The Zone looks better than ever on PS5
By Paul Hunter
If you have been waiting to visit the Zone on PlayStation, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl finally gives you that chance. One year after it's Xbox release, the PS5 version takes the series’ grim mix of open-world shooting and survival horror, and gives the latest 1.7 update that smooths out performance and fixes lots of bugs.
Built by Ukrainian studio GSC Game World, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 drops you straight into the radioactive Exclusion Zone, filled with hungry mutants, unstable anomalies, and factions with their own agendas. The Zone is a dangerous place ready to push back any given moment, but you can tailor the challenge with multiple difficulty settings right out of the gate.
On Sony’s hardware, PS5 and PS5 Pro offer performance and quality modes, and DualSense support, gyro aiming, and 3D audio also enhance the experience. A simple walk through a field or factory quickly becomes tense and dangerous situation when rumble effects kick in and distant 3D audio enemy noises ring in your headphones.
The real question is whether this latest trip back into the Zone is worth your time on PS5? Let’s find out!
The main story follows Skif’s journey as he chases leads and tries to understand both his connection to this artifact and the wider state of the Zone. Along the way you spend time with different factions and loners, each with their own troubles, and it becomes clear that your survival instincts in the Zone are just as important as your gear. The mood is heavy, but it makes sense for a place where people seem to disappear out of thin air, mutants roam the land and toxic chemicals are everywhere.
Beyond the main quest, there's a lot of attention given to side stories and the world around them. Optional contracts introduce you to new stalkers, traders, and wanderers dealing with local problems, and those smaller arcs are often full of heartfelt moments. You also get a lot of insight into life before the Zone, with pieces of paper, wall scribbles, and environmental objects giving you glimpses of lives that ended before you arrived.
There's a choose your own adventure vibe throughout the campaign as well. How you answer in conversations, which groups you support, and how you complete specific missions can shift territory, relationships, and eventually the ending you reach. With both English and Ukrainian voice tracks available, and Ukrainian in particular feeling like a perfect match for the place and people on screen, the story comes together as a thoughtful arc that suits the Zone’s steady, unforgiving pace.
You can choose from four difficulty settings, with Rookie and Stalker being the most lenient but still require care, while Veteran and especially Master turn every mistake into a punishing and potentially deadly situation. Periodic auto-saving, where the game only saves progress at certain points, adds a layer of risk that fits the Zone well. I liked knowing that if I wandered too far off for a stash run, I was betting a solid chunk of progress on that decision.
Moment to moment, combat is intense and brutal. Enemies are aggressive, guns hit hard, and weapons choice has a huge impact: swapping from an old rifle to something more modern can make or break a fight. The AI improvements in Update 1.7 are excellent, including human squads that maintain a distance that suits their weapons, push around cover to gain the advantage, and sometimes scatter off if things turn sour. Mutants, on the other hand, roam the Zone in less predictable ways, turning a seemingly clear field into a deadly mutant encounter in seconds if you're unlucky.
I had one run where a simple checkpoint turned into a mess. I was creeping toward a ruined overpass to clear a bandit camp, tossing bolts into the grass to mark a line of anomalies between us. When they finally spotted me and started pushing, I backed off and baited their shotgun guy into that strip of bad ground. The detector fired, the anomaly went off, and he vanished in a flash. The rest of the group stalled just long enough for me to swing wide, pick off the riflemen, and loot the camp with barely a full magazine left. It was intense!
On PS5, both Performance and Quality modes hold up well. The image is clear, and on PS5 Pro you can see stronger shadows, thicker fog, and better reflections that give depth to big outdoor scenes. Corridors and rooms are packed with small touches like toppled lockers, cables, and storage crates that back up the sense of long-term decay. It's not all great though, as occasional texture pop-in creeps in (but is short live), and while some facial animation on NPCs can look a bit stiff, it never pulled me out of the experience.
With PS5's Tempest 3D Audio and a decent headset, you can identify the direction of distant gunfire, dogs pacing in the dark, or footsteps on gravel behind you before you even spot anything. The constant buzz of your Geiger counter, which measures ionizing radiation, and the low rumble of anomalies keep situations tense without needing big jump scares.
The soundtrack is a big part of the experience, using long ambient tracks that rise and fade with your actions so pressure builds naturally as you explore, trade fire, or wait out an anomaly. Menus, PDA screens, and the HUD are easy to navigate, and an optional zero HUD style mode looks fantastic for roaming the Zone with even great immersion.
Final Score: 8/10 - Great
Developer: GSC Game World
Publisher: GSC Game World
Genre: First-Person Shooter, Survival Horror
Modes: Single-player
A key was provided by the publisher.
By Paul Hunter
If you have been waiting to visit the Zone on PlayStation, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl finally gives you that chance. One year after it's Xbox release, the PS5 version takes the series’ grim mix of open-world shooting and survival horror, and gives the latest 1.7 update that smooths out performance and fixes lots of bugs.
Built by Ukrainian studio GSC Game World, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 drops you straight into the radioactive Exclusion Zone, filled with hungry mutants, unstable anomalies, and factions with their own agendas. The Zone is a dangerous place ready to push back any given moment, but you can tailor the challenge with multiple difficulty settings right out of the gate.
On Sony’s hardware, PS5 and PS5 Pro offer performance and quality modes, and DualSense support, gyro aiming, and 3D audio also enhance the experience. A simple walk through a field or factory quickly becomes tense and dangerous situation when rumble effects kick in and distant 3D audio enemy noises ring in your headphones.
