There’s a case to be made that Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl has endured the most turbulent development of any video game yet created. In the last four years alone, developer GSC Game World has weathered a pandemic, a war that still rages in the studio’s native Ukraine, countless cyberattacks and leaked builds, and even a fire that gutted the server room of the studio’s Prague office.
Stalker 2: Heart of ChornobylDeveloper: GSC Game WorldPublisher: GSC Game WorldAvailability: 20th November Platforms: PC, Xbox Series X/S
But Stalker 2 also faced its fair share of troubles the dividing line of Covid-19. Originally announced way back in 2010, Stalker 2 was supposed to launch two years later, but that project slowly collapsed under circumstances that remain controversial, ultimately resulting in the dissolution of GSC Game World. GSC was revived in 2014, its first project a reignition of the Cossacks series. Stalker 2 was reannounced four years later, designed by a mostly new team, with the studio’s founder, Sergiy Grygorovych, having largely retired from game development.
22 Things You Need To Know About STALKER 2 – Gameplay, Enemies, & New Anomalies – STALKER 2 GAMEPLAY Watch on YouTube
All of which is vital context for understanding Stalker 2’s development. But it also begs the question – what is the game that has emerged from all of this? How much does this Stalker 2 relate to that initial project from fourteen years ago? Does it achieve the series’ long-frustrated ambition of delivering a truly open world survival shooter? And what, if anything, can Stalker 2 bring to the open world experience at a time when the genre has arguably seen its heyday?