S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 Review - "Buy It, Wait for a Sale, Deep Deep Sale, Never Touch?"

[@PicklzWasTaken]

"it has bugs" Splendid. I was worried the sequel just wouldn't FEEL like stalker

[@666kuzya666]

"It`s not a bug! It`s an anomaly"

[@befayedocrimes4751]

Everybody complaining about bugs and I'm just like IT'S PERFECT DON'T TOUCH IT Much like Elder Scrolls or Fallout, it just ain't STALKER without goofy shit

[@Seoul_Soldier]

@@befayedocrimes4751 Can't disagree here. As long as bugs aren't game breaking they just add to the charm.

[@Stayler17]

Thats not a good thing

[@mallcop4768]

@@Stayler17 cry about it.

[@TheJman669]

Anyone who thought this was going to release without bugs or glitches has never played a Stalker game, the modders over the years have made those games great.

[@ArchOfficial]

@@DerekS-kq3zh Azov is based and keep making 200 out of people like you. I don't get what it has to do with STALKER 2 though.

[@narottamakarunanidhi1731]

i mean it would be nice for the game to function properly at day one instead of relying on modders lol, "stalker is the first skyrim like" -hideo kojima

[@PaxBisonica89]

Well, there also was the whole invasion/war thing

[@rudasaeorien]

Well, their studio was blown up by Russia so we're lucky this came out at all

[@DanteRU0312]

@@ArchOfficial You might be confusing actual Ukrainian military and neo-nazi squads. One is based and makes 200s out of nazis, the others are...not so much.

[@kingjabon]

If we can give bethesda games a million chances, if we can give Cyberpunk 2077 12 years if we can give Rockstar 15 years, then we can give stalker some time too

[@InspiriumESOO]

true

[@me4eG]

@@kingjabon But I gave bethesda only 2 chances.

[@TheNoobyNoob1]

That is actually a VERY DAMN good point, honestly.

[@bobhill-ol7wp]

"We" Don't lump us in with those idiots

[@AngerMaker413]

@@me4eG then try stalker, and determine how many chances you’d give

[@MatadorShifter]

Stalker DOES NOT HAVE BUGS AND GLITCHES, these are anomalies

[@Johannis111]

@@MatadorShifter listen to this man

[@opticalsalt2306]

It’s not a bug. It’s a feature!

[@steakmaster9026]

@@opticalsalt2306 nikita is that you?

[@topotunbear6049]

Exactly

[@bradleymorgan7260]

Legend!!!! Exactly this 😅😂😂😂😂

[@joereilly8890]

I found that setting the language to Ukrainian solves the whole 2006 elder scrolls oblivion voice acting problem while drastically adding to the immersion. Subtitles are on the screen for a while, plenty of time to read them.

[@Снайпер_Хренов]

@@joereilly8890 I agree. A real shame that the OG voice actors are gone

[@jamustalha-dean7459]

This is what I did for metro exodus too. Changed the game for me

[@josephridings5899]

@@jamustalha-dean7459 Metro is so much better in Russian. The only exception is the DLC that focuses on Sam.

[@chrisrawr6177]

I mean its true but why even waste money on English VA is they are so terrible i mean they are legit worse then Shadow of Chernobyl which i would not be surprised if even accounting for inflation probably had at best 5% of the budget Stalker 2 has.

[@joereilly8890]

@@chrisrawr6177 probably because a lot of people wouldn’t even consider picking up the game if it was strictly in Ukrainian/russian. Can’t really hold it against them imo, English is not their native language I wouldn’t be surprised if the devs dont even realize how the English voice acting comes across to native speakers, and their country is kinda in the middle of a war lol. The fact this game was even made is a bit of a miracle.

[@FlensostensVrede]

You basically described STALKER 1 in the review and I love it. That game was a mix of "what the hell is this" and "I want more". The original game was buggy and sometimes even game breakingly so with reloads necessary. But when the game worked it was so fun, scarry, interesting, mysterious and weird that you only wanted more.

[@slamshift6927]

"It has bugs" Da, its is STALKER, the zone has strange effects on reality.

[@666kuzya666]

"It`s not a bug! It`s an anomaly"

[@WarlordSlime]

😂😂😂

[@maggot9572]

Going through X-Ray engine has taught me patience

[@cezarstefanseghjucan]

Tak!

[@donecoin33]

Attempting to mod STALKER games has given my great amounts of patience and the ability to say "it is what it is" when my entire game bricks because I didn't put my mods in the right order

[@Raskol895]

I too have had people run for their lives from my giant nocturnal emissions.

[@ACGreviews]

THANK YOU lol. It always cracked me up thinking of their name and it kept happening then.

[@pauperslament3467]

Yikes!

[@MWG603]

oh man! that bad huh?

[@somethingsburning774]

OOF!

[@mechaao1229]

@@Raskol895 that's the clap 😉

[@danilostanojevic8648]

Rest in peace Vladimir Yezhov 🇺🇦💛 the OG dev of the series who sadly was killed in Bakhmut. He’d be proud of the legacy he left behind and the community.

