S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Cost of Hope Gets Mostly Positive Reviews on Steam

On August 20, Cost of Hope—a story expansion for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl—was released on PC, Xbox Series X/S, and PlayStation 5. Along with it, GSC Game World also released Update 2.0—a major patch that fixes numerous bugs and improves many aspects of the game. Critics have generally given S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Cost of Hope high marks, and it seems that regular players agree with them.

According to SteamDB, most reviews of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Cost of Hope are positive—they currently account for nearly 80% of all reviews. Like the critics, players praise the detailed new locations and significantly improved graphics, as well as interesting quests, the overall atmosphere, and especially the horror elements—there are more of these moments now. However, the game still has some technical issues, and players also point out the enemies’ artificial intelligence, regular drops in FPS, and the enormous size of the DLC and patch as drawbacks.

Despite the mostly positive reviews S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Cost of Hope has received from critics, the respected IGN noted in its review that the game’s jumping mechanics are, in their opinion, poorly implemented and directly impact gameplay. They also posted a screenshot to illustrate their point, but as fans pointed out, the player’s inventory was overloaded, leading players to mock IGN and their complaints.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Cost of Hope, alongside Update 2.0, is now available on PC, Xbox Series X/S, and PlayStation 5.