It is an understatement to say that the genesis of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 : Heart of Chornobyl (available Wednesday, November 20 on PC and Xbox Series, after six grueling years of production) was chaotic and its release owes everything to the unfailing self-sacrifice of its development studio.
Met at the German Gamescom show in August, the Ukrainian developers from GSC Game World told Monde the violent turmoil which had shaken the production of the game, between multiple postponements, a global pandemic and, finally, the launch of the offensive against Ukraine decided by Vladimir Putin in February 2022. Faced with the Russian invasion, the great The majority of employees (more than 400 people) went into exile from kyiv to Prague, in the Czech Republic, while a minority remained there, notably to go to the front – a story that the company told in October in a homemade documentary.
In fact, according to a statement from the government news agency RIA Novosti, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 could be the subject “draconian measures” : Russia would therefore consider prosecuting anyone who obtains the game on its territory for advocating terrorism.
Go crazy in the Zone
As a postapocalyptic shooter, this new opus is seen as a direct extension of the original triptych (published between 2007 and 2010). We find there an intact capacity to offer complex systems and mechanics and, above all, a magnetic world. Digging through the notes of Skif, our hero, we are immediately struck by a deep distress: “I returned after three years of service in hell to rest, (…) drinking in my smoke-filled apartment and watching TV like you look out a window”. In order to recharge a powerful and mysterious extinct artifact in his possession, Skif finally embarks on an expedition through the “Zone”, that is to say the exclusion zone surrounding Chernobyl, a space which has once again become wild and transformed by nuclear disaster. Chaos and desolation are the only masters there.
Barely a foot has set foot in these ruins, which are as disastrous as they are dreadful, when the “ anomalies ” are already raining down. Almost invisible to the naked eye, these are unexplained physical phenomena, like explosions that dry you on the spot and which it is vital to detect using metal objects – small bolts to throw in front of you in order to progress. . A way of exploring the playing area taken directly from Andrei Tarkovsky’s film Stalker (1979), and even before the science fiction novel that inspired the film, Stalker: picnic by the side of the path by the Strugatsky brothers (1972).
If the Zone has a particularly hostile fauna, made up of monstrous prowlers ready to devour you, it is mainly populated by bloodthirsty armed groups. Even more intensely than its predecessors, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is a great journey to meet the tortured souls who inhabit this almost no man’s land, made up of countless stories to make one’s sleep stand tall. All the men look like zombies wandering in a giant purgatory, apathetic beings by the fire or looters and snitches riddled with debt, leaning on the bar, plunged into solitude and torpor.
Rations, ramblings and radiation
It is essentially through its survival simulation dimension that the game invites us to take stock of each of our actions, starting with the drastic management of the inventory, which very quickly becomes limited in weight. In addition to the weapons to recover to defend yourself, it is vital to collect medicines and food, such as Cossack vodka, an essential ally to treat irradiation. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 arrives later Elden Ring (2022) with which he maintains a strong proximity in his way of understanding an open world as a deeply threatening territory. He shares with him a common dynamic, that of a open world (open world) which, as it unfolds, seems to take you in its claws. Here, no fantasy black, but both feet anchored in a desperate realism. Rushing headlong and shooting into the pile will lead to nothing other than collecting game over. Crossing the Zone requires high standards, method and strategic choices in each of the expeditions to be carried out.
Intractable and radical in his proposal, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 never deny its harshness. A contemplative shooter, it invites you on a journey where you never feel safe. And yet, this postapocalyptic exclusion zone seems to grab us, to force us to visit it. When the moments come when we can catch our breath among the rubble, we come to believe that we have become accustomed to the smell of death. What could be more logical in short, for such a project, than to have tried to tame the unspeakable.
Pixels’ opinion in brief
We liked:
• explore the Zone, a prodigious wasteland populated by captivating characters;
• the rigor and composure required by the adventure;
• the masterful work of sound immersion.
We didn’t like:
• the bugs that punctuate the adventure here and there, never blocking but which we hope will be quickly corrected.
It’s more for you if…
• You loved the previous installments of the franchise;
• the aromas of vodka and beer no longer hold any secrets for you;
• you are able to endure a world where a radiation detector is your only friend.
It’s probably not for you if…
• You hate walking;
• you think that a « first person shooter » is necessarily supercharged.
Pixels’ note:
7,000 becquerels out of the 8,000 of the average natural radioactivity of the human body
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