[@CoercedJab]

Too bad they made the game political. RIP ghost of Kiev 🇺🇦 😂

[@OryxAU]

​@@CoercedJab Kyiv*

[@lewe0fun]

Куев😂

[@Rookz]

@@lewe0fun пуйлолиз

[@johnlocke4715]

@@CoercedJabchicken kiev

[@rapscallionsith8152]

So... It's Stalker... But 2. Got it.

[@Unibot47]

Clever and original comment..

[@dmartin-cg4136]

@@Unibot47 it'll be okay lil bro

[@garaktartv3647]

@@Unibot47 almost as clever and original as your copy and paste ahh comment.

[@rapscallionsith8152]

@@Unibot47 the thing is, that's what Stalker 2 is. It's so similar to the original (and sequels) that it feels exactly like Stalker. Just more. All it needs to do now is corrupt my saves and we're golden. On the other hand you can have things like Half Life and Half Life 2, they give completely different vibes to each other, and barring some dialogue, you could be forgiven for not knowing they were related. Both were great though, it's not a criticism.

[@TheShawnMower]

It's Stalker, too, yes.

[@HTFGamesStudio]

17:30 As a game developer myself I can tell you that moving anything without a proper loading screen for far distances always will result in stutters even if that thing is just a chair with no functionalities. For who is curious why is that: To allow huge open world in game dev is used so called world partition that gradually load in your ram what is close to you and unload what is far to prevent to completely fill your RAM. While to prevent stutters it loads small chunks of each thing per second that you are approaching the way that this process won't take all of your CPU speed. The problem occurs when you try to move too fast or teleport your self or a npc/item that uses a lot of memory. Considering that now you have new items too close to you, the system give it max priority and use almost all of your CPU power to move that asset from your HDD to the RAM to the point that is not left enough for the rest of the game creating stutters.

[@aleks_jones]

nobody is using hdds for gaming in 2024...

[@kravan5063]

@@aleks_jones Do you think everyone just collectively threw out their HDD's and all got SSD's when it turned 2024??? I have an SSD but I also have a HDD for mass storage. Some games I want to try out or play infrequently, go onto the HDD...

[@HTFGamesStudio]

@@aleks_jones Even SSDs are not enough to compete with the RAM performance and even with the best SSD your CPU have a bottleneck

[@karlkilding3310]

@@aleks_jones So why do I have a 4tb HDD in my rig? and a 2 tb SSD.

[@illeatyourbabies]

@@karlkilding3310 budget reasons?

[@isaacruddell7940]

Been stalking this review for weeks

[@b3at2]

womp womp 🤣🤣 Booooooo

[@TylerBrown-w2f]

@@b3at2 I’ve been stalking your ugly a** mom for weeks as well 😃

[@BigCowProductions]

Hahaha nice one

[@CasperTheRamKnight]

2 times

[@landridaltwood2698]

🙄 oh brother

[@xandersander6369]

Well, given the fact that they updated the game before release, i am more optimistic about the game. The bugs can be solved, but if the game itself is bad there is no salvation

[@MrKarlos9122]

@@xandersander6369 lol have fun

[@Padlock_Steve]

stalker 1 is garbage without mods bro

[@perturbatorya9451]

@@Padlock_Steve no it's not, for 2007 game is really awesome. on par with Crysis or Bioshock for me, just more janky

[@NewsofPE]

@@perturbatorya9451 "on par with crysis" alright buddy

[@RetroCube]

From what I’ve seen in other reviews the game is absolutely fun. I think it just needs some more time in the oven. I’ll be back to buy this game later when they’ve ironed out more of the bugs.

[@Jhunta]

i waited 10yrs for this title as a megafan of the original series, absolutley loving all 3 titles. been following the development for years, only to find out the devs decided to release it 2days before my birthday. they TOTALLY did that for ME! so yesterday, last day of preorder, i went ahead n bought myself a bday present and paid for the ULTIMATE edition. even if it sucked, at least they worked hard to give me a sequel to one of my most treasured franchises. Спасибо!

[@heyhoojoe]

The old Stalker games delivered an atmosphere and feeling that not even the Metro series could match, at least in my opinion. They never were mainly narrative driven, but the zone just spoke to me in a way that more linear games never could - so I don't really mind the problems with the writing. Sounds to me like everything I would take issue with is very fixable, so I'm simply going to wait a month longer with my purchase. I think I can look forward to enjoying a pretty unique game during the Christmas holidays.

[@prezlamen7906]

@@heyhoojoe I get what youre saying. In 2007 when 1st stalker came out i installed it and its been installed for 17 freaking years. I play it a few times every year. That atmosphere is something no game ever in history till this day managed to get close to. Yeah id suggest you wait a bit too. I bought it but after 30mins i stopped. Im gonna wait a bit too.

[@prezlamen7906]

It has some ubisoft style garbage like yellow ladders and specially marked destroyable boxes but i didnt go far in game to see what else sucks. Yeah, performance is disgusting. I can play it with my 6700xt and 3800x 16gb ram on 70 fps but on 1080p, medium details, low shadows, fsr on performance and that extra frame option. I guess getting further from this starting area will tank that performance. Ill wait.

[@prezlamen7906]

Still, making a game like this through plandemic and war in ukraine..wow. Any other dev in their expensive buildings make games performing like this after a year of patching. So i applaud devs of stalker 2. Really good job.

