If there is a game series as defined by its brutality as Stalker, I'm yet to die in it. Its setting, the overgrown exclusion zone surrounding Chornobyl's power plant, is deceptively beautiful. But its lush green fields are pock-marked with radiation and deadly phenomenons called anomalies, which range from pillars of fire spewing from cracked tarmac to invisible whirlwinds that can tear you from the ground at a moment's notice. Bandits, lured to The Zone by supernatural riches created by the disaster, lie ready to kill visitors at a moments notice; while vibrant poppy fields hide mutated wildlife who aren't fussy about what they eat.
Despite all of that, I've been dying to take my Geiger counter out for another trip. It's been 15 years since the series' last game, Call of Pripyat, and in that time few games have been able to match The Zone's bleakly immersive survival experience. But before getting to play the series' long-awaited follow-up Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl, which launches in November, I've been worried that the newest entry would dial back some of its grit in an effort to appeal to more mainstream tastes – after all, it's quietly become one of the biggest upcoming Xbox Series X games of 2024, with Microsoft Gaming partnering with developer GSC Game World to bring Stalker into the world.
