My most anticipated game of the year is GSC Game World's Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl, the sequel to one of the most special FPS experiences on PC. Heavily inspired by the novel Roadside Picnic, the special sauce with Stalker is the setting of the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone. It's desolate, terrifying, filled with the ambience of a dead world being slowly re-taken by the living.
Stalker 2 is due to release November 20, and PCG's Morgan Park recently went hands-on. While he found some elements more basic than expected, and a load of jank (completely true to the original experience), what excited me most is Morgan's takeaway that "Stalker 2 is fully embracing its dangerous setting [and] the Zone will happily chew you up and spit you back out if you don't tackle every mission with a plan."
Because that's what I want from Stalker 2, a place to get lost in. The original's Zone is one of those places that lives with you long after finishing the game, all of which might explain why GSC Game World has decided to officially release a 30-minute long YouTube ASMR video featuring Zone noises.
Yes I agree: It might not seem the most obvious fit. Until you listen to it, and start to vibe with the frogs croaking away, the wind whistling past bearing the chirps and clicks of insects, the drip-drop of rain on the water, and of course the distant sound of mutated yawps. Hell, why not throw in some muffled gunfire?
If you stay away from such corners of the internet, ASMR of course stands for autonomous sensory meridian response: In other words, the tingling satisfaction some folks get from all sorts of noises, whether that's rustling or whistling. Or the plaintive wail of a giant radioactive beastie that needs shooting.
"Weak aura: oversaturated super loud flashy cinematic trailer," says Real_Mitya under the video. "Strong aura: 30 minutes of relaxing frog sounds."
Yes! GSC has also released plenty of more straightforward footage of Stalker 2, it looks absolutely gorgeous, and at this point I just want November 20 to roll around. The hype train is heading straight to the Zone, and I'm fully on-board—typing away to my Stalker ASMR.
