Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl Is an Open-World Shooter With the Guardrails Removed

[@PersonXSomebody]

Eurogamer: wasn't that guy important to the story Dev: *shrugs* nobody is important in the zone stalker

[@GunterThePenguinHatesHugs]

_* Shrugs in Ukrainian *_

[@glowinTHX]

sounds awesome to be honest.

[@jasonnchuleft894]

**shrugs in cheeki breeki**

[@darrenn7472]

Mission givers dying while you're out completing a mission and still getting a mission failed notification is the STALKER I'm very familiar with.

[@lucianod98]

so true, when he said that the mission giver died i thought to myself "this is so stalker like to happen" glad they kept the old game's traditions

[@MrWazzup987]

Ditto

[@CyraXFactor]

Yes. An actual dynamic living and dying world. Choices and consequences that play out naturally and realtime. 9 more days!

[@darrenn7472]

@@CyraXFactor Always. Pick up. Bounties. And. Hunts. I loved how some missions would solve themselves

[@mrquang11212]

And i will load my save file immediately

[@IISKobra257]

Getting flanked by a bandit with a shotgun is the quintessential introduction to stalker

[@TheNewms90]

Ugh, in Clear Sky with the bandits just everywhere using those over under shotguns and the not quite MP5s lol. Sneaky buggers indeed.

[@flabbywall1780]

Or a rocket launcher 🙄

[@johnjuiceshipper4963]

I truely recommend everyone also read the book STALKER is based on, ‘Roadside Picnic’, at least once. It’s not too long and it truely gives off a beautifully eerie vibe of what it’s like to explore The Zone. The lore is different (it was written before the Chernobyl disaster after all) but the vibe is the exact same.

[@ajax4165]

Great book!

[@Loy_Otterton]

The stalker movie is pretty good, but honestly might not entice everyone.

[@F1stzz]

One day the so-called "native English speakers" will learn the difference between "based on" & "inspired by", but it ain't happening in foreseeable future - the only thing S.T.A.L.K.E.R. franchise & Roadside Picnic have in common is the general concept of the Anomalous Zone and its valuable artifacts, that's pretty much all, same is with the game and the movie. "Harry Potter" movies are "based on", "Lord of the Rings" movies are "based on", both are retelling their source materials 95% close to their respective originals - S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is a whole different world "inspired by" Roadside Picnic, not retelling it nor following it.

[@BkBk-gy6vr]

No need I use to be a stalker. The book won’t help just ask my Exs

[@StewTubeGaming]

I like how they were inspired by Roadside Picnic's use of throwing bolts to detect hidden anomalies.

[@nightcatarts]

So far, so Stalker, so that's good.

[@Benbenbenbenbenbenbenbenben]

If there's any game worthy of existence, worthy of being flawed from launch, worthy of preorder, worthy of respect, worthy to mod, worthy to multiplay, worthy to buy a new system for, its S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2. GSC has had such a rough time getting this game out there for us fellow gamers. Other AAA gaming companies should take sit back and watch these guys perform, this is how it's done.

[@thepluggy1]

Very true my friend, couldn't have said it better myself

[@garryarganis5801]

spoken like a true stalker

[@houman2009]

Sing us a song

[@snorkisnork]

I feel like I'm witnessing history with this release

[@CrankKohl]

First Game i Pre ordered in Years! Im so hyped!!

[@AQDuck]

Failing a quest because an NPC died out of your control is a selling feature in my book. Would prefer to find that out the hard way rather than the PDA though.

[@FrostyBunnybottom]

That would be pretty hardcore lol imagine running through dozens of enemies and firing dozens of expensive rounds just to get to the quest giver and he’s laying there dead lmao

[@5urrea7]

@@FrostyBunnybottom Make a mod for it

[@jrutter73]

I don't recall any of the quests actually mattering though. When they died by falling through the world, that wasn't a feature, hehe=) Hope the missions have some real impact on the world this time around. And if so, they better make sure shitty coding isn't the reason you ever fail. That was all cute a decade ago. Don't have patience for incompetence now. Save anytime feature, early and often is a must like always.

[@vinceely2906]

Not so sure myself. As a gamer of over 40 years. I've yet to find an NPC that can even walk the same speed as me, let alone hang a whole mission on.