[@Chironex_Fleckeri]

​@@prezlamen7906 I mean that's a pretty reasonable 1080p PC these days. You would do better with 32gb of RAM. I bet a lot of games would be really smooth. A 6950XT and a 5800x3d would be the 1440p combination if we're going AM4 and the same Navi GPUs. There are also 5700x3d which would probably set you up for another 3-5 years of gaming on demanding new titles. It's just a consequence of having a PC that's 3-4 years old. I bet driver updates and patches will improve performance significantly in a few months. If not official, it will be modded.

[@Cortezuma]

The environment is a character of its own in games. In Stalker, it’s kind of the main character.

[@SlickOnTop]

The real time dialogue choices and rpg mechanics are giving m bloodlines 1 vibes.this is definitely gonna be on my end of year physical gaming purchases.

[@KiraCain]

what dialogue choices? lmao. stalker doesn't have it really. they change nothing

[@coronelkurtz]

@@KiraCain nor rpg mechanics, wtf is that comment about

[@R3TR0J4N]

​@@KiraCainthe game does. and it's more prevalent with how much side quest it has, making it noticeable. there's 2 options, while 3rd being straightforward kill and grab the key or PDA or interactivity.

[@tamfuwing1]

I bought the "ultimate" physical edition. Which does not include the actual game, just a Steam key. Now that sucks.

[@SlickOnTop]

@tamfuwing1 you should've bought the gog PC version which is Drm free

[@iHateGenZweebs]

Holy shit i just realized you have 1.2 million subs now. Way to go dude. Well deserved. You put so much work into your reviews and I'm so glad it's going well.

[@glitched-be8036]

And yet again, it is exactly what I thought it would be: a great game, with some rough edges. Going to enjoy the hell out of this game :)

[@isaacA38]

so basically its true to its origins

[@JohnDoe-pu5gk]

Great game? It looks like absolute dog water full of bugs and performance issues.

[@psyantologist]

@@JohnDoe-pu5gk it took S.T.A.L.K.E.R years to get mostly bug free and optimised, in many areas wildly improved upon even, quite some work done by the devs and beyond plenty of work put into it by modders. If you want to play early: Save often! Into different savegames, not over the same one slot (not around every corner but after every "uh, shiny, I want to keep this"-moment and when it comes to quests which might break and fall apart (even just by bad luck of the NPC dying during normal, "intented" game behavior)) do it in recognizable spots

[@malyman316]

@@JohnDoe-pu5gk you dont understand bugs were always funny in gaming , you people just cry about anything, go play fortnite with a banana costume.xD finding a bug was always funny for me , this generation is just stupied, its not online game where you fight for ranks, bugs dont matter that much , and if you want perfect game good luck, go play realtime chess . How you have fun is all about your mentality, if you only complain yea your life is a biggest bug then

[@Darkdiver28]

@@JohnDoe-pu5gkits not as bad as people make it out to be. Could have been the day 1 patch, but so far its been pretty smooth. Nothing game breaking.

[@Micah__]

Downloaded the game a few days ago, 140 something gig. By the time it finished there was a 130 gig patch, of course. After downloading that I fired it up today and wow, it’s really rough. Wake me up with its running properly.

[@HU1212ICAN3]

Dude. The fucking wordplay is AMAZING in this video!!! Great video man! I've played the last games, and I was laughing and nodding my head in agreement the whole time!

[@DaftGlassAlice]

My Grocery list of updates I want to see. 1.better performance 2.More VA samples 3.better audio que and tracking so conversations make sense. 4. Overhaul to climbing and mantleing. 5. Longer day time 6. Icons in tool tips are insanely tiny and I cannot tell what item they refer to. 7. A better status page and HUD indicator about my food and hunger. 8. More detail or stuff to loot in houses instead of just 1 well hidden bag. (Something that can push the sense that something had there gear out and got attacked suddenly and had to bail on there stuff)

[@MrSpeekerv1.0]

Killing consistency - add that along with another 30 or 40 things. One time it takes 5 shotgun shots to dispatch a single boar, then 1 shot each for the next two then back to 5 again for the two after that. I haven't had a single trophy from any of my mutant kills10 hours into the game. Stabbed a bandit silently behind a building, the whole place opened up on me even the guys inside the building came rushing out. I'm fighting the game not the creatures. Cheap killed time after time by things lunging at me before i can react with the dreadful input lag. It's early access. Give it a year.

[@denkravtsov6009]

Advice from a veteran Stalker to newbies: before going on another raid for loot, unload all your junk completely into a box. And take with you only the necessary things. Necessary artifacts, first aid kits and ammo in large quantities, assault or sniper weapons depending on the mission. The shotgun is traditionally good for shooting mutants. Do not carry extra junk with you, make your own caches in locations and put everything there, and then safely transfer it to the traders.

[@DLiotine]

All i want is to handle a TOZ once more❤

[@JohnPeacekeeper]

This: You learn to make one, or two, or even upwards of 12 stashes all throughout the Zone

[@challenger5474]

And also make quicksaves.

