Stalker 2's survival systems haven't changed since the last game 15 years ago, and I'm not sure if I'm happy or disappointed

GamesFPSStalker 2Stalker 2’s survival systems haven’t changed since the last game 15 years ago, and I’m not sure if I’m happy or disappointedWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

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(Image credit: GSC Game World)

Stalker 2

In the 15 years since the last Stalker game, Call of Pripyat, the survival genre has done a lot of growing. Games have introduced far more complex survival systems than were in the Stalker series. There are food and cooking systems in games like DayZ and SCUM that calculate how much food fits in your stomach, simulate food poisoning and sometimes even track fat and carbs. In other games, like Valheim, food buffs and meal combinations make your diet as important as the armor you wear.

Crafting systems have also exploded since 2010, not always in the best ways—like when it’s shoehorned into shooters that don’t need it—and along with systems for basebuilding, you can really live in a lot of survival games, harvesting what you need from the world instead of just buying or trading with vendors.

The answer is, uh… No. Nope. Negative. In terms of survival systems, Stalker 2 really hasn’t changed at all. In the Zone, the last decade of survival games may as well not have even happened.

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(Image credit: GSC Game World)

A man in a gasmask warming hands over a fire

In a way, it’s comforting. When I started playing Stalker 2 this week, it was like a homecoming. When a food icon appears on my screen I eat a hunk of bread or open a can of meat shapes. That’s it.That’s Stalker 2’s entire food system. If my weapon degrades, I don’t have to scavenge gun parts to repair it, or cobble together a new stock or scope from scrap while hunched over a workbench. I just take my busted weapon to a guy and pay him to fix or upgrade it. Same as it ever was.

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I can’t help envisioning a version of the game where I don’t have to pay an NPC an exorbitant fee to fix my guns

I’ve come to appreciate simplicity. Sometimes I have to psyche myself up to play new games simply because many of them have so many systems the first few hours have to be spentlearning things, which is exhausting. Stalker 2’s tutorial was basically WASD to move, CTRL to crouch, SHIFT to sprint. Good luck! Wilmot Works It Out has a longer tutorial than Stalker 2, and it’s acozy jigsaw puzzle game. There’s something great about jumping into a game and not needing a wiki open in a second screen just to figure out if a can of beans will buff my stamina better than tinned peaches.

But as a survival fan I can’t say I’m not alittledisappointed that Stalker 2 hasn’t grown a little. I don’t necessarily think it needs a huge crafting system or an elaborate cooking system. Maybe it would be actively annoying to have to collect gun parts or kevlar scraps or metal screws or whatever else would be needed to fix and upgrade my weapons and gear.

(Image credit: GSC Game World)

Stalker 2 The Lost Boys - Lens

And sitting around the campfire with a guitar is cool, but putting a sausage on a stick and roasting it over the flames would be pretty immersive. The same way a gravi artifact on my belt improves my carry weight, maybe some Bloodsucker stew would buff my stealth a bit while I digested it. In a pinch, while far from safety, I might cut myself a steak from a dead irradiated dog and chow it down. I’d expect a ton of radiation poisoning, but hey, I’ve got vodka to deal with that.

I’m enjoying Stalker 2 a ton just the way it is. At the same time, when it comes to its survival systems, I was hoping for a bit more.

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