good enough, this is a game you can get lost in. The typical “4 hours go by when you thought it was 30 minutes” vibe. It drips with atmosphere. As a fan since SoC’s release in 07, I am so pleased.

[@LordKarenn]

@@ТАДАМ-ю4ж 100%

[@jjdogj11]

I am almost 10 hours in and haven't even left the first region yet. And I am loving every minute of it. Also I haven't experienced any bugs except for frame drops in the main town of Zalissya. Other than that it's smooth sailing

[@dominiclacroix9489]

i started yesterday and boy was it rough lol. The tutorial skipped over how to light the flash light and i was stuck in a dark tunnel with no light until i figured out how to light it. Its very rough but once you are out of the tutorial its where the fun start. The tutorial is super linear (but very useful)

[@jeshuggah7325]

I am about five hours in and it really is a STALKER game. A really damn good one as well. It feels a bit harder than previous titles but it's not in any way unbalanced or "unfair". If you get your ass handed to you at a location, maybe gear up a bit more and return at a later time idk. I haven't even encountered too many bugs at this point. The radio static disappearing I did witness and some weird door physics but nothing too bad yet. The performance is the main negative for sure as I get a barely acceptable experience with my 3070Ti and Ryzen 5600X both overclocked to oblivion. I am eager to see what the future brings for STALKER!

[@tvdb7185]

Bugs will be fixed its not a problem for me is the story and atmosphère are good ??

[@ShyLaBoof]

Hows your frames looking like? Im one 3070ti 12600k

[@AN-fl1yt]

Are you playing at 1440p?

[@thischannelhasanameright1954]

Yeah, real stalker game with no A-life system, seems about right.

[@icepick7408]

This game is kinda ass. yeah it looks good but, the ai is so bad compared to the last games, they only added like 9 kinds of mutants, like 6 different anomalies, like 9 artifacts. the previous games have so much more little details. the best way to play stalker is the gamma mod.

[@just_cuz_i_can0]

Drinking vodka = no radiation ☢️

[@xrodrockx2100]

Btw, Vodka named "Козаки" meaning "Cossack" - reference to another GSC game.

[@San9dom]

No vodka. Gorilka😏🇺🇦

[@Oblico1Morale]

Thanks for the review! I played the first STALKER when it came out. I remember it being janky, buggy and unstable. It ran horrendously on my PC at the time, giving 20-30 FPS at a resolution of 1024x768. I also remember playing through the entire game like that and loving it to bits. This is what I expect - a quintessential slav-jank experience with unique feeling of exploration, adventure and survival I won't find anywhere else. Bugs can be fixed, and as long as the soul of the game is there (that seems to be the case) - I will buy it and play it. I am one of those people for whom STALKER scratches a particular itch, something no other game really does.

[@Br0nXe]

This game is just complete yes theres bugs and all but i absolutely love this game so far!! Just like Space Marine 2 its amazing so far!!!

[@Doom_Guy__]

I'm ready to return to the zone with all of its slav jank. And the best part, when the devs and modders iron out the kinks, it'll be even better. CHEEKI BREEKI my friends...

[@wolfinthesno]

This video is exactly why Gameranx is my source of gaming info. A balanced well thought out video explaining just how good the game is, just how difficult it is, and just how buggy it is without over dramatizing it at all. This video summed up exactly how I felt, in my 4-6 hours with it yesterday.

[@richhomiiejon]

9:38 "Just Domes you"......"Just DOMES you" lol

[@franciscoapolinar2316]

dude yes they put both takes in there lmao

[@carpelunam]

give me that straight down gameplay

[@SirDiesel]

I love how you and skill up take your time and do it right and don't try to rush a video out the first 5 minutes I gladly wait for your much higher quality reviews ❤

[@Zoli.V]

Still hurts me to see fps games played on a controller.

[@Zoli.V]

Bruh. 6:06

[@recore67onload]

4:08 IN THE THICK OF IT 😱

[@jdauk04]

everybody knows!