[@TurquazCannabiz]

How do I make caches? I just run to the nearest trader anytime I got some loot worth selling lol

[@JohnPeacekeeper]

@@TurquazCannabiz Find any empty container and dump stuff in there

[@trashee973]

I love the feeling of figuring out the world, peoples motivations and the group dynamics. Its all written so incredibly well and lifelike and im often listening to someone explain something and agreeing with them and then finding out some other nuance down the line and changing my opinion slightly. Its very well done and well thought out in a way that i havent experienced in games writing in a long time. A lot of people arent necessarily lying to you but theres a way they view the world that influences their persepctive that you might not agree with if you understood how and why they think they way they do. So a lot of it so far for me has been figuring out not WHAT people think but WHY they're thinking that way and i find that so relatable to real life

[@oflynnc]

"A fire rate like a love song from the 1980s" 😂😂

[@SewerMatrixReality]

explain the joke pls

[@modest123]

@@SewerMatrixReality low beats per minute

[@SewerMatrixReality]

@@modest123 Fanx 😊👍

[@skylergraham630]

Great review, as a slav-jank stalker enjoyer this actually sounds like what i wanted/expected. Rough around the edges but a truly unique game. Sounds like they managed to keep it feeling like stalker, for better or worse

[@realLK52O]

ikr it's just the thing the real fans want. Plus it filters out the normies :)

[@SloopJohnB91]

agreed, the OG formula is what made it great, just needed to be brought up to date. Can't wait!

[@willo1345]

What a weird expectation. I'm a fan of the series and I most certainly did not want a janky game like the originals. Now I have to wait until this is hopefully fixed before I buy it.

[@realLK52O]

@@willo1345 go bother someone else no one cares all the hardcore fans still gonna play trough the jank.

[@adultgimb]

@@realLK52O can't really gate keep a game that you haven't created

[@ImmaTigerBro]

"I'd somehow become the confetti shot at my own celebration" Your writing for these reviews is always next level man. Greatest reviewer to grace this platform.

[@jimmymcgreason]

Preinstalled it immediately as soon as it was available on Game Pass. Sounds like the game is about what I expected. I'll probably end up buying after a bit, but I want to make sure I can run it comfortably on my PC first. Awesome review as always. Thanks again.

[@The_Raven_River]

you gonna buy game on gamepass ?

[@jimmymcgreason]

@@The_Raven_River Gamepass now doesn't mean it will be there later! For now, I will try. If it runs well on my PC, I'll buy it later.

[@CoercedJab]

CONSUME

[@guyinapandasuit2691]

"It has bugs" So it's a true sequel after all. I can't wait.

[@xacvhFAs]

Braindead npc comment

[@daveo2992]

On the weapon malfunctions you forgot to mention the enemies weapons never jam even though they're using %1 condition weapons but when you use something at %40 it still jams like crazy

[@1776laserco]

lol !!! I just realized . Every time a game is coming out that I’m very interested in. I always search for the ACG review first. Another excellent review Sir.

[@foxxcharmer]

Another masterpiece of a review! the picasso of wordplay is back with another gem of a review that when you finish watching leaves you feeling smarter! Thank you for your time and effort a pleasure to watch your work and see how you're going to describe any game

[@eiadtarabulsi]

I played Stalker 2 Heart of Chernobyl for a few hours via Xbox Game Pass. Here's my experience so far. The atmosphere is haunting yet beautiful. Gameplay is intense and dynamic. The open world is reactive and there's a decent amount of secrets to find. The story is good. There are interesting choices and branching paths. Difficulty options are much appreciated. However, the game isn't without its flaws, unfortunately. Enemies have the tendency to be spongey, which I'm not a fan of. Scripted encounters can be a bit cheap. There are bugs and glitches regarding enemy spawns. There are also notable performance issues. Despite some stumbles along the way, it's still a worthwhile and enjoyable title. Thanks, Karak! I appreciate the honest, unbiased, and detailed review! God bless and stay safe!

[@ROVNE2]

@@eiadtarabulsi comrade these “glitches and bugs” are simply anomalies. Serious now, alot of this stuff is classic stalker. Usually enemies die in 1 or 2 hits to the head but sine most have decent armor body shots aren’t as effective. I dont know about the performance issues because i havent played yet but i believe gsc did good considering what they have been through (theyre in ukraine, that should explain itself). Anyway i hope you can enjoy the series as much as i have.

[@snipeybro]

You got to her heads shots

[@brogantodd5641]

@@ROVNE2i do sympathize with them going through a war but i do believe they are in the czech republic now. either way it’s nothing to shake off considering they’ve lost team members and a main dev. i knew it wouldn’t release perfect as no game in the last 10 years has been able to. despite the small (and not game breaking bugs) it’s a great game and i’m in love with it. i’m so glad the stalker series got the update it needed. i got to play the other 3 when they were ported to xbox and i was in love. i’m even more in love with it now.

[@BostilCensurado]

That sponge bs will be one the first things to be modded out, its easy to do

[@PUARockstar]

ChOrnobyl*

[@Twocrudedudes]

I'm seeing a lot of the same excuses people make for Bethesda and CDPR. And while GSC Game World has more of an excuse than either, it's kinda sad that players are just ready to gloss over it.