The real question is whether this latest trip back into the Zone is worth your time on PS5? Let’s find out!
Story and Narrative
Skif sits at the centre of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl’s story. Before you even set foot in the Zone, a strange artifact has already torn through his apartment and wrecked his life beyond the fence. With nothing left, he decides to takes on a job to haul that object back into the Zone, but an early ambush makes the situation feel out of control. Forced to push even deeper into the Zone, Skif's mix of bad luck and hard choice sets the tone for everything that follows.The main story follows Skif’s journey as he chases leads and tries to understand both his connection to this artifact and the wider state of the Zone. Along the way you spend time with different factions and loners, each with their own troubles, and it becomes clear that your survival instincts in the Zone are just as important as your gear. The mood is heavy, but it makes sense for a place where people seem to disappear out of thin air, mutants roam the land and toxic chemicals are everywhere.
Beyond the main quest, there's a lot of attention given to side stories and the world around them. Optional contracts introduce you to new stalkers, traders, and wanderers dealing with local problems, and those smaller arcs are often full of heartfelt moments. You also get a lot of insight into life before the Zone, with pieces of paper, wall scribbles, and environmental objects giving you glimpses of lives that ended before you arrived.
There's a choose your own adventure vibe throughout the campaign as well. How you answer in conversations, which groups you support, and how you complete specific missions can shift territory, relationships, and eventually the ending you reach. With both English and Ukrainian voice tracks available, and Ukrainian in particular feeling like a perfect match for the place and people on screen, the story comes together as a thoughtful arc that suits the Zone’s steady, unforgiving pace.
Gameplay and Mechanics
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl plays like a true survival shooter, so every trip into the wide open Zone needs a plan. Ammo, medical supplies, and simple things like food and repair kits are sparse, and you'll quickly end up six feet under if you treat it like a standard rifle sprint. It's crucial to check your map, sort your backpack, and think about when you will be able to save again before you even step out the doors.You can choose from four difficulty settings, with Rookie and Stalker being the most lenient but still require care, while Veteran and especially Master turn every mistake into a punishing and potentially deadly situation. Periodic auto-saving, where the game only saves progress at certain points, adds a layer of risk that fits the Zone well. I liked knowing that if I wandered too far off for a stash run, I was betting a solid chunk of progress on that decision.
Moment to moment, combat is intense and brutal. Enemies are aggressive, guns hit hard, and weapons choice has a huge impact: swapping from an old rifle to something more modern can make or break a fight. The AI improvements in Update 1.7 are excellent, including human squads that maintain a distance that suits their weapons, push around cover to gain the advantage, and sometimes scatter off if things turn sour. Mutants, on the other hand, roam the Zone in less predictable ways, turning a seemingly clear field into a deadly mutant encounter in seconds if you're unlucky.
I had one run where a simple checkpoint turned into a mess. I was creeping toward a ruined overpass to clear a bandit camp, tossing bolts into the grass to mark a line of anomalies between us. When they finally spotted me and started pushing, I backed off and baited their shotgun guy into that strip of bad ground. The detector fired, the anomaly went off, and he vanished in a flash. The rest of the group stalled just long enough for me to swing wide, pick off the riflemen, and loot the camp with barely a full magazine left. It was intense!
Presentation and Audio
Visually, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl does a great job of selling the Exclusion Zone as a real place. Villages sag under rusted metal and worn concrete, forests push back against old roads, and Soviet-era structures sit half swallowed by grass and moss. Weather and light carry a lot of the mood. Storms roll in and dim everything, fog drifts across low ground, and sudden shafts of light through broken roofs give each area a distinct character. Anomalies add another layer, throwing strange glows and warping the air around them.On PS5, both Performance and Quality modes hold up well. The image is clear, and on PS5 Pro you can see stronger shadows, thicker fog, and better reflections that give depth to big outdoor scenes. Corridors and rooms are packed with small touches like toppled lockers, cables, and storage crates that back up the sense of long-term decay. It's not all great though, as occasional texture pop-in creeps in (but is short live), and while some facial animation on NPCs can look a bit stiff, it never pulled me out of the experience.
With PS5's Tempest 3D Audio and a decent headset, you can identify the direction of distant gunfire, dogs pacing in the dark, or footsteps on gravel behind you before you even spot anything. The constant buzz of your Geiger counter, which measures ionizing radiation, and the low rumble of anomalies keep situations tense without needing big jump scares.
The soundtrack is a big part of the experience, using long ambient tracks that rise and fade with your actions so pressure builds naturally as you explore, trade fire, or wait out an anomaly. Menus, PDA screens, and the HUD are easy to navigate, and an optional zero HUD style mode looks fantastic for roaming the Zone with even great immersion.
The Verdict
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl on PS5 delivers an exceptional open-world survival game that really leans into the strengths of the series. Skif’s journey is treated with care, the systems-driven gunplay keeps every mission tense, and update 1.7’s tuning means we get the latest, smoothest update available. Strong visuals, excellent audio, and DualSense support make the PS5 version arguably the best version to play. For long-time fans, or survival shooter fans in general, this is an easy recommendation and a great way to experience the Zone.Final Score: 8/10 - Great
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl details
Platform: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PCDeveloper: GSC Game World
Publisher: GSC Game World
Genre: First-Person Shooter, Survival Horror
Modes: Single-player
A key was provided by the publisher.