Here’s the updated system requirements for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, and it looks like a big’un

A stupid inside joke I had with a housemate once was asking each other if we were "born in Chornobyl?" as a play on "were you born in a barn?" whenever either of us left the lights on before leaving the flat. This doesn’t make too much sense now I think about it, but such things rarely do. A more accurate jab, in hindsight, might have been "you been running S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl at full specs or something?", because based on the upcoming FPS’s new system requirements, you’re going to need a reasonably laissez-faire attitude to literally any other concern in your life that doesn’t involve acquiring a notably juice-guzzling rig.

Here’s said specs. Every day, we stray further from god, and I stray further from being even remotely satisfied with my current set up.

First up, there’s the 160GB SSD space requirement - a whole 10GB interest on the previously reported size. The minimum RAM requirements have also doubled, from 8GB to 16GB. The previously 'Recommended' specs are now 'Medium', but on the plus side, the minimum specs themselves aren’t too demanding. You'll also have a choice of Nvidia DLSS or AMD FSR 3.1 upscaling, with further potential framerate-juicing from DLSS 3 and FSR 3.1 frame generation.

James caught up with GSC’s CEO Ievgen Grygorovych back in September for a chat about how the game reflects Ukraine’s "rebellious" spirit. "We, as Ukrainians, have our own identity," said Grygorovych. "We identify ourselves as Ukrainians. We have a totally different story and identity than other countries around us, and for us. Historically, we’ve been a very rebellious nation, with a lot of revolutions, and those revolutions were mostly moved by the will to be free, and to get more freedom."

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl releases next Wednesday, 20th of November.