RAGE vs S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl
RAGE is an FPS horror game from id Software (2011) while S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is an FPS horror game from GSC Game World (2024).
What each one is
Steam files RAGE under FPS and Horror. In contrast, it files S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl under FPS and Horror.
Powered by id’s revolutionary id Tech® 5 technology, RAGE is an intense first-person shooter with breakneck vehicle combat, an expansive world to explore, and jaw-dropping graphics!
Enter the Chornobyl Anomalous Zone — a vast open world where anomalies, mutants, and rivals stand in your way. Explore, scavenge, and try to survive in this brutal and dangerous land. Evolving with every update, now overhauled and crowned with UPDATE 2.0.
At a glance
| RAGE | S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl | |
|---|---|---|
| GamingPickz Score | 7.1/10 | 7.1/10 |
| Steam rating | Mostly Positive (78%, 18,288) | Very Positive (80%, 138,669) |
| Critic aggregate | 79/100 | No aggregate |
| Price | $9.99 | $41.99 |
| Install size | — | 160 GB |
| Steam Deck | playable | unsupported |
| Released | 2011 | 2024 |
| Developer | id Software | GSC Game World |
Prices and Steam ratings are read live and move over time.
RAGE vs S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, point by point
Each facet side by side. A round is marked won only where a figure settles it; feel and "which is better" carry no mark, because no number we hold decides them.
Genre and premise
RAGEFPS horror gameS.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of ChornobylFPS horror gameWhat each is filed as. Each game describes itself in full above; we do not judge a premise.
How it plays
RAGEFPS, Post-apocalyptic, ActionS.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of ChornobylOpen World, FPS, Post-apocalypticThe tags players apply most, in order of votes. A read on feel, not a verdict.
Reception
RAGEScore 7.1 · 78% on Steam · 79 criticS.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of ChornobylScore 7.1 · 80% on SteamThe GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
Content and scale
RAGE18,288 reviews · 2 add-onsS.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl138,669 reviews · 3 add-ons · 160 GBReach and footprint, not quality: more reviews or a bigger install is not a better game.
Price
RAGE ✓$9.99S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl$41.99Read live from Steam and subject to change.
On a Steam Deck
RAGE ✓PlayableS.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of ChornobylUnsupportedValve's own Deck compatibility rating.
RAGE takes 2 of the marked rounds to 0. That is only what a number can decide, not which you will enjoy more.
The two on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueRAGE and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl on the axes the GamingPickz Score is built from, on the full 0 to 100 scale so each dot is its real position. Change either axis to compare them on any measure.
2 games have both
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- Multi-platform
- PC
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
Which to pick, by what you want
- The cheaper right now: RAGE ($9.99)
- Better on a Steam Deck: RAGE (playable)
- The safer bet by weight of reviews: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl (138,669 reviews)
What they have in common
Both are tagged by Steam players with:
FPSPost-apocalypticActionOpen WorldShooterSingleplayerFirst-PersonSci-fi
Where they differ
RacingMultiplayerCo-opGoreAdventureHorror
ExplorationStory RichLore-RichNonlinearMultiple EndingsChoices Matter
Tags players apply to one game and not the other.
Difficulty and who each is for
By the tags players apply, RAGE is middle-of-the-road on difficulty. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is middle-of-the-road on difficulty.
System requirements, side by side
| RAGE | S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum GPU | — | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 6GB / AMD Radeon RX 580 8GB / Intel Arc A750 |
| Minimum CPU | Intel Core 2 Duo | Intel Core i7-7700K / AMD Ryzen 5 1600X |
| Minimum RAM | 2 GB | 16 GB |
| Install size | — | 160 GB |
Can your PC run them? Check each against your own kit: RAGE · S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl.
Accessibility features
Steam store pages declare 1 accessibility feature for RAGE and 1 for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl. A declaration is a floor, not a review.
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Common questions
How different are RAGE and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl in scope?
RAGE has drawn 18,288 Steam reviews and ships 2 add-ons. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl has drawn 138,669 Steam reviews, ships 3 add-ons and installs in 160 GB.
Is RAGE or S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl better?
By the GamingPickz Score, RAGE rates higher (7.1 to 7.1). That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, not our taste. "Better" also depends on price, length and platform, which the table above lays out.
Which is cheaper, RAGE or S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl?
RAGE is cheaper right now at $9.99, against $41.99. Prices move, so this is read live from Steam and can change.
Do you rank one above the other for a fee?
No. Neither game, nor anyone else, pays for placement or a verdict here. The order and every figure come out of the same public data the rest of the site uses.
Related comparisons
How we compare, and what we will not do
The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment (adjusted for sample size), the critic aggregate and popularity, computed by the same code every ranked list on this site uses. The Steam rating label is Valve's own, reconstructed from the positive percentage and review count. Prices are read live. We do not write an opinion of which game is "better": we report the numbers and say which wins each measurable question above.