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S.T.A.L.E.R 2 New Screenshots and Information Released

Draugoth

Draugoth

Gold Member



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STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl makes a hell of a first impression – the opening moments see your player-character, Skif sprawled across the floor of a rad-blasted forest, looking down, and seeing a mutant dog chewing on their leg. Cue a panic, a jammed gun, and the dog being fortuitously picked up by a nearby atmospheric anomaly and, well, exploding. Like I said, hell of a first impression.

This long-awaited sequel to the cult classic first-person immersive shooter series is clearly aiming to grab attention from the off – and getting the chance to go hands-on with this first ever playable build at gamescom shows that off in more ways than one.

The most surprising element for a showfloor demo is the freedom you’re offered. Developer GSC Game World makes clear that this is a tiny slice of an enormous game, and still work-in-progress, but barring a short scene-setting conversation with a mysterious stranger – who directs us to speak to some locals – the demo makes no demands of you to do anything other than explore. It’s a clear marker of the game as a whole, a world that offers you choices from the beginning, and the opportunities to make them how you’d like.
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Those choices haunt me from the beginning – I creep through a body-strewn checkpoint, looting what I can, before reaching a shack surrounded by dogs. Suddenly, I see a figure emerge toting a weapon – and I immediately open fire. Little do I know that I’m taking down the locals I’ve been directed to, simply protecting themselves from the same dogs I will be in the aftermath. Admirably, the game doesn’t give me a fail state for this – I made my (hasty) choice and I need to pay the consequences for that. I lose the ability to finish a sidequest – but the extra loot I gain doesn’t go unnoticed.

Gunplay is quick and brutal – weapons don’t so much fire as hammer, with a distinct kick to even the smallest pistol. I encounter a camp of enemy bandits who attack on sight, and tear through them in short order – but need to make liberal use of my own medkits because of the sheer amount of damage they deal themselves, and some crafty AI that sees some of the pack flank me while others hunker down behind walls and vehicles to draw fire. The lesson here is clear: be prepared, be smart, and be ruthless.

Along the way, GSC Game World makes clear the power of Unreal Engine 5, imbuing beauty to a distinctly nasty world – The Zone (the name given to this alternative Earth’s post-nuclear Chornobyl Exclusion Zone) is packed with detail: abandoned buildings cut through with low, wintry light; threadbare forests broken up by oily, shimmering bubbles of warped reality; and pockets of quiet humanity being scratched out in the wilderness.
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Vox Machina

Vox Machina

Banned
Screens look absolute absurd. Apart from Starfield this is the game I'm most looking forward to in 2023. Played a shitload of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Anomaly a while back and loved it. Appreciate that the backgrounds are in ultra-widescreen :messenger_grinning:
 
Negotiator101

Negotiator101

Member
Riky said:
Screens look amazing, real next gen stuff. Impressions seem to be that they haven't dumbed it down so it's going to be just as challenging as the original trio.
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I don't know Riky, not looking anything mind blowing to me, we got a release date yet?
 
eNT1TY

eNT1TY

Member
Judging only the screen shots the game looks bananas minus one or two of the shots looking a bit pedestrian, hoping these visuals are more representative of the release product than a pr bullshot.
 
S

SABRE220

Member
Did they abandon lumen? It seems they ditched the brilliant bounce lighting and gi they had in earlier trailers it looks nowhere near as good and actually looks a little drab. Developers definitely underestimated how hard ue5 is to balance currently in terms of performance and I think the difference between technically proficient studios and other developers will become clear in what they can do with this engine.

It honestly isnt looking too good for the consoles with the current state of the engine and moost developers experience with it.
 
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Negotiator101

Negotiator101

Member
SABRE220 said:
Did they abandon lumen? It seems they ditched the brilliant bounce lighting and gi they had in earlier trailers it looks nowhere near as good and actually looks a little drab. Developers definitely underestimated how hard ue5 is to balance currently in terms of performance and I think the difference between technically proficient studios and other developers will become clear in what they can do with this engine.
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Interesting because I thought everything looks flat in these screens, couldn't understand why everyone is going crazy over them, although the environments are highly detailed.
 
S

SABRE220

Member
Negotiator101 said:
Interesting because I thought everything looks flat in these screens, couldn't understand why everyone is going crazy over them, although the environments are highly detailed.
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Well yeah thats what I said, the games lighting looks very flat even the ao is lacking a massive contrast to the early trailer they showed with rich bounce lighting, illumination etc. The first screen actually reminded me of visuals in a mission from the original modern warfare.
 
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S

SABRE220

Member
Elder Legend said:
Are you drunk?
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Both the xbox and ps5 are struggling with ue5, its honestly not a wild statement at all. Developers are not great at optimizing performance while delivering great visuals so far, they have to choose between enabling nanite,lumen, sfm etc because its just too damn heavy, most developers dont have the top tier tech talent to bring out great results in the engines current state. I think we will get show stoppers eventually as top developers get used to the engine and it gets more optimized in later iterations but so far the results arent super promising 720p-900 resolutions etc.

Just look at stalker2 for example they have dropped lumen/gi and now the lighting is flat as hell.
 
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Snake29

Snake29

RSI Employee of the Year
Metro already looked great, so im not blown away by the first person screenshots. If someone would tell me that it was Metro, then i would also believe it.

Hope the open world is interesting to do in co-op.
 
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B

bbeach123

Member
If they dont have hundreds of npcs simulate moving around the world , partying , fighting monster , fighting each others, taking shelter from the weather/ then its a downgrade compared to the old STALKER .
 
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Rickyiez

Rickyiez

Member
Lol its not coming out until 2025 at least . It's almost the end of this year and they still dont have proper gameplay video to show yet .
 
King Dazzar

King Dazzar

Member
Fingers crossed for this one. Not had the easiest of developments. And the original was pretty janky/buggy initially. Lets hope it all works out OK. I'd love a quality immersive FPS.
 
Sentenza

Sentenza

Member
TrueGrime said:
Ukraine/Russia War.
Devs being hacked.
Devs being blackmailed.
Devs dying in the war.

Why does this game keep getting delayed?
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Yeah let’s leave it at this.
Why go and look for the dodgy history of this development even in the several years that preceded the war.
 
Dr.Morris79

Dr.Morris79

Gold Member
The only game I truly want to play. Nothing comes close.

Stalker, it's what PC's are made for. Hell, i've built three odd pc's just for these games and their mods alone.
 
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