Stalker 2 is on the horizon. More than a decade on from when the first version of this project was announced, we’re going to return to the Exclusion Zone.
Never tried this series before? It’s set in an alternative version of our own world, set in a post-apocalyptic world of the real-life Chernobyl disaster of 1986.
The Exclusion Zone is full of dangerous anomalies, mutated enemies and other Stalkers looking to take you out. It’s an immersive survival shooter series, a cult favourite from Ukraine’s biggest game developer.
It’s out in November for PC and Xbox Series consoles. A 35-minute developer preview has been released. It’s worth a watch, but we’ve summarised 11 of the key takeaways below:
There are 20 regions, each with its own flavour
The game world of Stalker 2, dubbed the Exclusion Zone, is big. It’s split into 20 regions, and each is designed to have its own flavour.
That means a specific architectural style, different inhabitants and factions. There won’t be a hard border to stop you wandering around either. “There are almost no barriers,” says GSC Game World.
The team is aiming for the same sort of vibe as the original Stalker games, too: "It’s about freedom and loneliness, anxiety."
Some of the same locations from the old games are here. And Stalker veterans will be able to explore areas once blocked off by, for example, locked doors.
There's a dynamic factions system
As you explore Stalker 2's world, you’ll encounter factions. The Loners, Duty and Monolith are mentioned in the deep dive. But there's a load more, too, including Freedom, Bandits, Mercenaries, Ecologists, Military, Noon and Ward.
These are not going to stand still as you play, either.
“Factions can sometimes change their leader. Sometimes, they can break up. Sometimes, they can do something that will seem to the player that doesn’t match their ideology at all,” says GSC Game World, referring to a sense of chaos and unpredictability that can emerge in factions’ power struggles.
There are 35 weapons
Stalker 2 features 35 weapons, according to the preview. That’s a lot for a first-person shooter, but perhaps not loads for a massive open-world game. There are more than 300 weapons in Elden Ring, after all.
However, these 35 weapons are more like starting points. Customise one of them enough and it will start to feel like something else. “The same weapon with various upgrades of attachments starts to feel different,” says GSC Game World.
It's meant to be difficult
The previous Stalker games were unforgiving by design. That is still considered a key part of the feel of the latest instalment.
“We didn’t want to make the game easy for the player because we believe that this would kill the grip of reality,” says game director Evgeniy Grygorovych.
“If the player can easily make mistakes, cannot die, gets their hit points regenerated, it's not a Stalker experience.”
You have the equivalent of spells
Much like the previous games in the series, Stalker 2 doesn’t see you entirely reliant on guns. There are also the equivalent of magic spells, although their roots are more in technology that wizardry. In the demo, we get to see a spell that negates fall damage, letting the player leap from the windows of buildings, and another that lifts mutated pig enemies into the sky, like a miniature tornado.
There’s no character-levelling system...
You won’t be able to grind to make your character more powerful in Stalker 2. Instead, you just have to get better at the game through play.
“There is no levelling system, like level 1, 10, 15 80 and so on. Your progress is reflected in better knowledge of the environment, in faster reactions,” says GSC Game World.
Does this mean Stalker 2 will be even more difficult than Elden Ring? After a Gamescom preview, PCGames N described the game as “Fallout meets Dark Souls”. However, the older games did have variable difficulty settings, which may return in this one.
… but you do have to manage your inventory...
There’s no traditional RPG-style system, then, but there are other role-playing elements. You have to keep on your encumbrance, for example.
“Overload stands in the way of dynamic movement,” says CSG Game World. Yep, in Skyrim fashion, you'll have to offload parts of your inventory if you want to move quickly.
Stalker 2 is likely to be far more restrictive than Skyrim, though, turning it from a nuisance into a proper game mechanic.
… and look after your character
You’ll also have to keep an eye on your character’s, Skif’s, condition. That includes eating and sleeping.
“He may be hungry, he may want to sleep like a real person. Each such title issue reduces his efficiency,” says the deep dive.
We imagine there may be a lower difficulty mode that nullifies these gameplay elements. But we’re just guessing here.
There are hours’ worth of cutscenes
According to the team, there's more than a film's worth of cutscenes in the game.
“We've developed nearly three hours of cutscenes for Stalker 2, more than 43 sections. It’s almost like a big movie in a big game,” the team says.
If those “sections” are cutscenes, that means each lasts for an average of four minutes. We're not in Hideo Kojima territory, then, but this should help flesh out the characters significantly.
It features motion and real facial capture
In the latter part of the deep dive, there's a look into the technology used to create Stalker 2’s cutscenes. First up, there’s the familiar body suit plastered with balls, used to motion capture the entire bodies of actors.
This data can then be transposed onto a character model, for a realistic appearance you couldn't easily recreate just with 3D modelling tools.
Stalker 2 also uses facial capture rigs, which does the same job for facial expressions and actors' performances.
The release date is (still) November 20
GSC Game World announced Stalker 2’s current release date in late July: it’s November 20. But we’re glad to see it appear again at the end of this deep-dive video.
The game was originally announced back in in 2010, although that version was cancelled before being relaunched with a new game engine in 2018. This one has been a long time coming. And its developer has been through some terrible struggles, as a Ukrainian developer that was once located in Kyiv before the HQ relocated to Prague following the Russian invasion of the country.
"It’s being developed by a Ukrainian company, it affects the storyline of our game, and that affects the way we tell the story and design the gameplay. It will be a new story told from our perspective," says GSC Game World.