[@cyntdestroyer69xd]

@@jrutter73 They WERE important though in Call of Pripryat - the endings directly were influenced by this

[@paulgambro4264]

The mission giver dying is the greatest proof of A-Life 2.0 working

[@Ptrixie]

You can fail quests because the NPC died right after you got the item they wanted? We are so back

[@chinese_bot]

please be good. please be good. please be good. please be good. please be good. 🤞 All these videos look incredible but still, please please please be good.

[@arenndups5294]

I get you. I've been burned too many times

[@normalkullanc1993]

This will be good

[@VonDelacroix]

Even if it's not, the mods will be.

[@Brandon-cp1nv]

@@arenndups5294been burned to many times?? Might wanna get that checked in hospital bro

[@valendeosha]

Personally, my most anticipated igar of the year, if not the last 5 years

[@dvls2945]

same

[@jamesford2192]

What’s an Igar?

[@dvls2945]

@@jamesford2192 idk whatever it means but its kinda self explanatory given the context 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@Chonstantin]

13 days will feel like years 😢

[@greyjawgaming]

Just 2 more days

[@distortiondesigns4331]

2 more hours!!!!

[@nightnatiic]

4:58 "Hey Vsauce, Michael here"

[@GeorgeWashington-b6h]

They are going to release is November 20th, which is 1000th day of the war.

[@martyn94ma]

It really?

[@WSNBM-1908]

Coincidence

[@user-fe9kz3pd9n]

Based and Ukraine pilled

[@petersrensen6034]

@@user-fe9kz3pd9n Ukrainians are being used by NATO/CIA to fight a proxy war against Russia.

[@Lucky-sh1dm]

@@user-fe9kz3pd9nI hope you get sent over there Lol

[@GeorgeWashington-b6h]

This team made it during biggest war since WW2! Respect!

[@BloodBullet0125]

Hey bro, you ummmm.....you forgetting a lot there But I agree, this team was dedicated to this just as much as they were defending their home, 110% respect, this game deserves to be played no matter what, it is a crime to not play

[@GeorgeWashington-b6h]

@@BloodBullet0125 i agree with you. they also going to release it november 20, which is 1000th day of the war

[@unstoneable]

they are working out of prague for several years now

[@blackburn1489]

@@unstoneable50% of employees are still in Kiev

[@kiranis2174]

@@unstoneable They had to move though, leave their home and studio and start from the beginning (in a way). New actors, new motion capture studio, etc. There is a good documentary on xbox channel.

[@starioncostumes]

I'm so glad i got to play this game for a few hours some weeks ago - even made a review on this. I do not regret my preorder for any second!

[@nahuelbarrios732]

These 13 days will feel longer than the 12 years passed since the announcement...❤

[@aleksandrkedria4024]

I've never been so excited for anything, 12 days until I'm fully immersed in this damn beautiful and atmospheric game!

[@Snikkii15]

Sounds about right. That guy just a regular dude in the zone n just got offed.

[@pablopablo3834]

STALKER always had a Sandbox kind of feel outside of the main story. I never had a main quest NPC die it was only side quests.

[@simonphoenix3789]

Only game other KCD2 that I am looking forward to.

[@trystan3130]

Same here but assetto corsa evo too

[@RonPaulo001]

I wish they added magazine based reloading instead of the common ammo counter

[@DRaytheSPY]

Same, but it may come later if its requested enough.

[@DFlaminberry]

It'll definitely come in the form of mods soon enough

[@BMW-sd6nn]

Insanely excited. Playing the first stalker in 2021 in the winter, being stuck home sick as hell with covid at night made me feel like i was in the zone. What a franchise.

[@GunterThePenguinHatesHugs]

Me looking at the Video title on mobile: 😨😨😨😨😨😨 Me after pressing _'more...':_ ☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️

[@zylox5374]

why?

[@nword9239]

Well in the 1st stalker you are not just a normal stalker, you are [REDACTED] which actually makes a lot of sense later in the story, funny thing is that you actively work against the 1st game's protagonist in CS and realize that he actually has a knack for getting into trouble.

[@shigarumo121]

You also meet that Stalker in the end game of Call of Pripyat again.

