STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl - The Final Preview

ign.com:

Two hours isn't enough time to see all the branching stories, admire all the beautiful graphics, and discover all the secrets within the world of STALKER 2. But it is enough to be left impressed. When I wasn't taking stock of my paltry ammunition levels and hunger gauge, I was looking out at beautiful fields of red poppy flowers. When I wasn’t getting distracted by an interesting side quest I was doing my best to lure the mutants into an anomaly trap. And while it was over just when it felt like it was getting extra good, it had still left its impression. The impression that the team at GSC Game World has created something special with STALKER 2.

I will preface all this by admitting that I am not a STALKER exper meaning I have not played the 2009 hits. But I probably should be, because I am a huge fan of games that offer us various options for dealing with a story scenario – especially those where one seemingly small decision can have effects that ripple through the rest of your playthrough. That’s what this series (which began with 2007’s Shadow of Chernobyl and was built on in Call of Pripyat in 2009) is best known for, and it’s what stuck with me the most from my handful of hours with STALKER 2. I kept thinking about the decisions I had made and wondering if I had made a mistake by choosing a violent, guns-blazing approach and wondering if I should have tried a stealthy or even fully peaceful one, but STALKER 2 takes it several steps further. There are times you’ll have NPCs abruptly end a quest without rewarding you because you’ve looted the body of their dead friend, for example. Have that happen a couple of times and it’ll give you pause even when you’re doing the kind of routine task that you normally wouldn’t even think about.

Our demo began with an Enter the Zone trailer cinematic before we were unleashed into a small field area covered by the darkness of night where we were hunting for anomalies. These are dangerous areas that have been disturbed in the