Take a Look at S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl Game World

GSC Game World, the developers of the highly anticipated S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, held a 35-minute presentation about creating the game world. The video featured S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2. developers, including the Creative Director, the Game Director and the Studio Executive, the Level Art Lead at GSC Game World, and the Cinematics Team Lead.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is a huge, seamless open world involving 20 regions, each with its own residents, architecture, anomalies, and even nature. As stated by the developers, many of the regions could be a separate game.

The game world was created based on the real Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, described by the developers as scary, dead, and dangerous, with a unique story added. The creators aimed to convey the feelings of freedom, loneliness, and anxiety in the gameplay. In most cases, the player is free to explore game locations, most of which are real prototypes. Some locations were implemented almost intact, and some have been redesigned. To complete this, the game creators studied plenty of references of real places. This resulted in an unusual and original combination of settings based on the real world.

The game world is vast and open to exploration. The players will not be able to see all content within one walkthrough. The Zone opens from the unique side depending on the path chosen by the player. Players can even only explore the game world and find new equipment and weapons, which include 35 varieties, instead of following the storyline.

The presentation also featured a walkthrough of one of the quests—the Swamps area, where the player is first attacked by the Blind Dogs and then by the Pseudodog. The players also need to keep an eye on the condition of the main character, Skif, and make sure he's not hungry or lacks sleep, as this makes his performance less efficient. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 also features some locations that were unavailable in the original trilogy.

The game creators also discussed the production of the cutscenes. They were created using motion capture technology, contributing to the impression of realism while playing the game.

At the end of the presentation, the creators stressed that it was "teamwork and cooperation of real talents and professionals in the respective fields" that made the development of the game possible. 

Watch the full presentation here and join our 80 Level Talent platform and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, and Reddit, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.