STALKER 2 is back in development and is scheduled to release in 2021. GSC Games World has announced that they will create an official sequel to their critically acclaimed first game, which was released all the way back in 2007.
The original STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl, was a groundbreaking first-person shooter survival horror game with RPG elements blended in. The game was based in Ukraine in an alternative reality where a second nuclear meltdown happens at the power plant. In the game you play as a “stalker”, that illegally explores the “Zone” and scavenges artifacts. The “Zone” is the area around the Chernobyl power plant that has been affected the harshest by the nuclear meltdown. The game is very loosely based on the novel Roadside Picnic.
The original game was critically acclaimed and gained praise for it’s nonlinear gameplay, bleak and terrifying locations, and realistic conversations. The game is by many still considered a classic, and is often recommended to players who are looking for original RPGs or games similar to Fallout. Despite role-playing not being the main draw of the game, the RPG aspects included are fine-tuned to perfection, and have left many RPG fans extremely satisfied.
STALKER 2 was originally announced in August 2010, but the development stopped when Sergiy Grygorovych, the founder of GSC Games World, unexpectedly closed the company. The reasons on why he closed the company are still unknown, but he reopened in 2015. Very little is known about the new STALKER 2 game, except for the release date. GSC Games World has created an official website, but there is hardly any information on it.
Despite the lack of information it’s exciting that a STALKER 2 is in development. If the game can be as brilliant as the first one is a question left unanswered for now. Since most of the developers of the original game moved on to different studios after GSC Games World shut down, the sequel might lose the passionate touch that made the first one as legendary as it is.
