S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2

[J4MES OX4D 10,054]

Looking decent

 

[phil bottle 9,813]

The only game I'm interested in for the foseeable future. I wanted a follow up to the originals that did them justice and this looks to have that on point, very atmospheric 🖤

[phil bottle 9,813]

 

For me personally this is the biggest game release in many years. Not been this impatient to play a game since Fallout New Vegas. They better not fuck it up 🤪

 

 

[phil bottle 9,813]

Unlocks 4pm tomorrow (Wednesday) UK time. I've heard from early receivers it runs well. I've booked the rest of the week off work lol so I hope no issues...

 

I have it pre-installed on Xbox, it's doing an update right now as it happens.

But I also have it on Steam, which is where I'll play it properly.

[J4MES OX4D 10,054]

I'm gonna wait for reviews because I am a bit iffy with the extreme system recommendations and potential optimisation issues that could arise. I don't trust the press at all with things like this. 

[phil bottle 9,813]

13 hours ago, J4MES OX4D said:

I'm gonna wait for reviews because I am a bit iffy with the extreme system recommendations and potential optimisation issues that could arise. I don't trust the press at all with things like this. 

 

Well, good news that the Xbox version is fine, people are already playing it and giving the thumbs up. 

 

The PC version will possibly be an issue for me and my 1080ti but it should just mean some lowering of settings. 

 

The last game I pre-ordered was the CyberPunk debacle a few years ago but I've throw caution to the wind and got the ultimate edition on Steam (eventhough can play it free via gamepass lol)

[crispymorgan 1,057]

I just went to preload the game files.  It downloads 6 mb.  bummer.

[phil bottle 9,813]

I played the first few hours on Xbox. Runs well and looks fucking great 🤗

 

But as soon as the Steam download was complete I went straight to PC.

I was cacking it a bit I must admit but I need not have worried. My 1080ti on a mix of low and ultra at 1440p is getting me 50-60 frames. No drops or lag, it's smooth and I'm so happy. 

 

Game is everything I hoped it would be so far. If I have a criticism, some of voice acting could be better : )

[Luseth 1,974]

8 hours ago, phil bottle said:

I played the first few hours on Xbox. Runs well and looks fucking great 🤗

 

But as soon as the Steam download was complete I went straight to PC.

I was cacking it a bit I must admit but I need not have worried. My 1080ti on a mix of low and ultra at 1440p is getting me 50-60 frames. No drops or lag, it's smooth and I'm so happy. 

 

Game is everything I hoped it would be so far. If I have a criticism, some of voice acting could be better : )

 

That is good to hear! It is on my to play list but I have a couple of big single player game son the go at the moment so suspect this may be my game over Christmas. My ROG broke recently (missus broke it grrr) so it will be on the Xbox for me. Be interesting to see how it plays on my Series S!

[phil bottle 9,813]

The voice acting was hurting immersion, particularly the English middle class accents being totally out of place, and doing my nut a little, so I switched it to ukrainian with English subtitles...so much better 🤗

[J4MES OX4D 10,054]

Picked the game up cheap on Gamesplanet for £40 and have just done the prologue. Despite the crazy requirements, the game runs fine on a 3060ti at 1080p with all settings set to maxed out. A few stutters here and there but I may even give this a tweak to see if I can get away with 1440p at high settings. Feels a bit janky and unpolished in places and the characters seem pretty awful but it's definitely got good enjoyment potential. Really wish they didn't have the Ubisoft-type interactive interface elements though and it's annoying you can't mantle over certain basic objects.  I'll probably give this a proper crack on Sunday.

[phil bottle 9,813]

1 hour ago, J4MES OX4D said:

Picked the game up cheap on Gamesplanet for £40 and have just done the prologue. Despite the crazy requirements, the game runs fine on a 3060ti at 1080p with all settings set to maxed out. A few stutters here and there but I may even give this a tweak to see if I can get away with 1440p at high settings. Feels a bit janky and unpolished in places and the characters seem pretty awful but it's definitely got good enjoyment potential. Really wish they didn't have the Ubisoft-type interactive interface elements though and it's annoying you can't mantle over certain basic objects.  I'll probably give this a proper crack on Sunday.

 

11 hours in now and have a few more impressions.

 

I haven't come across any bugs but fps deffo takes a hit in settlements. I don't get any stuttering or anything else like that though.

 

The AI needs tweaking, they appear too suddenly sometimes and they spot you too easily and can hit you from too far away imo

 

The day and night cycle needs extending, particularly as bad weather means even daytime can be dark. Days needs ro be longer for sure.

Torch needs to be brighter.

 

Game needs some updates for sure bit I'm loving every second so far.

