S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2: Heart of Chernobyl

 You never get used to the zone

One of the things I was most happy to note during my time watching the E3 showcase was the absolute influx of Slavic games, or at least games with Slavic voices, across the presentations. I don't know exactly why this is the year that all these Slavic game developers decided to hit the scene, and I'm sort of tickled by the fact that most all of their games were in some way inspired by S.T.A.L.K.E.R, but I'm always a proponent for other cultures throwing their creative weight into the marketplace of ideas and no artistic medium, except for drawn art I suppose, is quite as good at mixing the strengths of various cultural influences as gaming is. Bring all the creativity that's unique to you into the industry and that could inspire people from across the globe to pick up that torch or incorporate parts of it into their own project, all in pursuit of this global oneness that we all aspire to.

I've seen Chernobylite steadily rocking towards the grand wrap up of it's main storyline, Atomic Heart slowly meteoring towards the wide spread attention I've said it was worth for months now and even Metro Exodus popped up in a trailer this E3 for some reason despite being over three years old now. All this shows quite clearly that our Slavic friends have the potential to be power houses in the game development world and we should be excited for their contributions. Chief among which, at least in my eyes, comes from the long waited true sequel to the hardcore shooter grandfather, S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl. A game wherein real time strategy and first person shooter elements were married into a hair-raising bloodpumping dance of death where even the most mundane of encounter could spell death for the unprepared.

What you have to understand about the sort of game that S.T.A.L.K.E.R was, is that it was aimed at shattering the notion of first person games up until that point. Until then those games were all about embodying some demi-god human who had the strength to plow through hoards of demons, or single-man rush entire enemy battalions of Nazis or heal from deadly wounds simply by standing still and catching their breath. They weren't realistic and tried their hardest to feed into the whole 'power trip' notion of the gaming ecosystem. S.T.A.L.K.E.R rejected this premise, because it's team, GSC Game World, understood the elation which came from surmounting the impossible and riding the knife's edge against all but certain death. That same sweat-drenched satisfaction that us Dark Souls fans crave, was present in the world of S.T.A.L.K.E.R and it's part of what makes that game timeless.

Thus now that the Souls franchise is considered gaming royalty, it only feels fair for S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2, now called 'Heart of Chernobyl', to resurface the beloved series for us all once again. A game which has finally landed a shot at the bigtime with Microsoft themselves seeming more than willing to back the thing for exclusivity rights. That's a long way to rise for a series that would have be considered pretty niche ten years back, and all of it is rightly deserved given the level of mirror-sheen quality we're seeing out of this game on a pure graphical level so far. What they've managed to achieve so far looks incredible, and after the most recent trailer which blessed our eyes I simply cannot wait for the full raw gameplay reveal.

Straight away this new trailer actually did show us some real gameplay for us to salivate over, however it was stylised and cut-up chunks when what I really want is a substantial ten minutes or so of uncut gameplay with everything in there so we get an idea of the pacing for a game like this, something that's sure to be important. But even then we still got a pretty good idea of how this game will play at an alpha level at the very least, as between some dialogue there were sections of actual action and even some gunplay. Honestly that was a lot more then I expected from a Microsoft conference, so Kudos to them for actually learning about what the fans want to see from games. (Now if only the rest of E3 could learn the same lesson.)

I do, however, look at the gameplay we saw as pure Alpha footage (but with a nice coat of paint slathered on there) because there was a clear whiff of 'just because it would look cool in a trailer' shown here. Watching the way that attachments for weapons are applied real time (something which Battlefield is also doing), hearing snippets of the genuinely stellar sound design and the gushing about the practically photo-realistic rendering of the building that was being sieged, there's a lot to love here. However we did clearly see several instance wherein there was obviously no enemy AI in the game, which was strange. Seeing the player stand out in the open whilst gormless soldiers stand shooting straight ahead for the mere effect of the trailer is a real big standout in a game series where a single stray bullet can take you out. I understand dressing things up for a trailer, but couldn't the trailer player have just acted as though the enemies had AI? Maybe even taken cover? I just think it's an odd way to highlight the shortcomings of your unfinished project.

