S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl is a hybrid of an FPS, an immersive sim and a survival horror, as well as a full-fledged second installment in the series started in 2007 with S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chornobyl. The combination of an interesting plot with excellent, though very demanding gameplay brought the creators of the original financial success. Despite this, we had to wait a very long time for the official continuation. The sequel, just like the original, was created by the Ukrainian studio GSC Game World.

Plot

The action in STALKER 2 once again takes players to the dark corners of the Zone – a vast area around the Chornobyl nuclear power plant, whose failure in 1986 resulted in one of the greatest ecological disasters in history. The developers decided to slightly distort the true appearance of the Zone, which arouses both horror and fascination, enriching its territory with warring factions, murderous mutants, and deadly dangerous anomalies. The roots of these changes can be traced back to the famous novel by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, Roadside Picnic, as well as its unofficial adaptation - Andrei Tarkovsky's Stalker film.

In the game, we play as a hero named Skif. After another explosion occurred at the Chornobyl reactor in 2006, a powerful energy source appeared in the center of the Zone. The protagonist crosses the border of the Zone as a lone stalker to unravel the mystery of a mysterious power. How this expedition will affect him depends on our actions. The story told here has a non-linear structure, and the choices we make during the game affect its course and ending.

It is worth adding that the plot of the second STALKER is not directly related to the story presented in the previous games under this banner.

Gameplay

In STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl we observe the action from a first-person perspective (FPP). The authors provided us with a vast open world. It includes both the densely overgrown, wild areas surrounding the power plant, as well as cities (including Pripyat and Chornobyl-2). We explore the world, completing quests that push the plot forward, as well as undertaking various side missions and activities.

The Zone is deadly, yet it is supposed to give the impression of a living ecosystem. The mutated forms of life residing there, hostile people, omnipresent radiation, and anomalies bending the laws of physics force the stalkers to be constantly vigilant.

For this reason, we often have to make proper use of dozens of types of weapons (rifles, pistols, shotguns or one of the slightly more futuristic guns). Each of them can be modified and improved. It's also possible to rely on screws and the so-called gilka (branches in Ukrainian). They are considered gadgets helpful in detecting anomalies.

As we progress, we also come across various artifacts, with the rarest ones hidden in the most dangerous places. One of them is jelly - a blue substance that restores the protagonist's depleted strength.

The A-Life 2.0 system is responsible for the realistic behavior of the mutants and people inhabiting the world, thanks to which the Exclusion Zone is subject to constant changes, including those that the player does not witness firsthand.

Multiplayer

Online multiplayer is set to be added to the game post-release via a free update. It will include PvP game variants such as deathmatch or team deathmatch.

Unreal Engine 5

Unlike previous installments in the series, STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl uses Unreal Engine 5 technology. The change was dictated not only by the decision to increase the number of target hardware platforms, but also by the technical problems often caused by the resource-hungry and error-prone X-Ray Engine. The game can boast high-quality graphics and uses modern features, led by ray tracing.

Game Pass

STALKER 2 was made available at launch in the PC Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass subscription services.

Collector's Edition and Ultimate Edition

Collector's Edition of STALKER 2 contains a copy of the game and a number of "physical" items: a steelbook, a stalker figurine, a map of the Zone, a commemorative pass to the Zone, a dog tag, a flint keychain, patches, a letter from the game's creators, an artbook and a poster. It also features digital content: an additional mission and skins for weapons and characters for single and multiplayer modes.

An even richer Ultimate Edition was also released. Apart from the contents of the Collector's Edition, we can get a stalker's backpack and a lamp in the form of a container for the artifact. Furthermore, both editions differ in the design of the box and the cover of the steelbook.

Title change

Initially, the game carried the subtitle Heart of Chernobyl, but in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the creators from GSC Game World changed the spelling of the city to Chornobyl in a symbolic gesture, to match the transliteration from the Ukrainian language.

Last updated on August 14, 2015