STALKER 2: Gameplay, open world … we take stock

Game news STALKER 2: Gameplay, open world … we take stock

STALKER 2, why is this an event?

Without going into the chaotic course of the saga in detail, the existence of STALKER 2: The Heart of Chernobyl is a small event in itself. Developing the franchise, an FPS with survival elements sprinkled with a touch of RPG, has always been complicated. STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl had left out a good part of its content, STALKER: Clear Sky was released in a very questionable state, while STALKER: Call of Pripyat finally had an outfit worthy of the studio’s ambitions. STALKER 2 was actually announced in 2010 for a 2012 release set before it was canceled by GSC Game. This is certainly the reason why many fans of the saga showed a certain reluctance to announce the saga in 2018. However, STALKER 2 is clearly on a very good path, which was undoubtedly supported by Microsoft’s entry into the project.

A metro clone?

While we’ve seen a generous helping of gameplay as part of this E3 2021 Xbox conference, it’s hard for the many people who missed out on the franchise in its heyday to believe this is anything but a Metro clone. It’s actually the other way around. Without a STALKER there would be no metro or metro exodus. The approaches are also very different. While Metro has a slightly more terrifying and isolated approach to the genre, STALKER has a more stretched pace that gives the player time to explore the exclusion zone and, most importantly, try to survive it. STALKER is a not completely linear game that offers a quest system and extensive inventory management with some survival elements. Of course, given the influence that the GSC Game franchise had on Metro, you will find a terrible atmosphere there, especially when faced with the mutant creatures that have popped up in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.

What is it talking about?

STALKER 2 is set in an alternative version of the Chernobyl exclusion zone. After the well-known catastrophe in 1984, some of the plant’s reactors remained in operation, which unfortunately led to a second explosion in 2006. This superposition of radioactivity led to numerous anomalies in the area, produces mutated creatures, but also powerful artifacts with very strong healing or protective properties. In this particularly dangerous area, the stalkers are exploring and searching for these precious artifacts. Some of them are lonely while others have regrouped into factions. You will be one of those explorers and answer the name Skiff.

A living open world

The previous STALKER games were certainly very open, but they actually consisted of a sequence of huge areas that were connected to each other. STALKER 2 has freed itself from this small-scale structure and for the first time offers a real open world. In a studio press release in the columns of Xbox.com, we learn that this open world ‘l. wouldone of the largest to date. It remains to be seen to what extent GSC Game has adapted to these opening constraints, whether there will be an adjustment of the levels based on the model of the player or whether certain areas will of course be crossed out due to insufficient protection, protection that must then be found in safer places.

However, we have a few statements that will help us better understand the intentions of the developers in bringing this devastated area as much alive as possible. One of the exploits of previous stalkers was the so-called “A-Life” which allowed the PnJ in the universe to interact with each other (e.g., clashes between mutants and stalkers) even if you weren’t there then. This made the game very immersive and changed the type of encounters you could have there. This system is maintained, improved and simply called A-Life 2. The zone should therefore constantly evolve to improve immersion.

A reactive story about your decisions

In addition to the world itself, which should evolve with or without you, GSC Game reaffirmed its desire to develop a game in which every player can have their own experience. RPG roots in the sense of “role play” instead of “classes, talent points etc.”, will always be present in STALKER 2. Indeed, the studio’s ambition is to make the player the author of the game’s story, and consequently The decisions you make have both short and long term consequences. Progress should be directly influenced and the game should have several different endings. In any case, it will be GSC Game’s biggest project.

Quid you gameplay?

It still remains a mystery. Granted, this E3 2021 was an opportunity to see a little more in-game content, but it’s mostly the shooting phases that have been highlighted. They’re an integral part of the saga indeed, so we can expect a readjustment of the clashes that should remove the gravity of the past, even if we hope they don’t switch to nervous FPS and Arcade, which would be against the DNA of the License. New weapons and other equipment should definitely fill the player’s inventory, which should be flexible at will. The entire survival component, on the other hand, has not yet been revealed, although we assume that this dimension will exist or at least be adapted to modern standards of the genre.

Which configuration should be carried out and technical point?

We’re talking to PC gamers here who have only recently checked out the details of the minimum and recommended configurations for running STALKER 2. The recommended configuration will likely not allow you to view the rendering presented in the Xbox conference in Ultra. In order to be able to use this rendering in 4K / 60 FPS with activated ray tracing, it will probably be necessary to spice up the configuration a bit.

	Minimal	Recommended
operating system	Windows 10	Windows 10
processor	AMD Ryzen 5 1600X / Intel Core i5-7600K	AMD Ryzen 7 3700X / Intel Core i7-9700K
R.A.M.	8 GB memory	16 GB memory
graphic card	AMD Radeon RX 580 8GB / NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB	AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 8GB / NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8GB / NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB
Hard drive space	150 GB free hard disk space	150 GB free hard disk space

On the Xbox side, GSC Game has announced that it will seek RTX support for the S and X series and 4K display for the X series.

Release date, platforms and game pass

STALKER 2 will be released on April 28th for Xbox Series and PC and will be available in Game Pass when it is released.