Highly anticipated S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is about to offer multiple endings to its branching single-player story. The game was officially revealed back in 2018 in order to appeal to the gaming audience and attract potential investors.
The official announcement of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 took the gaming community by surprise. The original trilogy of survival horror games by GSC GameWorld had a cult status among devoted fans, but although everyone was secretly hoping for a proper continuation, no one really believed it would ever happen. Interestingly, the 2018 announcement of the game was primarily made so that GSC could find investors to fund the development process. Back then, the game was still on a design document stage, but full production launched shortly after that. Fast forward to 2021, and the community is already enjoying gameplay videos.
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In the recent episode of a Russian podcast funnily called “Not bribed” and translated by Gamingsym, GSC’s PR Specialist Zakhar Bocharov shed light on some of the details regarding S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2’s story and modding system. Cultivating the ideas established in the original games, the sequel will offer a branching non-linear single-player campaign, which will lead to a huge number of different endings determined by player’s actions and decisions. On top of that, the franchise’s signature life simulation system A-life is getting a major boost to offer independent and believable fauna. Additionally, the game is being developed to include a mod support system on release for PC, while mods for Xbox are still being considered. Unfortunately, Bocharov hasn’t gone into any specific details as the development team signed an NDA with the game’s publisher, Microsoft. Basically, GSC can’t reveal too much about the upcoming new entry in the iconic franchise without violating the agreement.
Almost two months ago, in mid-January, GSC shared a new gameplay teaser of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, offering a slice of in-game footage and introducing the game’s original protagonist, Skif. Continuing the previous titles’ tradition, the upcoming sequel will feature a brand new leading character rather than bring back one of the older ones. The video also highlighted the game’s disturbing post-apocalyptic atmosphere in the area surrounding the notorious Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
Although S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is expected to launch this year, there isn’t much information detailing the game. Microsoft’s involvement as a publisher pretty much secures the fact that the title will indeed see the light of day, but the radio silence doesn’t do much to help build anticipation. The latest tiny slice of info regarding the sequel’s branching story is definitely not enough to make a clear impression of the game’s campaign, but hopefully, upcoming gaming events by Microsoft will tell fans more about S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is scheduled to release on PC and Xbox Series X|S on an unspecified date in 2021.
Source: “Not bribed” podcast (via Gamingsym)
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