Available on: PC, Xbox Series X|S
Stalker 2 is an anomaly. And no, I’m not talking about the physics-defying anomalies you’ll be tiptoeing around in the game, but an anomaly among all other game experiences I had in 2024. Stalker 2 is a game about friction. It’s a game that put me under an oppressive weight and challenged me to survive in a world that, at times, didn’t feel worth surviving in. After all, it’s the story of an alternate reality where a second horrific nuclear disaster occurred in Chornobyl. It’s par for the course.
Like surviving under such conditions, Stalker 2 is at times messy, convoluted, and difficult to understand. All of that is made a little easier to grapple with thanks to the people you meet along the way, undergoing the same confusing struggle that you are.
There’s just something about having wandered for hours in a desolate world, fending off rabid dogs, grotesque mutants, bands of other humans raiding the land just like you (all while being a little tipsy from the vodka you drank to alleviate radiation poisoning), only to make it back to salvation, and have a guy in a gas mask look you in the eyes and say, “Hey, dude!”
It slices through the tension like a knife, making its dour world feel a little less dire and a little more digestible. Hell, even a little more welcoming. Listening to other Stalkers gather around the fire each night to play the guitar, drink copious amounts of vodka, and talk about their daily woes expresses a sense of community amongst these survivors–a place to come back to after facing a day’s worth of horror. Their lives are hard, but still their humanity perseveres. There’s still camaraderie to have, all things considered in a decimated depiction of Ukraine. It’s a feeling I imagine reflects that of many real-life Ukrainians everyday.
Stalker 2 was made under the tragic conditions of a full-fledged war between Russia and Ukraine. From a global pandemic to a full-scale invasion, Stalker 2’s development team endured to see this game come to life, all while their cities were being bombed around them. Many Ukrainians–including the game’s developers–were displaced, fleeing the country altogether, while some joined armed forces to fight Russian forces, and others remained in Ukraine and adjusted to the new normal of a war-torn country.
The circumstances in which Stalker 2 was made has no bearing on its place in our Top 10, but I think they provide important context when examining the game, its themes, and how it stands as a cultural touching point. One that represents Ukraine and, more importantly, the people who made it.
It’s a game about surviving by the skin of your teeth, with everything in the Zone being a threat, whether it’s unexplained anomalies, horrible mutant beasts, or humans themselves. But through it all, its humanity is tangible. It’s the smaller moments with the characters spread across this vast and radiated land that breathe hope into a world that feels otherwise robbed of optimism. So, hey dude! That’s what makes Stalker 2 among the best gaming experiences of 2024. — Kurt Indovina