We tried the console version.
Together with our partner Česká spořitelna we visited the largest wild animal fair.
Exactly one year later, Microsoft presented another playable demo of the long-awaited post-apocalyptic action game STALKER 2: Heart of Chernobyl at Gamescom this year. Last year’s playable demo of the game left me with a bitter aftertaste, mainly due to its technical condition, from which it was quite clear that the game would have to wait even longer.
This impression was soon confirmed by several delays. First, there was a shift from December last year to the first half of this year. A few months later, the developers announced another delay, which meant a move to September. So far, the game’s latest delay was in July of this year, when the developers announced that the release would take place in November.
Console version on stage
After all this not-so-positive news and memories of last year’s “broken” demo, I stood at the GSC Game World booth with considerable uncertainty. But the first positive impulse came immediately after entering and viewing the individual gaming stations, which were equally divided between PC and console versions. Rather by chance, I settled on the console version, running on the Xbox Series X dev kit.
First of all, it is worth noting that I had the opportunity to try out the very beginning of the game in the form of entering the Zone itself. So this was not a demo version specially prepared for Gamescom, but a full part of the game, which all players play immediately after its launch. As the main character Skif, you are one of the secondary characters who got into the Zone in the area of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. In addition to the main pistol, flashlight and knife, the game provides you with a mysterious artifact that you will have to test inside the Zone.
Right after jumping over the wall and entering the Zone, the game managed to please me with its exciting atmosphere and a sense of constant danger. This impression was greatly enhanced by the fact that the entire game took place at night. The most important tool was a flashlight, at least in the first moments, and later a Geiger counter, which monitored the amount of radiation everywhere.
Under cover of night
While exploring the tunnels and various half-decayed objects, I came across several corpses, thanks to which, after some time, I also got my hands on several higher-quality weapons, headed by the trusted AKM. It was this equipment, along with bandages, that came in handy during the first encounters with mutants and living opponents. I managed to avoid direct confrontation with mutants thanks to the darkness and partly by chance.
STALKER 2: Heart of Chernobyl | Source: GSC Game World.
STALKER 2: Heart of Chernobyl | Source: GSC Game World.
On the other hand, I took out a group of soldiers relatively quickly with the aforementioned AKM. So it was clear that at least at night you will be able to choose between using stealth and directly confronting enemies at certain moments. An important part of the game will also be exploring the open world, where you will find various items and equipment.
Although the entire 30-minute playthrough took place at night, where logically some effects cannot stand out so much, I certainly can’t complain about the graphics. The game is very good at working with individual light sources and general lighting, which provides a fairly dark atmosphere, but at the same time does not significantly impair orientation.
Problem-free technical condition
Overall, the biggest surprise was the technical side and optimization. The game ran on the aforementioned Xbox Series X dev kit at a stable 60 frames per second without any crashes or other technical issues. Also, during the gameplay, I did not encounter a single bug or glitch that could make the game unpleasant for me in any way.
What the developers still don’t seem to have quite worked out is the loading times, which after one death and then loading a checkpoint seemed too long by today’s standards. Otherwise, I have no complaints about the technical state of the game.
Last year, I left the GSC Game World booth disappointed and full of fears about whether the game would ever be released in a decent state. This year, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. I received a remastered console version that felt finished and polished. In addition to the flawless technical side and detailed graphics, the game also left nothing to be desired in terms of atmosphere and gameplay.
STALKER 2: Heart of Chernobyl is released on November 20 on PC (Steam) and Xbox Series X/S. The game will also be available on Xbox/PC Game Pass on the day of release.
Source :Indian TV
