Stalker 2 is a beefy game, which means its main story is a long and winding road even if you’re not engaging with its optional content much. And though that main story certainly does take its time to really get going, by the time it is approaching its conclusion, there’s little doubt left that thins have well and truly kicked into gear, and that the stakes are enormously high. Of course, like its predecessors, Stalker 2 is also a game that tells its story collaboratively with the players, so the way it ends is very much in your hands.
The game features four different endings, and which of the four you get is dependent on what choices you’re making at specific critical junctures, which in turn also determines not only how a number of key conflicts are resolved and what the fates of several pivotal characters are, but also things as large scale as the fate of the Zone itself, and how (or if) it affects the outside world at large. So yeah, it’s safe to say that by the time Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl comes to a close, things have changed in momentous fashion one way or another.
The first of Stalker 2’s endings is one that sees players tightly aligned with Strelok, a legendary Stalker who fans of the series will obviously be very familiar with. Strelok was the protagonist of the series’ very first game, and is perhaps more familiar with the Zone, its ins and outs, and its secrets than anyone else out there. Of course, that means he knows perfectly well how much of a threat the Zone is to the world, which means his goal now is to ensure that it is kept absolutely contained and isolated. Strelok’s ending sees him stepping into a pod that the eighth member of the former C-Consciousness was once supposed to enter. The C-Consciousness, for those who don’t remember, is the digital hivemind of scientists that created and once oversaw the Zone, before its destruction (at the hands of Strelok) at the end of the first game. The legendary Stalker (and a former ally of Strelok’s) known as the Doctor, aka Dr. Kaymanov, was that scientist who was originally supposed to enter that pod, but refused to.
Entering that pod now will allow the person to become a link of sorts between the noosphere and the Zone, and Strelok’s ending sees him stepping into the pod. In the aftermath, Strelok becomes in charge of the Monolith faction, and completely seals the Zone up, so that no one can enter or exit it whatsoever, no exceptions. His reasoning is that without any interference from the outside world, the Zone will be able to eventually get back to functioning the way it is supposed to (once the conflicts within it have sorted themselves out, at least). Essentially, this ending sees the status quo reverted (more or less) to the beginning of Stalker 1, with the Zone isolated from the rest of the world and Monolith viciously fighting to keep things that way.
The second ending sees protagonist Skif siding with Scar, another familiar character- the protagonist of the series’ second instalment, who, by the time of Stalker 2’s events several years later, has now become the leader of the Spark faction. As we learn throughout the events of the game, Spark and Scar’s ultimate goal is to unveil the existence of the Shining Zone, a secret side of the Zone that they believe to be an idyllic side of the Zone full of light and life, as opposed to the dark, irradiated, poisonous, and deadly Zone that everyone knows and… well, “loves” doesn’t quite fit, perhaps, but they sure know it.
This ending sees Scar stepping into the pod, following which Skif walks out into a gorgeous and vibrant landscape outside- the Shining Zone, revealed at last, just as Scar wanted it. This ending sees Scar sitting down at a campfire and sharing a hearty, final conversation with allies and companions that he’s gotten to know over the course of his time in the Zone- only for the game to pull the rug out from under you at the last moment and reveal that the Shining Zone is an elaborate hallucinatory dream that Skif is stuck in, while actually continuing to exist in the dark, dead Zone.
The third ending sees Skif allied with the Ukraine government backed paramilitary faction known as the Ward. In this ending, Colonel Korshunov enters the pod, and brings about drastic changes. The Zone and all of its anomalous effects are destroyed, and SIRCAA has taken full control of everything that remains in its absence. Skif has been promised whatever reward he wants (he probably wants a new home for himself, for obvious reasons), but as the game concludes, the implication is that SIRCAA is very much in control, and seemingly using the C-Consciousness’ methods to not only keep a watch on everyone in mass numbers, but also to potentially control people forcefully. What that means for the world is left wide open- but it can’t be anything good.
Finally, Stalker 2’s fourth ending is one that sees Skif allying with the aforementioned Dr. Kaymanov. A certain point in the game sees Skif deciding whether to kill the Doctor at Strelok’s behest or not. Deciding not to sees you moving into the Doctor’s ending, which reveals that it was Kaymanov who caused the second Chornobyl disaster in 2006 and the creation of the Zone itself. In this ending, after the Doctor perishes in an Emission, Skif is the one who enters the pod himself, following which he chooses to cede control to the Zone. What follows is a worldwide expansion of the Zone, which sees more anomalous Zones popping up all over the world. Meanwhile, it is also revealed that the Doctor is still alive, and that he was actually former Staker Faust – whom Skif had supposedly killed earlier – all along. When Faust made that switch and adopted the Doctor’s persona is left up in the air.
Stalker 2 is of course set to receive two expansions, while one would assume that GSC Game World also intends to make more Stalker games in the future. Which of the game’s four endings will they be set after, however (assuming, of course, that the expansions will be set after the events of the ending, rather than as addendums to the main story itself). For our money, the Strelok and Kaymanov endings are the likeliest candidates for being the canon ones, though the latter is probably the one that would be the more interesting one, since it would allow the series to maybe even expand into entirely new anomalous Zones rather than the Chornobyl one we’ve explored across four different games.
What’s beyond any doubt, of course, is the fact that there’s a lot of different directions that the Stalker series can take as it heads into the future from this point forward. From arcs and plotlines within Stalker 2 itself that can be fleshed out and explained more, to new questions that are created by the endings (depending on which of them you get), there’s plenty that the series can dive into the future.
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