GSC Game World has released a fresh developer deep dive video into STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl, a 36 minute video that showcases plenty of new gameplay, including a walkthrough of the Swamp area. STALKER 2 is coming out on 20th November for Xbox Series X|S and PC, and day one in certain tiers of Xbox Game Pass.
The video features several members of the team, including creative director Mariia Grygorovych, game director Ievgen Grygorovych, level art team lead Dzmitry Anoshka, and cinematic lead Ingwar Dovgoteles.
They discuss various elements, such as the open world setting of the Zone – the abandoned, decaying region surrounding Chornobyl’s nuclear power plant that’s based a lot on reality. Some of these areas return from previous games, such as the farmstead surrounded by burner anomalies which is present within the Swamp – thankfully you can use a detector to reveal them to you, so you don’t burn yourself to a crisp. There’s also new additions, such as the church cellar, which is the home to a nest of rodents, which you can access for the first time with a bit of an environmental puzzle.
The Swamp is where the gameplay demo takes place, first heading to this farmstead to deactivate some kind of psi-beacon, before being attacked by Blind Dogs and Pseudodogs – phantoms that are copies of a real dog that you need to find and kill. Psi-radiation in this area is deadly to you, so one of the main aims at this time is to find a resistant suit to wear. You’ll also have to keep an eye on Skif’s condition – the player character – who will need to eat and sleep to stay in good condition.
There’s plenty more within the deep dive, including a battle at the Church, fights against zombies (who will always get back up and have a Controller to try to defeat), discussions about how the AI works, the game’s difficulty, and beyond.
Previously expected in September, the team decided they needed just a little more time and pushed the launch back to November. This gives a bit more time to revisit previous games, and console players got their first chance to delve into the series with a STALKER trilogy remaster earlier this year. Dipping into those games, Jim said, “the trilogy presents console players with an opportunity to play through these STALKER titles in the same condition that PC players have been able to experience them for the last decade and a half. As someone who struggled to get them running on my own PC back around the time they launched, being able to finally venture into the Zone on console has been immensely satisfying, even if these ageing first person shooters don’t cater for modern gamer sensibilities.”
