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

In some ways, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. remains a unique game, a good balance of Action/RPG/Horror.



Release April 28, 2022.

Pre-order: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1643320/STALKER_2_Heart_of_Chernobyl/

I already added it to my Steam wish list. Now we just have to wait almost one year until we can play it.

If the pre-order offers a discount or some extra goodies then I'll go for it.

I'll be getting it no matter what...

Me too.

We had a thread a few months ago

https://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/4552725/s-t-a-l-k-e-r-2#Post4552725

A couple of other vids linked in that thread.

Disappointed to see that Q1 2022 release. I was under the impression it would be out this year. But as I said then, we all know how that goes.

True, it's a long wait but hopefully that means we will get a more polished product upon release.

Yes, that would be nice

Supposedly still set to release on April 28 2022.

I'm super stoked for this and apparently another "METRO" title is also being developed.

Wow that looks fantastic. The scope, the lighting, the characters/faces, the way that array type thing at the end was dancing with electricity.

It's both new and modern looking and the same old Stalker, with the UI and inventory/items looking just like the old games. Very cool. The areas they show here look like Rostok and the Agroprom underground. That video is the best look yet, and thanks for posting it Crane.

Been waiting for this for months!

Some interesting details.

Thanks for the vid. I'm a bit confused by what I see. It seems like this is a commercial version of the Call of Chernobyl mod. All maps from the three games stitched together with a loose narrative, essentially a free roam game with the ability to play on all the maps from the franchise. Some of the footage in this vid looks very much like SoC from 12 years ago. Nealy all of the areas shown are recognizable from earlier games. So not a new game, but a remaster of all three games which are then combined.

Maybe the story is deeper than what I'm guessing. I also wonder if most of the impressive graphics is just renders, like that electricity dancing through that array. You can see in some shots, like those in the Clear Sky swamp and the rookie village in Cordon that the graphics are improved, but then there were parts where the player was engaging boars and flesh and it looked like SoC in 2008. Obviously it's still early, but I'm not quite sure what we will be getting here.

I'll buy it regardless

The old game footage is just filler.

At a claimed 24sq KM, I think the map will include a great deal more than the sum of the original games' areas.

There may be some scripted sequences, but I think the majority of Stalker 2 footage we're seeing is not.

OK, yeah, old footage. Sure looked like it.

So the bit with the electrified array, is that in-game or render/cutscene stuff? The video showing the character moving through a building during a storm, where the tree falls? In game, or render? This mixing new and old's doing me head in!

I'd guess in-game but scripted.

STALKER 2 is to Provide Hundreds of Hours of Gameplay

https://www.gamepressure.com/newsroom/stalker-2-is-to-provide-hundreds-of-hours-of-gameplay/ze3236

I commented earlier on how this new STALKER game is looking to me like a commercial version of the Call of Chernobyl mod. Essentially a free-roam, open ended game set across all of the maps in the series.

I had a thread going a couple years ago about my experience getting back in to the game, looking for the right version for me. There are many mods out there, all offering their own take on how the game should be. Of course one of the most prominent is Misery. Here's the thread

https://simhq.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/4389825/

Misery is a great mod, but most people don't like it. Too hard. Brutal is the word I most often see. I get it, but although I find Misery challenging, it isn't too much so. I commented in that thread that Misery is not for anyone who seeks 'balance' in games, or folks who might feel the game is unfair. It is intentionally stacked against the player. Some like this, most don't

The reason I'm talking about this is that in Misery, I played it like I expect the new Stalker game to play. Essentially just living the stalker life. Not necessarily moving the story points forward, but just existing in the game world, fashioning my own objectives. I think this would be great. And if it is like this, then Crane's post about 'hundreds of hours' of gameplay is probably spot on.

Playing this way you're not just moving from map to map, ticking off milestones until the final chapter. Instead you are slowly building your self up, inventing missions. A 'free hunt' sort of experience. I don't know if this will prove accurate, but it's the vibe I'm getting. That story elements will be sparse and the game play will revolve around simply surviving from day to day. That sounds good to me, I don't necessarily need the game to provide all direction, just a framework, and I can let my imagination take me forward. A massive Stalker game world dripping with this atmosphere and all the dangers, with full freedom to do what I wish, at my own pace would be fine with me.

I will be bitterly disappointed if this song isn't to be heard around the Stalker campfire.

https://www.windowscentral.com/stalker-2-devs-share-new-screenshots-gameplay-details

With added video...



I bet some PC´s are gonna melt just thinking about S2HoC

Can't wait to buy this next year This is a definite pre-order for me.

That looks great!

Thanks for the info gentlemen.

Cheeki fookin' breeki!

Great trailer. Thanks for posting it.

It has so much of what I like about Stalker, and the sort of gameplay I like, even if it might be scripted in the game. And controllers suck! I'll be packing an ounce of the ganja you know it. And my character will carry some too!

Haha, but what I mean is the dude in the video is given a task, and then left to get on with it. He gears up, gets his sh!t in order then sets out on foot, alone. Cautiously making his way forward, with firefights breaking out close by (scripted in game I imagine if this is an actual mission, but hopefully this sort of stuff just occurs naturally as part of the A-life sim). An emission comes along to throw it all askew, time out from the firefight! He closes himself up to take a break, attend his wounds, eat a little bit, and then sets off once again.

This is a cinematic trailer obviously, directed like a film vignette, but if the actual play resembles this I'll be happy. Pacing is such an important part of gaming for me, it's why I don't play CoD for example. Everyone has their own view of what this should be, but Stalker's always allowed plenty of leeway for a personal approach, to take it in your own time, never rushed. Too much reading, perhaps, in to what I am seeing. But I'm highly optimistic based on everything we have seen so far.

Get out of here Stalker!

That's a fan made film not a trailer.

So not Stalker 2?

I thought the textures looked older, but what do I know?

And yeah it says fan film right on it. Doh!

April 28. 2022.

https://www.stalker2.com/

Doh.

DECEMBER 8TH, 2022

I`m glad I didn`t pre-order.

I'm not surprised one bit that it got delayed. I'll just buy it on release.

Are you ready comrades?

Thanks for that update video Crane Hunter! I'm really pumped for this.

Cheeki fookin' breeki, indeed!

Not long now.

Hopefully

Well I though this was delayed to December, but I see now it's delayed again to next year.

So maybe long now.