Recent reviews by kalechips

pros
-insanely satisfying gunplay
-really cool artstyle
-cards are decent at shaking up the game and making it its own thing

cons
-characters should shut the ♥♥♥♥ up, i don't need to hear marvel tier dialogue all the time
-battle pass

pretty great game. the open world, atmosphere and life simulation in the zone are on point. the game also looks jaw-dropping for 2009. however the story and main quest is cut short and ends up kind of underwhelming. worth playing for the open world and side content though.
the vanilla gunplay is okay at best though so i massively recommend getting the mod "arsenal overhaul" and the realistic damage addon that's included if you want the really good experience without bullet sponges.

10/10 dopamine generator

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is an exceptional game, however unfortunately marred by some incredibly questionable game design choices and technical issues.

Pros:
- Truly suffocating, intense and immersive atmosphere, makes the mere act of walking feel engaging
- Decent story with multiple endings
- Great gunplay
- A-Life was fixed quickly after launch, and seeing friendly and hostile stalkers alike roam The Zone enhances immersion even further
- Soundtrack does its job perfectly, massively enhancing the atmosphere 90% of the time but also doing the heavy lifting in terms of tension in story sequences
- The Zone is massive (basically to scale with the IRL Chornobyl Exclusion Zone) but every single part of it feels lovingly handcrafted, from the old familiar locations like Rookie Village, to the new ones like the Duga
- Developers actively listen to the community for suggestions and push patches out at a breakneck pace

Cons:
- Too many fetch quests in the main story
- Certain enemies are incredibly spongy to the point of being unfair (mainly Chimeras)
- An overabundance of bloodsuckers to the point where they are no longer something to be feared, but just an inconvenience
- Optimization needs a lot of work
- Weapon and armor wears out laughably quickly, needing you to run to a technician after almost every small thing you do
- Human enemies overall unevenly balanced, some enemies of the same caliber take two shots and others take two mags


Decent game now, but give it a year for modding tools and multiplayer to release, for optimization and other issues to be ironed out, and then this game will absolutely worth your time and money.
If you're a hardcore S.T.A.L.K.E.R. fan however, you will get your money's worth out of this anytime. There is really no other feeling like exploring the locations in the older games in this game.

PTSD from Bug Vietnam

the gunplay and the gameplay/flow in general feel great, but the map selection is a tad bit barren, and the game tends to crash occasionally

aexlab have an amazing foundation for a game here, and i think it will only get better over time

i'm probably on a watchlist now

how come this game turns into a literal snuff torture film every time i play it

*shoots coin*

Gandhi sure does love his nukes.