[@DayngerDayne]

From the screen 📺

[@meaniesnake7037]

To the ring ​🥊 @@DayngerDayne

[@Horizon-17]

To the pen

[@Unintelligent_memes]

To the king

[@TPGKDUB]

The invisible thing that slams boxes into you just run 😂😂😂- Game tip 1#

[@KARINA-joy]

Thanks for all the info about this game.

[@SomeShows]

As someone who bought Stalker when it came out in 07, it’s not a new release from GSC if it’s not breaking in a number of ways on day 1 and beyond. It’s simply part of the meta

[@thetomdanks]

someone gets it

[@sturmmagnunstein1008]

😂 Thats part of the meta that id rather not have to experience!

[@eliswit7422]

Yall just read my mind by posting this.

[@brood5184]

Literally just turned on my pc to see how the game is. Perfect timing.

[@mariusv.8965]

The detail of the "white noise" present on screen as if the video sensor is subjected to radiation is an awesome attention to details!

[@MarfeusM]

Do they have someone in a ghillie suit and domes you ?

[@MrJman967]

Walking around looks so cinematic

[@RedWolfenstein]

Walking simulator

[@connor80059]

​@@RedWolfensteinoh you expected a fortnite surfboard to travel in an apocalyptic world

[@niavellir7408]

@@connor80059yes I did

[@connor80059]

@@niavellir7408 too sad for you they didn't add cart racing in this one

[@AbeIsMean]

Tip: There is fast travel between major settlements. Talk to all NPCs until you find a "Guide". Warning, their services aren't cheap.

[@Makkar0onii]

Can't blame them for any flaws to be honest. The developers have been through a lot. From company shutdown to real-life war. Took them a long time to get to where they are. They endure. Most likely all of these things will be fix as well as improve.

[@xacvhFAs]

😴

[@annusaidshave9890]

You can indeed blame them

[@rileyduncanracing1293]

@@annusaidshave9890salty you got a shit pc lol

[@DixieDaydreamer]

Jeez, I remember buying the metal boxed edition of the OG back in the day, came out of nowhere from an unheard of studio and just blew everyone away! I think for me what made it so special was that I was used to FPS games like Quake at the time, unlimited ammo and just a few enemies but this was a whole new world, literally. You were constantly on edge from the title screen to the "exit game" menu option, you were always aware of how much ammo, food and clothing every second worried you'd be cuaght somewhere by something and not be able to survive. I rarely buy anything "zero day", I almost always wait for the first Steam sale on any new game, gives the devs time to patch out the worst bugs. It;s been a few years wait already so I think I can wait 3-6 months. Looks good, looks classic and I can't wait to get in there but when it's more stable.

[@tedbear631]

Didn't play the first one but I've always heard good things and I have this one wish listed. I LOVED Fallout 3 because of the open world and monsters fighting each other, vendors and rogue NPC's and the longers quests like helping the science babe in Megaton and helping the Bros of Steel. Plus I've always loved harder games like this. One of my other favs was Metro Exodus because it was very realist and that made it a blast to play. And lets be honest when has a hard game like this not been a tad frustrating at times. I think back to that one optional mission in Fallout 3 where you end up saving the platoon of troops stuck ontop of a building filled with Super Muties and that place is a giant pain but at the time but very memorable and really hard to get through and you're almost ready to get attacked again when you make it to the roof and find the troops for the first time. Love games like this and I'm glad to see from the comments that I'm not the only one.

[@suburbantimewaster9620]

Thanks for all the info about this game. As someone with a tight budget, I have to be careful about what I buy.

[@5hrimp_Nachos]

Time is more valuable than money yet your handle suggests you don’t mind wasting that. Jk 😂

[@Ccubed92]

You should be focus on working and getting a better job than gaming. No way you should be struggling but gaming your time away

[@runek100]

I mean it has no denuvo

[@1738-l1j]

Just birate it

[@ModestPavement]

Always love the guy that comes to a game channel and judges people for playing games lol. ​@Ccubed92

[@kinderakakid]

Xbox X version. 3 hours in. atmosphere is great, gamepad gameplay is great, graphics are great. really minor issues, like some FPS drops and got stuck in a car once, that I wasn't supposed to get into.