[@Corey-li5ue]

I understand why people are mad, we have all been getting scammed a lot over the years. But may I offer another perspective. Giving the devs the benefit of the doubt, if things were as hard for them as they claim, they have managed to release a game through a global pandemic and a war, and it totally captures the essence of stalker games. How many movies release sequels that are horrible right. But they have done something very challenging and kept the soul alive, and they have been very fast to start fixing bugs. Im not excusing them, but I think if any game these days deserves some sympathy and open mindedness its probably stalker 2. Lets just all have a win for once huh.

[@pctatc66]

BEST LINE EVER!!!! "Random animal that hasn't seen an Stalker they want to dry hump into a bloody stump the moment they see em"

[@vinniecorleone62]

Thanks for a terrific overview of a game I'm most intrigued with from early previews! I just picked up a Series-X & this looks like a good reason to own one!

[@ShrimplessScampi]

Congrats and enjoy the game! I’m actually surprised that you mentioning Series X didn’t bring a flock of “gamers” that seem to spend more time online bashing Xbox than they do actually playing games on their preferred platform.

[@vinniecorleone62]

@ShrimplessScampi Ironic you say that, as I was Hell-bent on getting a PS5. But after much research the Series-X does far more regarding performance on 8th & prior-gen games than the PS5, as much as I want one. "Mad Max" on PS5 has checkerboard 4K at 30 FPS, where Series-X is at native 4K at 60 to 120 HZ, that sold me on the Xbox console for now.

[@chriscofer6780]

@@vinniecorleone62 ps5 pro way more powerful than series x

[@Androx5000]

@@chriscofer6780 and double the price lol

[@ShrimplessScampi]

@@chriscofer6780 my rig is more powerful than that PS5 Pro. Got my Pro two weekends ago though it’s become my designated plastic Call of Duty box. Why become dependent on any one platform…when you can own and play on all of them? The fact you even came here mentioning the Pro like it’s the end all be all let’s us know you definitely don’t have a PC 😂 thanks for the laugh Bub

[@R3TR0J4N]

Holy shit Karak! The Bloodsucker segment with audio and visual is cues chef kiss 💋 this is a well done vid and i bet viewers watching the review will end up not just gauging their wallet but also learning.

[@RmiogPloinr]

cheeki breeki

[@uscmhudson5504]

@ACG Your review was pretty much what I thought it would be, I'm sure there will be some issue and jank. Honestly it can't be as bad as Stalker S.O.C. on release. I loved that game as soon as I had the disc in my CD-Rom and fired it up, and I'm sure I'll love this one too. Cheers ACG and Cheeki Breeki!

[@jothain]

Oh but it IS. Series X and it's absolutely unplayable at the moment for me. 0/10. Original ones on PC at least solid 8/10.

[@rangerdave8418]

Can already tell from the title this is going to an emotional rollercoaster

[@nastyy.]

From a Magical Mess towards "Buy It, Wait for a Sale, Deep Deep Sale, Never Touch?"

[@rangerdave8418]

Did he change the title? Well now I just feel silly 😂

[@nastyy.]

@@rangerdave8418 yes he did lmao

[@Haddley333]

@@nastyy. what was the original title? Magical Mess?

[@ShrimplessScampi]

Is there any reason channels do this? I’ve noticed for some time now that channels I follow will sometimes change the thumbnail and title of the video hours after they uploaded the video

[@kleanstain9103]

okay, you earnt a sub purely because it prevents you from dying. Thank you for your health and survival so i can watch these reviews

[@Robot-Overlord]

You can tell who the stalker fans arent just based on steam reviews. People going into this thinking they can take their warzone skills into stalker and getting bodied by basic survival mechanics is finger licking good.

[@AlexanderosD]

@@Robot-Overlord newbies never last long in the Zone. They're the lucky ones in the end 😂

[@Kangorrilla]

Or people aren’t blind to all the bugs. I’m enjoying this game a lot, but to ignore the issues is dumb

[@R3TR0J4N]

​@@Kangorrillayea as of now some NPC bugs are bearable for me (like seen in the footage) was reminiscent of Fallout bugs. but itll be agonizing if they didn't smoothen the rough edges since people pay 60$(lucky for me regional price is 36$) As of now i yearn for them to continue this momentum of patches, they've fixed a lot from Skill Ups review. and ofc optimizations typical UE5

[@jothain]

I love original ones. At least 8/10 for every single one of them. For me this second installment. 0/10. Ridden with bugs, shitty design all over. Just insane how bad this is. At least on Series X it's utter garbage.

[@jacketofthe80s13]

What are you talking about you old fossil. everyone is talking about the trash optimization. my god get that dick out of your throat

[@Acesahn]

The only way to play STALKER is on its highest difficulty. That's not leetism talk, but the whole 'everyone dies really quickly' damage that's in Hard difficulty was what made STALKER so amazing.

[@muller1424]

Ukraine in general is hard mode

[@NCR-Trooper2]

This is how you should play every STALKER games. Its so fun playing there but first its torture but when you died so many times you know the fun is in hard mode.

[@basedworldbillionaire-]

The damage doesnt change with difficulty in the OG games. Thats a myth

[@Acesahn]

@@basedworldbillionaire- What are you talking about? You can just trade shots with 2 or 3 guys on Easy and on Hard you die instantly?

