This is a game I waited 10 years for. I understand there are people who have waited up to 14 years for this game, but S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is a very special franchise to me. The very first PC game I ever played was S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call of Prypiat when I was a little kid and I've had a fascination with PC gaming and FPS's since then. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 and its release means a lot to me and I'm more than grateful that GSC managed to push this game out despite the horrible circumstances they were under during its development. I played S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 a few days after it released but because of the awful state it was in at launch, I haven't been able to do a full playthrough until now. Despite performance issues that are still present to this day, performance has gotten better enough that it's at least playable. I have an average rig (details stated on my profile) and I get 60-70 and sometimes 80 FPS in most areas at 3440x1440 21:9 with medium settings and the game still looks stunning. But expect your frames to dip once you get to Prypiat. I highly recommend trying out S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 again if you also held off from playing it because of the numerous problems at launch.

As for the actual game; S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is so close to being a masterpiece and the best S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game. Just like its predecessors, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is an atmospheric hardcore FPS survival horror immersive sim set in an alternate timeline where there was a second Chornobyl disaster that created hazardous oddities called anomalies (as well as rare and valuable Artifacts that are found within said Anomalies) and caused widespread mutations to most if not every inhabitant in the exclusion zone and even vegetation, turning the CEZ into a dangerous, otherworldly place that we call the Zone. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is set entirely in the Zone and most areas in the Zone are based off of real places that exist in the CEZ, as well as brand new fictitious areas exclusive to the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 puts you into the shoes of a Ukrainian Marine Corps veteran who goes by the alias Skif, who enters the Zone after an Artifact struck and destroyed his apartment, leaving him homeless. He makes the decision to enter the Zone in hopes of finding answers about this strange artifact and a new home or money to buy said home. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 takes place 10 years after the original trilogy but even despite that, there is a lot of lore and story bits you won't understand unless you play the trilogy. Half of the characters in this game are returning characters from the trilogy as well. I highly recommend playing the trilogy first before jumping into this game. This game sets out to be a true sequel to it and explore unanswered questions from the trilogy.

As I've stated before, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is a hardcore game designed with challenge in mind. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is a very difficult game that encourages you to keep your wits about yourself to stay alive in the Zone. Anomalies are just as deadly as before as well as brand new ones. Mutants will tear you apart if you let your guard down. Gun fights are just as dangerous as before. Nobody is to be trusted in the Zone and doing so could be life or death. The dangerous nature of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2's setting as well as the ambiance, the impeccable sound design and almost photo-realistic visuals create an immersive, tense and atmospheric experience that only the trilogy can come close to replicating. The gunplay is absolutely fantastic and helps with the immersion a lot. The visuals in this game, although lacking in some areas (namely indoor areas), are absolutely breathtaking. The amount of attention to detail that went into the environments, as well as the near perfect replications of real CEZ locations, deserve way more credit than it gets.

The story and writing is great and the ending I got that revolves around a returning character that I won't state because of major spoilers was very satisfying. The new characters as well as returning characters are very well written and, while a little eccentric, feel like real people in their own ways and all have their own goals and morals. I personally feel like S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2's story was the perfect continuation to one of my favorite franchises of all time.

This is where the positives end. While I believe this game has tons of redeeming qualities over the original trilogy, there are also a few problems this game shares with its predecessors as well as a very severe problem that's exclusive to this game. For starters, the poor weapon balancing that was present in the trilogy is back and hasn't been changed in the slightest, There are weapons that do little to no damage to even random gunners you find in the mid and late game. Armor balancing isn't much different either. The artifact system is still the exact same even all these years later and, while I personally don't have a problem with it, some might find it to be generic and bland. Just like its predecessors, this game has loads of bugs but this can easily be fixed with future patches. While playable, this game still has performance issues even almost a year after its initial release but this is also fixable with future patches.

Although this is a problem that can, yet again, be fixed with future patches, this is a problem so severe that I think deserves its own paragraph talking about it: The near complete absence of A-Life. This has been a huge talking point ever since this game released and for very good reason. If you've never played a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game before, A-Life might not sound familiar to you. And that's because it's a complex AI system exclusive to the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series that simulates an independant, dynamic world by giving NPC's and even mutants schedules, various goals and interactions that occur if the player is present and even while the player isn't present. This system causes unpredictable events like faction battles or organic mutant attacks that aren't pre-scripted for the player. This complex system helped make the Zone feel alive and made it feel like you were really there. While there are many reasons why S.T.A.L.K.E.R. has the reputation it does, A-Life is one of the core aspects that make S.T.A.L.K.E.R. a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game and it's one of the main aspects that separate this series from any and all other games. It's not like A-Life isn't in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 at all. It's still very much there. But it's severely broken to the point that it feels like it's not. GSC is aware of this and is doing everything they can to fix it and I'm hoping they can and will succeed.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 has potential to become a masterpiece. This game hits nearly all of the right boxes, but numerous unfortunate turns of events during this games development has left this games with flaws that shouldn't have been present in the first place. However, all of the problems this game has can be fixable with patches over time and that seems to be what GSC sets out to do for the foreseeable future. I have an undying love for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and it's no different for this game. I'm thrilled to see what GSC does with this title next.