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S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl just received a massive update with hundreds of gameplay improvements to AI, combat, balance, quests, and more GSC Game World's hit open-world survival shooter, STALKER 2, has just received a new update titled Patch 1.4, which has been implemented for the Xbox Series X|S and PC versions (via Windows and Steam). Much like the Patch 1.2 and Patch 1.3 updates, Patch 1.4 is purely about improving the game with over 700 fixes and improvements, but this update is mainly focused on upgrading the enemy AI during combat. These AI improvements include enemies now properly taking cover, enhanced flanking pathfinding maneuvers before engaging in melee combat, kicking players while they're crouching, using grenades more often to flush players out of cover, and more. This patch also includes major changes and bug fixes to the combat, balance, Quests, and technical performance. Seeing as the full list of patch notes is too big to list here (you can read on the STALKER 2 website), here is a list of the biggest changes made with STALKER 2's 1.4 Patch, as stated on the game's Steam page. Warning: Some of the patch notes contain spoilers for the game's story in the Quests section. STALKER 2 1.4 Update: Patch notes Highlights Mutants can now use corpse-eating animation if there are dead bodies nearby. Mutants now have an “alert” state if something is happening near or approaching them. Improvements to human combat: Fixed numerous bugs and problems with cover usage for NPC. Now they can properly use available covers, always try to hide before shooting, and don't rush forward when not needed. Characters use trees as cover. Updated combat and cover animations to look more fluent and fast. Improved flanking pathfinding and transition to close combat. Close combat has become tougher on Veteran and Stalker difficulties. Fixed issues in communication and actions synchronization between characters in the squad. Characters now communicate tactical actions and reactions more clearly in combat. Human characters throw grenades when they want to flush out the target, not on the cooldown. Squads now have a finite number of grenades, depending on their rank and faction (bandits have significantly less than military). Human characters are able to attack mutants in melee. They use kick melee attacks against smaller mutants. Human characters can kick players who are crouched. Human characters look around for a brief moment, searching for enemies after combat ends, then proceed to the post-combat activities like looting and healing wounded. Humans are no longer able to snipe with shotguns. Fixed problems with pellet dispersion and non-natural ballistic distances. Increased number of generic heads for NPC randomization Burer can now use his telekinetic abilities to catch and throw grenades Improved Weapon stat displaying in the inventory. Updated weapon stats bars and their calculation logic. Added new weapon stat — handling. AI and Combat Fixed erratic behavior of A-Life NPCs after attacking enemy lairs. Fixed an issue where A-Life NPC didn't move after transitioning to offline. Improved mutant behavior during combat. Fixed an issue where a Flesh mutant was hiding to ambush the Player after they avoided a jump attack. Fixed an issue where a swarm of rat mutants were ignoring the Player after loading a save made near them. Improved path building for NPCs in offline to avoid them getting in restricted areas. Fixed an issue where an NPC was able to stay alive after falling in a wounded state underwater. Fixed an issue where mutants' bodies were jumping/shaking/stretching after being killed by shotgun or grenade. Fixed an issue where patrolling NPCs could clip with each other. Blind Dogs are now playing peaceful barks when not in combat with Player. Fixed issues where NPCs were clipping or going through doors while in combat. Fixed an issue where mutants were able to get stuck searching for enemies after escaping combat during emission. Fixed an issue when NPCs could be stuck in ambush pose. Adjusted aim for the NPCs that are in low cover. Fixed an issue when the NPCs could stay idle after receiving critical damage. Adjusted shooting range of NPCs depending on their weapon. Adjusted shooting from cover for the NPCs. Balance RPM-74: increased armor piercing value Explosions now cause more damage on high-ranking targets Increased RPG damage Decreased lethal distance for grenades Increased concussion distance for RPG Added some silencers into stashes. Added Khors the possibility to upgrade Zircon Suit. Fixed an issue where Player was able to install physical protection upgrades twice for PSZ-9I Falcon armor. Rebalanced stashes in Zaton region. Improved regeneration and spawn of random anomalies after emission. Bug Fixes, Crashes, and Performance Made performance optimization of light and shadows in multiple regions and locations. Improved LODs for grass in multiple regions. Performance optimization for light garland at 100 Rads Bar. Some other Under the Hood CPU performance and optimizations tweaks were made. Fixed an issue where bullet hit decals would not appear on certain parts of Mutant and NPC bodies. Fixed an issue where a Vortex arch-anomaly was throwing NPC corpses under terrain. Fixed an issue where an anomaly spawned by an Electric Poltergeist was invisible. Fixed an issue where stamina was spent even if action wasn't available. Fixed generic issues where NPCs were unable to reach a scripted animation pose if it was located too far. Fixed an issue where Zombies were able to fall under level geometry. Fixed an issue where sounds of raindrops were playing for certain props located underground. Fixed an issue where Player was able to stuck behind the door in Sidorovich's bunker. Fixed an issue with the HUD opacity option not working. Fixed an issue where dynamic shadows cast by flashlight appeared jagged. Fixed an issue where some effects could stuck on the player after loading a save. Fixed an issue where some effects could not be applied to the player after loading a save. Fixed an issue where increment in Psi Protection was displayed on armor stat bar when selecting Radiation Protection upgrade on some exosuits. Fixed an issue where Player was able to get to Prypiat ahead of time by jumping over the railroad cistern on Yaniv. Fixed an issue where a broken weapon didn't have a red background when equipped. Fixed Trader items being sorted after cancelling trade. Fixed an issue where no technicians in the game were able to install "Extra Barrel Upgrade" to SVDM-2 and Lynx sniper rifles Fixed an issue where mutants with telekinetic abilities were unable to pick up or throw items or corpses directly at Player. Fixed an issue where Bayun didn't deal any damage during his Jump Attack. Main & Side Quests, Open World Encounters Fixed an issue where the objective Find Spirit could not end if the player talks to Spirit again right after finishing the dialogue during The Boundary mission. Fixed an issue where Faust was not appearing on the roof of Comm Center during the boss fight in Once More Unto The Breach mission, if the Player distracted him with a grenade. Fixed an issue where Scar didn't approach Visiograph to start dialogue with the Player during the Visions Of Truth mission. Fixed an issue where Snork's collar wasn't counted as collected if Snork's corpse is already despawned in the In The Name Of Science mission. Fixed an issue where the Player was able to get stuck closed behind two bunker doors in airlocks during The Last Step mission. Fixed an issue where Max Saturday was already dead and despawned for some users during The Lost Boys mission. Fixed an issue where a part of the world was missing at the exit from an underground teleportation room near Death Valley in certain conditions during the Through The Valley Of The Shadow Of Death mission. Fixed an issue with an unresponsive Korshunov in A-pose after the bossfight during the Down Below mission. Fixed an issue when the A Matter Of Honor mission wasn't completed if the player killed all Duty members after repelling the Monolith attack. Fixed an issue when Skif could die from bleeding in the cutscene after the boss fight with Korshunov during the Down Below mission. Fixed an issue where the door leading out of Noontide base was locked during the Just Like The Good Old Days mission. Fixed an issue that prevented re-entering the tunnel after it was opened by a scanner during The Boundary mission. Fixed an issue with missing Richter during The Boundary mission. Fixed an issue with the inability to progress the walkthrough of Just Like The Good Old Days mission if the fuse was thrown out of the inventory. Fixed an issue where the Ganja mission The Freedom Colosseum was absent if the player character teleported to Rostok via the guide. Fixed an issue with the inability to talk to Dubniy during the Hot On The Trail mission. Fixed an issue with a locked bunker during the The Boundary mission. Fixed an issue when it was unable to talk with Roosevelt in the mission Legends of the Zone. Fixed an issue where the "Get to the helicopter pad" journal objective was not ending during the Law And Order mission. Fixed an issue where the Player's Camera could get stuck panning at Darwin's corpse, if the Player did save/load during an encounter mission at Ruined Bridge, Backwater region. Removed redundant invisible collision in the middle of Ganja's bar at Rostok base. Fixed an issue where Richter and Warlock's comments in the A Tough Awakening mission could get stuck, resulting in permanent Emission weather after the Hot on the Trail mission. Fixed an issue where friendly NPCs were not interactable during the Dawn Of A New Day mission if the Player threw grenades inside Rostok Depot. Fixed an issue where the emission shelter at Noontide base didn't protect the Player after save/load during the Just Like The Good Old Days mission. Fixed an issue where repeatable missions from multiple vendors were stuck on the reward stage. Fixed an issue where the Player couldn't talk to Squint during A Needle In A Haystack mission if they sold his artifact. Fixed an issue where Gray's Last Hunt mission was not finished if the deer mutant was despawned. Fixed an issue where the Player was unable to give a briefcase to Sultan during The Mysterious Case mission, if they killed ambushing stalkers before talking to them. Fixed an issue where the game didn't progress after talking to Senkevych in the Like A Moth To The Flame mission due to the missing radio operator NPC nearby. Fixed an issue where a marker was missing on Richter during the Bring the collar to Richter journal stage of the A Minor Incident mission. Fixed an issue where the Player was able to get stuck in a basement near a cemetery during the Eye of the Storm mission. Fixed an issue where Scar was not appearing at the Malachite secret entrance after clearing out X17 in the Visions Of Truth mission. Fixed an issue where the Player could leave X17 lab via the elevator without a way back during the assault in the Visions Of Truth mission. Fixed an issue where Akopyan refused to talk with the Player during A Big Score mission. Fixed an issue where the Player wasn't able to progress the story after reaching Generators during emission in the Through The Valley Of The Shadow Of Death mission. Fixed an issue where the Player was able to break the cutscene with the pod and get stuck in the room with Richter during The Last Wish mission. Fixed an issue where the dialog with Scar was not available for some users during the Visions Of Truth mission. Fixed an issue when the On the Edge mission could start after the death of all stalkers in Zalissya. Fixed an issue when the All That Is Left mission could not be finished if the player agreed to throw the Warden's body into an anomaly. Fixed an issue where Strelok was dashing too often and almost didn't attack the Player during his boss fight. Technical Updates Improved pathing for NPCs. Minor polishment and improvement for scripted NPC animations. Human characters that turn on flashlights are now slightly more illuminated and visible in the dark. Improved sound obstruction for grenades thrown outside from indoors location. Added a new emission shelter in Chemical Plant's dining room. Added emission shelter to technician room at Ranger Station, Zaton region. Improved facial animations and realism. Improved impact sounds for the bolt. Removed redundant blur effect on Player's vitals stat panel during trade. Added Player's vitals stat panel in the trade menu. Added new death animations and sound effects for electricity, acid, bullet, and rat bites' damage. STALKER 2 is available for purchase on Xbox Series X|S and PC via Windows and Steam. It is also available on the Xbox Game Pass library, allowing Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers to play it on Xbox, PC, and Xbox Cloud Gaming. Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years. News posts... 2023: 5,800+ | 2024: 5,700+ | 2025 (till end of April): 1,811 RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend

