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Sticking the landing with a sequel is tricky, doubly so for a game as long in the making and with such a nightmarish development as Stalker 2. GSC Game World’s survival FPS will arrive 15 years after 2009’s Call of Pripyat, a game that still haunts my dreams. The sequel was announced in 2010, canceled in 2012, and resurrected in its current form in 2018. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine led to further delays as GSC faced the most challenging circumstances any creatives could likely imagine. Now, with launch mere days away, the developer has had years to reflect on the original trilogy, but lead producer Slava Lukyanenka stresses that Stalker 2 is its own beast.
Before I even sit down in a cozy meeting room in GSC’s lavish Prague studio, I’m already reminded of the hype and sky-high expectations for Stalker 2. A whistle-stop tour whisks me through the developer’s world, from employees hunkering to refine the most minute of audio details to the UI team tweaking every facet of text. There’s a tangible reverence for the first three games, as posters and memorabilia paint a celebratory picture. While the Stalker series hasn’t been in the limelight for some time, its dedicated fan base has ensured its legacy alongside the best FPS games on PC.
Lukyanenka reflects on working on Stalker 2, saying that for “several years, the level of anxiety, it’s increasing constantly.” Stalker games are known for their unnerving atmosphere and brutal, uncompromising design. They have a legendary reputation in the PC gaming space, but Lukyanenka knows that Stalker 2 can’t rest on the trilogy’s laurels, saying “we’re not just trying to marry [it with] new references, new cool tech.”
Yet Stalker 2 still glistens with a refined sheen, balancing rural beauty with otherworldly horror in painstaking fidelity. The original trilogy is full of moments of cold-blooded terror of the type that scrapes away under your skin. My Stalker 2 preview makes it clear that GSC has achieved this once again.
“We took the trilogy [and thought] how can we keep the essence of what there was? What should we do to make it more modern?”, Lukyanenka explains. The originals aren’t the be-all, end-all, though; GSC is looking to them to “boost” Stalker 2’s own sense of identity.
Given the sequel’s protracted development, I ask how it feels to finally see players go hands-on with it. “Every time that someone is playing Stalker 2, in most cases, it either makes me determined to fix something or makes me excited to find that it can be played ‘this’ way,” he shares.
I too felt Stalker 2’s enormous sense of freedom during my three hours with it. I could approach most situations however I wanted, be it tactically or otherwise. Any intrusive idea lurking in my brain would inevitably lead to surprising outcomes, though Stalker 2 is just as likely to mess with you as you are with it. It has a grim sense of humor in that way, with its systems primed to upend your expectations at any moment.
Lukyanenka explains that the “zone keeps living. It’s alive. It’s not just [full of] empty ways to end with nothing and no one.” Cultivating a mounting unease in otherwise idyllic landscapes is often integral to Stalker 2’s most powerful moments. “The beauty of nature is one part of the visual style of the Zone, which has never been that great in the original trilogy, but it has to be [in Stalker 2] to show you the feeling of the dangers, and of the loneliness,” Lukyanenka adds.
With that comes the friction the Stalker series is known for. I felt Stalker 2 was even more punishing than its predecessors. You die fast, you’re in almost constant danger, and minor mistakes can snowball into full-blown disasters. “It will not be forgiving. Assuming that not everyone is a huge fan of being challenged all the time, we’re still keeping the easy mode, which allows the audience to see it through the eyes of a close-to-invulnerable stalker,” he clarifies.
We’re just days away from the Stalker 2 release date now, but GSC is already looking towards the game’s future. Pre-ordering the ultimate edition grants access to the season pass, which features two confirmed post-story DLC packs. “We have four endings. One of them will definitely be canon for future DLCs and future titles in the franchise,” he teases.
Before my interview comes to a close, he passionately says that the studio “is counting days till the moment we see many players will be able to play it. We want to start this journey of Stalker 2 with you because that’s not the end for us. That’s the beginning.”
You can get a headstart by checking out our lists of the known Stalker 2 weapons and Stalker 2 anomalies before launch on November 20.