We were also lucky enough to see some anomaly gameplay up on the surface of the wasteland, which carried this perfectly captured air of desolation to it that rivals Metro in it's artistry, and Metro's developers are the kings of atmosphere so that's really saying something! There was also a bit of survival horror thrown in there when a huge mind-flayer anomaly was stalking across an underground laboratory and going full slasher-movie on the player. (Something I hope carries over to when the team get around to actually coding enemies, I don't want this to just be a flashy staging for the trailer.) And finally we got one extended shot of an impassioned speech up close, highlighting both the quality of facial animations and the voice acting which, and remember that I don't speak Russian as I say this, seem actually AAA quality.

Looking at S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 compared to the original classics is honestly rather jarring in that a lot of it is almost unrecognisable. Flawless graphics, stunning setpeices, full-body motion tracking animation, it feels like a whole new world that this relatively straightforward franchise has stepped into and I'm ecstatic to see the results. The gaming landscape has gone too long without that tough-as-nails shooter to bring us back down to earth and remind everyone that we're really as the bottom of the foodchain, and I can think of no better deliverers than GSC. It's great to see you back on form, guys.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 Gameplay Teaser

 They pretend to tease us and we pretend to be excited

"Is he really doing this?" You might ask. "An entire blog on a teaser?" And though I would usually be the kind of person to say; "you know what; nah?" Recently I've found myself feeling in a peculiar mood. I've been thirsting for a proper high budget RPG experience that doesn't stem out of the usual suspects. Something that has the potential to invite new perspectives to the worn RPG formula, something that really shakes things up in terms or roleplaying and makes me see new perspectives. I've had this ever since I played Tyranny and realised what an amazing turn of the formula it is, my only gripe being that it was just a isometric RPG and we never see anything that imaginative and fully realised in a  3D adventure game space. Perhaps a month ago I would expected something of that sort to come out of a certain high profile release, but the ended up being oddly safe in most of the Role Playing categories that I was honestly most excited for. 

But this blog isn't about those other games, it's about S.T.A.L.K.E.R. And how this sequel is finally going to bring the game's to this series to the modern age. Now, as I said before I've had something of an appreciation of the original game, even if it isn't an RPG in the most traditional senses. In fact, S.T.A.L.K.E.R could be much more accurately defined as a hardcore and unforgiving shooter that makes the player work overtime for every single fight, there's not even the window dressing of stat sheets or levelling up. That being said, even the provision of inventory management, branching narratives and heavy immersion provides the exact same draw that any half-decent RPG does for me. It's an invitation to live within the walls of this harsh environment and try to survive, so I'll call S.T.A.L.K.E.R an RPG and it's sequel one of my most anticipated upcoming games.

Unfortunately, details are still exceedingly sparse for the game, to the point where I can't help but wonder if it was announced a little early and we're currently looking at Pre-Alpha mock ups rather than actual teaser gameplay. God knows it wouldn't at all be the first time that the magic of marketing has pulled their little magicians show in order to slip a few white lies past us. But giving everyone the benefit of the doubt and looking through this subtle teaser like a genuine look at the engine which will be running the final game, I will say that there certainly does appear to be influence taken from the right places. Whilst that may sound a little backhanded, it is still a compliment. S.T.A.L.K.E.R has in it's very nature a different world to many of the shooters and RPGs of today, so if it's visuals begin to resemble some of the best of it's peers, I won't call that a dark premonition just yet.

So yes, S.T.A.L.K.E.R in it's current state does look exceedingly similar to the Metro games, but this is not a bad thing. Even in it's originals, S.T.A.L.K.E.R seemed to have a good relationship with the dark and how to utilise it in order to create an off-putting environment, without drowning you in darkness so the effect wears thin. Dark tunnels would be offset by bright hillsides, and you'd feel the shift from each location to the next. Metro, on the otherhand, dealt mostly in the dark of the underground Russian Metro stations, with even the brief stints to the outside being purposefully crafted to be grey, cold and unfriendly. S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2's teaser appears to have more in common with the latter approach than the former, and honestly I think it might fit better. But perhaps I'm just saying that because I'm a big fan of Metro too, who's to say.