[@Ruintek]

on normal difficulty, all headshots are kills

[@AudioPhile]

The patch released today has made a huge difference for me. Was about to give it up, but it's running smooth as butter now.

[@alexander.m96]

i don't understand people excusing the bugs. i'm a fan of these games as well but why would i want it to play like shit. if this were any other company everyone would complain.

[@scottwatrous]

Probably because of inertia of previous experience and the knowledge that none of the bugs seem to be deal breakers. None of what I heard here suggests the game is broken, it just doesn't run perfect yet. That's normal, all games these days launch with some performance issues and some presentation bugs. I skipped the first Stalker games because they seemed to have a LOT of jank and a lot of bugs and the art was just too dated by the time I got around to trying it. But this looks at least as good as the Metro games, so, I'm on board.

[@silent_taffer8877]

Because sometimes there are things that make up for the bugs. Bugs are not an indicator of whether or not you will like the game as a whole.

[@kents012]

It's because of goodwill. Triple A companies don't have much of it these days and are banking more on nostalgia, wider reach and more casual audience.

[@eduardozegarra2882]

Also, because the developers were affected by the war in Ukraine and had to escape and start all over again in Prague. There's a lot more to take into account than just a perfect game. The context matters too.

[@GangsterFrankensteinComputer]

I feel fans of Slavjank actually like the bugs. Same with people who play BGS games.

[@patrickdezenzio4988]

Considering these developers are living in a real war, I'll be patient sitting in my home, with water, food, and electricity and no fear of a rocket attack.

[@janeshepard9549]

Chernobylite : Wife is missing and won't stop haunting my dreams. Metro Exodus : Wife won't shut up about the world outside the bunker. STALKER 2 : That damn Artifact scorched my apartment !! The Zone owes me a new apartment now !!

[@viewtifuljoe4412]

lol Gotta love The Zone

[@TexanTemplar]

Did you even play Exodus? Lol. Artyom was the one who wouldn't shut up about going outside. Anna hated it but eventually realized he was right after discovering the radio station was blocking signals around the world.

[@solaireastora5394]

@@TexanTemplar true but explaining things ruins the joke

[@Ogilvy1997]

"Subscribing helps me from dying, so please do that".... I absolutely cracked bro 😂😂

[@rahuldoes]

@@Ogilvy1997 , and, hence, I did!

[@GreenOne01]

"They do run for their lives from the giant nocturnal emissions that can kill anybody dead," Idk if I'm ready for this game. 😮

[@SebastianSkadisson]

Great review! Sounds like the definitive open world game, all Elder Scrolls start like that at release too: Good in most aspects, passable in some, perfect in none.

[@thething1110]

I've been following this title for a LONG time. I think the game has some faults, but I'm almost willing to look past some of them for the sole reason that the games got, well, soul. Being made during a literal war, I think informs some of their views on what warring factions looks like, and it seems like it shows in their gameplay to a degree. I'm glad that you were able to review this game, very fair critiques, and I'm looking forward to jumping on it!

[@imalittletoxicjustalittle]

lmao the devs making it fled so what are you talking about? its not even the same team anyway even without that

[@critical-thinker666]

game was supposed to release at 2021 aka before war and devs fled to CZ. WHAT THE FUCK YOU TALKING ABOUT?

[@ThMindFdr]

Weird how they were making the game with no issues from 2014-2020 when ukraine was attacking russians in donbass and crimea.

[@somebodyelse2192]

@@ThMindFdr bot

[@johnmcternan4157]

@@ThMindFdr I was thinking the same thing when I saw this comment.

[@CreedofDarkness]

So what I'm hearing is I should hook my 1660 Ti to an irradiated artifact to try and run this, yeah? Cheeki Breeki, sounds like fun!

[@Brennus411]

Don't forget to ingest vodka and smoke regularly to soak up the radiations

[@ЯрБерест]

The best game ever. A Masterpiece. I didn't expect it, but they did it again. Any comparisons to other games that copied Stalker are just ridiculous. Dad is back and showed who's boss.

[@metalbat7]

Точно не шедевр

[@metalbat7]

Что между 6 и7

[@guccigame2831]

Sick and tired of game developers not testing their own games and not upholding their promises. 'stalker games are always glitchy' should not be an excuse for bad development.....

[@dengi_vinternete]

Well, buy it in a year with DLC if you are so intolerant of technical roughness

[@TheBrownCoyote]

Ignorance is bliss as they say..

[@darenzy]

Also the minimum requirements are way off, game barely works on 1060. 19-24fps instead of 30+ claimed by the devs, on low preset.

[@NetNeelsie]

Still a hour and a half before I can start downloading it. I hate that I have to work tomorrow.

[@mKzYE]

@@NetNeelsie preload on gamepass started 5min qgo

[@natel7382]

Lol get ready for jank.

[@Somewhiteguyonyoutub]

@@natel7382 gamepass is letting me pre install right now

[@sgtjohnson49]

Call out sick :p

[@natel7382]

@@sgtjohnson49 no don't call out. The game is not worth your job. An amazing masterpiece isn't even worth your livelihood. How is society so broken? Jesus.