[@dvls2945]

Already Pre-Ordered 😎 12 days for the GLORIOUS RETURN TO THE ZONE (in the meantime im going back to my another G.A.M.M.A playthrough)

[@IvanChristopher.]

if its half as good as GAMMA il be happy

[@cyruzcyruz]

Looks very promising. I'm definitely putting this on my list after finishing a few other gems that came out this year.

[@FranciscoGonzalez-ji5ie]

Can you name some of those gems? Looking for something to play

[@cyruzcyruz]

@ I've just finished Hellblade 2. Currently working my way through Ghost of Tsushima on PC.

[@JohnDoe-pu5gk]

​@@cyruzcyruzHellblade 2 is a walking simulator, far from a gem.

[@torvalis1968]

@@FranciscoGonzalez-ji5ie Final Fantasy 16 on pc was pretty good, and 40k rogue trader is also very good.

[@FranciscoGonzalez-ji5ie]

@torvalis1968 I'm a console guy...saving up money for a PC eventually! But thanks for the response and good vibes

[@pistopit7142]

This game will be epic in VR on PC using UEVR.

[@BanditoBurrito]

Thank God they kept the "living world" vibe going, it adds so much immersion to just have NPC's doing their own thing, joining fights, getting into their own shenanigans.

[@HorseHearse]

Holy fucking shit, I cant begin to describe how excited I am for this.

[@ColdSteel-dz3pf]

I bet you could..

[@kamikazemelon787]

Interesting to see they kept the left side ejection on their strange MP5 clone, but changed the rest of the guns to eject on the correct side.

[@maxvel0city906]

Been in a bit of a gaming rut recently and Staker 2 has been a game I've been looking forward too. Great preview Ian looks like it has a lot of potential.👍

[@brennanferris7400]

We’re you blackout drunk while recording this gun play 😂 mostly jokes, great review super excited for this game.

[@ahoosifoou4211]

13 days feels like a month

[@UnabashedNerd]

I've only ever completed original versions of the trilogy, zero mods ever. So l'm pretty excited for this

[@dirkdiggler5581]

The only thing I don’t like so far is the fast fast day cycle.. it’s 1 hour. Hope mods give us a option soon to increase that time

[@truth_hearts_1940]

1 hour? srsly??

[@GameBoy-hd2eg]

The only thing wrong ive seen so far is that at 2:34 you can see the character doing some weird stuff in the shadow. It was a technique to achieve the running animation, and at least we know the shadows work well. They might have to add 2 layers of model, one for FPV and one that gets ray traced.

[@Sira_Kackavalj]

I have a feeling that within in the first week of release whole Grove Street is gonna be inhabiting the zone

[@montlejohnbojangles8937]

Solid review! It's always good to see when a reviewer implicitly understands what is and isn't important to the game itself - that is to say, they understand that what makes a good Far Cry game might not necessarily be a good S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game, despite them both being FPS games. There are commonalities, and shared systems, but different focuses that require different mechanical approaches to game design.

[@KarlRock]

Looks great!!!

[@Harvester88]

I want something like this to come to Vr. I like Into the Radius but it doesn’t quite scratch that desire that STALKER did.

[@marcuspine9436]

im so pumped for this game, after playing stalker gamma for the first time last year i was hooked. Cant believe i never got into the series until now!

[@GoodEggGuy]

This is it, the Fallout 5 we always wanted. I'm definitely here for it.

[@guguigugu]

definitely sounds like the STALKER experience

[@SteamPunk96]

Were you playing on PC with an xbox controller or does it target 60 on Series X?

[@Loy_Otterton]

The series x targets 60, and the series s targets 30 I believe.

[@vladimirvojtaml]

I wonder if we will get something like GAMMA for Stalker 2. I still think that's the ultimate Stalker experience with unforgiving systems and progression. Aswell as full story and crazy amount of guns and armors to play with.

[@Deukish]

"English voice-over is a vast improvement over that of the original trilogy" Doubt it.

[@yyperi]

I'll probably play with Ukrainian voices. The downside is that I cannot understand what they say in combat, I don't think there will be subtitles outside conversations with NPCs.

[@samaeldesolado]

Still no raw gameplay... very concerning...

[@vergil7185]

Stalker 2 looks incredible! It will definitely be a strong contender for GOTY. I can't wait to play it myself!

