S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl Gameplay Walkthrough Showcases Anomalies, Enemies, Weapons, and More

GSC Game World recently promised its most extensive deep dive into the highly anticipated S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 yet, and the developer has delivered on that with a meaty look at the open world shooter. In addition to revealing new details on the game’s open world, its emphasis on player choice, and more, the deep dive also showcases an entire mission from the game. 

The Chornobyl Exclusion Zone in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. universe isn’t exactly a holiday destination, to say the very least, and the demo showcases that in action. The mission in question tasks protagonist Skif – who’s described as a quiet yet complicated personality – with turning off several beacons scattered throughout a swamp area (which fans of the original trilogy will find familiar) in order to gain access to a key location. 

In doing so, Skif comes across a variety of different threats. There are, of course, plenty of different anomalies that players will encounter in the game, from explosive fire fields and mini-tornadoes that appear abruptly to even ones that can be helpful in certain situation, like an anomaly that eliminates fall damage in its area-of-effect.

Other than anomalies, there are, of course, also plenty of different enemy types that you will encounter That includes the likes of psuedodogs, who come accompanied with phantasmal clones of themselves that are indistinguishable from the real thing; zombies, who will keep coming back to life unless you killed them with a bullet to the head; the Controller, an enemy that deals psi radiation with each hit; nd other, special enemies like one Bayun the Cat, who imitates stalkers in distress and in need of help to lure in unsuspecting prey. 

Similar variety can be found in weapons as well, with the game set to boast 35 different weapon types. There will, however, also be plenty of upgrades to unlock, modifications to attach, and the like, which means the same weapon in the hands of two different players can end up functioning very differently as well. 

Plenty else is discussed in the deep dive as well, such as different enemy factions and how they will behave, dynamic lightning strikes and weather effects, improvements made to enemy AI, approach to difficulty, and more. Check out the full deep dive below. 

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl was recently delayed from its September release, and is now due out on November 20 for Xbox Series X/S and PC. Stay tuned for more details on the game during Gamescom next week.