S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl Delayed Again - Launch Shifted to Q1 2024

[T0@st]

GSC Game World has been busy showing of a preview build of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl at this week's Gamescom trade fair, and non-attendees have been treated to a new trailer—Bolts & Bullets—but the Ukrainian development (now primarily operating out of Prague, Czech Republic) has quietly shifted the release of their highly anticipated survival shooter from December 2023 to some point within the first quarter of next year. This was spotted by a couple of news outlets when perusing the latest press kit—this small detail is buried right at the bottom of the document (under "distribution"). The game's official website has also been revised with a Q1 2024 launch window.

The development team touts the sequel's: "unique combination of first-person shooter, immersive sim, and horror is back. Immerse yourself in the intricately detailed open world, accompanied by next-gen graphics (courtesy of the Unreal 5 engine) and a rich narrative, all enveloped within the intense atmosphere of a deadly adventure." The game seems to be getting a positive reception at Gamescom, although players were limited to only 15-minute long hands-on sessions with the demo. A few folks were already familiar with aspects of this preview version—a hacker group acquired an older build of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 earlier this year, and leaked it onto the internet.




Take a look around! Looks like the same old Zone, at a first glance… Freezed at the time and always transforming, primed to struck at the unforeseeable moment. But don't let her trick you: She has changed from the last time you were here. And to let the stalker survive, she'll demand the same!

Pre-order now: https://www.stalker2.com/

View at TechPowerUp Main Site | Source

 

[FreedomEclipse]

I mean it wouldnt be a Stalker game if it wasnt delayed 5-8 years.

Shame they ditched their X-ray engine but Im sure that its pretty long in the teeth by now and UE-5 is straight up easier to use and doesnt look like garbage.

 

[Vayra86]

Surely my crystal ball about GSC isn't going to be right again?!

I wouldn't mind being wrong (right being that they haven't done jack shit for a long time and the initial Stalkers weren't exactly masterpieces of code either. Setting nice, game clunky)

 

[droopyRO]

I mean it wouldnt be a Stalker game if it wasnt delayed 5-8 years.

So true. I found out about STALKER in 2003 from a magazine, and played it in 2007. Like i was joking elsewhere, it's 2023, i hope we wont wait until 2027, so that it;s 20 years after the launch of the first one

 

[Chrispy_]

The first game was chronically underrated. It took me a couple of years after its release to play it but there was a lot to like and nothing else quite like it on the market.

The problem with its sequel is that it's going to have to break the mould again to avoid being unforgettable, since we've have so many good games of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s genre in the last 15 years.

 

[ARF]

I am interested in a potential S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 3: Heart of Fukushima - throwing toxic waste into the Pacific ocean
The plot will be more interesting

 

[80251]

I remember the original STALKER game had all kinds of bugs and many, many patches to fix them.

 

[Vayra86]

The first game was chronically underrated. It took me a couple of years after its release to play it but there was a lot to like and nothing else quite like it on the market.

The problem with its sequel is that it's going to have to break the mould again to avoid being unforgettable, since we've have so many good games of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'s genre in the last 15 years.

Agreed, but they don't have to so much break it, it would be much better if they did the trick again with an even more reactive and interactive world. The randomness of Stalker was a huge part of its charm, imho, and it still had a story to carry it. What wasn't so charming was the limited areas, the limited way factions were implemented, etc. There is a lot of low hanging fruit if you ask me.

If they can nail a sweet open world with vastly updated mechanics of what they already had I think its a winner... more sandbox, overarching story/developments, etc.

More depth in survival is another option they can push. Misery mod has given us some fine preview options...

 

[caroline!]

Hey, as long as it's not another Clear Sky....

 

[80251]

Some of the monsters in the original STALKER series had bullet sponge qualities that were annoying. Pouring hundreds of rounds of 5.45mm ammo into them got old fast.

 

[ir_cow]

Anyone remember when this was announced right after the first one came out. Its been like 15 years now.

 

[LabRat 891]

I am interested in a potential S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 3: Heart of Fukushima - throwing toxic waste into the Pacific ocean
The plot will be more interesting

I remember using that joke when it was most-certainly "too soon"...
Even changed the name(s) of my Retail-copy STALKER games on steam.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Fukashima

What's invert-'messed up',
is that a marine-centric STALKER set in the pacific, sounds absurdly good.

Edit

Some of the monsters in the original STALKER series had bullet sponge qualities that were annoying. Pouring hundreds of rounds of 5.45mm ammo into them got old fast.

You're not wrong.
However, I personally believe that was partially game balance, and partially early attempts at 'realistic' hit boxes and damage models. "The Poison Bullet" not doing much to a mutant's body; makes sense.

