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The launch of S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2: Heart of Chornobyl is almost upon us but reaching this stage certainly hasn’t been easy for the developers of GSC Game World. Many development cycles include several hurdles developers must overcome but as we’re all well aware, the circumstances that GSC Game World has had to contend with are far more severe.
“With ongoing Russian aggression in Ukraine, and war in Ukraine, it is hard for us,” technical producer Yevhenii Kulyk told me at this year’s Gamescom. “A lot of our colleagues are still working under the rocket strikes [and] sirens. Some are joining the military to protect their homes.”
Kulyk spoke of the studio’s gratitude for the outpouring of support they’ve received from the video game community and the wider world adding that now, the GSC Game World team was ready to prove that a Ukrainian studio could create a game ready to make a major impact on the world’s stage.
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Take a look at S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2: Heart of Chornobyl in action below.
Having been hands-on with the game for around 30 minutes myself, I’m already very confident that GSC Game World has done just that. It’s always been clear that S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 is going to be a major improvement upon its predecessor given that the previous instalment launched in 2009 but even if you put the technical advancements aside, S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 is shaping up to be a triumphant return that’s been crafted with both new and returning players in mind.
I’ll admit, I fall into the ‘new player’ camp so I was a tad nervous going into my S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 demo. I needn’t have been though. If you don’t know the premise, it’s this: you arrive at the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone as a new stalker to the region. In the opening scene, you sneak into the Zone, tasked with investigating a number of anomalies. As you delve further in the game, you’ll meet many of the Zone’s creatures and inhabitants, allowing you to form alliances and rivalries, all whilst taking out a number of grisly beasties.
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Beyond that though, S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 holds its narrative cards close to its chest. You don't really know what’s going on - just like the stalker you’re playing as (named Skif if you’re wondering). With that in mind, the game’s narrative is incredibly accessible. Having experienced so little of it, however, it’s hard for me to assess it at this early stage. “Why were those people shooting me?” and “What on earth was that that I just killed?” are two thoughts that vividly crossed my mind, so I can attest that S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2: Heart of Chornobyl offers up plenty of intriguing questions.
In the opening, you’ll face off against a couple of enemies - both human and non-human - whilst placing a scanner at three designated sites. I’m hesitant to reveal too much but your efforts suddenly come to a halt which is where my demo ended. The gameplay mechanics are nicely introduced to you in the normal tutorial manner. You’ll learn to jump, run, crouch, and so on.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 doesn’t totally hold your hand though. I’m not ashamed to admit that I died upon encountering the first enemy in the game. It took me a second attempt to realise that, hey, perhaps my small pistol isn’t enough to outdo this particular creature. That rifle I looted earlier might instead be the thing to do the job. This sense of trial and error felt right. I didn’t want the game to spell the answer out for me, and given that S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 has a built in auto-save, you’ll never revert too far back should you die an unexpected death.
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For those who are familiar with the franchise’s basic concepts though, Kulyk told me this enticing tidbit: “One key difference between the original, first of all, is that we have several really big locations.” Players will now be able to travel through several regions in a map that spans around 40 square miles. “There are almost no barriers,” Kulyk added. “You can explore 20 regions that are very different from one other.”
That’s supported by several new gameplay mechanics including anomalies, which you’ll explore in the opening as I mentioned, as well as a deeper weapon customisation system. It’s apt that Kulyk touched on S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2’s map because I want to focus on the game’s brilliant sense of atmosphere. In the 30 minutes that I spent with it, there was something that proved to be far more terrifying than the enemies I encountered. That something is the ever-present feeling that something will happen. I’ve only explored one small area of the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone but it was exquisitely crafted.
This isn’t a typical take on beauty. The Exclusion Zone is overgrown and decayed, but that offers its own kind of beauty: the idea of nature reclaiming what rightfully belongs to it. When you add in a sense of isolation too, suddenly the wind whistling through a swathe of tall grass or the groan of a collapsing metal structure is enough to send a powerful shudder down your spine.
It’s something Kulyk was excited to talk about. “This is my favourite question,” he told me when I asked about the process of crafting this sense of atmosphere. “[It] was one of the biggest challenges for us because one of our main missions is to preserve the atmosphere of the original game. But we’re learning all the time too.”
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“It may seem that nothing happens during your travels, but then maybe something happens right next to you,” Kulyk explained. “You can’t always be prepared for danger. You might not always see the danger coming. There will be a lot of challenges like that. I think players will enjoy that aspect.”
That’s certainly the experience I had in my demo. I both dread and relish in thinking about all of the horrors GSC Game World has cooked up in the game’s wider world. It also delights me to think of the various ways in which modders will be inspired by S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 - which, yes, is on the minds of the developers too.
“We really love and are thankful for our modding community,” Kulyk said. “We’re excited to see what’s going to happen with S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 [..] We are providing support for the community and will be using some different tools to provide them with the means to create everything they want to do.”
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While I did say earlier that even with technical advancements aside, S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 is a colossal step forwards for the franchise, it would be remiss not to touch on those technical advancements because S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2: Heart of Chornobyl is simply stunning to look at. The game may have been subject to several delays but from what I’ve experienced, that’s only resulted in what appears to be an exquisitely polished experience.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2: Heart of Chornobyl builds upon the franchise’s established foundations, adding a sprawling world that I have no doubt players will be thrilled to explore but so too are new players, like me, welcomed - as amusingly unaware as to what is going on as our protagonist Skif. Based on my experience with the game so far, S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2: Heart of Chornobyl is shaping up to be a thrilling experience that deserves its place on the world’s stage just as the dev team intended.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2: Heart of Chornobyl is set to launch on 20 November on Xbox Series X/S and PC.