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S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl from Ukrainian developer GSC Game World has a brand new trailer and thankfully no more delays as it's still going to release on September 5th.

"Chornobyl Exclusion Zone has changed dramatically after the second massive explosion in year 2006. Violent mutants, deadly anomalies, warring factions have made the Zone a very tough place to survive. Nevertheless, artifacts of unbelievable value attracted many people called S.T.A.L.K.E.R.s, who entered the Zone for their own risk striving to make a fortune out of it or even to find the Truth concealed in the Heart of Chornobyl."

With a huge borderless open-world and a non-linear story, check out the brand new trailer below:

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This is the part where I confess to you something terrible, that you're going to rinse me in the comments for…I've put all of maybe 20 minutes into the originals. I just…don't get them. Considering how big they were originally, and still are loved by many even now, I guess I'm really missing something here.

With the previous games all having a pretty good ProtonDB rating, I'm hopeful this next one won't have too many issues. Proton has come such a long way that it's easy to get excited about huge games like this just being playable in a click or two on Linux thanks to Valve.

You can pre-purchase on Steam.

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Not surprising you didnt get them Liam, considering it relies heavily on understanding Eastern European/post-Soviet culture

Wonder how the game will do outside the post-Soviet sphere, if they still kept the cultural references or tried to "mainstream it"
pb Jun 9
It's ok not to like a popular game. I have a lot of "overwhelmingly positive" games on ignore list.
Dorrit Jun 9
if they still kept the cultural references or tried to "mainstream it"
This.
I can't help but look at this game through prism of Russian/Ukrainian war.

Previous version of game was purely in Russian.
Now upcoming title, at least the trailer of the game seems to be in Ukrainian.

Considering that likely one of reasons that original game was so popular - BECAUSE it was in Russian.

And while I am half Ukrainian myself, my native tongue is Russian. And... I did understand 90% of trailer no problem. Even though it was in Ukranian.

I can't help but wonder, if there will be a Russian speaking version of the game. It will be a shame if not. Since good chunk of Ukraine does not speak Ukrainian, but speaks Russian.
I can't help but look at this game through prism of Russian/Ukrainian war.

Previous version of game was purely in Russian.
Now upcoming title, at least the trailer of the game seems to be in Ukrainian.

Considering that likely one of reasons that original game was so popular - BECAUSE it was in Russian.

And while I am half Ukrainian myself, my native tongue is Russian. And... I did understand 90% of trailer no problem. Even though it was in Ukranian.

I can't help but wonder, if there will be a Russian speaking version of the game. It will be a shame if not. Since good chunk of Ukraine does not speak Ukrainian, but speaks Russian.

They said there wont be. In fact one of the delays of the game was them switching from Russian to Ukrainian. The language swap and not offering Russian is one of the main reasons why many Russian speakers are boycotting the game unfortunately. It was also the cause of many scandals for this game.
I never got into it either,picked it up on gog years ago, like you tried it for 20 minutes wasn't really my cup of tea

I do like the metro games though
scaine Jun 9
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Played the originals back in 2018 for the first time - struggled with it for a couple of hours, trying to see the "magic" that everyone loved about this series, but it didn't click for me either. Good to hear it's cultural references, and not gameplay that made it so beloved.

I doubt I'll pick this up. It looks very similar in style to the Metro series, and I've had my fill of them.
M@GOid Jun 9
Lets hope this one will not have the same level of bugs the previous games are infamous for.

While it is spoken on Ukranian, there is official subtitles in Russian, so at least there is rope it will be a option in the game.
Nezchan Jun 9
It's certainly a far cry from The Zone in Roadside Picnic, where every single step has the potential to be deadly. Or much worse.
Lets hope this one will not have the same level of bugs the previous games are infamous for.

While it is spoken on Ukranian, there is official subtitles in Russian, so at least there is rope it will be a option in the game.

The subtitles were only added after a massive outcry amongst fans and many fans say that is not enough if you keep in mind that the game was already entirely voiced in Russian (the company just refuses to add it punishing people who have no stake in current events). So the Russian voice over exists and for many Russian speaking players from the post Soviet space (in Ukraine too), subtitles are not enough.