But just the comparison alone does make me wonder and worry about how these games might find themselves unfairly pit against each other due to their similarities. They're both set in Russia, have a post-apocalyptic flare to their world, (Although that motif is obviously much stronger in one of the series') are very grounded FPS shooters, and dabble with hints of the supernatural along side the human scavengers. In fact, at a glance I might even see these games as competitors to one another, but judging from the games I've played I think the distinction between them is actually rather important and obvious; S.T.A.L.K.E.R is much slower than Metro. That is to say, in gameplay S.T.A.L.K.E.R has always seemed to me like a game that forces tactical planning and thought-out encounters whilst Metro is more of a cinematic, yet still grounded, adventure.

Circling back to the trailer itself, I think it's fair to say that the engine on show certainly looks impressive in what it can do. Though it was perhaps just a trailer gimmick, I did make note of the way in which we actually got to see a tree fall from the wind in a manner that just wasn't possible in the year of the first game. An optimist might say this is indicative of more dynamic set-pieces from the game, but I still remember how Anthem did something very similar in its reveal gameplay, and that wasn't even a teaser, so I'll just conclude that it looks pretty for now. What is a lot easier to judge right now is the fire that we see from the trailer and this... I'll be honest it didn't blow me away. I mean the fire itself looks great, by all accounts, but the light it displayed was obviously static. None of the shadows shifted with the movement of the fire and given how much this generation of hardware should be capable of that does actually seem like a wasted opportunity. (Buy hey, early days yet.)

The in-engine gameplay teaser ends with a lot of the static objects floating into the air, a situation which should be instantly recognisable to anyone who played the original, and I'm already imagining how much more epic and terrifying those encounters will be in this new age. (Having a chair thrown in your face will easily end up the least of your worries.) So yes, it's obvious that this teaser was almost criminally sparse, with perhaps one of the most important textures of all completely omitted. (Human skin, anyone? Getting that right is one of the hardest asks of all) But given that this is literally the second tease I can't really start throwing tantrums about what we didn't see. (I just think that if the team wanted to impress everyone, that might have made a memorable final shot.)

To say that GSC Game World are playing this close to the chest is an understatement. They're treating these little reveals like an indie studio would, and part of me does love the thrill of the chase. (Whilst another part simply yearns for more content) Heck, some have claimed that S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 was only announced so that the dev team could find a publisher for the project, and if that's true then I suppose this drip feeding of teaser footage makes a little more sense. Still, I hope that the gears start turning for this franchise once more as a sprinkle of variety in the gaming community pot never does harm to whole. Maybe it'll even serve to remind Battlefield what real necessary tactical gameplay looks like. (One can hope at least.)

S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2

Who goes there?

Remember when I called this the year for surprises? No? Well neither do I specifically, but I think I said that somewhere. And it fits doesn't it; everything that could go wrong has done this year and some of us are left wondering if there's anything left worth going on for. Well I don't rightly know how to answer that but at least there are some cool games coming out in the near to far future. One such is quite surprising indeed to little old me, because I didn't think anyone remembered that old game or it's sequels. Of course, I'm talking about the S.T.A.L.K.E.R franchise, a game series dedicated to hardcore FPS experiences, the likes of which hasn't been properly realised after this series with an exception only to 'Escape from Tarkov'. (An online title which has been given the reputation of 'S.T.A.L.K.E.R's spiritual successor.') Yet despite that, afterall of these years we're finally having a real sequel announced in S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2.

Now the original, 'S.T.A.L.K.E.R Shadow of Chernobyl', purposed a scenario in which you play as a scavenger known as a 'S.T.A.L.K.E.R' who prowls the disaster-struck ruins of Chernobyl in order to find artefacts and uncover a mystery. Sounds simple enough, only there's a lot more stopping you from getting your scavving done then just the odd bout of radiation. You have various factions of hostile gunmen wandering the wastes with a shoot-on-sight policy, you have rapid animals ready and willing to chew the face off of anyone who wonders up unto their neighbourhood, traps everywhere hoping to take out your kneecaps- oh, and the horrifying mutants and deadly anomalies who defy reason as they pick you up and drag you across the map with telepathy. So in that light I suppose one could be forgiven for thinking that it all sounds a lot like Fallout.

Except it's not really like Fallout at all. For you see, whereas Fallout is a happy-go-lucky world of post apocalyptic survival and wacky commentaries on patriotism, consumerism and any other Ism that Bethesda's writing staff happen across that morning, S.T.A.L.K.E.R is dead-set on capturing the grim atmosphere of battling for survival in a land without rules. This means that, for one, their gunplay is leagues less forgiving than Fallout's, often turning a bout against 5 men into a deadly duel defined by positing, flanking and patience. On the highest difficulty, you can pretty much expect to be taken down by a couple of bullets, so tactical awareness becomes the absolute name of the game if you want to survive any length of time in the dangerous badlands known as 'The Zone'.