Ever since the launch of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, GSC Game World has been hard at work shipping massive bug-fixing updates for the survival experience. With the first quarter of 2025 now over, the studio is looking toward the rest of the year to deliver some of its most requested features and updates. In a blog post today, GSC Game World detailed what it hopes to ship out to players in upcoming updates, including beta modding tools for the community, massive A-Life updates to improve the game's AI aspects, new weapons, mutant loot, and more. Here's the 2025 Q2 roadmap that was shared today: Beta Mod SDK Kit Closed Beta with Mod Makers to test the ModKit Release Beta Mod SDK Mod Guide (SCRAA will provide the info) Mod.io and Steam Workshop integration A-Life/AI Updates Persistent A-Life improvements Smarter human combat: better cover/flanking use, limited grenades Mutants eat corpses Mutants react to threats Mutant Loot Shader Compilation Skip Player Stash Window Increase Wide Screen Aspect Ratio Support Two New Weapons Further Stabilization, Optimization, and “Anomalies” Fixing Unfortunately, no solid release dates have been attached to any of the promised features and changes. The studio said it will be updating the roadmap every quarter, though, so expect another announcement in about three months. "The Zone is evolving and will continue to. Throughout the year, we will be delivering updates and hotfixes dedicated to making the game better in every aspect," added the studio. "With proper planning, double testing (internal and closed beta for big updates) of all features and fixes, and your feedback, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl will become the game we imagined — and you deserve." Moreover, the studio hopes to ship the next-gen update for the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. trilogy during the same 2025 time frame. Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years. News posts... 2023: 5,800+ | 2024: 5,700+ | 2025 (till end of March): 1,357 RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend

Patch 1.3 has come to STALKER 2, but it's missing something I was hoping for. In keeping with the studio's monthly update cadence for its open-world survival shooter STALKER 2, developer GSC Game World has now released Patch 1.3 for the game. The update follows February's large Patch 1.2, and like that patch, this one brings well over 1,000 fixes, improvements, and tweaks to the Xbox and Windows PC exclusive title. In total, Patch 1.3 features 1,200+ notes (check the section at the bottom of this article for a list), including improvements to mutant movement animations that make them smoother and more readable, tweaks to make their combat behaviors more consistent, the addition of new contextually chosen death screens so you don't always have to look at that ugly bloodsucker face, and over 400 fixes for main and side quests. On top of that, GSC has adjusted the exceedingly rare archiartifacts with some small nerfs and/or buffs and has also improved performance by resolving numerous technical issues. Overall, very few of the patch notes are individually very significant or noteworthy, but all of them should come together to refine the overarching STALKER 2 experience. One additional that's crucial to mention, though, is the introduction of squirrels to The Zone. I mean, look at them; you'd best guard your nuts closely, stalkers. All in all, Patch 1.3 seems like a pretty great update, though the more I've played STALKER 2, the more I've come to realize that the game still has a glaring issue with its in-game trade/repair economy. It's often frustratingly difficult to earn enough money from jobs and selling loot to keep your gear repaired, let alone buy new stuff like valuable armor upgrades, weapon attachments, and stuff like that. This aspect of its gameplay hasn't meaningfully been adjusted much since STALKER 2 came out last November, and it's why community-made tweaks like hawkidoki's Reduced Repair Cost are some of the game's most popular mods. I was really hoping we'd finally see GSC ease our financial burdens with this update, but sadly, that didn't happen — and at the moment, it's unclear if it's something the studio even plans to adjust. Still, it's nice that this is something you can easily address in the PC version of the game with mods, and that solution will be available on Xbox too once the developers bring mod support to console (we know it's coming). Until they do — or balance the economy in a future update — Xbox stalkers will just have to be frugal with their cash. Selling artifacts you find in STALKER 2 is one good way to make money in The Zone. (Image credit: @Steven_VP1 on X (Twitter)) Notably, GSC Game World says it's "already started working on the next update," and that it's eager to get feedback from players about how STALKER 2 plays on social media. If you encounter bugs or glitches, the studio also requests that you fill out a report on the STALKER 2 Technical Support Center page so that it can start working on a fix. What might come in a hypothetical Patch 1.4 is anyone's guess, but we do know STALKER 2 is eventually getting some major content additions like PvP Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch multiplayer and a pair of story expansions. A roadmap was planned for Q1 2025, but it hasn't been shared yet; hopefully it comes soon, as I'm looking forward to learning more about what GSC is cooking. STALKER 2 is available to purchase on Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC for $59.99, though notably, it's on sale for just $38.79 at CDKeys thanks to a pretty killer deal. Alternatively, you can access it by subscribing to Xbox Game Pass, with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate letting you play it across Xbox, PC, and Xbox Cloud Gaming. STALKER 2 update 1.3: Patch notes Stalkers relaxing by a campfire in STALKER 2. (Image credit: Windows Central) Below, you'll find the highlights from the patch notes of this update that were taken directly from GSC Game World's Steam news post about the patch. Note that the full patch notes are available on the studio's website; they're far too long to list here. AI and Combat Made mutants movements during combat smoother. Improved the reaction of NPCs to the sound of footsteps. Polished ambush behavior for mutants, when Player is hiding behind or on top of props. Fixed an issue where mutants didn't attack other NPCs once Player was in the safe zone. Balance Archiartifacts rebalance: Weird Water: decreased radiation protection. Weird Nut: increased bleeding degeneration speed, further slowed down healing with equipped artifact. Weird Flower: Increased smell masking effect. Weird Ball: increased stamina gain, increased maximum weight of the artifact, but slowed down weight gain when being shot. Weird Kettle: Debuff received from consuming food is now not random, and corresponds to specific type of food. Non-Stop Limited Edition energy drinks now have an additional special effect when used with Weird Kettle. Made A-life encounters a bit more rare on average. Nerfed base anomaly damage protections for “combat” armors Buffed anomaly damage protection for “science” suites Slightly reworked anomaly damage for different anomalies Increased damage from destructible explosive props. Fixed an issue where the Weird Flower artifact was initially in a dried state instead of an active one after being picked up. Increased overall durability for unique weapons found during missions. Bug Fixes, Crashes, and Performance Fixed a bug that could let players permanently stack the effect of unequipped artifacts. Fixed a bug that could prevent players from being able to use sprint after chaotic movement. Fixed an issue that caused some psy-phantoms of blind dogs to have misleading trails. Fixed the crash caused by zombification of NPCs. Fixed an issue when looting some story NPCs could block the mission. Fixed an issue when players could be locked inside the Ranger Station. Fixed an issue that could permanently keep visual effects of sleepiness if the save was made during a Main Quest line. Fixed issue with light from the flashlights in cutscenes. Fixed an issue where high ranked NPCs were able to spawn at Rookie Village location. Phantom stalkers that appear under the influence of Psy-effect no longer can damage other NPCs by throwing grenades. Fixed an issue where the HUD would sometimes appear transparent after closing the inventory or finishing a cutscene. Fixed visual bugs on character costumes (texture stretching caused by awkward animation poses). Fixed memory leaks issues when navigating inventory/looting menus (e.g. opening Player stash at Rostok). Resolved issues where NPCs got stuck in one place and obstructed player movement. Fixed the issue when the output device was resetted after restart of the title. Fixed an issue where a guide NPC was missing at Yaniv hub after unlocking Prypiat region. UI Update: Fixed localization issues, improved stability, resolved visual bugs in widgets, corrected text corruption, and SFX for a smoother experience. Also, almost 100 crashes and EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION errors were fixed. Main and Side Quests, Open World Encounters Fixed an issue where player could not complete Escape from the Cage mission via the stealth path due to NPCs with high perception level. Fixed an issue where the player could destroy the Jammer before the start of the In the Name of Science mission. Fixed an issue where the Escape from the Chemical Plant objective did not complete if the call from the Strelok or Scar was interrupted by a loudspeaker during the Escape from the Cage mission. Fixed an issue where no new journal objective appeared and Dark Times mission was stuck after killing Jarl NPC. Fixed an issue with Eye of the Storm mission not progressing after reaching the Generators. Fixed an issue where side mission A Big Score was not progressing if emission happened while Player was at the Car Park. Fixed an issue when Player is not able to loot Faust's body after receiving a call from Scar during Visions of Truth mission. Fixed an issue where Foma NPC could become invincible during the Chasing Ghosts mission. Fixed an issue where an encounter mission with Headlight NPC near Bulba Arch anomaly was not starting after completion of Nightingale’s Hunt mission. Fixed an issue where Yaryk Mongoose was hostile to the player during the For Science! mission. Fixed an issue when the Snork collar was not counted as collected if snork was killed not by a player character during the "In the Name of Science" mission. Fixed an issue where Korshunov could disappear at the start of 2nd phase of bossfight during the "Down Below" mission. Fixed an issue where All That Is Left mission didn't cancel after Mateus death, resulting in redundant markers on artifact location. Fixed an issue where Akopyan was non interactable at the car park during A Big Score mission. Fixed an issue where plank bridges leading to Faust cell were collapsed for Players first arriving at Noontide base during Hot On The Trail mission. Fixed an issue where a Chemical Plant encounter mission with wardens shooting fleshes was stuck after luring mutants out. Fixed an issue when Jumper and Bluish sometimes was dead during Hot on the Trail mission. Fixed an issue when the door to forestry was locked during Extreme Simplicity mission if Player was encountering the emission while leaving the swamps. Fixed an issue when a quest NPC was able to be distracted by A-life enemies during the Three Captains mission. Fixed an issue where the bayun in collar was at the Detention Center instead of the Boathouse location during the A Minor Incident mission. Fixed an issue where the player could not progress through the mission if Heart of Chornobyl artifact was looted directly to the artifact slot from the Strelok's body. Fixed an issue where Richter could be non-interactable at the Slag Heap location during the Back to the Slag Heap mission. Fixed an issue where Doctorant Shcherba could be dead for some players during the In Search of Past Glory mission. Fixed errors with some mission markers being not displayed correctly. Fixed an issue that could stop the progression of Escape the Chemical Plant mission. Fixed an issue that made players able to sell the key from the Northern Checkpoint which makes it unavailable to pass through. Fixed issues with Help Solder and Talk to Solder mission objectives. Fixed an issue where interaction prompt for dialogue with Richter could be missing after defending Yaniv during the The Boundary mission. Fixed an issue when Richter stops at the beginning of the path through the river during the Through the valley of the shadow of death mission. Fixed an issue where the doors to underground tunnel and Location D could be closed during the Once More unto the Breach mission. Fixed an issue where the player could stay in a closed location after a cutscene in the Dangerous Liaisons mission. Fixed an issue where the dialogue with prof. Ozersky was unavailable if the player killed Spark NPCs during the A Minor Incident mission. Fixed an issue where Dalin could be missing at the infirmary at the Chemical Plant location during the Escape from the Cage mission. Technical Updates Added multiple new death screens that vary based on the cause of the death. Improved facial animations in the mainline. Improved audio obstruction for mutants' sounds. Improved the positioning of various sounds. Added a new night music theme for Slag Heap. Added music for the elevator in SIRCAA. Added missing localizations for tutorials. Added descriptions that explain what is the difference between armor-piercing and expansive ammo. Improved some bullet-caused decals. Improved the visibility of enemies at nighttime by increasing the intensity of the NPC flashlights. Improved the shadows cast by the player's flashlight. Several attachments and upgrades have been moved from “point of no returns” end game sequence to Prypiat stashes. Updates and fixes of NPC movement and shooting animations. Added option to change Melee weapon attack button in control settings. Added additional idle animations for NPCs with weapons drawn. Added new VFX animals and a new type of a visual anomaly. Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years. News posts... 2023: 5,800+ | 2024: 5,700+ | 2025 (till end of February): 874 RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend

GSC Game World has been rather quiet about S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl updates for a few weeks. However, it seems the studio has just been preparing a massive update behind the scenes, which it has dubbed Patch 1.2. The newly released update touts over 1700 changes, which include gameplay improvements, bug fixes, AI upgrades, and much more. Some highlights include NPC shooting accuracy changes to not let them laser the player so much, better stealth elements, and the player flashlight now casting proper shadows. Considering the length of the changelog, only some of the changes can be seen below, specifically regarding AI, balance, optimizations, and under-the-hood changes: The complete changelog for Patch 1.2 can be found here, which also goes into fixes GSC Game World has made for the main questline, side missions and encounters, the Zone's interactable objects, gear, and other areas. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl Patch 1.2 is now available for PC and Xbox Series X|S players, as well as Game Pass subscribers across both platforms. Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years. News posts... 2023: 5,800+ | 2024: 5,700+ | 2025 (till end of January): 487 RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend

"A-Life" fixes will ensure even more randomness in an already odd fallout zone. When the impossibly punctuated S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl released on November 20, after many delays (that included the Russian invasion of the developer's native Ukraine), it seemed like it could have used even more delays. Stalker 2 had big performance issues and game-breaking bugs, along with balance and difficulty spike issues. Some things that seem "wrong" in the game are just going to stay that way. The first-person survival/shooter series has always had a certain wobbly, wild feel to it. This expresses itself in both the game world, where a major villain can off themselves by walking through a window, and in the tech stack, where broken save games, DIY optimization, and other unmet needs have created thriving mod scenes. Developer GSC Game World has been steadfastly patching the game since its release, and the latest one should nudge the needle a bit from "busted" to "charmingly wonky." Amid the "Over 1,800 fixes and adjustments" in Patch 1.1, the big changes are to "A-Life." In porting Stalker 2 to Unreal Engine 5, the developer faced a challenge in getting this global AI management system working, but it's showing its weird self again. A-Life, as detailed by Destructoid, is the idea that "the characters in the game live their own lives and exist all the time, not only when they are in the player's field of view." In a certain radius around the player, events happen "online," in real time, such that you could stumble upon them. Farther out, things are still happening, and non-player characters (NPCs) are trekking about, but on an "offline," almost turn-based, less resource-intensive schedule. Modders have had quite a bit of fun tweaking A-life in prior versions of Stalker 2. With the latest patch, the weirdly engaging feel that the world goes on without you returns. There will be more NPCs visible, NPCs out of range will pursue their "goals," and a more diverse range of human factions, mutants, and weirdos will exist. Perhaps most intriguingly, an issue where "Human NPCs didn't satisfy their communication needs and talks" is fixed. If only that could be patched for most of us player characters here in the real world. It's patched, but is it fun? You see stuff like this all over Stalker 2, sometimes put there by the developers, sometimes just happening out of A-Life happenstance. Credit: GSC Game World I have been playing Stalker 2 on and off since its launch, checking in after most of the big patches so far. Not nearly enough to merit any kind of proper review, and it's my first time with the series. Early on, the performance was quite bad, devolving sometimes to a stuttering "I can't even press escape to save and quit" mess on a system with an RTX 3070 GPU, a 12-core AMD 5900X CPU, and 16GB memory. Since then, it has improved considerably. I no longer avoid walking up to NPCs talking to one another for fear of triggering the slight stutter that once made my teeth clench. When I'm not noticing hitches or worrying about settings, I'm very much enjoying Stalker 2. It is unforgiving, it triggers the save-scumming response, and it makes you realize that getting shot five or six times would, indeed, kill most people. Maybe it's the winter or a reaction to the highly polished AAA titles or charming indie games I've been playing lately, but I appreciate the feeling of being overmatched and submerged in oddities. It's one of the rare games where I feel good for running away from a three-on-one firefight because I know I'll be better off saving ammo and item condition so I can go off and barely survive something else. It's a bit more active and game-like than a strict survival game, but it actively discourages the ridiculous bravado emphasized in most first-person shooters. Even before this A-Life fix, the game's towns and landscapes gave off a sense of being inhabited (as much as a nuclear fallout zone can be), of your protagonist's path moving past a world that had its own rhythm. The developers seem to have had enough success (1 million copies within 48 hours of release) and real-world feedback to keep plugging away on fixes, up until the point the game has moved from "damaged" to "cracked in interesting ways." I intend to follow along, however many times my character must die on the way. Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years. 2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of November): 5,298 news posts RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend

