S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl - coming September 5th

[Gargaune]

Needs proper Stalker atmosphere.
It looks good, sharp, but lacks that radioactive greyness and moroseneness of original Stalker.

Was thinking exactly that, looks fantastic, but it needs just a bit more grey to nail that STALKER vibe.

 

[Tacgnol]

Coming soon, complete with lazy photoshop job:

 

[PsihoKekec]

Didn't they declare that the game will be released after they win the war against Russians?

 

[EldarEldrad]

Didn't they declare that the game will be released after they win the war against Russians?

Then it'll never happen

 

[Baron Dupek]

 

[StrongBelwas]

"Not affiliated with GSC Game World"

 

[Konjad]

I'll believe it when I see it (aka never).

Also, "multiplayer post launch" - so multiplayer will be shit made just so they can say it's there. Thanks for confirmation, assholes. I was actually hoping in this day and age there would be a decent multiplayer, but it seems not. Shame. I hope SP won't suck at least.

 

[ADL]

 

[Konjad]

I am aware of that, but I had hoped for a proper TDM/point control modes, but it seems even that will be an afterthought.

 

[GloomFrost]

I'll believe it when I see it (aka never).

Also, "multiplayer post launch" - so multiplayer will be shit made just so they can say it's there. Thanks for confirmation, assholes. I was actually hoping in this day and age there would be a decent multiplayer, but it seems not. Shame. I hope SP won't suck at least.

Reminds me of Cyberpunk 2077 online that never happened.

 

[Baron Dupek]

Why multiplayer?
Why not co-op instead?
Why go big and bad instead of small and good? After all - even most dogshit game gets better when more people suffer. Misery loves company and all that...

 

[deuxhero]

The old official website, Stalker-Game, updated for the first time in over a decade (according to archive.org, before today it had copyright 2011 and THQ logo). Nothing really interesting, just a press-release for the trilogy re-release and link to the second game's site with the same "back of the box" info as on that site, but still something I guess.

 

[BruceVC]

There are some excellent post-apocalyptic games out there like Metro and STALKER and I played most of them

But overall STALKER was my favourite, Im looking forward to this sequel. I hope it doesn't disappoint

 

[cvv]

There are some excellent post-apocalyptic games out there like Metro and STALKER and I played most of them

But overall STALKER was my favourite, Im looking forward to this sequel. I hope it doesn't disappoint

Metro Exodus will be a very tough act to follow, gaem is fucking amazing.

Still, looking fwd to S2 a lot.

 

[BruceVC]

There are some excellent post-apocalyptic games out there like Metro and STALKER and I played most of them

But overall STALKER was my favourite, Im looking forward to this sequel. I hope it doesn't disappoint

Metro Exodus will be a very tough act to follow, gaem is fucking amazing.

Still, looking fwd to S2 a lot.

I loved all the Metros and I thought the overall narrative was more thought provoking and complex than STALKER

But overall STALKER was better for me, I found STALKER harder and more of a survival game

 

[Manjuice Nutella]

I guess it's the best topic to ask that - is there anyone (99% Russian speaking) who managed to decipher the plot based on the information we have so far (that 16gb leak/Nick Frost)? I think I pieced together a lot of it, but for all context etc. fluency in Russian is a must here.

I also tried to fuck around with that dev build to see the models available so far, but with my lowly skills I can't get any npc to see wearing, say, a Duty SEVA suit.

SPOILER Dev build nostalgia? screens

 

[430am]

I guess it's the best topic to ask that - is there anyone (99% Russian speaking) who managed to decipher the plot based on the information we have so far (that 16gb leak/Nick Frost)? I think I pieced together a lot of it, but for all context etc. fluency in Russian is a must here.

I didn't have time or interest to follow the development of this game, but if you post anything you want translated or a quick summary on, go ahead, I'll do it. Also, I thought it was in ukranian?

 

[NecroLord]

There are some excellent post-apocalyptic games out there like Metro and STALKER and I played most of them

But overall STALKER was my favourite, Im looking forward to this sequel. I hope it doesn't disappoint

Metro Exodus will be a very tough act to follow, gaem is fucking amazing.

Still, looking fwd to S2 a lot.

Metro is just way too linear and focused on set pieces and semi cinematic stuff.
STALKER is just not like that, hence why it is just plain better.

 

[Iucounu]

There are some excellent post-apocalyptic games out there like Metro and STALKER and I played most of them

But overall STALKER was my favourite, Im looking forward to this sequel. I hope it doesn't disappoint

Metro Exodus will be a very tough act to follow, gaem is fucking amazing.

Still, looking fwd to S2 a lot.

Metro is just way too linear and focused on set pieces and semi cinematic stuff.
STALKER is just not like that, hence why it is just plain better.

Yes Metro Exodus is just a boring, lifeless copy. That said, I fear GSC is doing everything in its power to make Stalker 2 more like Metro Exodus.

 

[Takamori]

My biggest issue with Metro is play this certain way or get asshole sandwich ending. Making extremely linear how you play it.
As for STALKER 2, no idea how that shit will come out. I really hope they dont put the fucking Narrative in your face just let us wander like the first game.