[@donaldpriola1807]

Your review was exactly what I expected. Charming jank, some frustration, and a need for polish. I felt that playing more linear games like the Metro series.

[@xcalicojack]

This is my first Stalker game and I'm absolutely loving it. I haven't been This immersed with a game in years, and I dont even like first person shooters anymore. This is my goty for sure.

[@Ps3luvr260]

Eurojank is so back

[@UolizKiona]

Holy sh*t I just discovered that you currently have 1.2 million subscribers. Way to go dude. Well deserved. You put so much work into your reviews and I'm so glad it's going well.

[@alexandernava-castaneda228]

Based on my 50 hours of current gameplay. I think Stalker 2 is gonna be slightly better than cyberpunk considering the bugs were no near as bad, devs are being receptive to the flaws, and it's got an active modding community who are already at work to fixing and adding stuff.

[@rehmsmeyer]

I was sure it would release with problems because it was the only game I was looking forward to

[@FreshTillDeath56]

This game looks really cool. Thanks for the (30 MINUTE!!) review!

[@Leep_Actual]

I’ve had an amazing experience so far. I have a RTX3060 with a Ryzen 7 cpu. I am running mixed graphical settings with DLSS on Balanced and the frame generation on. I average 110 fps in the wild and 80 fps in populated areas. Game has been running smooth for me and is very fun!

[@_kukaracha_]

Дякую за творчість! Бережіть себе.

[@thestraightpath5360]

Gamers Would eat a literal shit on a plate and be happy with it, we deseve what we tolerate.

[@PabloEscobar-sg3hq]

Game is trash and still gets praised by gamers

[@wingfighter2]

Looks and plays like a 2007 Fallout stripped of fun. 5/10 and thats being generous....

[@monkeeee]

Less than a minute in and Dark Souls already mentioned

[@funky0308]

13min into video and this sounds incredible.. can't wait for the rest of it, I bet it'll be "but".. optimisation, bugs.. and all the goodies we are used to seeing in big games

[@pimpmafuqa]

let be real, the lightning at 25:26 didnt scare them at all. they received damage and the games buggy enough they just attacked the player character when it happened.

[@MAJEPHTIC]

9:47 "Hitting an enemy with even a basic body armour is like trying to kill somebody with bad words. I've done more damage just thinking bad thoughts at somebody." 😂

[@inquisitive6786]

He’s right. It’s why shotguns are trash in this game.

[@WeTube-mf1it]

Remember that one of the main features of these games is the sheer mod-abillity, enough so that a mod store was rolled out for the Xbox release, too. The best is yet to come

[@lisam.willson1679]

Anyone who thought this was going to release without bugs or glitches has never played a Stalker game, the modders over the years have made those games great.

[@muchile22]

cheeki breeki

[@R3TR0J4N]

Can't wait to congratulate you on how well made this review is for the next live stream.

[@JavierLastiri]

From my expectations playing the previous titles, this game is worth it. In the next weeks its going to get updated for the performance issues.

[@Patrick-qt4eu]

clown

[@Sryd770]

Did not expect u to review this. But boy am I glad u did! THANKS!

[@HALFSQUASHED]

ACG was always going to review this game. Even if he doesn't do many reviews anymore. This was always coming

[@R3TR0J4N]

Fits ACG criteria to review 👌

[@afungai1649]

It’s one of the most anticipated games of the year, why wouldn’t he review it?

[@PaxBisonica89]

Obvious bot comment

[@xIQ188x]

I love being more critical of the easy mode existing than the fact that the game is more broken than Cyberpunk on an Xbox one.

[@OMSOFFICIALS]

ACG: "A MAGICAL MESS" Me who pre-order the game months ago: "INTENSE SWEATING"

[@Dr.Akakia]

It is a good gMe

[@nuno3887]

Where are you playing it

[@84jesterx]

XBOX GAme Pass if you can/ Basically the reason why I subscribed this month.

[@nastyy.]

"Buy It, Wait for a Sale, Deep Deep Sale, Never Touch?" XD

[@OMSOFFICIALS]

@@nuno3887 Steam

[@TheChrisLouis]

Apparently all reviewers played this game on PC where all the bugs are. Granted ive only played an hour but its been amazing fun on Xbox.

[@viewtifuljoe4412]

The fans can mod and patch the game so it really does not bother us ^_^

[@slayer4932]

@@viewtifuljoe4412by that logic every Bethesda games are 10/10 GOTY masterpieces. Because modders can “fix” the devs games like this.

[@viewtifuljoe4412]

@@slayer4932 No. Bethesda still makes trash games especially because they expect the fan base to fix things.

[@scott-richards]

looks amazing. this will be an all timer , buying as soon as possible.

[@Darkholow]

So it's a Stalker ass Stalker game..got it..that's all I wanted to hear. Good luck in the Zone everyone! And thanks for the review Karak!

[@ginnungagaplemniscates1405]

Your review more or less confirms my best-case scenario hopes for the game. I never played the original but have played games with similar bits of DNA. Looking forward to it.

[@accidentalpatient4152]

Gold standard in reviewing once again, nice to see you get a good amount of views on this video after this channel seeming like its been almost shadow banned in the last year or so

[@Born...]