[@Sira_Kackavalj]

Considering the releases in 2024 so far. GOTY is not that hard. Wukong, Space Marine 2, Stellar Blade, Stalker 2

[@Ultradocker]

can we turn off crosshairs seperate from other hud elements?

[@NickHunter]

if you can't there'll probably be a mod out for it within a week :D

[@MrDarthImperius]

From what I gathered, you can disable elements of the UI, so it seems like it's possible to disable crosshairs in particular.

[@Curt_Randall]

What about labs, are those in this game? Labs are like the dungeons of the STALKER world.

[@ahoosifoou4211]

are you blind you just saw one

[@rookiecf3399]

They are in the game, we saw at least 4 different labs from different trailers.

[@normalkullanc1993]

Zone itself lab in this game

[@GeorgeWashington-b6h]

Good job! That is how you make a game!

[@KatalistProductionsKozzySasha]

Can't bloody wait!!! This game and Avowed are my most anticipated

[@GUMPritchard]

Ahh the zone. I can’t wait for you.

[@jamesford2192]

Definitely excited for this game. Been craving a single player type game with good gameplay, story and lore

[@gjdriessen1]

Please no bullet sponges

[@Asthamedos]

I was thinking the same thing, but hopefully increased difficulty levels will make bullets hit harder both for you and for enemies, like in the original games.

[@gjdriessen1]

@ agreed but not sure that in the OG the bullets would also hit the ai harder.

[@borderreaver4615]

Yeah it did ​@@gjdriessen1

[@KidMalyshev]

Don't forget about all those stalkers who are no longer with us. See you in the zone, brothers🤝

[@NoWay1969]

A lot of this looks familiar. It appears that they have included some previous locations.

[@ZadokSunz]

Holy Spoilers bro.... take it easy the game isnt out yet

[@martenb2118]

Yeah wtf, not watching this longer after the first tutorial spoilers

[@nightcatarts]

It's a bloody tutorial. Why are you watching videos at all if you want to see absolutely nothing of the game?

[@sarentheadept]

Preordered the 120 version. Already my GoTy

[@natel7382]

Are there any legit videos with the YTer playing or are they all sponsored videos?

[@unlikelycontender2229]

Another video that spoils the beginning story of a game. I watched ign do the same with indiana Jones. Why do it? Just talk about all the stuff that matters without spoiling game. Use your brains whoever does these reviews!

[@MaTtRoSiTy]

Really hope this lives up to the hopes I had for a new Stalker game, so many disappointments in the last few years but this one looks like it tried to stay true to the original games and didn't go all 'modern audience' on us

[@theterminaldave]

I wonder if it will eventually allow mods?

[@u0000-u2x]

Here's a headsup that this game will probably get review bombed on launch by people who only played Anomaly/GAMMA mods and are expecting that instead of a Stalker game

[@mnemonik61]

I hope not! I mean Anomaly's great for what it is, but waaay too obsessed with 'realism' for me. I do not want to spend hours of my (limited) gaming time sorting ammo and filling mags, using field repair kits on all my gear, making sure my food hasn't spoiled or irradiated, waiting for field-dressing animations to finish, etc. etc. Sh!t gets tedious after a while...

[@no_no_just_no]

Cant wait to play this on my steam deck...

[@slappytheclown4]

Playing it right now and gotta say it is definitely hard as fuck. They throw powerful mutants at you right away it seems which i dont remember from the first game but I never got too far in SoC. As soon as I got out of the bunker in the beginning and got my first artifact I was immediately murdered by a mutant that can go invisible. Loving it so far though.

[@han1508]

That stutter when aiming and moving in the opposite direction is VERY concerning.

[@JohnyRelax]

Can't wait to see what modders do with it!

[@hovsep56]

stalker went from semi open world to linear to semi open world to finnaly fully open world.

[@J0Sant0s]

Dude... You just provided the entire plot of the game to us. Your opinion was the title of the video. I expected that, not a step by step experience you had. You should add a spoiler tag.

[@nightcatarts]

If the entire plot of the game ends with the tutorial then this thing is fucked.

[@J0Sant0s]

What can I say if you did not get the point?

