The long-awaited sequel to S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is finally here, but there are a few things worth knowing before you jump in.

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Stalker 2 plunges players into the brutal world of the Zone – but does it live up to its high quality franchise, or bury itself under the radioactive rubble?

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Heart of Chornobyl is finally readily available today. If you have yet to play it, check out the official launch trailer.

Venture into the nightmarish Chornobyl Exclusion Zone on Nov. 20 with these minimum and recommended specs.

I fired my gun and watched the pink mist vent from his skull, but as he fell, another man with a gun – ready to go, about to die. He goes down and out comes another. And another. And one more. I still see the men when I close my eyes,

STALKER 2’s solid gunplay picks up a lot of the slack in its combat’s faults. Whipping around a decked-out assault rifle with a nice red dot sight to make headshots easy, or pumping shells into a mutant from a fully modded shotgun and slowing its charge with their impact had me looking forward to those high-stakes, kill-or-be-killed situations.