[@mr.bonski709]

Hello! As your resident radiation protection technician, some radioactive isotopes, mainly those insoluble like metals, can in fact pass through the body through natural processes like pee and poop if inhaled or ingested. Gamma radiation is more like a radio-wave, it kind of just goes through you, where beta and alpha radiation are actual particles. Those ones can pass through. Alpha is less likely to pass due to its size. Causes a lot of damage too. Just thought I’d share!

[@davidludwig7501]

This game is dope af. It reminds me of the og Stalker and that's a good thing. I'm getting 100 plus fps on epic settings. No crashes. I am gonna be spending a lot of time in this game. See you in the zone Stalkers. Stay safe out there.

[@JadaEbong]

I had no clue this was coming out anytime soon!

[@MetalGamer666]

I'll leave it in the oven for a few months to let it cook with more patches and updates.

[@kaylaeaton7538]

0:53 *cough cough* gladiator 2 *cough cough*

[@Visitor______________________v]

good review as always, but why you play on a PC with a controller is beyond me

[@J_Da_Don]

Jake: "Also, the enemies are extremely grenade happy" Me: - Experiencing traumatizing flashbacks of COD World at War Veteran difficulty-

[@brandonreyes7113]

Really bummed about the state of the game but ima give it 6 months get it on gamepass and most likely enjoy it

[@ste4392]

Yeh game sounds brilliant, just a load of bugs. Probably needs some polish and it'll be worth playing

[@Jamie-1428]

It runs fine y'all

[@brandonreyes7113]

@@Jamie-1428only got series x and I assume it will be serviceable I’ll be able to see later

[@rockon609]

@@Jamie-1428just saying something doesn’t make it true. Lots of people have bugs and performance issues. Your experience doesn’t speak for all of humanity

[@Drifter18903]

Honestly I have learned that the best way to play any single player game is wait for 1-2 years after release when all bugs have been fixed and all DLC are out in a discounted bundle. Buy the whole bundle at like 50% or less when on sale. There is no rush to buy any new game anymore for me, I have like 50 games i bought I need to work through still.....

[@xrodrockx2100]

I've played Witcher 3 after 5 years from release and it still had glitched missions and quest, you cannot complete.

[@yakovlevskiy]

If you want good games, you buy good games at the start or shortly after. Naturally, any product becomes obsolete, even intellectual property. I can't blame you for that. But still, everything costs money, any human labor does. there is no need to avoid this fact.

[@Drifter18903]

​@@yakovlevskiy What are you even talking about? Do you think games become worse the longer you wait to buy it? Who said it didn't cost money? Are you dumb?

[@Drifter18903]

@@xrodrockx2100 Yea well now it has next gen graphic update with ray tracing and two big ass DLCs for half the price.

[@Lacaze89]

@@yakovlevskiy What? What are you smoking man, you must be trolling.

[@Shrooms-gud4ya]

So basically STALKER being STALKER ... can't wait for the MOD community to do the thing :)

[@dridda9117]

can always rely on the modding/gaming community to do what the devs cant do

[@leman7648]

Man, it's the first day for game 60km² on Unreal 5 with not a big studio like Ubisoft or Bethesda, and with all those problems, what devs faced.

[@xelusprime]

Painful to see a PC FPS game with a controller.

[@cheaperthantherapy5918]

Guys I’m up gamin my ranx rn.

[@taylorp3685]

This is exactly what the true and original stalker fans wanted. We got it all in a beautiful package. This has hit the nail on the head and the bugs in this game a far less the the originals games so it is an improvement in my eyes

[@blanketparty5259]

Im sorry but when did lack of indicators in games become shocking to people ? Why tf do you need to be notified if a grenade falls near you. Or a pointer showing where enemies are firing from?

[@1D991]

Especially in an age where almost everyone owns a headset. Directional sound is thete for a reason lol

[@leman7648]

It was like when people faced FromSoftware games for the first time

[@Teraplexor1]

Hope the day one patch fixes all the issues I've heard about it..

[@AlixPalix]

Probably not, day one patches aren't magic spells.

