The Ukrainian developer GSC Game World announced STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl over a decade ago. Unfortunately, the game’s development went down a long and rocky road before developers finally revealed its gameplay trailer during E3 2021.
While the war in Ukraine forced yet another delay, STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl appears to be back on track. Developers released a new trailer today, June 14th, sharing the game’s opening cinematic and confirming a 2023 release.
In a throwback to 2007’s STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl, the new trailer opens with a lone truck driving at night. As the vehicle speeds down the winding road, viewers hear a radio interview with Dr. Dalin, the head of SIRCAA, the fictional organization charged with monitoring, studying, and containing the anomalies with STALKER’s version of the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone. After twice brushing aside the interviewer’s safety concerns, Dr. Dalin gives a speech about how potential discoveries with the Zone far outweigh the risks of exploring it. He promises “a new world” waiting to be discovered in the Zone, but his tone becomes increasingly sinister as the truck approaches the ominous red sky ahead.
The next scene in STALKER 2’s intro has the truck driving into a storm somewhere in the Zone. A news report plays on the radio, describing a series of recent “incidents” in the area, implying that SIRCAA may be exaggerating its ability to contain the Anomalies. As the driver fiddles with the radio to clear up some interference, lightning illuminates the unconscious passenger in the back of the truck. Then, just as the passenger beings to stir, the truck careens off the road after driving right into one of STALKER 2’s Anomalies. After a cut to the title, the final shot shows the passenger, presumably STALKER 2’s protagonist, approaching the pillar of light ahead.
While not technically post-apocalyptic, the STALKER series is known for delivering on precisely that atmosphere, and Heart of Chornobyl is the first STALKER game in over a decade. GSC Game World originally planned to release the game back in 2012. However, developers canceled it due to the company’s shutdown that year. The studio finally re-announced the game in 2018, only for developers to suspend STALKER 2’s development due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Fortunately, GSC Game World announced last month it had resumed the development of STALKER 2.
STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl takes place after a second explosion rocked Chornobyl in 2006. This event changed the behavior of the Zone, making it more active and far more dangerous. However, it also creates new opportunities, drawing STALKER’s factions back to lay a claim on the Zone’s secret. Hopefully, fans don’t have to wait too much longer before exploring STALKER 2 for themselves.
STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl releases in 2023 for PC and Xbox Series X/S.