 

[ADL]

GSC needs to showcase A-Life 2.0. After all those narrative trailers I don't blame anyone for being concerned that this is getting Metro-ized.

 

[Manjuice Nutella]

As for STALKER 2, no idea how that shit will come out. I really hope they dont put the fucking Narrative in your face just let us wander like the first game.

The Russians who hacked GSC and their design documents, concepts and dev build (Vestnik TSS/Вестник «Того Самого Сталкера») said what there is, indeed looks very, very good. The few things they are worried about include of course things like Skyrim quest markers (damn Westerners*), but few of the things mentioned ITT.

*Why are all those studios on the mainstream koolaid all the time? For all the decline, I think the audience makes it increasingly clear what they want is Elden Rings and not Ubisofts.

 

[motherfucker]

Why are all those studios on the mainstream koolaid all the time? For all the decline, I think the audience makes it increasingly clear what they want is Elden Rings and not Ubisofts.

There won't be Russian language in the game so they can't rely on diehard STALKER fans to drive sales. Western audiences is all the market they're getting.

 

[Manjuice Nutella]

For anyone who is like me, the antithesis of "no spoilers" and who has to know as much as possible, below is the story premise/outline of S2 I managed to piece together from the design docs etc.
Within a couple of spoiler marks to avoid any accidents.

I'll also leave out anything related to the ending.

Are you sure? Dumbledore and Pablo Escobar will have died for nothing.

Get out of here Stalker

Well, ok. Don't stand there

The year is 2022, 10 years after the events of Call of Pripyat. Similarly to how the "true" ending of SoC was made canon and set the stage for CoP, so are CoP's good endings. During those 10 years, SIRCAA (sor NIICHAZ in Cyrilic) that was co-founded by Strelok, among other things, studies "anomalous energy" within the Zone, and managed to build themselves very futuristic centre within the Zone's perimeter.

In 2022, the protagonist, Skif (name is a reference to Scythians) arrives to the Zone's borders at night with Professor Hermann. The scene was seen in one of trailers, reminiscent of SoC's Death Truck intro. We learn that based on his interactions, Skif is some combat veteran, likely military or some PMC. He was drawn to Chernobyl in the first place, because his home well outside of the Zone's borders was destroyed by an Anomalous outbreak.

That, and he also somehow came into possession of an artifact, or its "greyed out" shell. We learn that when taken outside of an anomalous Zone, artifacts gradually begin to lose their properties, eventually becoming a husk of themselves, but they can be restored to their former state via working with anomalous energy. This is the device Hermann has with him on a truck, to help Skif recharge it, and the energy itself is one of the main research points of SIRCAA. Skif enters the Zone and takes the device to certain points, although doing that, he is ambushed, knocked out, and loses the device.

Awakening to that scene of a blind dog chewing on his leg, he is greeted by a stalker named Ralof Richter, who is affiliated with Iskra (founded in sidequests of CoP), and teaches him/the player some basics, like how to deal with anomalies with bolts. While martially skilled, this is his first time in the Zone, and obviously has never seen e.g. a Bloodsucker before. Skif reaches a nearby village of Zalissya in starting region of Little Zone, just in time to hide from an emission outbreak. When trying to recover Hermann's device and his grey husk of an artifact, one of his ambushers drops a Monolith PDA, eventually leading him to Strider's remnants ("Noon" faction), and so on.

You can probably see where this is going.

Skif's grey artifact is the shard of the Monolith

The story increasingly coalesces into friction between factions of Varta and Iskra. Varta (Ward, also translates to Guard/Watch, and a wordplay on "worth it") is led by the bald General Korshunov, and serves as Zone's police to guard SIRCAA's white collars. Iskra is led by Scar (yes, that one. Apparently Lebedev also survived), they dress as blue Ecologists, and are in for extreme research of the anomalous Zone and a kind of “correct” “Clear Sky”. While also employed by SIRCAA, they are not respected by them.

Somewhere around halfway of the game, around Cordon, Strelok makes his appearance. It turns out the titular Heart of Chernobyl, besides CNPP being the center of the world map, is that ball he showed to the Doctor in one SoC's cutscenes, adding to the list of weird questions we finally get an answer to.

World Map/landmarks

01 Little Zone
02 Svalka (Garbage)
03 Himzawod (?)
04 Wild Island (Dikij Ostrov)
05 Zaton
06 Great Swamps
07 SIRCAA
08 Gradirni (Cooling Towers?)
09 DLC Plato
10 Cement Factory
11 Promzona (Agroprom)
12 Malachite
13 Duga Radar
14 Rostok (Bar/Wild Territory)
15 Yantar
16 DLC Limansk
17 Burning Forest
18 Chernobyl-2
19 Red Forest (Forester's Base)
20 Yanov
21 Jupiter
22-29 Pripyat regions
30 CNPP
31 Iron Forest
32 Generators

 

[NecroLord]

Why are all those studios on the mainstream koolaid all the time? For all the decline, I think the audience makes it increasingly clear what they want is Elden Rings and not Ubisofts.

There won't be Russian language in the game so they can't rely on diehard STALKER fans to drive sales. Western audiences is all the market they're getting.

A really big mistake on their part.
Eastern Yurop represented (and still does) one of their most prominent fanbases.