On Wednesday, we reported that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl now has a release date time frame for the first quarter of 2024, which is pushed back from the planned release of late 2023. Today, we got the first gameplay trailer in several months for the upcoming post-apocalypse first-person shooter sequel.
The trailer, titled "Bolts & Bullets", shows some action-packed gameplay, as our unseen player character explores the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, which is packed with weird time and space anomaly that can transport mutants to attack you, or destroy you if you happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.
The trailer also shows off the excellent visuals of the game, due in part to the use of Unreal Engine 5. We get a quick glimpse of the game"s inventory system, and also a couple of brief looks at two of the game"s mutant creatures, including one that looks like a brain with legs.
Ukraine-based developer GSC GameWorld released this new trailer on the same day its country celebrates its own Independence Day. We don"t think that"s a coincidence.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 has definitely had a troubled development period since it was first announced a number of years ago. It actually got canceled once, then was revived in 2018.
At one point, it was supposed to be released in April 2022. Then it got pushed back to December of that year. Then Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022, and that caused the game"s development to be paused for a number of months. The developer has also been dealing with hackers who have been leaking screenshots and more content from the game.
This week at Gamescom, a demo of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 was included at Microsoft"s Xbox booth for anyone attending to play. The game will launch for the PC and Xbox Series X/S, and will also be a day one Game Pass title.