Spirit of the PC 2024: Stalker 2

GamesFPSStalker 2Spirit of the PC 2024: Stalker 2When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

(Image credit: GSC Game World)

Spirit of the PC: Stalker 2

Stalker 2 captured the Sprit of the PC this year—its vibrancy, inventiveness (and, yes, occasional jank). For more awards, visit ourGame of the Year 2024hub.

Joshua Wolens, News Writer:This might sound odd, but what I most love about Stalker 2 is howStalkerit is: how far it goes—even in dolled-up 2024 form—to preserve all the systemic strangeness and seemingly bizarre design priorities that made the original games great. Even with the A-Life system apparently busted, the world still feels to me like it lives, breathes, and vibrates with potential for complete lunacy—boss encounters can get cut short when the scary monster stumbles into an anomaly, packs of dogs can descend on your enemies to wipe them out before you can even unholster your gun, that kind of thing.

But it’s the little touches, too. Why does GSC consider it necessary to procedurally generate names for every human you encounter, enemies and all? No idea, but where most studios would just label the schmucks you run across in the Zone things like ‘Bandit’ and ‘Duty Patrolman,’ Stalker 2 will give them names like ‘Vanya Badass,’ and ‘Gena Sleepy’. It’s an incredibly minor choice that ends up lending humanity both to your enemies and the game as a whole, a revival of that Morrowind-style approach of giving everyone at least a vague place in the world.

That’s the handle, I think. It’s gorgeous and, when it works, relatively slick (at least compared to the old games), but at its heart Stalker 2 is a beautiful caveman we thawed out of a block of ice: the last, dim torch of an uncaring, old-school philosophy of game design that GSC, god bless ‘em, has been carrying for the last 14 years of development.

Fraser Brown, Online Editor:Yeah, like Josh I’m just enamoured with how much Stalker 2 transports me back to 2007. It’s gorgeous as all heck, but it still has that weird, janky soul that ensures I’m perpetually being surprised.

(Image credit: GSC Game Worlds)

Fighting dogs

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals

Robert Jones, Print Editor:Stalker 2 crashed onto PC in rough shape and with tons of the series’ trademark jank on display, including some uncool progress-halting misery and, for me at least, a weird as hell bug where a swarm of rats would follow me around wherever I went. Seriously, for a time I became the rat Pied Piper! But despite the myriad of bugs, patches and, at times, deep frustrations, Stalker 2 still delivers an incredibly unique, immersive, and gripping gaming experience that recaptures the bleak and bizarre beauty of the original game perfectly.

Stalker 2 is a game where you’ll frequently find yourself having to fight against both the immense hostility of its virtual world, as well as the myriad of ways the game could go bad on you, which can sometimes feel so random to a point of comic cosmic unfairness, but you soldier on regardless, in the dark and without hand-holding or safety net, as when everything is working as it should, Stalker 2 delivers one of the most mature, beautiful, complex and challenging experiences in gaming today. It’s a game that captures much of what PC gaming is all about and, in my opinion, is a worthy winner of this year’s Spirit of PC award.

More about fpsValve’s Steam page currently lists a second mystery game alongside Deadlock, sending Half-Life 3 theorists into another frenzy of speculationActivision will send you alarmingly detailed data for every single Call of Duty match you’ve played in the last 4 years if you ask, and players are using it to figure out their mysterious SBMM rankingsLatestCruel is a frantic run-and-gun shooter where you boot cultists out of windows in a cursed apartment block that wants you deadSee more latest►

More about fps

Valve’s Steam page currently lists a second mystery game alongside Deadlock, sending Half-Life 3 theorists into another frenzy of speculationActivision will send you alarmingly detailed data for every single Call of Duty match you’ve played in the last 4 years if you ask, and players are using it to figure out their mysterious SBMM rankings

Half-Life: Alyx

Valve’s Steam page currently lists a second mystery game alongside Deadlock, sending Half-Life 3 theorists into another frenzy of speculation

black ops 6 season 1

Activision will send you alarmingly detailed data for every single Call of Duty match you’ve played in the last 4 years if you ask, and players are using it to figure out their mysterious SBMM rankings

LatestCruel is a frantic run-and-gun shooter where you boot cultists out of windows in a cursed apartment block that wants you deadSee more latest►

Latest

Cruel is a frantic run-and-gun shooter where you boot cultists out of windows in a cursed apartment block that wants you dead

Cruel

Cruel is a frantic run-and-gun shooter where you boot cultists out of windows in a cursed apartment block that wants you dead

See more latest►

Most Popular

This bizarre roguelike has a new take on the Vampire Survivors formula: letting you build your own custom weapons out of brains, eyeballs, and chimpanzee spines

18 games the PC Gamer team can’t wait to play in 2025

The Witcher 3’s now 2-year-old bonus quest is our first taste of the ‘vibe’ CD Projekt is going for in The Witcher 4

2024 was the year updates for old games beat out all the new ones for me

Train like you game with this adventure-inspired workout

‘It’s simply impossible to make a difficulty level that’s just right for all players’: How Final Fantasy 14’s lead battle designer has been playing a precarious balancing game for Dawntrail’s dungeons and raids

Please join me in getting super excited for all the cool looking survival games coming in 2025 (and beyond)

Competitive shooters are at a crucial crossroads in 2025: ‘sweaty’ teamplay vs. casual fun

Call of Duty’s $28 Squid Game skins are the perfect crossover for our capitalist dystopia, and Activision knows exactly what it’s doing

These are the 14 biggest upcoming RPGs of 2025—get ready for another amazing year for the genre

HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS

1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

A bunch of the best Steam Deck accessories on a blue background.

1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads

2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop

Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop

3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most

Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most

4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands

Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands

5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested

Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested

1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits

Thank Goodness You’re Here review

1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits

Thank Goodness You’re Here! review: An anarchic treasure trove of jokes and skits

2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback

Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review—like juggling chainsaws on horseback

3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review

WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review

4Ikea Utespelare desk review

Ikea Utespelare desk review

5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals#

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals