Available on: PC, Xbox Series X|S
Stalker 2 is an anomaly. And no, I’m not speaking in regards to the physics-defying anomalies you may be tiptoeing round within the sport, however an anomaly amongst all different sport experiences I had in 2024. Stalker 2 is a sport about friction. It’s a sport that put me below an oppressive weight and challenged me to outlive in a world that, at occasions, did not really feel price surviving in. After all, it is the story of an alternate actuality the place a second horrific nuclear catastrophe occurred in Chornobyl. It’s par for the course.
Like surviving below such situations, Stalker 2 is at occasions messy, convoluted, and obscure. All of that’s made a little bit simpler to grapple with due to the individuals you meet alongside the best way, present process the identical complicated battle that you’re.
There’s simply one thing about having wandered for hours in a desolate world, warding off rabid canines, grotesque mutants, bands of different people raiding the land identical to you (all whereas being a little bit tipsy from the vodka you drank to alleviate radiation poisoning), solely to make it again to salvation, and have a man in a fuel masks look you within the eyes and say, “Hey, dude!”
It slices by the stress like a knife, making its dour world really feel rather less dire and a little bit extra digestible. Hell, even a little bit extra welcoming. Listening to different Stalkers collect across the fireplace every evening to play the guitar, drink copious quantities of vodka, and discuss their each day woes expresses a way of neighborhood amongst these survivors–a place to return again to after dealing with a day’s price of horror. Their lives are onerous, however nonetheless their humanity perseveres. There’s nonetheless camaraderie to have, all issues thought-about in a decimated depiction of Ukraine. It’s a sense I think about displays that of many real-life Ukrainians on a regular basis.
Stalker 2 was made below the tragic situations of a full-fledged warfare between Russia and Ukraine. From a worldwide pandemic to a full-scale invasion, Stalker 2’s growth workforce endured to see this sport come to life, all whereas their cities had been being bombed round them. Many Ukrainians–including the sport’s developers–were displaced, fleeing the nation altogether, whereas some joined armed forces to battle Russian forces, and others remained in Ukraine and adjusted to the brand new regular of a war-torn nation.
The circumstances wherein Stalker 2 was made has no bearing on its place in our Top 10, however I feel they supply essential context when inspecting the sport, its themes, and the way it stands as a cultural touching level. One that represents Ukraine and, extra importantly, the individuals who made it.
It’s a sport about surviving by the pores and skin of your tooth, with every part within the Zone being a risk, whether or not it is unexplained anomalies, horrible mutant beasts, or people themselves. But by all of it, its humanity is tangible. It’s the smaller moments with the characters unfold throughout this huge and radiated land that breathe hope right into a world that feels in any other case robbed of optimism. So, hey dude! That’s what makes Stalker 2 among the many finest gaming experiences of 2024. — Kurt Indovina