In every mod that 'fixes' that, the player character is *also* a waif. (Which, is infuriatingly "fair".)
(I remember OG STALKER on lower difficulties was pretty 'forgiving' on player damage.)

Regardless of OG/Vanilla STALKER or Modded, just treat every gun like a DMR. Headshot's are king in The Zone.
(Given the revelatory themes of 'Psy-tech' and 'Consciousness's Influence on Reality' in STALKER... " 'braining' enemies being the 'choice method', just fits)

 

[caroline!]

The bugs and glitches are part of the gameplay guys

 

[LabRat 891]

The bugs and glitches are part of the gameplay guys

This is a running joke but, there's some truth to it. (Also, literal 'supposed to happen' stuff that would be 'up there' with GTA4 Swing Set launches)

Example:
the way doors work in X-Ray engine, they can be 'forced open' by colliding objects.
'Glitched doors' kill the player on contact; preventing the player from 'exploiting' the door mechanic.

Can't say if that's a feature or a bug but, I swear early-patch SoC 'let you' exploit this.

 

[Outback Bronze]

I remember playing the original on my Core 2 duo E6600 OC to 3.4ghz with 7950 GT SLI and was a bit rough on the old FPS.

Then I bought a Q6600 and got another 10/15 fps which made it playable. Went through and clocked it. Wasn't a bad game.

Was very good the see a game take advantage of all 4 cores back then which was hard to find

 

[trsttte]

Wasn't this game that last year got into some controversy because they were planning to add some NFT's to the game?

I am interested in a potential S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 3: Heart of Fukushima - throwing toxic waste into the Pacific ocean
The plot will be more interesting

The joke is very on point but the contaminated water and how they're releasing it is not nearly as bad as it sounds, the controversy is political and not scientific in nature

 

[LabRat 891]

Wasn't this game that last year got into some controversy because they were planning to add some NFT's to the game?

Yes, and thankfully the Noosphere disagreed. They retracted that.

This 'new' game is unique, for me. I know there's going to be problems and legitimate controversies. Yet, this is the only franchise that I legitimately don't care about that.
Ex. I accept that this game is going to have some major 'issues' come up from it being a multi-platform release, alone.

As long as I can actually play the game (even if it requires 'community efforts'), and any nonsense is fixable by UE-experienced modders...
I will be a very happy STALKER.

 

[80251]

This is a running joke but, there's some truth to it. (Also, literal 'supposed to happen' stuff that would be 'up there' with GTA4 Swing Set launches)

Example:
the way doors work in X-Ray engine, they can be 'forced open' by colliding objects.
'Glitched doors' kill the player on contact; preventing the player from 'exploiting' the door mechanic.

Can't say if that's a feature or a bug but, I swear early-patch SoC 'let you' exploit this.

I remember I got seriously screwed in SoC because an NPC was blocking the one door of a building that I had to get into. I think it was the bar. I had to go back to a much earlier save to get around that issue.

Another hilarious aspect of Call of Pripyat was the AMAZING grenade throwing abilities of the AI. I was once behind a bus and a car w/no sight line to the AI and they threw a granate right in front of my face. How they got the angle on that throw I'll never know, unless they bounced it off the building behind me or they can throw a curveball better than any pitcher in the history of MLB.

 

[mobiuus]

since its on unreal 5 engine i bet it suffers from stutterings and bad multithreading so
they tend to ''polish'' it until rtx 7000 and next next next gen cpu's come out
long live the brute force...

 

[sepheronx]

Not excited on UE5 engine honestly. That engine so far is proving to be a hog with little reward.

 

[80251]

How good will UE5 be at an open world game? The X-ray engine was good at that, better than any other engine at the time -- it made Fallout 3 look like amateur hour.

 

[LabRat 891]

How good will UE5 be at an open world game? The X-ray engine was good at that, better than any other engine at the time -- it made Fallout 3 look like amateur hour.

Chorus (Space Combat sim), Ghostwire: Tokyo, Atomic Heart, and Dead Island 3, are all recent Unreal Engine games; demonstrating the 'scale' and 'adaptability' UE can provide.
You have one very important point wrapped up in your statement unaddressed: "A-Life". Nothing like it has quite been done since, AFAIK.

From what I remember A-Life was both an extremely dev-labor intensive creation, and a long-time limitation + source of massive glitching w/ mod devs.
Thankfully It's been worked out pretty well now, with the latest Community Developed 64-bit X-Ray engine and (over) a decade of dedicated community modding.
To your point, just how good is GSC Game World's work in Unreal Engine? It'd be all-to-easy to 'Bethesda' it, with band-aids and 'fake life'. A-Life was something else...

 

[Chomiq]

Can't wait to play it... with the Ukrainian VO.

 

[Solaris17]

I'll just make a public warning instead of being mean and giving points. No politics please.