GSC Game World released S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl to PC and Xbox Series X|S a month ago, and it quickly became a massive hit among survival shooter fans. However, one of the main criticisms pointed at the game was its bugginess. While a few post-launch hotfixes have landed aiming to resolve some of them, today, the studio pushed out its first major patch for the game. Patch 1.1 is now live on PC and Xbox platforms, and it ships with over 1800 fixes and adjustments for the game's various systems like AI, cutscenes, interactable objects, quests, exploration elements, gear, saves, and much more. As previously promised, the studio has also made important improvements to the A-Life simulation this time too. Some critical fixes include RTX 3000 series performance drops with FSR frame gen, NPC's detecting crouched players to break stealth, and a multitude of crash issues. NPCs should also stop spawning behind players, and they will also carry on their usual activities when the player isn't around. Here are the A-Life specific improvements the developer is making with today's update, which should improve the simulation and immersion of the game drastically: The changelog for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl Patch 1.1 can be found here. Though considering its size, even the studio isn't detailing each and every change the update has brought to the game. "We understand that the size of the patch is huge and the process of downloading will take some time," added the studio. "We would like to thank you for your understanding, and we will work on this aspect as well." S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl fans on Steam may find that this update will be essentially be a complete re-download of the game, coming with a size of about 110GB. However, on Xbox Series X|S consoles, this patch seems to be only about 12GB in size. Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years. 2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of November): 5,298 news posts RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend

GSC Game World has been hard at work pushing out updates for its newly released survival adventure S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl. The first update, Patch 1.01, landed just a week after launch, offering over 650 fixes for those exploring the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone on PC and Xbox. Around a day after it, the studio pushed out Patch 1.0.2 with a few more essential bug fixes. Now, just a few days later, GSC Game World has Patch 1.0.3 ready for fans. Weighing in at over 20GB, it carries more than a few bug fixes related to crashes, mission blockers, AI, and a tough problem that involved save files going missing after a reboot. Players no longer have to fiddle with .ini files to fix the mouse sensitivity and always-on smoothing seen in the game, too. Both input acceleration and smoothing is now disabled by default, while camera and aim sensitivity defaults have also been adjusted for a more "predictable experience". Here is the complete changelog, though note that some spoilers can be found in the missions section: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 patch 1.0.3 is now out on Steam, with Xbox and Game Pass players slated to receive it later today following Microsoft certification. The studio previously said that it is looking into the broken A-Life simulation system in the game as well, though a time frame for a fix has not been provided yet. Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years. 2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of November): 5,298 news posts RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend

Just as promised, GSC Game World's first post-launch update for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl has landed. The patch is aiming to make the open-world adventure set in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone a much more stable experience, with the studio touting the over 650 fixes being included in it for resolving "quest blockers, memory leaks, crashes, and minor bugs." Aside from general optimizations and fixes for AI, audio, controls, characters, cutscenes, menus, and a whole lot of quests, the studio has made a massive number of tweaks to game balance too. This involves decreasing weapon and armor repair costs, better rewards for missions, easier rookie difficulty, reduced weight for some items, and HP reductions for a number of enemies that were called out for being bullet sponges. Here are the complete patch notes straight from the developer: The A-Life simulation system was also mentioned as being looked into by the developer, something that the playerbase has been reporting to be broken. Fixes for it will only arrive in later patches, though. GSC Game World is requesting players to submit more bug reports in its dedicated technical support portal here. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is now available on PC (Steam, Epic Games Store, Microsoft Store, and GOG) and Xbox Series X|S, as well as Game Pass. Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years. 2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of October): 4,832 news posts RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend

GSC Game World finally let players loose on the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone again earlier this week with S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2. The game has seen a massive launch across PC and Xbox platforms, but there have been quite a few reports regarding buggy behavior and performance issues with the release. To remedy at least some of those problems, the studio today announced that the game's first update is coming next week. The update will be focused on fixing critical crashes related to memory allocation failures. Fixes for main quest progression issues, balance, cutscene and graphics problems, UI quirks, and more are incoming with it too. Here's what the developer detailed today as landing next week: Looking towards the future, GSC Game World said it will be addressing the issues surrounding the A-Life simulation system, that seems to be quite broken at launch, in a later update. A prominent analog stick dead zone issue will also be fixed later. For those looking towards what the studio has planned for 2025 in the new content side of things, a roadmap will be landing sometime in December. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is available on PC (Steam, Epic Games Store, Microsoft Store, and GOG) and Xbox Series X|S platforms as well as Game Pass. Nvidia GeForce NOW members can play the game via the cloud if they have the PC version it as well. The title has already passed one million copies sold just two days into launch. Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years. 2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of October): 4,832 news posts RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend

After a 15-year break, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2. finally let fans of the post-apocalyptic survival series return to the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone earlier this week. The game has been having a terrific launch week on Steam alone, with concurrent players reaching over 100,000 players on day one. It seems this popularity has been seen across Xbox consoles, too. Just two days after launch, developer GSC Game World announced today, November 22, that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl has already sold a whopping million copies. In addition to that, more than a million joined in to experience the game via Game Pass. "No wonder it feels a bit crowdy in the Zone," the developer said on a social media post earlier today. "A million copies were sold, and much more stalkers joined the artifact hunt with Game Pass," It's unclear how the sales numbers split are across PC stores and Xbox Series X|S consoles and just how many players joined via Xbox Game Pass for that "much more" statement. "This is just the start of our unforgettable adventure. The Heart of Chornobyl emanates stronger with each of us," the studio adds. The title was released following a range of delays, caused primarily by the Russian invasion of the studio's home country, Ukraine. While sales numbers and initial player reception have been very positive, as seen on Steam reviews, the game's performance issues and many glitches are the main points of concern among critics and owners. In an earlier message, the GSC Game World said to expect "rough edges" in the game, considering this is the largest project it has ever launched. It said hotfixes for glitches and more major updates are already in the works, with a roadmap incoming in December. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is now available on PC (Steam, Epic Games Store, Microsoft Store, and GOG) and Xbox Series X|S platforms. Meanwhile, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass members can also jump in now for no extra cost. Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years. 2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of October): 4,832 news posts RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend

STALKER 2 is off to a great start. Microsoft Flight Simulator is...not. What you need to know This week, two of Xbox's biggest 2024 exclusives launched: STALKER 2 and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. The two games released within 24 hours of one another, but their launches couldn't be more different. STALKER 2 is off to a roaring start, with over 110,000+ concurrent players and counting on Steam as well as a #1 placement on the platform's Top Sellers chart. So far, it's got "Mostly Positive" reviews. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, meanwhile, is a complete disaster so far, with most players not even able to get into the game or play for long without countless bugs and crashes. It's also a Top Seller at #5, though it's quickly accrued a very negative review rating. Notably, both games are available to play on both Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC with Xbox Game Pass, which is Microsoft's buffet-style gaming subscription service. This week brought the release of two of Xbox's biggest 2024 Xbox exclusives within 24 hours of one another, but the contrast between their launches couldn't be sharper. One is STALKER 2, the long-awaited, highly anticipated open-world survival shooter from GSC Game World that's finally out after several years of delays caused by the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. I'm writing this just a few short hours after its launch on Wednesday morning, and its concurrent player count on Steam is already 110,000+ and climbing according to SteamDB data — a very impressive feat for a single player title that's also available to play through Xbox Game Pass. That number is sure to skyrocket even higher going into this weekend, and it will be interesting to see the heights the shooter can reach. The other is Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, which is, as my colleague Ben Wilson puts it in his review, "an unplayable mess after a disastrous and disgraceful launch on Xbox and PC." The follow-up to Microsoft and Asobo Studio's hit 2020 sim garnered quite a bit of hype before its release on Tuesday, but quickly nosedived post-launch as players couldn't (and still can't) get into the game or play it for long without freezes or crashes. It's so bad that we didn't even give it a review score, as "there's nothing to evaluate." Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is...not looking good, to say the least. (Image credit: Ben Wilson | Windows Central) The stark difference between the launch of STALKER 2 and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is apparent in their Steam review scores. The former has achieved a "Mostly Positive" rating so far with 76% of its 2,035 user reviews giving it the blue thumbs up, while the latter has a crimson "Mostly Negative" rating, as only 20% of its 3,645 reviews are positive. And while it's true that many STALKER 2 players have experienced a variety of performance problems with the sequel, none of them even come close to the ridiculous instability of Flight Simulator. It's worth noting that both games are performing well on Steam in terms of revenue, with STALKER 2 at the #1 spot on Steam's Top Sellers chart and Microsoft Flight Simulator in fifth place behind Disney Dreamlight Valley, its new "The Storybook Vale" DLC, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6. Both were also pretty high on the platform's most-wishlisted games list before they came out, with STALKER 2 holding the fourth place spot for many months. It was only surpassed by Monster Hunter Wilds, Deadlock, and Hollow Knight: Silksong (maybe one day it'll come out...). I published my review of STALKER 2 a few hours before its release on Wednesday, giving the game a score of 4/5 stars after playing well over 40+ hours of the open-world FPS. In it, I wrote that it "stands tall as one of the most captivating open-world shooters I've ever played, with palpable atmosphere and deeply rewarding exploration that kept me glued to my seat along with addictively intense and dynamic action that kept me on the edge of it." The Poppy Field area in STALKER 2's first region. Supposedly, the beautiful flowers here make you feel very, very drowsy... (Image credit: Windows Central) As someone who's been playing the STALKER games for many years now, it's awesome to see STALKER 2 performing so well, especially knowing the working conditions that GSC Game World has had to contend with amid Russia's ongoing war of aggression. It's definitely not perfect — I've experienced a fair number of noteworthy bugs in my playthrough, and I have some issues with the balance of the game as well — but nevertheless, it's a great game that will only get better over time as the developers tweak it and patch it up. Notably, in an email sent to Windows Central, it was confirmed that 1125 bugs and issues have been resolved with recent patches already, with more fixes on the way. On the flip side of things, there's Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, which has proven to be a huge disappointment so far. It's a shame to see the sim launch in this disastrous of a state, but hopefully Microsoft and Asobo Studio are able to get the game in a stable, playable state sooner rather than later. Until that happens, though, definitely avoid paying full price for it. The nice thing is that both games are available on both Xbox and PC with Xbox Game Pass, so you can try them out without making a big purchase if you're a subscriber. You'll need Xbox Game Pass Standard to access them on console, PC Game Pass to do so on PC, and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate if you want to play on both and have the option of using Xbox Cloud Gaming as well. Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years. 2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of October): 4,832 news posts RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend

