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

Return to the post-apocalyptic world of Chernobyl. Players can finally roam a large open seamless world, featuring iconic elements of the original trilogy like the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, the city of Pripyat, the Rookie Village, as well as secret locations such as the "Duga" radar antenna.

Heart of Chernobyl is a first-person shooter, survival, and sandbox game with RPG and horror elements. The sequel retains the original's hallmark atmosphere of desolation, despair, and constant danger in the abandoned territory.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 features more than 30 types of firearms: pistols and SMGs, assault and battle rifles, light machine guns, sniper rifles, and weapons based on new physical principles. The shooting model and technical characteristics are chosen with a focus on realism. Weapons, consumables, and ammunition adhere to USSR/NATO standards.

The player can customize each "barrel" on the fly by attaching sights, suppressors, grenade launchers, etc., but changing the weapon itself can only be done by technicians without the fanaticism level of Escape from Tarkov. Through upgrades, the arsenal can be tailored to one's play style.

Campfires now play an important role, where the player (and other NPCs) can rest and recover, but they are much fewer than before.

The events of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 unfold in an alternate reality, in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (CEZ). The territory, deserted after the 1986 disaster, was taken over by a group of scientists studying the hypothesis of the noosphere — the Earth's information field.

In the network of X-laboratories deployed in the CEZ, the existence of the noosphere was confirmed, work on advanced weapons was conducted, the ability of living beings to generate directed psi-emission was discovered, and biological and technical psi-emitters were created, zombifying all who approached them.

The goal was to break into the noosphere and subjugate it. For this purpose, Generators were built a kilometer from the Chernobyl NPP blocks, and the scientists united into a collective mind called "C-Consciousness." However, on April 12, 2006, the experiment failed.

The energy of the noosphere flooded the CEZ (the first emission), altering the laws of physics, creating anomalies and artifacts, and the mysterious "Monolith." The area around the Chernobyl NPP was covered by a high-intensity psi-field, burning the brain of anyone who entered it. Over time, monsters also appeared in the Zone: some mutated, some had artificial origins.

Trying to stop the spread of the Zone's corruption, the military surrounded it with barbed wire and minefields. Attempts by the authorities to find out what happened continued for years but inevitably ended in failure. However, stalkers — daring illegals sneaking into the Zone — had more success.

They brought out almost magical artifacts, told stories of anomalies, and shared tales of encounters with deadly mutants. Stalker factions significantly aided in settling the Zone, with the largest being the ideologically driven "Duty" and "Freedom." "Mercenaries" took on any job, and "Bandits" robbed rookies at the Zone's borders.

Over time, one of the stalkers nicknamed Strelok or Marked One (the protagonist of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl and one of the characters in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat) managed to uncover the background of the Zone's formation and learn about the "C-Consciousness".

After making several forays in 2011-2012, Strelok goes beyond the "Brain Scorcher", breaks through to the Chernobyl NPP, reveals the secret of the Monolith, and destroys the "C-Consciousness". He passed on this and other knowledge about surviving in the Zone to the state, becoming a consultant at the newly formed Institute for the Study of the Chernobyl Anomalous Zone (IICAZ).

Heart of Chernobyl offers an area of over 60 km² to explore: predominantly rugged terrain with patches of rural villages, factories, plants, military bases, and settlements; a large part of the cities of Pripyat and Chernobyl; and the Chernobyl NPP itself. The buildings are recreated in the characteristic architectural style of the USSR.

The open world includes altered locations from the first trilogy: Cordon, Swamps, Wild Territory, Dark Valley, Radar, and the Chernobyl NPP (blocks 1-4). Iconic points of interest are almost unchanged — Rookie Village, the church in the Swamps, the railway under Jupiter, the Brain Scorcher, and the Ferris wheel in Pripyat.

New locations in Heart of Chernobyl include: the Chemical Plant, the military town of Chernobyl-2 near the "Brain Scorcher", the unfinished blocks 5 and 6 of the Chernobyl NPP and the Cooling Towers (located southeast of the main station), as well as new laboratories.

As you move from the Perimeter to the center of the Zone, the danger increases: deadly anomalies and mutants appear, and stalkers don exoskeletons. Exploring the world will take more than 100 hours, as you'll have to travel on foot; there is no transport in the Zone. Fast travel is available in an unconventional form.

After the events of "Shadow of Chernobyl", the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone began to live its own life and changed in appearance. There is tall grass everywhere, many shrubs, and mighty trees with impressive crowns. In the Swamps, there are impenetrable thickets of reeds and an abundance of bulrushes. From above, the Zone resembles a dense green forest, and only anomalous fields stand out from the smooth green expanse.

The events of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl begin 6-8 years after the ending of "Call of Pripyat" and continue the story of the first trilogy — newcomers are advised to play through it for a better understanding of what is happening.

The player will experience a large-scale branching plot lasting several dozen hours, with decisions affecting other characters in the game, quests, and even the Zone itself. The Zone is a character in its own right, threatening all of humanity and finding protection among experienced stalkers. One of them, the Stranger, has vowed to protect it from any threats, making him the main antagonist.

The main character of "Heart of Chernobyl" is a stalker nicknamed Skif. He is far from a novice, but a seasoned veteran. However, who he is, what he strives for, and which side he fights for is unknown. Skif is fully voiced in dialogues, which is a new narrative feature for the series. During the playthrough, the player will meet many new characters with detailed backstories and encounter a few old acquaintances.

In Heart of Chernobyl, there will be well-known Stalkers, Bandits, Duty, Freedom, and Monolith (their ideological orientation has not changed), as well as new factions. One of them is Varta.

Skif is a free stalker, but to progress through the story, he will have to join one faction or another, and this choice will directly affect the ending. The player's choice will be influenced by the ideology pursued by the respective faction.

Familiar mutants include blind dogs, pseudogiants, burers, and bloodsuckers. New mutants in "Heart of Chernobyl" will be, but not shown. A new feature of the game is regions with lairs where mutants live in large groups and aggressively hunt all outsiders.

Mutants have been given different behavior models, considering even subspecies and habitats. Their behavior is less predictable, and different tactics will be required to destroy them.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 features A-Life 2.0, a reworked concept of life simulation from the original. Thanks to it, the positions of factions and mutants are never static: they constantly fight for living space, migrate, capture new places, or retreat under the pressure of competitors. And all this happens even without the player's involvement.

The main tasks in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl have changed little compared to the original trilogy:

The sequel is distinguished from the original by reworked game mechanics to modern standards, encompassing all aspects of the gameplay.

Studio head Sergey Grigorovich confirmed that a network mode is planned, but it will be added after the game's release. It is also known that by multiplayer, the authors mean classic competitive shootouts, not some battle royale with loot boxes.