[@BurnedOutWeeb]

​​@@AlixPalixplus the whole Russia/Ukraine war thing.

[@crimsonchunk7811]

Playing it now and unfortunately it's still pretty bad.

[@Teraplexor1]

@@crimsonchunk7811 would you say it's still worth playing if I've got game pass?

[@aleks_jones]

@@BurnedOutWeeb they moved their office to prague shortly after the war started...

[@MrFarquar]

Slight optimization requirements are all I have seen needed. If STALKER 2 launched under cooked, 90% of games released the last 5 years released RAW.

[@NAK5315]

It's free in Gamepass so I might swell looks pretty neat in graphics and gameplay tho

[@prozoomy]

Console version has no controller dead zones. From what reviews say. So hook up a mouse and keyboard and enjoy

[@thanos-xy8si]

its fun af on the series x,. havent had any problems

[@prozoomy]

@@thanos-xy8si that's good 👍 .

[@Christ1732]

​@@thanos-xy8siHow come you haven't had stick drift problems?

[@TheBigTone100]

@@Christ1732because he’s not playing on ps5

[@cormacrquinn6859]

so funny to watch someone trying to aim with a controller :D

[@zenzibar28]

Optimization issues in a game developed by a team in an active warsone should be nothing short of expected. I think you said it perfectly that "not everyone has the patience" to push through the bugs on launch but for those who do this game is fantastic and hits the stalker vibe perfectly for me

[@valleyboyc4]

Sometimes a guy in a ghillie suit just DoMeS YeW. 9:40

[@Todd-vf6lu]

4:09 I'm in the thick of it, everybody knows They know me where it snows, I skied in and they froze I don't know no nothin' 'bout no ice, I'm just cold Forty somethin' milli' subs or so, I've been told I'm in my prime and this ain't even final form They knocked me down, but still, my feet, they find the floor I went from living rooms straight out to sold-out tours Life's a fight, but trust, I'm ready for the war Woah-oh-oh This is how the story goes Woah-oh-oh I guess this is how the story goes I'm in the thick of it, everybody knows They know me where it snows, I skied in and they froze I don't know no nothin' 'bout no ice, I'm just cold Forty somethin' milli' subs or so, I've been told From the screen to the ring, to the pen, to the king Where's my crown? That's my bling Always drama when I ring See, I believe that if I see it in my heart Smash through the ceiling 'cause I'm reachin' for the stars Woah-oh-oh This is how the story goes Woah-oh-oh I guess this is how the story goes I'm in the thick of it, everybody knows They know me where it snows, I skied in and they froze (woo) I don't know no nothin' 'bout no ice, I'm just cold Forty somethin' milli' subs or so, I've been told Highway to heaven, I'm just cruisin' by my lone' They cast me out, left me for dead, them people cold My faith in God, mind in the sun, I'm 'bout to sow (yeah) My life is hard, I took the wheel, I cracked the code (yeah-yeah, woah-oh-oh) Ain't nobody gon' save you, man, this life will break you (yeah, woah-oh-oh) In the thick of it, this is how the story goes I'm in the thick of it, everybody knows They know me where it snows, I skied in and they froze I don't know no nothin' 'bout no ice, I'm just cold Forty somethin' milli' subs or so, I've been told I'm in the thick of it, everybody knows (everybody knows) They know me where it snows, I skied in and they froze (yeah) I don't know no nothin' 'bout no ice, I'm just cold Forty somethin' milli' subs or so, I've been told (ooh-ooh) Woah-oh-oh (nah-nah-nah-nah, ayy, ayy) This is how the story goes (nah, nah) Woah-oh-oh I guess this is how the story goes

[@SleepyGhst]

It’s Tarkov meets fallout. For veterans of stalker. This is what we wanted. The community will cook the game with mods and make it the wishgranter we dreamed of. We were here for the engine and platform. The story and what’s here now is essentially just a starter course. It’s a great day for us cheeki breekis.

[@ozidarkstar9956]

Heck yes! Slava Ukraini!

[@armabearo]

Title change "before you play" cause lord knows everyone who loved stalker pre ordered it

[@badmonkey244]

It is also on gamepass 😅

[@arutzuki2491]

speak for yourself

[@dontworrybehappy1677]

Will developers ever release a game that doesn’t require multiple patches at launch?

[@holdupits420]

No cause u keep buying it

[@jibsij3964]

@@dontworrybehappy1677 I mean it’s really hard to release something for so many systems broski like there’s so many different builds and pc kits out there u have to think about so many different factores its crazy so yeah I can’t blame developers at all

[@cantgameright]

As always "before you buy" is extraordinarily comprehensive yet blunt, positive and constructive. I love it. Stalker 2 is everything I, as a fan, want it to be so far. 6 hours in it performed reliably on xbox albeit with VRR being a must-have for the performance mode. Only one bad bug, nothing serious. Love it ❤❤❤

[@BeerNationHustle]

So basically hold off for 6 months and this game will be golden.

[@jaygee5874]

Depends on how the war goes unfortunately

[@willhutton1516]

Also depends on if you can handle bugs and such. If you only grew up on the past 10 years of games, you’ll hate stalker 2. If your like me, who grew up over 20 years of games, this is par for the course. Also, there’s competition in finding the most bugs lol.

[@Ezdine_G8261]

@@jaygee5874 they're not in it

[@jaygee5874]

@@Ezdine_G8261 some of the devs got conscripted. If they raise the draft age again they might lose some members

[@originalityisdead.9513]

@@jaygee5874 They're in Prague. Not Ukraine.

[@loganmosling3314]

I wonder if a guy in a ghillie suit just domed him 9:36

[@MattWilliams-x7v]

As someone who never played the originals, it reminds me a whole lot of fallout 3-4 in the best possible way in how you really want to explore everything and there’s danger everywhere. And also the difficulty is Witcher 3ish and that makes it even better during the gunfights and against monsters and the combat is definitely better than fallout 3-4 and much more challenging with better AI. I’m playing on the Xbox and haven’t encountered any issues yet although I’m early on I just got finished with the debt collection mission and without spoiling anything it went down in ways I really wasn’t expecting. I love it.

[@Kudejikashi]

from what i gathered from other reviewers is that if you aren't someone who tends to play hardcore games you will not be used to certain mechanics and think they are bugs (the game does have issues though) someone thought the mind manipulation from the dogs was a bug.

[@jamespurs]

I'm so for the scrappy, full swing gameplay. Im shocked and amazed how this studio brought this game to light with the current world issues.

[@BlueAirCookies]

Your reviews are super well written and flow nicely. This video wasn't the typical "let me yap about my opinions" video game review. I can see the effort. Good work!

[@Andrew-vj7nr]

I thought of KSI song at 4:08

[@vincevaughn2224]

Fuck so did i

[@bigcheese82]

Sounds like STALKER 2077 on early release

[@babycarl0s]

Stimpee would be proud of the pronunciation of "domes" 9:40

[@Js17011]

0:15 vivec city?

[@-_-SAG3-_-]

Morrowind lol

[@fragkia3]

How and why?!

[@FailingUpwardz]

No. Nerd.

[@kxmmissar_krieg7754]

What?

[@Nobodysurvivesevenonebit]

Might be good game this year

[@JLeeCN]

This industry has fallen so far from grace. I can't remember the last time I bought a game at launch and it wasn't a disappointment. If gaming continues on the trajectory its been on the last 5 years it will be dead within the decade.

[@bkirk0510]

I personally got Astro Bot and Silent Hill 2 Remake on day one and both were fantastic all the way through. SH2R did end up having a bug after launch associated with an update but it was fixed before I got to that part in the game.

[@ObsoleteIntelligence]

No mention of frame rate issues? Was getting annoyed just watching.

[@chadandrews6333]

...just do yourselves a favor.... Don't. Utter garbage.

[@alexandercoull220]

This is my first stalker game, I'm playing it on game pass and it's great!

[@billydiesel8520]

Playing on PC but using a controller? lmfao

[@billydiesel8520]

Jesus that controller aim.

[@mike_850]

Gotta have the worst of both worlds, right?