The STALKER games are at their best when their atmospheric elements are firing on all cylinders — when you’re clutching your worn-down AKM as you warily trudge your way through The Zone’s thick, dark autumn grass, constantly looking and listening for signs of bandit squads or mutant packs as the eerie quiet keeps you perpetually on edge. It’s a series known for its ability to masterfully immerse players in its setting in a way very few open-world titles can, and with its advanced graphics and next-level sound design, the newly released STALKER 2 pulls me in even deeper than its predecessors.
One thing I didn’t like about STALKER 2 out of the box, though, is that between its compass, health and stamina readout, ammo counter, large weapon crosshairs, directional threat indicators, and hit indicators, it has a fairly busy user interface (UI). The crosshair, threat indicators, and hit indicators in particular are pretty large and distracting, putting these elements at odds with the game’s captivating nature.
Thankfully, I found out you can completely disable most of these in the FPS’ Options menus within the UI tab, and after doing so, I quickly started enjoying the moment-to-moment gameplay more. Not having an oversized crosshair and big rounded threat indicators in my face made it much easier for me to actually look at what’s in front of me closely, and the added side effect of forcing me to pay more attention to enemy movements and sounds to acquire targets in combat heightened my immersion big time. I also like playing with the ammo counter off; I enjoy the added challenge of trying to remember if my weapons are loaded or not and how many rounds are in them if they are, and it’s also just another thing I can disable to see more of my surroundings.
A word of warning, though. One UI element I would avoid getting rid of is STALKER 2’s compass, as being able to see which cardinal direction you’re facing makes navigating The Zone without stopping to pull out your PDA map frequently much easier. The compass shows icons for your currently tracked main and side quest, too, which comes in very handy when a mission requires you to find or interact with an item that’s not visually distinct. It also glows red when foes are nearby, which is useful to check for if you’re not sure if a stalker is hostile towards you or not.
There are downsides to playing the game like this, of course; not having a crosshair can make hip-firing a bit tougher, and learning to figure out where enemies are without threat indicators may take you some time if you’re used to using them. If you’re looking for a way to make your STALKER 2 experience more immersive, though, give it a shot.
STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl has arrived on Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC, and is one of this year’s best Xbox games and best PC games. It has a $59.99 MSRP, but notably, you can get it for a discount at CDKeys right now. You can also play it through Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass, and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
