I am a fan of the previous STALKER instalments, however Heart of Chernobyl can't earn a recommendation as of right now.

The "Wouldn't recommend" issues:

• The A-Life 2.0 - enemies spawn by you randomly out of thin air; breaks immersion
  
• The whole game feels deserted, empty - every location looks abandoned when you first arrive, then the random enemy spawn kicks in out of nowhere, sometimes
  
• General performance issues - 80 FPS in 4K, medium on 4080 with DLSS and frame gen; random issues with texture streaming, pulling FPS below 10 for minutes

The annoyances:

• No fast travel - with the game feeling as empty as it is, it would be nice to skip running around between smaller locations; you can rent a guide to travel between safe zones
  
• You are encumbered - supplies eat a lot of your carrying capacity; it should probably be raised
  
• Abundance of consumables - too many healing items on Veteran difficulty, making the game trivial
  
• Can't do anything with weapons under 40% of durability (the "red" durability) - can't sell; can only repair and sell at a significant loss
  
• Rewards are low and merchant costs prohibitively high - repair costs are obscene
  
• Mutants are bullet sponges - one bloodsucker takes 10 shotgun shots; one flesh takes around 4-5 and those can be in groups of up to 8
  
• Mutants pose no challenge - standing on a slightly elevated platform renders mutants unable to fight back at all; they sometimes hide behind objects
  
• No incentive to kill mutants - no mutant parts to harvest and sell; just run away; don't waste ammo

Apart from those the direction is clear. The base of the game is definitely STALKER, but it does not hold a candle to previous games with the feel. The game needs more polish.

I will be updating the review and score with updates. I know you can do better, GSC.

I am a fan of the previous STALKER instalments, however Heart of Chernobyl can't earn a recommendation as of right now. [h3]As of update 1.0.1[/h3] The "Wouldn't recommend" issues: [list] [*]The A-Life 2.0 - enemies spawn by you randomly out of thin air; breaks immersion [*]The whole game feels deserted, empty - every location looks abandoned when you first arrive, then the random enemy spawn kicks in out of nowhere, sometimes [*]General performance issues - 80 FPS in 4K, medium on 4080 with DLSS and frame gen; random issues with texture streaming, pulling FPS below 10 for [i]minutes[/i] [/list] The annoyances: [list] [*]No fast travel - with the game feeling as empty as it is, it would be nice to skip running around between smaller locations; you can rent a guide to travel between safe zones [*]You are encumbered - supplies eat a lot of your carrying capacity; it should probably be raised [*]Abundance of consumables - too many healing items on Veteran difficulty, making the game trivial [*]Can't do anything with weapons under 40% of durability (the "red" durability) - can't sell; can only repair and sell at a significant loss [*]Rewards are low and merchant costs prohibitively high - repair costs are obscene [*][strike]Mutants are bullet sponges - one bloodsucker takes 10 shotgun shots; one flesh takes around 4-5 and those can be in groups of up to 8[/strike] [*]Mutants pose no challenge - standing on a slightly elevated platform renders mutants unable to fight back at all; they [i]sometimes[/i] hide behind objects [*]No incentive to kill mutants - no mutant parts to harvest and sell; just run away; don't waste ammo [/list] Apart from those the direction is clear. The base of the game is definitely STALKER, but it does not hold a candle to previous games with the feel. The game needs more polish. I will be updating the review and score with updates. I know you can do better, GSC.