Stalker 2 is chilling and gorgeous in equal measure
Stalker 2 is unsettling, even when there's little going on. Here's my hands-on preview from the first half an hour, from Gamescom 2024.
Lloyd Coombes
27th Aug 2024 14:38
Images via GSC Game World
I never played the first Stalker (or S.T.A.L.K.E.R, if you're nasty) but I've heard it spoken about in such glowing terms that I've been desperate to check out its sequel as soon as it was announced.
After spending thirty minutes playing an early segment of GSC Game World's horror shooter/immersive sim, I'm convinced it could be 2024's sleeper hit.
Welcome to Chornobyl
Right off the bat, it's clear that a lot of talent has gone into making Stalker 2 a genuinely stunning game - just not by conventional standards.
Its digital rendition of the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone isn't meant to inspire with moments of beauty, nor is it meant to offer stunning vistas. It's designed to make you feel alone, ill at ease, and on edge.
Every rustling in the trees, every flashlight in the distance, and every "Wait what was that?" ramp up the atmosphere. The lighting is the star of the show here, with a gritty realism conveyed in a world almost shorn of colour by prior events.
in this early section of the game, Skif (the game's protagonist) is tasked with sneaking into The Zone to meet a contact before placing a scanner in a series of locations. A diversionary explosion sees forces drawn away, and while there are no enemies to encounter in the first few minutes, the foreboding atmosphere continually makes you feel like you're not alone.
The best-laid plans
Naturally, things go awry (isn't that always the way?), and with your contact down you'll need to work your way further into the zone to set off the scanners.
One particularly spooky sequence happens seemingly out of nowhere - a glint of light shifts in the corner of your vision, and then it does it again. Then you hear footsteps around you before a cloaked creature emerges. It's not a boss fight, not a set piece per se - it's just a really tense moment in a sea of tense moments.
At one point, an unknown force, completely invisible, began hurling items at me and I had no choice but to run, and before long I placed the scanner in the final location only to be set upon by a sniper who gunned down some of the enemies around me before my demo ended.
I came away not only impressed but desperate to see how Skif's journey continues after a cliffhanger ending I won't spoil.
It's also worth noting that the game feels great on an Xbox controller, despite the series' lineage as a PC-first franchise. That's sure to delight anyone looking to play it on Game Pass later this year.
Final Thoughts
Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl went from being a curiosity to being one of my more anticipated games of this year. Despite a lack of familiarity with the franchise, this appears to be just as good a time as any to jump into a creepy, unsettling open-world shooter.
For more on Stalker 2, be sure to check out our interview with Slava Lukyanenka, the game's Lead Producer, about the narrative themes in the campaign. Stalker 2 launches on November 20, 2024.
About The Author
Lloyd Coombes
Lloyd is GGRecon's Editor-in-Chief, having previously worked at Dexerto and Gfinity, and occasionally appears in The Daily Star newspaper. A big fan of loot-based games including Destiny 2 and Diablo 4, when he's not working you'll find him at the gym or trying to play Magic The Gathering.
