After what seemed like more than a decade of waiting, probably because it really was, Stalker 2 has officially been released. The game‘s developer, GSC game World, triumphed over a global pandemic and the need to move from its home country of Ukraine following the (still ongoing) invasion of neighboring Russia.
The fact that we have a practically functional game is a miracle, which seems to be the sentiment most Steam players share.
After its release yesterday, Stalker 2 quickly rose to the list of most played games on Steam. The game peaked at 113,587 concurrent players (via SteamDB), making it one of Steam’s biggest releases of 2024. Even those numbers are likely to see another spike over the weekend.
Without a doubt, these numbers are orders of magnitude higher than any of the previous Stalker games, although considering its age, it would be quite disappointing if Heart of Chornobyl came close to that.
In our review, Connor Makar gave Stalker 2 four stars, calling it “an excellent work of struggle and loneliness, even if it is riddled with bugs.” That sentiment was also reflected in all the other reviews, many of which were a bit more critical of the game, causing it to earn a 77 average on OpenCritic.
While many user reviews on Steam acknowledge the various critical and technical issues, the overall rating was very positive, with over 81% of user reviews being, well, positive. Generally speaking, everyone seems to be enjoying their time, while they wait for the inevitable list of mods to add features and fix some of the more glaring problems with the release version.
Whether you’re happy to venture into the Zone right now or are waiting for a few patches and mods before dedicating some time to the experience, our Stalker 2 guides will be a faithful companion. You should definitely learn how to increase your carrying capacity early on, what artifacts are and where to find them, and how to deal with anomalies. You should probably also learn how to repair your weapons (because they jam constantly) and upgrade them.