In place of RPG mechanics comes scavenging for ammo in a vein similar to the Metro games, however even those games a quite a bit less hardcore than the S.T.A.L.K.E.R games. (Though they are a lot more immersive, I'll never take that crown away from Metro.) Survivors will be required to pick ammo off of corpses, gauge the times to fight with the times to run and make use of rudimentary stealth mechanics if they want to get to the heart of The Zone. It really captures this almost Souls-ian vibe of being at the absolute bottom of the foodchain at all times, making each encounter stand out as a thrilling, hair-raising struggle for every inch of ground. All this was achieved by a game from 2007 which, and I'm being as fair as I can here, looks like total ass in today's world. Look past those graphics and somewhat clunky controls and you'd find a surprisingly solid survival game here that puts a lot of what the genre is today to shame. They didn't need any food or water systems to dictate the survival, just a hyper focus on the gameplay to a brutal degree. (There was a hunger system, but it was in the background, instead of the forefront.)

The legacy of the hardcore shooter game has become lost and diluted in the recent years of FPS', as everyone's tricked themselves into thinking that COD's arcadey shooting is the height of haptic fidelity, or that Battlefield's slower combat somehow makes it the arbiter of tactical planning. Where these games all fall short, however, is in that moment-to-moment feeling of being perpetually outmatched by your environment and one stray bullet away from death at anytime. As I mentioned before, only the online shooter 'Escape from Tarkov' seems to get the memo, and that's literally made by folk who were inspired by this game and at least two devs who worked on it. So not only has S.T.A.L.K.E.R been denied the widespread acclaim and recognition it deserves, but only a handful of people really even respect it's legacy. What a sad state of affairs.

The revival of the franchise, sporting just the name 2, was heralded with a suitably macabre, but frustratingly vague reveal trailer. Yes, it's amazing to know that S.T.A.L.K.E.R is back, but I want just the briefest of glimpses as to what that'll look like. Judging by the way that the newest game doesn't even have a prospective launch window, however, I think it's fair to assume that this new game might not be too far along in development. Hell, they might have just been cleared to make it the week previously, there doesn't even appear to be any in-game screenshots circulating around the web, just concept art. All the know is thus, that the game is going to be set in an open world, which does change things up for the franchise a little as they've always operated in open hubs up until now. But, not to be ungrateful, thus is expected in today's day-and-age, and I'd much rather hear about the ways that S.T.A.L.K.E.R intends to evolve in order to meet the demands of today's survival market, because I worry.

If I'm being brutally honest with myself, and I feel I must, then I have to admit that I think it's inevitable that this new S.T.A.L.K.E.R, especially with it's open world tag, will probably feature some sort of crafting mechanic. Previous games have alluded to the way that the Zone and it's uniquely mutated creatures can be used to sustain itself, but the player has never been able to really take advantage of that, as crafting is now a dime-a-dozen in every game it only makes sense for this one to get in on the action. (Although, I really must stress that Crafting is hard to get right and oh-so-easy to make feel like a redundant, tacked-on mess.) On a more positive note, however, the new game with it's new engine and open world setting could allow for the addition of cool new systems like dynamic weather effects and other little features that can help bridge that gap with the brutal realism we've come to love this franchise for.

At the end of the day, there's precious little to really talk about in regards to S.T.A.L.K.E.R, and that does frustrate me just a little. (Even more than the fact that this game is labelled 2 despite being the 4th in the franchise.) Yet in that same vein I must admit it's the mystery of these games and the worlds they contain which makes up for a lot of the allure, so I'm a fellow of two minds right now. We could have done with a release window, though. (Just tell us if we should be waiting 2 years or 5.) I'm glad to see Mircosoft giving this series it's due with an official reveal at their event, and I wonder if they'll be willing to ramp up on this admittedly niche title once development starts wrapping up. (You need these sorts of games, Mircosoft, don't leave them to the wayside!) Most of all, I'm just happy to see this franchise still kicking after all these years, I need something to replace the Fallout-shaped hole in my heart afterall...