S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl

[Butter]

I was under the impression they had already made at least 3 Stalker games.

 

[fantadomat]

More or less,still this the official stalker 2.

 

[Zariusz]

Noice.

 

[Stavrophore]

The Xcock logo is troubling.

 

[sullynathan]

Why are you guys acting like STALKER wasn't open world? Did Chernobyl stop being open world because it had 3 loading screens between 3 zones? Did the Witcher 3?

 

[Twiglard]

https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2020/07/23/stalker-2-is-coming-to-xbox-series-x/amp/

From TFA:

Both monsters and factions that inhabit the Zone are constantly interacting with each other. The previous S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games introduced A-Life — a living world simulating system. The reimagined version of this system, which we call A-Life 2.0, will control the state of the world and the behavior of characters and mutants, making the Zone ever-changing and truly alive. Countless events and encounters will happen every moment — even if you are not around to witness them with your own eyes.

Switching from "oh the pain" to "maybe not all is lost" mode.

 

[Twiglard]

Why are you guys acting like STALKER wasn't open world? Did Chernobyl stop being open world because it had 3 loading screens between 3 zones?

1. It wasn't an amusement park which "open-world" games inevitably are.
2. Things didn't actually happen the same if you weren't there. This is more significant with A-Life-heavy mods.

 

[Wunderbar]

https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads/s-t-a-l-k-e-r-2-is-confirmed.121861/

 

[fantadomat]

https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads/s-t-a-l-k-e-r-2-is-confirmed.121861/

Stalker is RPG,have no place in the general gaming!

 

[Sinatar]

https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads/s-t-a-l-k-e-r-2-is-confirmed.121861/

Stalker is RPG,have no place in the general gaming!

No stats, no skills, no character sheet, no character progression. It's not an RPG by any stretch of the imagination.

If having an inventory classifies it as an RPG then shit like Resident Evil is an RPG too.

 

[RhodokMasterRaceOfficial]

It's not an RPG by any stretch of the imagination.

But what is an RPG, really?

 

[I'm Big Into Anal]

xbox exclusive

then PC

what would geralt/superman/chadnerd make of this?

 

[Lilura]

Belongs in General Gaming, but I vote Retardo.

 

[undecaf]

This game has been coming too long.

No chance it’ll ever match Shadow of Chernobyl in mood or feel. Not with todays overly polished shooter gameplay that lacks all edge and grit.

But I suppose there’s enough cause to be very cautiously optimistic.

 

[distant]

Cautiously optimistic for this, lack of easy modding is a bummer but hopefully under Microsoft there will be some quality control so that it doesn't come out broken (working under a new engine). I think they are calling it open world to reinforce the fact that it's going to be faithful to the originals as opposed to the linear corridors of Metro? Not sure how that's cause for concern.

The foundation is already there, just release another STALKER game that's faithful to the original series and it's gonna be awesome.

 

[Hellion]

Trust the Slavs. They know their Post-Apocalypse.

 

[vortex]

xbox exclusive
then PC
what would geralt/superman/chadnerd make of this?

 

[JDR13]

I already played this. It was pretty good.

 

[EldarEldrad]

Stalker is RPG,have no place in the general gaming!

What kind of retarded dumbfuck are you? Stalker is not an RPG by any means, even developers in their russian-speaking interviews said it is shooter with only minor RPG elements (RPG-7 elements specifically).

 

[cretin]

Why are you guys acting like STALKER wasn't open world? Did Chernobyl stop being open world because it had 3 loading screens between 3 zones? Did the Witcher 3?

yes thats an accurate comparison for sure. SoC has ~16 maps, many of them having both literal physical barriers and magical death barriers to prevent you from just going anywhere you want, and the witcher 3, has just 3 maps where you can traverse upwards of 90% of the gameworld with next to no barriers, definitely the same thing.

SoC isnt open world. Neither is COP. This most accurately called a hub based design, and shares far more in common with something like Deus Ex than it does an actual open world game like GTA, twitcher or skyrim.

