GSC Game World has just put out an extensive free content update for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl. This update is named ‘Stories Untold’ and it appears, at least as far as the paper goes, to be a great surprise for everyone who is the one to take the risk of walking around the Zone. A completely new quest, strange characters, new areas to explore, and a whole multitudes of items are among these things we are talking about here. Furthermore, the developers give over five hours of new gameplay, which is quite extraordinary when it is spoken about free content.
This isn’t a mere patch; it’s a whole new reason to start the game again.
But then again, expect the unexpected in the Zone right? the players’ reaction is…
The official message from the account @stalker_thegame was very optimistic, but the replies were of different nature.
It’s the usual video game update story: cool new content fighting with some old technical problems.
What is the main core of the update? ‘Stories Untold’ seems to add narrative depth, which is great.
The addition of new characters you can either meet or avoid, new places in Chornobyl to roam around and new items to be discovered.
One player Tony (@SnowyGhost013) seems to be particularly thrilled about the new GP37 version that will be released. Another player, Erwin (@Erwin53877819), is still keeping his fingers crossed for a full weapon modding system, constantly asking the devs to incorporate it. So, it looks like the content is actually appealing to the hardcore players who simply expect more to do in that dark and immersive world.
But then you move down a bit. The first batch of comments is nearly a bug report forum. User @cafemilk0221 openly admits it’s “impossible to enjoy” the brand new side quests due to constant crashes near the new base, stating the Xbox version has been unplayable since patch 1.7. @Mrbeanington took no prisoners and called the game a “pile of spaghetti code” while saying that the notorious free mod S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Anomaly crashes less. Ouch.
Performance is the central issue in this case. @Wasted_FPS asked the question that was on everybody’s mind: “does it come with more frames?” The replies looked like a tech support thread.
@matters_zero said that the frame count is the same as it was before, which leads to the thought that only a future Unreal Engine update could hopully fix it.
But then @MariuszGryc1987 contributed a glimmer of hope, claiming that update 1.7, in fact, brought about a 10-20% FPS increase and with UE 5.7 more might come. So it’s a mix of conflicting experiences, which is probably the most S.T.A.L.K.E.R. thing that ever happened.
Then there are the particular, hilarious complaints. @JaxxUnleashed is always getting beaten by “little hooded mutants with telekinesis” that are taking their own weapons and using them against the player. @bonifatius1367 is constantly looking for a tool in the trucks, shouting in all caps “HELL WHERE is his tool in trucks place!!!!!!?????” and @Miyazaki_god calls one quest “The price goes up” a mess and wonders what the bugs are. This is a crazy situation, but at the same time, it is weirdly charming? The players are so much involved; they are experiencing the game and they are hitting the walls – sometimes literally.
A few other comments came as well. @Terry01711833 was mourning that it is off Game Pass which is a letdown for those who wanted to go back to that world and explore it for a nominal fee. @Soto_tudela asked a very reasonable question: if you delete your save after finishing, will you have to complete the whole gameagain before you can play the new content? (The community’s answer seemed to… probably, yeah). And @DivineSlayer89, a PS5 player, cut through all the ruckus, simply saying, “I fucking love this game.” So, it isn’t that bad after all!
Wait, what was I saying? Oh, the update right! It’s huge. For free, we will not see content updates of this size very often, GSC has clearly demonstrated its commitment to the game after the launch. The aim is excellent. However, at least for part of the player community, the implementation looks like it is stumbling on the very technical issues that have been ruining the game. It is like getting a bright new artifact and at the same time suffering from radiation poisoning.
Where does that find us then? An obvious decision for those whose S.T.A.L
