Don’t trust what you see out in these wastelands.
But is it really better than 2007’s Shadow of Chornobyl?
Is the classic still the best one?
Let’s find out.
But this is not a perfect world.
It is often cited as an example of ‘Slavjank’ in the FPS community.
But it functions in the present day.
Despite being a much flashier title, Heart of Chornobyl suffers from game-breaking bugs up the wazoo.
A game that looks this good shouldn’t feel this buggy.
Shadow of Chornobyl, for all its flaws, performs better and has fewer bugs to mar your enjoyment.
Given their age, it’s amazing they look so good.
This is a game that wants you to know how much work went into it.
Gun models are lovingly crafted.
Reload animations are brilliantly accurate.
Theopen world is seamless.
Screenshots via Karakas on YouTube.
There’s an animation for nearly every action and countless lines of NPC chatter.
Shadow of Chornobyl, 17 years behind in technology, just can’t compete.
Heart of Chornobyl runs on Unreal Engine 5 and ranks highly among its 2024 contemporaries on visual fidelity.
Objectively, Heart of Chornobyl blows it out of the Zone on graphics.
5Sound
As with the visual aspect, the sound design in Heart of Chornobyl is top-notch.
Music is equal parts stirring and intriguing, with radios in bars across the Zone playing local tracks.
Subtitles also make the game more accessible for hearing-impared players.
For all its expansiveness, the plot in Heart of Chornobyl feels unfocused.
The new protagonist, Skif, is simply an expy of his predecessors Strelok, Scar and Strider.
Shadow of Chornobyl had a far more focused plot with its Wish Granter, giver ofshocking endings.
3Gameplay
Shadow of Chornobyl is a survival game that knows it’s just a passable FPS.
Learn all about the best clunky video games!
Heart of Chornobyl can’t quite decide what it wants to be: is it a horror game?
The mutants feel far too inconsequential for that.
Is it a survival game?
Screenshot via SmallSoulSD on YouTube.
Is it a first-person shooter?
It’s a very beautiful game, but the gameplay is middling at best.
2Mods
Here is one manner where the passage of time has suited the older game.
Image via Nexus Mods.
Shadow of Chornobyl has been a beloved game for so long that it’s amassed a wealth of mods.
Heart of Chornobyl also hasa modding scene.
One that’s mostly dedicated to fixing the game’s myriad bugs.
After all the delays and hardships endured by the team, the game’s success is well-deserved.
Neither Clear Skies nor Call of Pripyat could outdo it, and Heart of Chornobyl fell short too.
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