On November 20, the long-awaited S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl from the Ukrainian studio GSC Game World is finally getting its official release. AIN summarizes everything you need to know about the game, from system requirements and pricing to the development story.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl was first announced in 2010. It will be the fourth game in the series and the first to be released directly on game consoles. The game was announced after the release of Call of Pripyat, which was planned for 2012, but was canceled a year before. In 2018 the game was announced again. Following years of development, the game was supposed to be released on September 5, but the release was postponed to November 20.
The release is planned exclusively for the new generation of consoles from Microsoft — Xbox Series X/S, as well as Windows.
When is S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl out?
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- New York: November 20, 2024 at 11:00
- Seattle: November 20, 2024 at 8:00
- Sao Paulo: November 20, 2024 at 13:00
- London: 20 November 2024 at 16:00
- Prague: November 20, 2024 at 17:00
- Kyiv: November 20, 2024 at 18:00
- Beijing: November 21, 2024 at 12:00
- Tokyo: November 21, 2024 at 1:00
- Oakland: November 21, 2024 at 5:00
- Sydney: November 21, 2024 at 3:00
When will we see the first reviews of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl?
One of the editors of Insider Gaming Media under the nickname @Nukov_ reported in his X that reviews of the game were allowed to be published two hours before its release (at 16:00 Kyiv time).
In general, social media users reacted differently to such a "late" lifting of the embargo. On the one hand, it could indicate that the game is still raw and buggy, so people will have less time to return their pre-orders. On the other hand, this is normal practice, and players will still have two hours to return their purchases if the reviews are reasonable.
Such a "late" lifting of the embargo on posting reviews could also be chosen to prevent artificial review bombing and feedback from russians, who have a history of such a practice.
Meanwhile, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl has already taken the first place in terms of sales on Steam among paid games and the second place in the overall list, where the championship has been held by the free Counter-Strike 2 for 640 weeks in a row. And the first batch of physical copies of the game was almost sold out, so the studio wants to make another batch to meet demand.
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In which languages will the game be available?
Full localization of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 (sound, text, and subtitles) will be available in Ukrainian and English only. Text and subtitles will be available in the following languages: French, Italian, German, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Arabic, Czech, Spanish, Turkish, Serbian.
Where to buy S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl and how much it costs
You can buy S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 on Steam, Xbox, MS Store, Epic Store, and GOG.COM.
What is the difference between the Standard, Digital and Ultimate editions of Stalker?
The Standard Digital Edition gives you full access to the game and includes a number of exclusive pre-order bonuses and content exclusive to the Steam platform: a dynamic theme, an animated avatar and a frame that makes a true Stalker stand out from the crowd.
The Digital Deluxe Edition offers full access to the game, including an exclusive side mission, a set of exclusive pre-order bonuses and exclusive content for the Steam platform, a digital art book, the game's soundtrack, character skins and weapons for single and multiplayer.
The Digital ULTIMATE Edition includes access to the full game, all digital bonuses from other editions, two story expansions as they are released, and the full Season Pass.
How much does S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl cost?
The price point varies in different regions. For example, in the United States the price of the Standard Digital Edition is priced at $59.99. Deluxe Edition is $79.99, and Ultimate Edition is $109.99.
Minimum PC system requirements
Operating system: Windows 10 x64 / Windows 11 x64
Processor: Intel Core i7-7700K / AMD Ryzen 5 1600X
RAM: 16 GB OP
Video card: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 6GB / AMD Radeon RX 580 8GB / Intel Arc A750
Disk space: 160 GB available space
Additional Notes: Graphics Preset: LOW / Resolution: 1080p / Target FPS: 30. 16 GB Dual Channel RAM. SSD required. The above specifications were tested with TSR, DLSS, FSR and XeSS.
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What can players expect from S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl
- Over 100 hours of gameplay, including completing all tasks and exploring the Zone.
- Three ending for the finale. The developers talked about the fact that one playthrough is not enough to learn everything.
- The vast world of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, known as the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, consists of 20 regions with their own architecture, inhabitants, anomalies and nature.
- The developers promise a minimum of restrictions, giving the player complete freedom, the purpose of which is to create an atmosphere of loneliness, fear and boundlessness.
- The main part of the presentation was devoted to the completion of one of the quests in the location "Velyki Bolota", a former settlement that is now a refuge for dangerous creatures. Here the player will have to pass pseudo-dogs with a pack of his phantoms to reach the Clear Sky base.
- GSC emphasizes the non-linearity of the game, noting that it is impossible to see all the content and all the characters in one playthrough. The player's choices will affect the plot, quests, and encounters.
- There will be a total of 35 upgradeable weapons in the game. Enemies will include zombies, pseudo-dogs, and mutant pigs.
- In addition to fighting for survival, players will have to monitor hunger, fatigue and the weight of their equipment.
More about the development of the game
- The game was developed during the pandemic and after the fullscale russian invasion of Ukraine. Since the beginning of the fullscale war, the studio and its owners have maintained a basically pro-Ukrainian position, they donated to the army, and in the summer of 2022 they announced that they will remove the russian voicing from the game. It will also be unavailable to players from russia and belarus.
- In March 2023, russian gamers blackmailed the studio and later published 15 GB of leaked content: design documents, art books, concepts, works and, according to the russians, the plot of the game. In June 2023, they began distributing a stolen build of the game that hadn't even been released yet.
- The Ukrainian studio continues to work despite various difficulties, such as the demise of one of its developers Volodymyr Yezhov and a fire outbreak in the Czech office.
On October 3rd, a documentary was released by GSC Game World, which told about the creation of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl under the conditions of the fullscale russian invasion of Ukraine.
The film is 90 minutes long and shares the memories of the workers about the development of the second part of the cult classics under the threat of war. It focuses on the personal stories of creative director Maria Hryhorovych and her team, who live in Ukraine. Maria said that it was "scary" to accept Xbox's offer to make such a movie, but she believes that it is important to share with the world "how difficult it is to live during wartime".
