GSC Game World provided a small slice of the upcoming S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game.

In the one-minute video, we can see pretty harsh lighting, featuring our protagonist, walking through a ruined building with heavily unnatural weather – however, since we are in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (and Pripyat, to be exact), it’s natural to see unnatural events (even if that sounds like a paradox). Our hero, Skif, is joined by crackling fire and guitar (which is a key part of the series’ world – the Slavic people tends to spend the peaceful moments at a campfire with some drinks here), but the light turns red, our protagonist pulls out a GPS-like machine (presumably an anomaly detector), only to be interrupted by the objects suddenly flying.

GSC Game World calls this video an „official in-engine gameplay teaser,” which features barely any gameplay. However, they added that this is „how the game feels: fast-paced change of scenery, ominous landscapes and the ever-present feeling of an inevitable danger accompanied by a barely-distinguishable guitar soundtrack.” The usage of Unreal Engine 4 (unless they switch to Unreal Engine 5, which should launch by the end of the year) should get rid of many bugs. The location seems to be Pripyat purely because of several pre-fab apartment blocks being visible in the background, and those small skyscrapers continue to be part of the scenery in many Central and Eastern European cities.

„S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is a unique blend of first-person shooter, immersive sim, and horror with a thick atmosphere. One of the biggest open-worlds to date is yours to explore—along with an epic branching story with multiple endings. The game will feature an epic, non-linear story. Your choices will influence both short-term consequences and global outcomes,” the game’s website claims.

The game is in development for Xbox Series and PC (with it planned to launch this year, also on the Game Pass), and we suspect that Microsoft will acquire the studio…

Source: PCGamer, Gematsu