STALKER 2 has finally arrived, but is it getting good reviews? At last, STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl is finally upon us. First announced 14 years ago, brought back to life in 2018, and then delayed from 2022 into late this year due to the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, the release of the hardcore open-world FPS has been a long-time coming. And as I write this on launch day — mere minutes from the release of the Xbox and Windows PC exclusive — its review embargo has passed, resulting in dozens of critic opinions being published across the web. At the time of writing, STALKER 2 has a "Generally Favorable" overall review score of about 77/100 on the aggregation site Metacritic, with an average of 76/100 based on 44 Windows PC reviews and an average of 79/100 taken from 12 Xbox Series X|S reviews. Most evaluations give it a rating that falls somewhere in the 80-90 range, but there are quite a few reviews in the 70s and even the 60s as well. Here's a roundup of quotes and scores that shows the range of opinions: Hardcore Gamer (100/100): "Stalker 2 is nothing short of a miracle. Developed by Ukrainian studio GSC Game World over the course of seven years amid a pandemic and a war -- among many other challenges -- Stalker 2 is a labor of love and the best type of sequel one could hope for. While many long-running franchises have strayed from their roots in an (often misguided) attempt to appeal to as many players as possible, Stalker 2 knows its core audience well and delivers exactly the type of game we were hoping for." Game Rant (90/100): "Overall, Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl is truly something special. It's not perfect, but it manages to succeed in some major areas that many other games fall short in. Its open world is one of the best I've been in for quite some time, but its morally gray choice-driven narrative is also something worth writing home about, with the immense amount of player power it offers. Stalker 2's combat is challenging and exciting, and there is almost never a dull moment as players explore the Zone. So long as players can look past some of its blemishes that are arguably overshadowed by its best features, they'll find a memorable and worthwhile experience in Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl." PC Gamer (83/100): "Just like in the old days, performance issues and bugs don't stop Stalker's mad, wonderful heart from shining through." VG247 (80/100): "Making games is hard, regardless, and the fact that the team was able to put together a package like this that's so earnest, so passionate in its revisit of a world enshrined in PC gaming's history, is more than impressive. It's an admirable feat that I hope isn't lost on the general gaming crowd who don't know too much about the games outside of their time playing them. I would recommend Stalker 2 to fans of the Stalker series, obviously, and as anyone with a love of open world FPS games and distinct sci-fi. The good thing is it's available on Game Pass, so you can pay less than full price and try it out." TheGamer (60/100): "All in all, Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl is a perfectly average open world survival shooter. It’s an interesting setting with well-realized characters, but it’s held back by less-satisfying gunplay and a run-of-the-mill ‘good enough’ sense of exploration. I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone. But if you’re a fan of games like Fallout: New Vegas, or you enjoyed past Stalker games, then this one is worth following up on." VGC (40/100): "Stalker 2 could be a great game in a few years, but what's presented at launch is a technical mess that doesn't capitalize on its best ideas. Compelling side stories and a brilliant setting do a lot of the heavy lifting, but at launch Stalker 2 isn't an adventure we'd fully recommend embarking on." After reading through many of these reviews, it seems like most critics agree that STALKER 2's open-world exploration, action, and survival systems are well done. With that said, the game — much like the original STALKER titles — has garnered a reputation for being a bit on the buggy side, though it's worth noting that developer GSC Game World was regularly patching the review build ahead of the shooter's release, with a day one patch coming at launch today as well. Some also lament certain problems with the combat and open-world design, though these generally seem to be fairly minor. Windows Central has a STALKER 2 review penned by yours truly, by the way. I gave the game a rating of 4/5 stars (or 80/100), stating that it "stands tall as one of the most captivating open-world shooters I've ever played, with palpable atmosphere and deeply rewarding exploration that kept me glued to my seat along with addictively intense and dynamic action that kept me on the edge of it." Like other reviewers, I feel that there are some glaring issues with aspects of the combat balancing and the game's performance and stability, though I ultimately still love it and can't wait to dive back in soon. Despite its flaws, it's exactly the kind of sequel I've longed for as a longtime STALKER fan. A stalker stares out at the landscape of the Garbage, one of STALKER 2's early game zones. (Image credit: Windows Central) As I wrote in my review, that STALKER 2 is actually here at all is a testament to GSC's tenacity; the developer has had to build the game amid working conditions none of us can scarcely imagine, with many of its employees fighting on the frontlines in Ukraine or working from its new headquarters in Prague after evacuating from their homes when Russia's war began. I'm glad to see that it's reviewing well overall, and sincerely hope it's a big success for the beleaguered studio. It will be interesting to see how the game performs in its opening days, with it just minutes away from releasing as I type this. Ahead of its launch, though, it's already proven that it has the potential to be the next big hit; it's been the fourth most-wishlisted game on Steam for many months, and right now, it's also at the top of the platform's top sellers list. STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl has arrived on Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC, and is one of this year's best Xbox games and best PC games. It has a $59.99 MSRP, but notably, you can get it for a discount at CDKeys right now. You can also play it through Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass, and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years. 2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of October): 4,832 news posts RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend

