I died a lot playing Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl.
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Now Playing:S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl — Official 35 Minute Developer Deep Dive
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It requires players to be on their guard and rewards them with strange, exciting experiences in the Zone.
Stalker 2 starts by immediately introducing you to the weirdnesses of the Zone.
Anomalies range from dangerous to deadly, but they can also be incredibly valuable.
That’s what Stalkers–scavengers who make their livelihood in the Zone–are after.
That means heading to Stalker settlements and taking on jobs to trade for information.
Stalker 2 throws you in the deep end almost immediately.
Here’s where I died several times, because fighting human enemies can be extremely tough.
There is a jankiness to fighting overall, though, that can get a little irritating.
It also had me thinking twice about future side quests.
Did I really want to walk into some meat grinder of a bandit camp just for a few coupons?
Was the Stalker who gave me the job setting me up?
Even cooler were my chances just to explore the Zone and encounter strange things.
Walking to any given place means watching for and avoiding anomalies and mutants, as well as humans.
Killing them all showed that combat can be as clunky against mutants as it is against humans.
I saved the survivor, who thanked me before letting me go on my way.
One side mission took me to a particularly cool location: a field of deadly anomalous poppy flowers.
The screen would darken as I started to drift off, signifying heavy eyelids.
The time spent in the settlement and advancing Stalker 2’s main story presented a different kind of tension.
Its atmosphere of deadly, mysterious strangeness makes wandering its open world both alluring and frightening.
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