Players who prefer to utilize sniper rifles in STALKER 2 should know how each of them stacks up against the rest.

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, armor will often be your saving grace in The Zone. You'll not only need physical protection from the hazardous elements in the world, but heat, radiation, electrical, and even chemical protection.

STALKER 2: 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. Chasing Ghosts is one such mission that players will get closer to the start of the game.

The Needle in a Haystack mission gives players several options to progress in Stalker 2, but some are much more advisable than others.

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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.

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.

You don't need to have played past Stalker games to dive into Heart of Chornobyl, but newcomers to The Zone – an irradiated land of impossibilities in Ukraine – will find themselves tested by its brutality. That goes double for protagonist Skif, whose first foray into The Zone results in him being ambushed and left for dead.

Heart of Chornobyl, the fourth video game in the Stalker series, is finally here, and with it comes a terrifying new chapter in the saga. Stalker 2 is set in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, a dangerous area contaminated by radiation and filled with deadly anomalies.