Windows Central Verdict 4 / 5 STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl stands tall as one of the most captivating open-world shooters I've ever played, with palpable atmosphere and deeply rewarding exploration that kept me glued to my seat along with addictively intense and dynamic action that kept me on the edge of it. Some major issues with certain mutant encounters and noteworthy bugs and performance snags take away from the experience, but even so, The Zone will engross you with its haunting wonders. There's truly nothing else like it. Pros + Hauntingly beautiful atmosphere that pulls you in like nothing else + Intense and dynamic moment-to-moment gameplay, reactive open world full of secrets to find + Enjoyable story with interesting choices, branching paths + Amazing audio/visual presentation, solid overall performance Cons - Enemies are a little spongey, and several scripted encounters with mutants feel cheap - Some strange bugs with enemy spawns can cause frustration -Notable performance issues that are relatively uncommon, but nevertheless grating 14 years after its original announcement in 2010, six after the news of its revival in 2018, and two after its original 2022 release date, STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl is finally arriving on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and Xbox Game Pass. This review has gone live just a few hours before the game's official launch, at which time droves of players will pour into the open-world single player shooter and begin their journey through its take on the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone (referred to simply as "The Zone" in-game). Playing over 40 hours of this title in the past week and writing this review feels surreal, given that STALKER 2 itself has been cancelled, brought back to life, and then subsequently delayed multiple times as a result of Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Developer GSC Game World has toiled away at the project resiliently under conditions a comfy work from home writer like myself can hardly fathom, with many of its employees volunteering for frontline service, working to aid their local communities, or evacuating to the studio's new Prague headquarters with their families. To see this project reach the finish line is a testament to GSC's tenacity — and unsurprisingly, excitement for the hardcore FPS ramped up sharply this year once it was clear that it was coming out at long last. As I write this, STALKER 2 remains the fourth most-wishlisted game on Steam, and is the platform's top-selling title as well. But does it actually live up to the hype? Is this the fulfilling sequel that fans of the series' original cult classic trilogy have waited 15 years for? Speaking as someone who's put countless hours into the first three games, I'm happy to say that STALKER 2 is the modern follow-up I've longed for for years — though it's far from perfect, with combat balancing issues as well as irksome bugs and some performance problems that detract from the experience. Even so, it's one of the most captivating open-world shooters I've ever played, with gripping atmosphere, nerve-wracking tension, and a gameplay loop so addictive that it's consistently kept me engrossed for hours into the early morning every day I play. Make no mistake: STALKER 2, despite its flaws, is something truly special. Disclaimer This review was conducted with the Windows PC version of STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl, and made possible thanks to a Steam review code provided by GSC Game World. The company did not see the contents of this review before publication. What is STALKER 2? Longtime STALKER fans will have a good understanding of what type of game STALKER 2 is, but newcomers — of which there are many — are likely to be unsure of what to expect from the sequel. If you're one of them, make sure to read on for an overview. STALKER 2 is a single player open-world survival horror shooter set in "The Zone," a fictional version of the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone that was set up in the wake of the ill-famed 1986 nuclear power plant disaster that severely irradiated nearby regions and affected significant portions of Europe. In the STALKER universe, a bewildering second incident occurred at Chornobyl in 2006, leading to the creation of horrifically mutated creatures, bizarre supernatural phenomena called anomalies, and special trinket-like "artifacts" with science-defying capabilities like rapid wound healing, radiation cleansing, and resistances to the elements. Despite efforts from military forces to quarantine the area, determined explorers called stalkers regularly find ways into The Zone, aiming to collect and sell its treasures, find ways to combat its dangers, study its fascinating wonders, or simply escape their past lives and start a new one. Factions with differing goals often compete for key territory and resources within The Zone, though most stalkers are neutral and have their own agendas independent of a larger group. It's amid this context that the game puts you into the boots of a stalker and lets you loose, giving you the freedom to adventure through The Zone as you see fit and interact with its different groups while fighting for survival. Hunger, fatigue, radiation levels, ammo, medical supplies, carry weight, and gear durability are all things you'll have to constantly work to manage as you explore, with an AI simulation system dubbed A-Life 2.0 always at work ensuring that you'll come across dynamic encounters with and between hostile bandits, predatory mutants, and other threats. STALKER 2's open world is vast and full of dangers like lethal anomalies, pockets of radiation, and mutant lairs, but those willing to brave these hazards will be rewarded with some of the best loot The Zone has to offer. STALKER 2 review: Gameplay and open world STALKER 2's various NPCs wander The Zone just like you do, making the moment-to-moment gameplay feel very dynamic. (Image credit: Windows Central) The defining pillars of STALKER 2 are its gameplay systems and its colossal 60 square kilometer open world, with the narrative and overarching plot ultimately taking a backseat to your own story — a tale comprised of the scenarios and situations you'll inevitably get yourself into as you travel across The Zone and investigate its wealth of abandoned facilities, villages, and other structures that dot the landscape. Squads of neutral stalkers, bandits, and other faction members wander around the map just like you do, with packs of mutants hunting and migrating all the while. As a result, no two expeditions from secure NPC-controlled bases out into their surrounding areas ever play out the same way, regardless of whether you're retreading familiar ground or heading into uncharted territory. During one trip to check out a large warehouse, I stumbled across a group of thugs and ended up getting into a fierce firefight, only for a herd of mutated boar to stampede through the area after hearing the battle and gore them, forcing me to hoof it to a ladder and climb to a rooftop before they came after me next. In another encounter, I found myself heavily outnumbered by a group of military soldiers, but then bandits opportunistically attacked them while they were distracted, leading to a vicious three-way battle I barely survived. These behaviors aren't always seamlessly woven into moment-to-moment gameplay, as I've had to deal with enemies and other stalkers spawning bizarrely close to me on several occasions. As frustrating as this can be, though, it's ultimately outweighed by how engaging and dynamic STALKER 2's AI simulation systems make every step through The Zone feel, as well as how reactive it is to your actions. I've seen stalkers I've helped out with a first-aid kit before come to my aid when I got into an engagement near their position, and I suspect allies of anyone neutral that you choose to kill will come after you for revenge. Similarly, factions seem to help you out frequently if you do their side quests, while you can potentially make the entire group hostile if you shoot their men one too many times. You'll often find stashes in hard-to-reach locations with valuable loot like food, ammo, weapons, armor, and more. (Image credit: Windows Central) That thrilling tension of never knowing what The Zone has in store for you next has always been a part of STALKER, but in STALKER 2, it's more prevalent than ever and is supported firmly by the grounded, vulnerable nature of the gameplay. The sequel eschews typical zippy FPS mobility and low-recoil gunplay even more than the original games did, emphasizing slow, careful movement, intelligent use of cover and high ground, and steady, controlled shooting. Even with good armor, you'll die quickly to sustained gunfire out in the open, and keeping on top of bleeding, hunger, sleep, radiation, and carry weight is crucial for any stalker trying to remain healthy and energized enough to sprint when the situation calls for repositioning or retreating. You'll also need to routinely visit technicians to repair your gear, as it gradually wears out over time and can be damaged by nearby explosions and the elements. These survival mechanics intersect heavily with exploration of STALKER 2's handcrafted open world, with boxes of ammo and foodstuffs often found in many of the locations you can visit across The Zone's 20 seamlessly connected regions (there's not a loading screen in sight). Determined and attentive stalkers are also likely to find ways to climb to hard-to-reach spots at these points of interest (POIs); these nooks and crannies tend to harbor stashes full of useful supplies placed there by other stalkers, and if you're lucky, you might even find rare items like special guns, armor suits, weapon attachments, and gear upgrade blueprints in them. Clusters of anomalies, meanwhile, tend to have useful artifacts you can collect using a detector...provided you move between them with caution. Deadlier anomaly fields generally yield rarer, more potent artifacts, and depending on which artifacts you choose to use, it's possible to give yourself a number of different stat buffs. Just be careful when picking artifacts to combo together, as many of them also have drawbacks that can stack and cause serious problems. Getting your hands on caches, artifacts, and other secrets like these is immensely rewarding, in large part due to the fact you're not given much guidance to find them. Beyond question marks that appear on your map as you near a POI and the occasional stash marker you'll get when looting a slain enemy, figuring out what a location is, what's there, and how to get it is all up to you — and even if you're not interested in using what you find, you can always sell it for funding to spend on supplies, repairs, or upgrades to your current equipment. One of STALKER 2's new mutants is a powerful deer that can summon groups of smaller beasts to swarm stalkers fighting it. (Image credit: Windows Central) But how is the gunplay and combat? A big criticism of the first STALKER games was that many of their firearms were sometimes annoyingly inaccurate to shoot, so going into STALKER 2, I was hopeful that the sequel would address this. Luckily, it has; everything from the earliest pistols and SMGs to top-tier rifles you'll only start seeing late into the game all have reliable accuracy, with better weapons typically giving you better damage, armor penetration, and a tighter spread when fired automatically. One issue with the original trilogy that's come back, though, is that enemies are a bit bullet spongey unless you land headshots. This has become less and less of a problem for me over time as I've gotten better at going for them, but regardless, seeing basic bandits wearing nothing other than a jacket still return fire after I put 10 rifle rounds through their chest is irritating (for context, I've been playing on the hardest difficulty, but turning it down doesn't seem to affect enemy health). That sponginess extends to some of the more difficult mutant encounters you'll run into in The Zone, a number of which are scripted to happen during main story or side quest missions. Bloodsuckers (aggressive rush-down enemies with invisibility cloaking) and controllers (lumbering humanoids that make you see hallucinations and assault your mind) in particular take ridiculous amounts of gunfire to bring down, as do poltergeists (mutants that look like a ball of electricity and fling objects in the environment at you) if you're not able to get close to them due to overtuned damage falloff. Another creature that seems unreasonably tanky is STALKER 2's new deer mutant that can command a small army of lesser beasts like dogs and boars, though it's more of a "boss" than the previously mentioned fiends. Thankfully, fights with these creatures aren't terribly common, and most of the mutant battles I've found myself in are against weaker, more numerous ones that challenge your positioning more than your ammo reserves — something I find far more enjoyable. The best fights, though, are against stalkers, as their attempts to flank, sneak up on you, and flush you out of cover with grenades make them consistently engaging to contend with. Clever players can also take advantage of their tendency to converge on your last known position, silently sneaking to an off-angle and ambushing them when they move to where they think they are. This tactic is especially effective at night or during inclement weather when visibility is reduced and player-made sounds are drowned out by booming thunderstorms. STALKER 2 review: Story (no spoilers) A screenshot from one of STALKER 2's early cinematic cutscenes. In total, there are three hours of cutscenes in the game. (Image credit: Windows Central) While the story of STALKER 2 plays second fiddle to its open-world gameplay, I don't want to give the impression that it's bad or a chore to get through. To be clear, it's not mind-blowing either, but it's perfectly enjoyable and features a likable cast, genuinely surprising twists (no spoilers here), and plenty of narrative beats that flesh out The Zone and its factions while directly connecting to some of the game's most climactic gameplay segments. Veteran fans will also be pleased to know that many memorable characters from previous titles return in this sequel, with the game showing how they've changed and where they've gone in the years between the trilogy and STALKER 2. It puts you in control of Skif, a rookie stalker who's ventured into The Zone after anomalous energy from it burned down his home and livelihood. Much of the plot is centered around advanced scanner machines capable of creating anomalies in their immediate vicinity, with Skif often driven to contact various groups and work with them in some way to get the information about them or support to deal with them that he needs. Throughout the adventure, you'll have the opportunity to influence the politics of The Zone by working for or taking out key figures and kingpins, with the ultimate outcome of many quests dependent on your choices. Indeed, roleplaying plays a noticeably bigger role in STALKER 2 than it did in its predecessors, as there are lots of branching paths in both main story missions and side content that affect how the events of the game unfold. Some of it is just there for flavor, but a sizable portion of it isn't and actually has a noticeable impact that ripples out into other parts of the experience. Sure, you can choose to fork over that bandit your money so he and his five friends don't fill you with lead on the spot, but that might set back plans to upgrade gear and delay your progress. Fighting them is far riskier, but hey, one of them is carrying a snazzy rifle — you can steal it for yourself or sell it for useful funds if you're quick and accurate on the draw. STALKER 2 review: Visuals and audio Aside from looking incredible, violent storms like this one also make it harder for enemies to see and hear you. (Image credit: Windows Central) One of STALKER's core aspects has always been its atmosphere — the haunting beauty of a grim, melancholy setting permanently frozen in the dying stages of autumn, with the sound of rustling vegetation and howling wind broken only by sharp mutant yelps, distant cracks of gunfire, and the occasional tune stalkers play on their guitars while huddled around a campfire. Built on Unreal Engine 5, STALKER 2 elevates The Zone to new heights, bringing it to life with cutting-edge graphics, excellent sound design, and a score that's full of eerie dark ambience. Concrete husks of Soviet-era towns and dense fields of wild foliage as far as the eye can see convey just how utterly cut off The Zone is from the rest of humanity, with much of the map built using photogrammetry and rendered in gorgeous next-gen detail. Some of the individual textures and models may not be the most detailed I've seen, but the depth of what's on-screen paired with the game's unbelievably long draw distances make for jaw-dropping vistas everywhere you look. During intense tempests and lethal blood-red storms called emissions, all that flora then violently sways in currents of wind, creating visual spectacles I'd happily stop and stare at if I didn't have to worry about sprinting to the nearest enclosed structure for shelter. STALKER 2 also goes out of its way to make most of its menus a physical, tangible part of the game's world, with Skif pulling out his handheld PDA when you look at your map or journal and his backpack during inventory management. There are also nice little animations for using consumables and putting weapon attachments on or taking them off on the go on top of the highly detailed reloads and scope-ins players have come to expect from modern FPS titles. Not everyone will care about details like these, but for me, they do a lot to immerse me in the setting; their presence was one of my favorite things about 4A Games' Metro Exodus, and I'm very happy to see GSC do something similar with its new STALKER. The audio is great, too, with strong Ukrainian voice acting (I've mostly used subtitles and haven't played much with the English dub, but a colleague that's also had access says it's fairly cheesy), tons of distinct high-quality sound effects that help to make combat readable, realistic audio reverberation, and a dark soundtrack that enhances and enriches The Zone's atmosphere. Ultimately, the audio/visual presentation is simply immaculate. STALKER 2 review: Performance and stability A stalker at the Garbage, one of STALKER 2's early game regions. (Image credit: Windows Central) STALKER 2's overall performance has been solid for me, with the game running at a pretty consistent ~80 FPS at ultrawide (3440x1440) resolution with maxed out "Epic" settings on my i5-12600K, NVIDIA RTX 4070 Ti SUPER, and 32GB RAM gaming PC. However, I have run into a few problems during my review period, including choppy framerates after leaving the game paused for a few minutes, freezes during Alt+Tab attempts that forced me to use Task Manager to close the game, and some rare, but nevertheless annoying crashes. One colleague of mine has also experienced some nasty stuttering, while another reports poor Steam Deck performance (though the game's been much smoother on Windows handhelds like ASUS ROG Ally). On Xbox, meanwhile, I've heard aiming is extremely difficult due to the lack of a dead zone for controller thumbsticks. In The Zone itself, I've also seen T-posing corpses in places with a large number of bodies, a couple building textures rapidly flickering and "Z-fighting," and some bugged side quest steps in the early game. The first two glitches are pretty inconsequential, but that last one was frustrating since it stopped me from finishing a mission and getting some extra money for a head start on progression. These bugs weren't happening constantly or anything, and they've become less and less common as GSC has patched my review build throughout this past week. Still, the little things add up, and they've taken a bit away from my enjoyment of STALKER 2. The good news is that the shooter is getting a large day one patch, so hopefully it takes care of these issues entirely. STALKER 2 review: Conclusion The Zone's vast landscapes can be as beautiful as they are eerie. (Image credit: Windows Central) Without a doubt, STALKER 2 stands as one of this year's best Xbox games and best PC games, and is a must-play if you're an Xbox Game Pass subscriber. Few open worlds in gaming are as thoroughly captivating and intensely atmospheric as The Zone, with dynamic and reactive NPC behaviors, satisfying hardcore FPS combat, rewarding exploration, and stellar presentation all coalescing into one special experience that's unlike anything else out there. The closest thing I can compare it to other than STALKER itself is Metro Exodus, though its moment-to-moment gameplay isn't as dynamic as what GSC Game World has built here (even if it's a "cleaner" game as a result). Despite some glaring issues with enemy spawns, aspects of its combat balancing, and performance mishaps, STALKER 2 remains a triumph for the Ukrainian studio, and is largely everything I wanted from a new entry in this underappreciated franchise. And now that this review is finished, I'm headed back into my playthrough for more. I'll see you in The Zone, stalkers. STALKER 2 releases today, November 20, 2024, for $59.99 on Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC via Steam, the Microsoft Store, the Epic Games Store, and GOG. Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years. 2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of October): 4,832 news posts RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend

GSC Game World’s long-awaited survival epic delivers the ultimate stalker fantasy — if you can look beyond the plethora of glitches. There’s a particular feeling when you’re wandering alone in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl. Perhaps you’re squelching through wet, misty marshland, flanked by gigantic reeds. A dark purple sky of unbroken cloud takes up half of the screen; gigantic rusty machinery creates an odd and unnerving silhouette. You hear gunfire in the distance. The sound moves closer, followed by the unmistakable groans of a mutated beast. The sensation sharpens of being pitted against a wilderness that doesn’t care whether you live or die. This is not an unpleasant type of survival. To call the Zone home is to feel an almost elemental sense of freedom: a fantasy of existing purely in the moment, putting one foot in front of the other. You had better like walking because in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, the absorbing and currently buggy sequel to the trailblazing trilogy of shooters from the 2000s, you do a lot of it. The map, based on the real-world exclusion zone created in the wake of the 1986 nuclear disaster, is 64 kilometers squared. Objectives tend to be found in derelict buildings dotted about the hostile terrain. You set out on another long trek (hopefully with a functioning gas mask), clasping a metal bolt alongside your rifle. It’s wise to toss the bolt in front of you regularly to test for anomalies: some cause the air itself to warp and bend; others make tiny shards of skin-shredding glass to hover in the atmosphere. Coming into contact with any of them can prove swiftly fatal. This version of the Zone is a glorious and beautiful pain in the ass, able to hold its own with other Zones littered throughout pop culture: the restricted site found in Andrei Tarkovsky’s 1979 movie Stalker or Area X in Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach novels. It’s thrilling to see Ukrainian studio GSC Game World depict its native landscape so evocatively and in a way that runs counter to much of the prevailing wisdom about how an open-world video game should look and function. Image: GSC Game World In S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, the Zone is conspicuously horizontal. Forget about “see that mountain”; when you do get a good view, all you see is a shimmering expanse of bog and grassland. The color palette is notably muted: a smudge of murky browns, queasy greens, and charcoal blues — rich, earthy, sometimes squalid. The Zone’s inhabitants are almost all depressed men swilling energy drinks. Have they come to this extreme environment because they are in flight from something at home? Or because the environment mirrors some hidden part of their own psychological makeup? For Skif, our spiky protagonist, the answer turns out to be both. His home outside the Zone is set ablaze by a rogue anomaly. He enters looking for answers before getting embroiled in a plot to seize a valuable piece of tech. From there, the narrative branches. You’re free to chum up with various factions like a professionalized military group called the Ward or a band of metaphysical dreamers led by a guy called Scar. But I quickly lost track of who I was in cahoots with and who I wronged. The tangled web of motivations, grudges, and backstories was often inscrutable. Like Tarkovsky’s Stalker or Annihilation, the quest here felt slippery and ever-changing, so I simply stalked toward my quest marker with the score of evocatively discordant synths swirling in my ears. The first few hours are punishing. Without much cash, you scavenge damaged weapons prone to jamming. In time, and with a gradually expanding arsenal of exactingly rendered weaponry, the game softens. The kind of emergent, AI-driven moments that made the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. franchise a cult classic also begin to materialize from the metaphysical ether. At one point, I agreed to flush out some mutants from a building for a pair of fellow stalkers. As I was doing so, a rival group opened fire on us, all while a pack of rabid dogs ravaged both parties. The ensuing three minutes were bloody, chaotic, and quite brilliant. At another moment, I led a group of enemy stalkers back to the base of a faction that lives on a gigantic, irradiated trash heap. As my enemies neared the perimeter, guards assumed their defensive positions and unleashed fire in one seamless, dazzlingly orchestrated concert. But S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 doesn’t just replicate the achievements of its forebears. The open world furthers the moody, proto-walking sim elements of the originals. Because this Zone is so large, preparation is even more key than in previous games. This occurs alongside a tapestry of navigation, combat, resource management, and crucially, rest, all set against a day-night cycle that genuinely affects gameplay. During especially long stretches of walking, there is much space to contemplate your own actions. In my own case, why did I feel compelled to ruthlessly murder nearly every major NPC despite being on otherwise good terms with them? The Zone has a habit of remaking anything that comes into contact with it, and I fast transformed into another of its monsters. Image: GSC Game World When S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 works as intended, it’s an emergent sandbox capable of producing simultaneously bleak and hilarious moments, all while giving the illusion of a world functioning independently of the player’s inputs. But perhaps inevitably because of the game’s troubled development — which saw over half of the development team move to Prague from Kyiv because of the Russia-Ukraine war — there is some unevenness. The biggest issue is combat. While gunplay is crisp and responsive, enemies frequently look in the wrong direction to the threat that they should be facing. Stranger is the way that some human foes (not the mutants that actually possess the ability to become invisible) miraculously appear out of thin air. Another odd glitch saw a character’s head become detached from their body during a cutscene. The following gunfight had a farcical quality. Should I be aiming where the head is hovering or where it should be? These moments, which appear too frequently to be waved away, dispel the Zone’s otherwise convincing illusion. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 has arrived in a manner that feels tantalizing close to greatness. About 10 hours into the game, the wide-eyed poetic outsider, Scar, lays out his take on the Zone. There is a “dark” side, which has the capacity to strip humans of their free will, and there is the “shining” side — the wondrous, miraculous aspect of this changed place that casts the very essence of life in a new light. “We want the shining Zone to reveal itself,” says Scar longingly. With a few patches, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 may yet become this “shining” version of itself. As it stands, the game requires you to submit to the spell that is being cast. The rewards for those who can overlook the wonky combat, bodies that glitch through scenery, and other audio-visual quirks are considerable. That core feeling of raw survival in an uncaring environment — lightning cracking in the distance, rain lashing down, and the disquieting noise of far-off gunfire — never wanes. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl launches on November 20th on Xbox and PC. Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years. 2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of October): 4,832 news posts RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend

STALKER 2 looks to be a massive game, but is it open world? One of the abandoned villages you'll come across while exploring The Zone in STALKER 2. (Image credit: GSC Game World) Is STALKER 2 a fully open-world game? Yes, STALKER 2 is a fully open-world game, just like earlier titles in the STALKER series were. Specifically, it will have 20 regions for players to explore as they see fit, including returning areas from previous games that have been expanded as well as completely new zones. STALKER 2 features a complete open world During your playthrough, you'll likely come across many points of interest like helicopter crash sites or noteworthy structures. (Image credit: GSC Game World) Aside from some standout releases like Dragon's Dogma 2 and Star Wars Outlaws, 2024 has, overall, been a pretty light year for big-budget open-world games. Before the year ends, though, there's one more scheduled to come out — and it's a huge one. That title is STALKER 2, the long-awaited and highly anticipated survival horror shooter from Ukrainian studio GSC Game World that's finally releasing on November 20 after years of tumultuous development. Excitement for the game has sharply risen in the last several months, with players eager to finally play it after multiple delays brought on by Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine. As a result of that soaring interest, many are also curious about the exact nature of the open world in STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl. Indeed, while many "open-world games" do feature complete non-linear open worlds, others blend linear gameplay and progression with larger-than-usual spaces to try and deliver a satisfying synthesis of the two design approaches. According to STALKER 2's developers, it will feature a full open world, just like the games in the original STALKER trilogy did (these shadow dropped on consoles this year, by the way). More specifically, commentary in a recent gameplay deep dive revealed that there are 20 connected regions to explore in the FPS, including zones from the older games that have been expanded and brand new areas. You'll have the freedom to venture between these non-linear locations in whatever way you want during your adventure in The Zone, with dynamic faction relationships and an advanced AI simulation system called A-Life 2.0 hopefully ensuring that no two playthroughs of the game play out the same way. And while there will be a main quest chain to follow, you'll have the ability to choose when you engage with it and heavily influence its various outcomes. What is STALKER 2's map size? A player reloads their rifle near a windmill as the sun sets in STALKER 2. (Image credit: GSC Game World) STALKER 2 will have a completely open-world map, but how big is that map? It's a good question to ask, as total map sizes tend to be representative of how much there is to see and do in an open-world game. Granted, this isn't always the case — I found Starfield to be as wide as an ocean but as deep as a puddle, for example — but in my experience, it's generally true. Luckily, GSC Game World has given us an answer in a FAQ on STALKER 2's website. In it, the studio states that the game has "a seamless open world with more than 60 square kilometers of space, which is one of the biggest open worlds in video games to date." In total, it expects that "you’ll need more than 100 hours of gameplay to explore its secrets." That's far from the biggest map in gaming, but it's pretty huge for a shooter game. To give some context, The colossal world of Elden Ring encompasses just over 80 square kilometers; The Zone in STALKER 2 is 75% of that, but will be experienced entirely on foot with grounded movement instead of constant sprinting and a trusty spectral steed. Put simply, it should feel gigantic even though its size isn't breaking any records. STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl is coming to Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC on November 20, and looks to be one of this year's best Xbox games and best PC games. It has a $59.99 MSRP, but notably, you can preorder it with a discount at CDKeys right now. On day one, you'll also be able to play it through Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass, and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years. 2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of October): 4,832 news posts RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend

The PC system requirements that have been floating around for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl in the past few weeks have been the same classic options the developer GSC Game World put out a long while ago, back when it was supposed to launch in 2022. Now, the studio has pushed out the official updated hardware specifications for the title, which fans may want to look over to see if their rigs can handle the game. The studio shared four graphics presets and what sort of hardware will PC players need to run the game at those targets, starting from 1080p at 30fps to 4K at over 60fps. Judging from the wide range of GPU and CPU parts the company lists in its specifications, it at least looks like the game will be an optimized experience at launch. However, the RAM and space recommendations from GSC Game World may catch low-end gamers a bit off-guard. 16GB of memory and at least 160GB of free space, specifically on an SSD, are needed by the game across all presets shown today. Here's the complete picture: PRESET LOW MEDIUM HIGH (Recommended) EPIC Resolution Target FPS 1080p 30 FPS 1080p 60 FPS 1440p 60 FPS 2160p 60+ FPS CPU Intel Core i7-7700K / AMD Ryzen 5 1600X Intel Core i7-9700K / AMD Ryzen 7 3700X Intel Core i7-11700 / AMD Ryzen 7 5800X Intel Core i7-13700KF / AMD Ryzen 7 7700X GPU Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 6GB / AMD Radeon RX 580 8 GB / Intel Arc A750 Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Super / RTX 4060 / AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti / RTX 4070 / AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 / AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX RAM 16GB Dual Channel 32GB Dual Channel Storage SSD ~160 GB OS Windows 10 x64 / Windows 11 x64 To produce even more frames, the studio has confirmed AMD FSR and Nvidia DLSS upscaling tech for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl. In Nvidia's latest driver release, which adds support for the title, the company confirmed that it ships with support for DLSS 3 Frame Generation as well as Reflex latency reducing tech. It's unclear what version of FSR will the game use though. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is launching on November 20 across Xbox Series X|S consoles of Microsoft as well as on PC via Steam, GOG, Microsoft Store, and the Epic Games Store. The title will also be a day-one release on Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass services. Source Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every day for many years. 2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of October): 4,832 news posts RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl has been in development for several years at Ukraine-based GSC Game World, well before that country was invaded by Russia in early 2022. Today, Microsoft announced it will release a free documentary about the making of the first-person shooter sequel on YouTube on October 3. The first trailer for the documentary, titled War Game: The Making of ‘S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, is now available to watch on YouTube as well. It shows team members from GSC GameWorld dealing with the real life events of the Russian invasion while also trying to finish the long awaited game. Variety has more info on the documentary. It interviewed the game's creative director Maria Grygorovych on how they wanted to share their story with the world even if it might be hard to do so. She stated: The new documentary was directed by Andrew Stephan, who also directed the multi-part Power On: The Story of Xbox that Microsoft released for free on YouTube in 2021. After a number of delays, some for obvious reasons, GSC GameWorld will finally release S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl on November 20. It will be available as a timed console exclusive for Microsoft's Xbox Series X|S, and it will also be released for the PC via Steam, GOG, Microsoft Store, and the Epic Games Store. The game will be a Day One exclusive launch for Microsoft's PC Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Source RIP Matrix | Farewell my friend Hope you enjoyed this news post. Thank you for appreciating my time and effort posting news every single day for many years. 2023: Over 5,800 news posts | 2024 (till end of August): 3,792 news posts Forum etiquette: A post that interests you enough for a comment, also deserves a reaction.