So, this is going to be a bit of a weird review, as I've been excited for Stalker 2 for the better part of 2 years now, having played the original trilogy to death + anomaly / gamma, and arguably Stalker is the best first-person RPG that I've played. Not for any really standout reason, but it's just been a very "fun" franchise, and personally, I think it's one of the most immersive games in terms of world-building and setting across all of the original games.

So Stalker 2 as of writing this review has been out for 3 days, and I've clocked in a little under 24 hrs worth of gameplay, and I think I have done enough playing to throw out my 2 cents on if the game is good or not. I should state that Stalker is not a game for everyone. The 2nd game is very much more catered to the normal player than the first 3. There are things that carry over from the first few games to the sequel that are identical, such as food, medicine, weapons, and inventory management, etc., but there are a few new things in Stalker 2 that I think are a much-welcomed addition. Things like a weapon wheel and the fly attachments are nice gameplay mechanics that bring the game forward.

But, there are a few issues. The game as it stands right now is not very clean. I have had multiple instances where the quests have soft-locked and thus have required me to download and use the UE5 dev toolkit to bypass the soft locks, as well as things like NPCs just not behaving as intended. For example, when Monolith is reawakened and Zalissya is under attack, thus triggering the on-prompt side mission to repel the attack, in my instance none of the Monolith spawned, and all of the NPCs that were based there were locked inside the town hall, and it then caused me to fail the mission, thus losing the hub. A-Life 2.0 is also rather broken, with key NPCs seemingly coming back to life once you leave and re-enter certain areas of zones, but I'm sure that the devs are aware of these issues, and I'm sure that the first big patch of the game will fix this.

There are also some intended game design issues that I'm not too happy with. For example, the day-night cycle feels like a 70/30 split in the favor of night, the flashlight is not strong enough out in the world, and repair costs/selling prices are way too high. Mission rewards early on are very small, so expect to be using rather weak equipment for at least the first 10 hrs unless you want to gun it to some stashes that have strong stuff early.

But some pros: the world is fantastic, the weather effects are amazing and really feel powerful and unpredictable, the voice acting is top-notch, and seeing familiar places within the Zone with a fresh coat of paint has been really great as a long-time fan. The side quests for the most part have been pretty lengthy and well-designed, and progression, while slow, is rewarding. The main story is also pretty good, but it's certainly not the strength of the game in my point of view. There are plenty of instances where a character shows up maybe once, dies, and is then forgotten, and that's a little sad. Combining that with the issues I stated earlier, it's also rather frustrating.

Performance for me has been pretty good. Currently playing this on a 5700X and 6800XT @1440p with high to epic settings, FSR on, and frame generation, and I get close to 160 fps stable out in the world. In hubs, it drops to around 90, same with interiors, but it's more than playable. I've also only had one hard crash.

So, do I enjoy the game? Yes, very much so. But do I recommend it? Well, it's hard to say. It's a unique game that is essentially Stalker: The Sequel. It's not easier than the first, it's not harder, it's more of a direct sequel, so I think that because of those points, it's hard for me to give this a universal recommendation. But if you're on the fence, I'd recommend trying it on Game Pass for PC for a month or picking up the originals for cheap before you fork out the £50 that's needed for the 2nd game. But if you liked the originals, you will love this, and with time and future patches, it will be a really solid game that I'm sure about.

TL;DR:
Stalker 2 is a solid sequel that builds on the franchise’s immersive world and mechanics while introducing welcome new features like a weapon wheel and attachments. However, the game currently suffers from bugs (e.g., quest soft-locks and broken NPC behavior) and design flaws like long nights and high repair costs. The world, voice acting, and side quests shine, though the story feels less impactful. Performance is strong on modern hardware. If you’re a fan of the originals, you’ll likely love this, but newcomers should try it on Game Pass or play the earlier games first. With patches, it has the potential to become great.