[@reptilian4204]

@@J0Sant0s he was describing the tutorial lmao

[@J0Sant0s]

@reptilian4204 "Stalker 2. Here's what we think". Thats the title. It does not say "Here is the spoiler of what I saw". Imagine you have been waiting for that special movie you love for years. Then, when it finally releases, you are at the lobby of the theather, waiting to get your tickets, and suddenly, there is a guy who watched the movie already, talking loudly over the phone describing the movie to a friend. Even if it is just a fraction of it, how would you feel? It sucks man.

[@reptilian4204]

@@J0Sant0s so u agree ur crying about spoilers of the tutorial

[@SlyNine]

The less they care about what games media thinks, the better the game will be.

[@SantoAtheos]

Cheeki Breeki! Thank you Ian

[@tiko257]

This game releases in a couple of days. Why are there so few gameplay videos? Weird...

[@jaysharp5654]

only thing im worried about now is the optimization............please be a good port

[@GavinUK_86]

I'm expecting UE stuttering unfortunately.

[@jaysharp5654]

@GavinUK_86 yep with the system requirements shown I'm fairly certain the stutter will still be present

[@СергейМиненко-у9я]

Stalker never was optimised

[@amitansurkar1769]

Finally a game that might give me a break from Starfield

[@paullynch1246]

I really, really hope this game works with uevr 🤞

[@jasonnchuleft894]

First game since Elden Ring that I've actually preordered 😅

[@BkBk-gy6vr]

Shame

[@TheKillerPingu]

can't wait to see what mods the fans are going to cook up!

[@Slashgibber]

I've been waiting 14 years.

[@MrMightyZ]

Say “noble” then say “Goebbles” then say “noble” again then say “Chernobyl” Don’t hobble the beautiful name Chernobble by making it rhyme with gobble!

[@GavinUK_86]

It's the correct Ukrainian pronunciation GSC are using.

[@animaniacman8385]

I'm buying this game. It looks like fallout survival but for real.

[@scoot_tv]

S2 GAMMA is going to go insanely hard

[@meskisable]

There will no gamma 2 :D Gamma is made of hundreds of mods made in span of 15 years. Maybe after 5 years. Besides making mods for unreal engine is quite hard.

[@dentureadventure1490]

nov 20th can't get here fast enough!

[@MatthewMeow-i5d]

Shader compilation stutter and traversal being present or not will either make or brake this game.

[@HaldolBerries]

I'm so cautiously excited

[@christiankerns9403]

So basically metro farcry

[@artemperebyinis2926]

It should be great game! Wait for it!

[@teddylott]

apart from the yellow paint guardrails

[@namelessghoul2002]

So glad this will be on Game Pass

[@NickHunter]

I preordered on Steam.I hope people who enjoy it will make a full purchase to support the devs. They've literally been through hell to bring this game out

[@TheFi1thyCasual]

There’s a tutorial? 😂 The tutorial in the original games is the key bind list in the options menu.

[@lolmao500]

Cant wait to play this in VR

[@astrarobotica]

I would love that too, but it's not coming out in VR.

[@staskozak8118]

@@astrarobotica, UEVR mod.

[@TremelJackson]

I can already see another cult classic.

[@Grihmmy]

You could at least have added spoilers in the title. Ffs people so desperate to be " first " that nothing matters anymore.

[@aBadWizard]

I just realized I haven't heard anything about this game having co-op compatibility... Please tell me it is.

[@NickHunter]

I don't think there's any co-op options, there never has been in the series

[@LetsGoFlyers]

this game will be MY GOTY idc

[@kristopher5499]

I think I might have an answer for why AI might run at you. Every stalker has a rank that would at least in the older games determine how much they sucked at combat

[@nightcatarts]

Yea I think this is that too. Not everyone can be a stealth master *cough* Ian *cough* plus it's good to have a bit of variety.

[@chomskysfavefive]

This looks like the best possible sequel to the original trilogy. It was always going to be buggy at launch, that was bound to happen with all the war. Definitely playing in Ukrainian. I havent played yet, but it kinda sorta seems like they went the Anomaly route. Open in every possibile way.

[@ManWhorse]

This one coming to console or just PC?

[@nightcatarts]

It's releasing on Xbox alongside PC & then maybe PS5 later I think.

[@techieg33k]

Looks like it should be a solid game