With Tuesday’s announcement of a 1.0.3 patch, STALKER 2: Coronary heart of Chornobyl has now obtained its third substantive post-launch code replace. While you keep in mind the so-called day zero patch that went out to reviewers within the hours simply earlier than the sport formally launched on Nov. 20, which means the sport has been up to date on common each two-and-a-quarter enterprise days. It’s a formidable tempo, particularly contemplating the extenuating circumstances of the high-profile sport’s launch.
STALKER 2 went dwell on Nov. 20 with a cavalcade of opinions – together with right here at gamerlifemedia – that known as out the sport’s tough state at launch. My very own expertise over some 40 hours included all the things from main audio points and weird hitches throughout cinematic cutscenes, to abhorrent AI conduct, to minor animation and graphical hitches. As I continued enjoying the sport (I’m 65 hours in at this level) extra bugs continued to crop up.
On Sunday night time, for example, I spent a great 6,000 coupons deescalating a scenario with a vendor solely to see him drop lifeless as he handed by means of an invisible wall. That bug, and a handful of others, function prominently in at present’s patch notes. It appears nearly as if publishers GSC Sport World are pacing the neighborhood, working points from earlier within the sport first earlier than shifting on to the later issues.
That is sensible to me, as a result of STALKER 2 is greatest performed sluggish. It’s a sport about exploration, and the intimate challenges that crop up as you progress overland from point-to-point in an especially hostile surroundings. In the event you’re attempting to race to the top of the sport, you’re frankly doing all of it fallacious.
However greater than something, it simply goes to point out the unimaginable dedication and dedication of the builders — which nonetheless persists 1,013 days since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the place the studio is predicated. Shoppers are in the meantime voting with their {dollars}. Even with its inclusion within the Xbox Sport Go program, which suggests the sport is free for subscribers, STALKER 2 has reportedly offered multiple million copies within the 48 hours after launch.
