S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: the developers shared screenshots and new game details

STALKER 2: the developers shared screenshots and new game details

New gameplay details for STALKER 2: Heart of Chernobyl have appeared online:

Game Director Evgeny Grigorovich shared the news that the STALKER series has always been conceived as an open-world game, but there was no technical possibility to implement it earlier.

In the new part, the player will have access to free exploration of the world of 64 square kilometers - with various biomes, dungeons and secret laboratories.

STALKER 2 is a direct continuation of the series. The action of the game unfolds today, which means that the Zone had enough time to change. In some locations, the player can meet the restored nature, as shown in the first screenshot. True, many buildings from the previous parts, on the contrary, were even more destroyed.

The developers noted that thegame will be supplemented with new mutants. Now the public has been introduced to a mutant deer with psi abilities, which allows him to summon other monsters. The game will also appear familiar to all the antagonists of the past parts like a bloodsucker and a burer.

In the gameplay component of the game, everything is also a shooter with survival elements. This means that players will have to monitor parameters such as bleeding, radiation levels, hunger, fatigue, and so on. Each shortage, as well as an excess, of one nature or another, will affect the gameplay. To move and shoot effectively, you need to be well-fed and slept. Lack of sleep for more than 2-3 days can cause hallucinations. The player's arsenal for energy recovery also includes first aid kits and energy.

From the active options of the open world, the developers single out the hunt for artifacts, raids with the capture of enemy territory, descents into dungeons and story quests. Before each sortie, the stalker needs to make a decision - what resources will be useful to him, how much he can take with him and how exactly they will be distributed according to the result. Weapons and equipment will have 2 types of improvement- an upgrade and a full-fledged modification. The former are subject to the capabilities of the stalker himself (sights, grenade launchers and other attachments), and the latter directly affect the stat (damage, rate of fire, stability), they can be upgraded with a special technician.

Anomalies in STALKER 2 are of 3 types - normal, anomalous fields and archianomalies. The first ones are classic, familiar to players from previous parts, but they also underwent changes and became more dangerous. Anomalous fields are groups of anomalies located over a large area, and archianomalies, as the name implies, are the most dangerous phenomena in the game world. Inside the archianomalies, as a rule, there is valuable prey, but in order to get it, you need to study the anomaly and find the right approach to it. For example, in the game there will be a fiery whirlwind, from which ordinary armor will not save.

In the game will appear for a long time familiar to all factions like "Monolith" and "Freedom", you should also expect new ones. For example - "Warta", which can be considered a kind of "police" of the zone. The Bandits have their own scores with this group, as they are unhappy with their interference in the territory of the Zone, because more control means less freedom, and therefore less benefit in the wild conditions of the Chernobyl post-apocalypse.

The developers abandoned the co-op, as this does not fit with the essence of the game and atmospheric immersion in the Zone environment. Later, with the release of the update, the game will add multiplayer with the classic modes "One against all" and "Team battle".

The release date for STALKER 2: Heart of Chernobyl on PC is still April 28, 2022.