I have been waiting such a long time to play this! Cheers to the team that put their love into this game for all of us to enjoy. I have my sausages and vodka right next to me, waiting to hop right in! Pre-loading right now!

[@mrpositronia]

It's Stalker. Which is good news for us Stalker fans.

[@dakotaadams413]

What a dang good review. Fr man. Had my roommate download it for me while i was at work and just about to get into it. You covered everything i would've asked for. Well done. Well done sir!

[@JaguarDave54]

From the sound of your review the mainstream media will probably be in the 6’s & 7’s for technical reasons and difficulty. For the right player / reviewer who enjoys a challenge and doesn’t mind technical issues probably an 8. It won’t win universal acclaim or anyone’s top ten list but I can see a lot of honorable mentions or parts of it that gamers will always remember.

[@PaxBisonica89]

"mainstream media" Unlike KZbin, which is completely underground

[@BkBk-gy6vr]

It’s a 5

[@craig9365]

With how poorly it runs and if it's buggy enough. Giving an 8 is like having Stockholm syndrome and forgetting optimizing and making the game actually playable for people is part of making the game. Y'all people love to waste your money on barely working stuff huh?

[@JaguarDave54]

@ how do you know it runs poorly ? It hasn’t even released on gamepass yet.

[@Zero4Infinitives]

@@JaguarDave54 Many people already have it, my disc arrived 3 hours ago.

[@LolAsdov]

Weapon jams that can happen to perfect quality weapons? Why? What’s the point of quality then?

[@IamDrerex]

@@LolAsdov percent change of jamming

[@zmielov50]

@@LolAsdov навіть нова може якщо невдалий патрон, так можливо лише 0.1%, але може

[@Livingeidolon]

Bad ammo

[@jonathanpfeffer3716]

Well you are firing old corroded muddy ammo in the zone that doesn’t obey the laws of physics, so….

[@Skylingale]

@@LolAsdov Try thinking.

[@bloodglacier]

As always, you remain the gold standard for game reviews.

[@psyboyo]

An amazing and honest review. This made me go back to SkillUp review and take back my Like. He played on max difficulty, and he had an "horrible" experience. Now I know why. Indeed the game doesn't only make enemies tougher on setting hard mode, but also reduces rewards and loot, and decreases inventory space. That made SkillUp just assume the whole game was like that, distorting his review. Not good. Anyways, thanks, you got another subscriber.

[@TheFirstExelion]

I'm guessing at 19:26 you meant to say "7800X3D". Either that or you have a new AMD unreleased CPU lmao

[@momentumblack]

Thanks!

[@SamuraiPie8111]

it's not perfect but it's 1000x better than Starfield

[@ACGreviews]

Its not perfect but its 88.23 times better than Death Stranding

[@gerardotejada2531]

A game that was made during a pandemic and then a war has some technical issues?!!! oH mY gOd i CaNt BeLiVe It!

[@slayer4932]

Or maybe they can not release a game that isn’t ready. But idk I guess that’s too hard. 🤔

[@mikeregister4317]

"I've got a present for you!" - lobs grenade with Tom Brady accuracy...

[@chrisd8006]

im willing to let the Bugs slide considering what this Dev team went through and the quality they were able to delivered...We know the devs will pathc and the community will mod and this game will be played over and over again for the next 10 years

[@solosword7958]

Tough but fair. Hopefully they can turn it around because these devs have been through hell.

[@johannesmantiri8336]

Lot of people seem to like this game. Even with the mention of bugs I'm getting a "Nyet! Game is fine!" from a lot of the fans.😊

[@solaireastora5394]

Bugs are apart of stalker history

[@rofflesvanwagon]

Unlocks in 47 minutes! I'm so excited edit: its ok, back to death stranding 2nd playthrough 2nd edit: this version of stalker reminds me of that amazing indie game "Shadows of Doubt" where it simply had too many in game systems running to not be hugely buggy and with massive performance issues. Still fun though

[@benturner3458]

Me too stalker......me too

[@OpoOnTheGo]

Chiki briki stalkers it's almost time to hunt anomalies

[@c4rolinazfine5t]

Pray for the 2070 fellow stalkers

[@tobyFOTS]

​@@c4rolinazfine5t10 FPS yay

[@benturner3458]

@@c4rolinazfine5t I'm running a 4060 and an i7 6700k with 32gb DDR4 😂 Actually it's surprisingly competent running most games but I'm not holding my breath for this one. Tempted to play it on the series X to be honest. What do u think stalker?

[@ReasonedFaith]

Been playing Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl for a few hours, and it’s incredible. The story hooks you, the Zone is haunting, and the gunfights are intense. No bugs so far-just pure immersion. Huge respect to Ukrainian studio GSC Game World for delivering this masterpiece despite the challenges of Russia's invasion. A must-play!

[@RobVespa]

Have to hand it to you. This was a nice commentary. Thanks for sharing. Flaws and all, I still plan on supporting the devs, even if it means trying it out and waiting for more wrinkles to be ironed out. The original STALKER is one of the best gaming experiences of my life... and still has legs (via community efforts, such as GAMMA).