There's a certain kind of profound confusion Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl inherits from the series' namesake, Andrei Tarkovsky's 1979 film, Stalker. Both are heavily influenced by the 1972 novel Roadside Picnic, by the Strugatsky brothers. Despite and in light of their many differences and similarities, all three share one important facet: the Zone, a setting fundamentally incomprehensible to the human mind. Developer Gsc Game World admirably and ambitiously brings this setting to life in Stalker 2, an open-world, survival-horror immersive sim.

Experiencing everything Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl has to offer can take 100 hours. With this in mind, Screen Rant is publishing this article as an unscored Review In Progress. The review will be updated - and a score added - when our reviewer has spent more time with the game.

You play as Skif, who is drawn to the Zone because it practically requested his presence by mysteriously destroying his house with an Artifact,...