 

[Konjad]

I loved Shadow of Chernobyl, but it was only a shadow of Oblivion lost. The amount of not delivered promises was more than any other in games. Huge open world, very intelligent AI and a decent vehicles (at the time it was really new, only ArmA 3 delivered it in a shooter) were one of the largest disappointments (world divided into small parts, AI was meh, and no vehicles at all).

Therefore I shall hold my horses before being hyped for Stalker 2. Especially since the other two stalker games were meh.

The technology and maybe their skill wasnt there at the time. They indeed wanted to make the game to end all games. The ultimate game. But it wasnt feasible at the time and in a reasonable timeframe. Stuff had to be cut, otherwise the game would never have come out. They were shooting for the moon, but the tech, manpower or money wasnt there. Its not a reason to be dissapointed. The trilogy is one of the crowning achievements in pc gaming. The other 2 games werent meh. Pripyat is a beacon of gamedesign in a sea of shit. Its so exceptional that when you look at it, nearly every complaint people have for modern open worlds is resolved in Call of Pripyat. From traversal to world layout, to activities.

The single greatest issue with this Stalker 2 here is its a multiplatform game. A game with gameplay designed for 2 sticks and four face buttons. With layers over layers of assists in every category. The simple fact that its a console game dooms it from the start

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the first STALKER and it is one of the most memorable FPS games I've ever played up to this day. However, it's mostly due to the atmosphere and story. The gameplaywise too much was cut though, and shooting mechanics were just okay. My issue is that they hyped it so much and then not delivered that stuff at all. Hence I'm not going to get hyped for Stalker 2 as I predict they will promise more than they deliver once again.

 

[Cassar]

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the first STALKER and it is one of the most memorable FPS games I've ever played up to this day. However, it's mostly due to the atmosphere and story. The gameplaywise too much was cut though, and shooting mechanics were just okay. My issue is that they hyped it so much and then not delivered that stuff at all. Hence I'm not going to get hyped for Stalker 2 as I predict they will promise more than they deliver once again.

i feel you, i feel you. I actually followed the development of this game since 2002 when they announced it for a 2003 release date. I was lucky in a way that a local pc gaming magazine was so enthralled by the game's ambitions and promises that they were doing multi page previews every single year since 2002 until 2007. Sometimes two previews in a single year. They were fascinated by the games ambitions and so was i by reading their indepth articles over the years.

The game was supposed to be this huge single area, the Zone. 120 other stalkers would actually compete with you the player in objectives and missions. There would be 4 vehicles, that would require maintenance, fuel, repairs. The A-Life would govern every creature in the game, which will have behaviour routines, they would fight for territory. And so on.

Thing is, they wanted to do too much. Even with the cuts, i disagree that the gameplay was too cut. Its to this day one of the most complex and engrossing experiences. It has more features in gameplay than almost any other FPS. Just looking at the weapon characteristics - its miles ahead of other games today.

Like i said, the problem with Stalker 2 is that its a console game. Its never gonna be as feature rich as the old games. Its gonna be the usual automation and assists every game has today.

You can read this article if you wanna know in a bit more detail how hard it was for Stalker to come out

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2018-07-28-dean-sharpe-sent-to-save-stalker

 

[Konjad]

You can read this article if you wanna know in a bit more detail how hard it was for Stalker to come out

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2018-07-28-dean-sharpe-sent-to-save-stalker

I was following STALKER Oblivion Lost from the first announcement as well, reading every bit of news up to a release date. I doubt this link will give me any new information then.

 

[jaydee2k]

hnnng this trailer is playing with my feelings.... Please don't let me down, I couldn't take it...

 

[Ialda]

"The trailer demonstrates the level of graphics and atmosphere we are aiming to achieve on release"

Please don't do that to me, GSC.

 

[agentorange]

will be shit

 

[Ol' Willy]

Well, always take GSC promises with a grain of sand. Remember how much was promised for SoC and how much was cut?