Stalker 2 is a type of video games I by no means thought would really launch. Originally introduced 14 years in the past, the challenge was shelved after developer GSC Game World closed its doorways, solely to be reignited in 2018. Then, because the initially introduced 2022 launch of the sport approached, Ukraine, the place the developer was based mostly, was invaded by Russia.
There are loads of video games that endure in improvement hell, however they pale compared to the struggles Stalker 2 has gone by way of. The undeniable fact that the sport is even right here is nothing wanting a miracle. Like different titles caught in improvement hell, although, Stalker 2 is removed from excellent, notably in terms of PC efficiency.
Between the usage of Unreal Engine 5, an AI system we not often see in trendy video games, and loads of release-day bugs, Stalker 2 is removed from a clean expertise on PC. It’s playable — and pleasing for this fan of old-school PC survival shooters — however it’s best to anticipate some bumps within the highway in the event you plan on taking part in at launch.
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Stalker 2 system necessities
You can miss some essential particulars in Stalker 2′s system necessities in the event you don’t pay shut consideration. That primarily comes right down to the CPU alternative. In basic, builders goal 1080p at 60 frames per second for the advocate specs, and after that time, the advocate CPU doesn’t climb greater — a minimum of for a recreation with out ray tracing. Here, the CPU advocate jumps significantly between the High and Epic graphics presets.
As I’ll dig into extra within the subsequent part, Stalker 2 is very delicate to older CPU architectures. It solely wants eight cores, however older CPU generations — and older DDR4 platforms consequently — will wrestle to run the sport cleanly above 1080p. There’s little question that Stalker 2 is a demanding recreation, however in contrast to a title like Black Myth: Wukong, that demand isn’t solely on your graphics card.
Make no mistake, you’ll nonetheless want a beefy graphics card. In that regard, the system necessities aren’t nice, notably on the Low and Medium presets. An RTX 4060 is considerably quicker than an RX 5700 XT, as an illustration, and the Intel Arc A750 shouldn’t even be in comparison with the RX 580 and GTX 1060. I might err on the aspect of the Nvidia suggestion throughout the board, substituting alternate options from AMD or Intel as wanted.
One essential be aware that isn’t coated within the system necessities is upscaling and body technology. From my testing, it appears just like the suggestions are based mostly round having upscaling turned on, a minimum of, with body technology being elective. Even with an RTX 4090 and Ryzen 7 7800X3D, I wasn’t in a position to get a constant 60 fps at native 4K, with occasional dips into the excessive 40s.
The CPU drawback
Stalker 2Â is actually demanding on your processor, and I believe numerous gamers getting into the sport at this time will run into efficiency points on account of their processor. For context, even with a brand new Ryzen 9 9950X with 16 cores and a few of the highest efficiency cash can purchase, the sport peaked at 88% utilization and averaged 59% utilization over a 15-minute efficiency check.
That’s excessive for a gaming operating at 4K with maxed-out graphics. With how graphically demanding Stalker 2 is, you’d anticipate CPU utilization to be someplace nearer to twenty% to 30% when operating at 4K, particularly on a 16-core, 32-thread chip just like the Ryzen 9 9950X. If you ignore your CPU when taking part in Stalker 2, you may run into some severe points.
For occasion, in my 15-minute run of gameplay, I clocked an common body fee of 86 fps with the Epic preset. I used an RTX 3080, 32GB of reminiscence, and the Ryzen 9 9950X, and I had DLSS set to Balanced mode. During that run, I noticed stuttering, however that solely accounted for 1% of the whole time I performed.
Meanwhile, our Stalker 2 reviewer typically noticed dips into the 20s, stutters, and really inconsistent efficiency. They had been operating at 4K with the Medium preset and DLSS set to Performance mode, and likewise with an RTX 3080 and 32GB of reminiscence. The distinction? Our reviewer was utilizing a Core i9-10900K.
The answer right here isn’t to only exit a purchase a brand new processor — although that will possible assist your Stalker 2 efficiency. It’s merely to grasp how essential your CPU is within the recreation, and the way settings can influence your general efficiency. If you want a primer on why this is essential within the first place, make sure that to learn our information on CPU bottlenecks.