My guess is they will try to streamline it for western audiences to replace the Russian speaking players. Perhaps it will have good sales on the back of political pro-Ukrainian gamers, perhaps not. Its hard to guess how the game will do.


Last edited by Cato-the-younger on 10 June 2024 at 12:30 am UTC
starpollo Jun 10
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I'm so hyped for this!!

I was right with you though Liam, tried play Shadow of Chernobyl maybe 4 or 5 times, and just couldn't really get into it.. but something kept calling me back to it, and one day it just "clicked", and I played through all of the 3 original games and loved them.

Definitely recommend you giving it another chance, once you get through the first few missions, get yourself a decent rifle, and get used to the shooting mechanics, the game really hits it's stride and there's nothing else quite like it.

Turn the difficulty up, and the crosshair off, and immerse yourself in the world and the atmosphere, so you can experience how it's all changed once Stalker 2 drops in September 😁
Xpander Jun 10
Gunplay looks kinda bad (not awful ofc) from that gameplay trailer. And i hope there's no QTE stuff like seen on the trailer.
Other than that. the World looks nice. Lets hope it will be good game without any major bugs on launch.
pb Jun 10
It's certainly a far cry from The Zone in Roadside Picnic, where every single step has the potential to be deadly. Or much worse.

Funny, I wanted to read it just now, but I took a look at my SF bookshelf and I have 10 books from Strugatsky brothers but not this one... Must have lent it out I guess.
MiZoG Jun 10
Stalker was slow-burning but intriguing at start. It became one of the most memorable gaming experiences of my life. Went on with Clear Sky. It had some performance issues/bugs back in the day. I called it off. I started Call of Pripyat quite a long after the first two. I couldn't refind the magic though everybody was saying that this was the true successor to the original. Perhaps now it is a fine opportunity to revisit the original trilogy.
fabertawe Jun 10
Played these games years ago through Wine and loved them. No clue about the lore/culture either, then or now. I imagine this one will be a struggle for my RX6600!
based Jun 10
I will be the 1% and say Idc about the language switch. What matters to me is the architecture being E.Eur/Soviet era style and it being a hard survival/RPG game.

Liam, u can also check out S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Anomaly, a free standalone mod integrating all maps from the first 3 games into one and adding more survival elements along with better visuals.
slaapliedje Jun 10
I never got into it either,picked it up on gog years ago, like you tried it for 20 minutes wasn't really my cup of tea

I do like the metro games though
Ha, I tried them at the time they came out, and my computer didn't run them all that well, so I put them on the list of 'I'll play them eventually...'
I thought Shadow of Chernobyl was awesome. Very memorable game even though I didn’t finish it.

I didn’t really like the Metro games, but I read Metro 2033 first and in my experience when you love a book no adaptations live up to what you expect.
starfarer Jun 11
Played the originals back in 2018 for the first time - struggled with it for a couple of hours, trying to see the "magic" that everyone loved about this series, but it didn't click for me either. Good to hear it's cultural references, and not gameplay that made it so beloved.

I doubt I'll pick this up. It looks very similar in style to the Metro series, and I've had my fill of them.

Actually, at least here in Germany, it was not cultural references. People really loved the game because of the gameplay here. I'm half Ukrainian and half German and so I'm maybe more used to games being a little janky (Gothic is my most favourite game of all time and I love X4) but Stalker is a game like no other, at least for me. And that's almost completely because of how the game plays.
denyasis Jun 12
If there was cultural references, they went right over my head, lol. I played all three (with a few community patch mods) 2-3 years ago. They were amazing! They were difficult (for me) and it felt like you were part of the world. It really reminded me of games like Morrowind where you had a bit of free reign trying to figure out what to do and how to accomplish your objectives.

Probably makes sense I didn't fully understand the story if it required or relied on some cultural references.

I thought the second was the weakest, as it felt more on rails. But it was still good.

These games made me play the Metro series (the first two games). Which I also enjoyed, Even if they felt more like Dishonored.
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