Summary
- A-Life 2.0 in STALKER 2's Heart of Chornobyl is currently not working as intended due to performance issues.
- The mention of A-Life 2.0 wasn't removed from the game's Steam page in a bid to mislead players, but because someone from the marketing department thought it would confuse newcomers to the franchise.
- There's currently no timeline for when A-Life 2.0 will be fixed, but the STALKER 2 developer is committed to making it happen.
STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl's A-Life 2.0 system currently isn't working due to performance issues, senior GSC Game World officials have said. This revelation was shared as part of a recent interview that also saw GSC developers address allegations of misleading fans about the state of A-Life in STALKER 2 ahead of the game's release.
A-Life is an immersive life simulation system that's widely seen as the defining characteristic of the original STALKER trilogy. Heart of Chornobyl initially promised an improved version of this feature, dubbed A-Life 2.0 by GSC. However, its mention was removed from the game's Steam page just days before its November 20 release. Moreover, the day-one version of Heart of Chornobyl seemingly lacked the simulation aspects of its predecessors—let alone any improved simulation features—prompting some players to question whether A-Life was even in the game.
STALKER 2 Mod Makes Big Improvement to Movement
A recently released STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl mod massively improves movement and—consequently—exploration in GSC's latest title.
GSC CEO Ievgen Grygorovych and Creative Director Maria Grygorovych have responded to these concerns as part of a recent interview with IGN, stating that the system is indeed in the game but currently not working like it's supposed to. I. Grygorovych said the developers made some temporary sacrifices while optimizing the game ahead of its release in order to ensure that its level of performance was acceptable. The CEO explained that retaining STALKER 2's A-Life 2.0 as originally envisioned was too demanding on performance. As a result, the NPC spawn radius was significantly reduced while the team explores other optimization methods.
GSC Vows To Get STALKER 2's A-Life 2.0 Working as Intended
I. Grygorovych confirmed that GSC is adamant to address the current situation. "We committed to players to make [A-Life 2.0] work," he said. However, there is currently no timeline for when this long-promised STALKER 2 feature will be fixed. The optimization efforts aiming to free up more resources for the system are currently underway without GSC Lead Programmer Dmitriy Iassenev, the creator of A-Life 1.0, who is presently deployed in the Ukrainian military due to the ongoing Russian invasion.
We committed to players to make [A-Life 2.0] work.
A-Life 2.0 Mention Wasn't Removed From STALKER 2 Steam Page To Mislead Players
Reflecting on the recent removal of the A-Life 2.0 mention from the game's Steam page, M. Grygorovych insisted that this wasn't done in a bid to mislead players. Instead, someone from the GSC marketing department opted to change the promise of A-Life 2.0 to that of "advanced artificial intelligence systems that will keep engaged even the most hard-boiled players" because they believed newcomers to the STALKER franchise wouldn't have any idea what A-Life is.
M. Grygorovych only noticed this because of Reddit complaints about the change, noting the description was reworded without her approval. "I was shocked, honestly," she told IGN Editor Wesley Yin-Poole, while also reportedly showing him a screenshot of some internal company communications validating her story, which she thinks would've been hard to believe otherwise. Be that as it may, GSC won't add the mention of A-Life 2.0 back to the game's Steam page until the feature itself is fixed, M. Grygorovych said.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 75 /100 Critics Rec: 64%
- Released
- November 20, 2024
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Use of Alcohol and Tobacco
- Developer(s)
- GSC Game World
- Publisher(s)
- GSC Game World
WHERE TO PLAY
Chornobyl Exclusion Zone has changed dramatically after the second massive explosion in the year 2006. Violent mutants, deadly anomalies, and warring factions have made the Zone a very tough place to survive.
Nevertheless, artifacts of unbelievable value attracted many people called S.T.A.L.K.E.R.s, who entered the Zone for their own risk, striving to make a fortune out of it or even to find the Truth concealed in the Heart of Chornobyl.
EPIC NONLINEAR STORY IN SEAMLESS OPEN WORLD
Take over a role of the lone stalker and explore photorealistic seamless open world in a 64-km² radioactive zone with a variety of environments that reveal post-apocalyptic atmosphere from different angles. Make your way through the Zone to define your destiny as you choose your paths within highly branching epic story.
VARIETY OF ENEMIES AND HUNDREDS OF WEAPON COMBINATIONS
Meet members of different factions deciding who of them worth your friendship and who deserve a bullet. Engage intense gunfights with a variety of enemies that follow different tactics trying to outsmart you. Choose your preferable firearms from 30+ types of weapons with numerous modifications that allow creating hundreds of distinctive lethal combinations.
LEGENDARY MUTANTS WITH DIFFERENT BEHAVIOUR MODELS
Prepare to encounter horrifying mutated creatures that will try to slaughter you following different behaviour model. Each mutant may appear in different subtypes which makes their behaviour less predictible. Truly extreme danger represent regions with lairs with numerous mutants hunting in large groups.
ARTIFACTS OF INCREDIBLE VALUE AND UNFORGIVING ANOMALIES
The most valuable artifacts and secrets of the Zone are hidden in the most dangerous places. Beware of the hazardous anomalies and unique devastating arch-anomalies as you hunt for highly valuable artifacts scattered around the Zone. Will you dare to unveil the mysteries of the Zone that took lives of many others before you?
GOOD HUNTING, STALKER!
- Engine
- Unreal Engine 5
- Franchise
- S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
- Genre(s)
- First-Person Shooter, Open-World, Post-Apocalyptic, Survival
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