 

 

[phil bottle 9,813]

Totally in love with this game right now. I'm methodically exploring everything and soaking in the atmosphere. Hope it comes to PS5 sooner than later, so those without PC or Xbox can enjoy this game.

 

The first patch is coming this week.

 

 

[J4MES OX4D 10,054]

I've done about 20 hours so far and it's been good fun! Unfortunately immersion is broken way too often where you can be having a great time but something completely takes you out of the experience. The game runs well but it's definitely a demanding title but the only noticeable issue I had was in the first town with some severe, but momentary slowdown similar to what Phil encountered. The survival aspect is not great though - everything is way too easy to come by yet the economy for things like repairs and upgrades is insane. Needs some serious balance especially in the early game. Far too many degraded weapons floating around also. 

 

The story is incredibly weak and the writing isn't great either. Even Bethesda would be mildly embarrassed at some of the lame face-to-face interactions this game has!  Combat is fine but the mechanics can be slow and cumbersome which can be very annoying as the AI is broken right now - enemies can spot you a mile off and they spam grenades and direct hits non-stop. Mutants are way too spongy and seem unfazed with being shot most of the time so some battles can be brutally unfair especially as you faff around with reloading, medikits, nades and bandages. Not being able to mantle can also be annoying in places plus the stamina system can see you too tired to even swing a knife. It's also way too easy to become encumbered and for all the stuff you come across, the default leaves you incredibly light. 

 

Even with all that, there's still a great game here but much work still to be done by the devs. A lot of the jank is pretty inexcusable though and if this game was published by someone like Ubisoft, it would be critically lambasted and rightfully so. Thankfully the community have saved the day with a  string of essential mods which I will probably have to download and incorporate into my current run. I'm also a bit weary of broken quests and softlocks which can arise and those fixes, if possible, are way more complicated. 

 

7 Essential Mods to Install for Stalker 2 - STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl Guide - IGN

WWW.IGN.COM

---

While the Exclusion Zone in Stalker 2 is meant to be challenging and ruthless, mods can implement some quality-of-life adjustments to make your time in the

 

[phil bottle 9,813]

13 hours ago, J4MES OX4D said:

I've done about 20 hours so far and it's been good fun! Unfortunately immersion is broken way too often where you can be having a great time but something completely takes you out of the experience. The game runs well but it's definitely a demanding title but the only noticeable issue I had was in the first town with some severe, but momentary slowdown similar to what Phil encountered. The survival aspect is not great though - everything is way too easy to come by yet the economy for things like repairs and upgrades is insane. Needs some serious balance especially in the early game. Far too many degraded weapons floating around also. 

 

The story is incredibly weak and the writing isn't great either. Even Bethesda would be mildly embarrassed at some of the lame face-to-face interactions this game has!  Combat is fine but the mechanics can be slow and cumbersome which can be very annoying as the AI is broken right now - enemies can spot you a mile off and they spam grenades and direct hits non-stop. Mutants are way too spongy and seem unfazed with being shot most of the time so some battles can be brutally unfair especially as you faff around with reloading, medikits, nades and bandages. Not being able to mantle can also be annoying in places plus the stamina system can see you too tired to even swing a knife. It's also way too easy to become encumbered and for all the stuff you come across, the default leaves you incredibly light. 

 

Even with all that, there's still a great game here but much work still to be done by the devs. A lot of the jank is pretty inexcusable though and if this game was published by someone like Ubisoft, it would be critically lambasted and rightfully so. Thankfully the community have saved the day with a  string of essential mods which I will probably have to download and incorporate into my current run. I'm also a bit weary of broken quests and softlocks which can arise and those fixes, if possible, are way more complicated. 

 

7 Essential Mods to Install for Stalker 2 - STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl Guide - IGN

WWW.IGN.COM

---

While the Exclusion Zone in Stalker 2 is meant to be challenging and ruthless, mods can implement some quality-of-life adjustments to make your time in the

 

 

I'm loving this game, warts and all. I'm mostly exploring and doing side quests, I only progress the main story when it's needed but I'm ok with it.

I hear it's best to not go further than the first Clear Sky mission for now as there's a game breaking bug for some folk that fucks their saves.

I'm looking forward to fixes, but yeah I agree should not have been released in this state. They waited this long lol so why risk everything by releasing with major issues is beyond me. It's money of course behind everything.

 

Still, I fucking love this game 😍

[J4MES OX4D 10,054]

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl - Patch 1.0.1 is live! Here is the patchnote! - Steam News

STORE.STEAMPOWERED.COM

---

Over 650 fixes, including quest blockers, memory leaks, crashes, and minor bugs.