We’ve been waiting for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 for a while now, and though that prolonged wait hasn’t been easy (certainly not for developers GSC Game World, who’ve been put through the wringer behind-the-scenes due to circumstances out of their control), each time the open world shooter has been shown off, it has looked incredibly promising. Shortly after its delay from September into November, GSC Game World recently showcased its most extended look at S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl yet with a lengthy developer deep dive, which revealed a host of new gameplay footage and shared a bevy of new details on the highly anticipated title. Here, we’re going to go over some of the most crucial details that were revealed.
OPEN WORLD DETAILS
That S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is going to be a massive game has been clear from the day it was revealed, and during its recent deep dive, GSC Game World offered some more details on exactly how massive. The open world of the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone will include a total of 20 different regions, each of them bringing with their their own architecture, environments, anomalies, residents, and more. Plenty of the locations that players will find have been built as accurate representations of their real-world counterparts, while others have been tweaked and adapted for the purposes of the game. At the same time, several familiar locations from the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. trilogy will return as well, though you can, of course, expect them to be changed in different ways. For instance, certain areas that were inaccessible in previous titles are going to be opened up and explorable in Heart of Chornobyl.
PLAYER CHOICE
Something that GSC Game World emphasized heavily in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2’s recent gameplay deep dive was just how heavily the game will push player choice, which is something the studio has spoken about before as well. Based on what was shown of the shooter, it looks like it’s going to incorporate almost immersive sim-like elements, with players having the complete freedom to go almost anywhere they want in the open world, do whatever they wish to do, and go about their actions in a variety of different ways. The developer says the game will be constantly reacting to players’ actions. Among other thins, that will also mean some limited changes based on player actions (including multiple endings, as previously confirmed), as well as encountering different characters, unlocking different quests, and the like. In a nutshell, a single playthrough isn’t going to be enough to see everything that the game has to offer.
ANOMALIES
Stumbling upon and contending with all sorts of bizarre and mind-bending stuff is going to be a big part of the Exclusion Zone experience, as you might imagine, and we got a good taste of what S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 will have on offer in that area, with plenty of different kinds of anomalies shown off. Some of these will be dangerous in a variety of different ways and demand caution from players – such as explosive torrents of fire or mini tornadoes in the environment – while others will have gameplay effects that could actually prove useful in different situations. One anomaly, for instance, eliminates fall damage in its area of effect.
ENEMIES
It won’t just be anomalies that you will be dealing with in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, of course, because S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2’s world is going to have plenty of deadly mutant enemies for you to take on as well, a good handful of whom were showcased in the recent gameplay deep dive. We saw pseudodogs, who are always accompanied by large numbers of phantasmal companions indistinguishable from the real thing; an enemy called Bayun the Cat, which lures in unsuspecting prey by imitating the cries of help of a fellow stalker in distress; the Controller, which deals psi damage with every hit it doles out, making it a particularly formidable foe; zombies, who keep coming back to life no matter how many times you kill then, unless you put them down with a bullet to the head; and more.
ENEMY AI
One of several things that GSC Game World highlighted during its recent deep dive into S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 was the game’s advancements in enemy AI, and how it will dictate your foes’ behaviour both in and out of combat. Game director Ievgen Grygorovych explained in the deep dive, “Probably one of the most important points in creating this world and making it feel genuine is the artificial intelligence.” Members of the shooter’s development team also explained later in the video that they consciously decided to not make the game too easy, with this approach to difficulty being deemed appropriate for its setting and tone.
WEAPONS
Variety is seemingly going to be the name of the game in all things S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, and according to the devs, that will apply to its selection of weapons as well. In total, the game will have 35 different weapon types, some of which we saw during the gameplay deep dive. GSC Game World says that to add to the variety in weapons, the game will also feature plenty of customization and upgrade options that will allow players to mod and tweak weapons in various ways- which means the same weapon in the hands of two different players may very well end up functioning quite differently.
PROGRESSION DETAILS
Incorporation RPG elements into games that aren’t necessarily RPGs has become an industry-wide trend over the years, but S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 isn’t going to abide by that. It’s roping in elements from the survival, survival horror, and immersive sim genres, but when it comes to progression, don’t expect to be leveling up, earning XP, unlocking nodes on a skill tree, or anything of that sort. Instead, progression in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 will be more about learning more about the world, its threats, and how to best navigate them with experience and time. And of course, there will also be plenty of weapon customizaiton, as we discussed, which is one of the ways that the game is looking to encourage exploration.
CUTSCENES
It’s abundantly clear that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is going to be the sort of game that players will be able to lose themselves in for hours without even touching the main story (if things turn out the way we’re all hoping, at least), but the main story is obviously going to be a key part of the experience as well. In the recent deep dive, GSC Game World revealed that the game has nearly three hours’ worth of cutscenes, all of which were recorded in the developer’s own performance capture studio.
FACTIONS
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2’s open world is going to be populated by a variety of different threats, and often, many of these will band together in the form of factions. Much like so much else in the game, however, it seems like factions are going to be far more fluid and dynamic in how they function than you would expect. Creative director Maria Grygorovych explained in the deep dive, “In S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, factions can sometimes change their leader. Sometimes they can break up. Sometimes they can do some things that will seem to the player, ‘well, that doesn’t match their ideology at all.’ Like in real life, where people seem very close to each other ideologically, then it turns out there are some things that completely divide them into new groups.”
POST-LAUNCH PLANS
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is going to be a sizeable experience right off the bat, but as you would expect from a modern AAA release, it will be getting additional content after launch as well. GSC Game World has revealed a Season Pass (which is available only with the $110 Ultimate Edition), which in turn has revealed that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 will receive two paid post-launch story expansions. What isn’t known yet is when these expansions will release. Meanwhile, the developer has also reiterated something that it confirmed quite a while back- that its upcoming open world behemoth will also add multiplayer with a free post-launch update. More details on that front are currently scarce, to say the least, but hopefully we’ll learn more ahead of release in the coming weeks and months.
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