From fleeing Kyiv bombings and supporting colleagues on the front, the game’s developers have endured the shadow of war

Not that a lot of post-apocalyptic first-person shooters are, but STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl is especially not for the faint of heart. It’s built to generate the kind of friction that goes a long way in creating a challenging and punishing game that’s also captivating.

Ahead of its release, Digital Trends received a PC copy of Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl that was plagued with more technical issues than we typically see in a review build this close to launch. I personally hopped into the Xbox build once our critic started raising red flags and was instantly met with bugs within my first 20 minutes.

Heart of Chornobyl has many side missions for players to extend their time in the game, but there is also a list of main missions that players will need to progress through to reach the end of the story.

Heart Of Chornobyl, you'll probably be fighting enemy factions and mutants. Combat in the game is a pretty simple affair: shoot, don't get got as much, heal if you do get shot. The basics are the basics for a reason.