In quick, pushing your graphics settings down in Stalker 2 with a weaker processor could make a foul state of affairs worse. Particularly when operating at greater decision withs a robust graphics card, you’ll must play a fragile balancing act between graphics settings and upscaling. Push issues down too low when you’ve got a weaker CPU, and you can begin to run into CPU bottlenecks rapidly.
Stuttering and UE5 woes
Although I didn’t encounter horrible stuttering points in Stalker 2 like we noticed in Silent Hill 2 earlier this yr, there are nonetheless stutters — and so they’re extraordinarily aggressive at occasions. This recreation makes use of Unreal Engine 5, which is carrying ahead the notorious mantle of stuttering points that Unreal Engine 4 introduced into the limelight.
There isn’t shader compilation stutter — extra on that quickly — however you’ll encounter traversal stutter, and in no way in a constant manner. Sometimes I’d flick the digital camera round and dash in a distinct course with a giant stutter in the midst of the motion; different occasions the sport was clean. Sometimes I’d interact a dialog with an NPC solely to see the sport sluggish to a crawl. Other occasions, it stayed constant.
I believe some combination of the massive open world — the map is 60 sq. kilometers massive — and the A-Life system that simulates interactions exterior of the participant’s view play a giant position in these routine stutters. Apparently, just like older Stalker video games, A-Life is operating always throughout the entire map, which explains the excessive CPU necessities.
Like practically all UE5 video games, Stalker 2 has a shader compilation step once you first load the sport. Just to make certain, it really has this step each time you load the sport, no matter if something has modified. Worse, it takes a very long time. When you first compile shaders, or the primary time you launch the sport after an replace, it may well take upward of quarter-hour for this course of to finish, even on a 16-core CPU.
It’s not the truth that it’s a must to undergo this course of as soon as that’s irritating. It’s that it’s a must to each single time you open the sport. Even relaunching the sport instantly after closing it, you’ll have to attend a strong 5 minutes on the shader compilation display screen earlier than you may leap into the sport.
Frame technology to the rescue
The Stalker collection has at all times been recognized for being heavy on your CPU, and Stalker 2 definitely carries that custom ahead. We have new tech to fight that challenge at this time within the type of body technology, although, which the sport takes full benefit of. You get each DLSS Frame Generation and FSR 3.1 Frame Generation, each of which work fantastically within the recreation.
You get a treasure trove of upscaling choices, too — DLSS, FSR, XeSS, TSR, and even a decision slider for normal TAA. However, body technology is going to do much more to your efficiency in Stalker 2 than upscaling alone. Upscaling is nonetheless welcome, however strive to not push it too far, particularly in the event you’re operating a monitor under 4K.
Understandable wrestle
I’ve targeted primarily on the efficiency of Stalker 2 right here, however the pre-release construct I examined had some bugs, as effectively. There had been some minor points I encountered, equivalent to sound results lacking for numerous completely different objects, however some had been extra extreme. Strange object pop-in and UI components both getting caught or utterly misplaced on display screen had been issues I noticed in simply the primary few hours of the sport.
Since I first acquired entry, I’ve seen two new builds of the sport. These appear to deal with a few of the low-hanging fruit of bugs, however within the few days I needed to check the sport, I wasn’t in a position to do a full playthrough a number of occasions. I haven’t run into any game-breaking points regardless. You ought to anticipate some bugs, although that’s a good assumption for nearly any open-world recreation.
It’s essential to take the problems with Stalker 2 into consideration with the broader context surrounding the sport. Developer GSC Game World was based mostly in Ukraine when Russia invaded the nation, and though the studio relocated to Prague shortly after the invasion, these wounds don’t heal rapidly. One former developer was even killed preventing the invasion.
It’s implausible that the builders are secure and that they’re lastly in a position to launch a recreation that’s been in improvement for the higher a part of a decade. But there’s a actuality that the event of this recreation was removed from regular, and the truth that it has efficiency points on PC is utterly understandable given the circumstances. Even properly-funded AAA studios not in a struggle zone wrestle to do this typically.
If you propose on choosing up Stalker 2 straight away, I’d encourage you to train some grace with the event crew in terms of efficiency points and bugs. Hopefully over time, the sport will proceed to see patches that enhance efficiency.
