Here's your first wee glimpse of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2
Get into here, Stalker
As improbable as it may sound, evidence for Stalker 2: Heart Of Chornobyl being an actual real game actually being made continues to mount. Today developers GSC Game World shared the "first glimpse at S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2", showing a murky forest where one of those naughty anomalies has murdered several innocent vans. It's just an environment shot but hey, it's a peek at the newest version of post-apocalyptic Zone around Chernobyl which we'll plunder for magic artifacts. The devs say S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 will be their "most ambitious game so far" and "will live to the legendary legacy."
This peek comes 13 years to the day after the launch of the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow Of Chernobyl. It was followed by two unnumbered sequels, Clear Sky and Call Of Pripyat.
"A lot of you are joining social isolation now," GSC said in an accompanying statement. "That's why today, on a very special occasion, we are ready to slightly uncover the mystery of what we are working on."
So why am I so sceptical? Is S.T.A.L.K.E.R. not one of the best FPSes? It is! But the team who made S.T.A.L.K.E.R. shattered into a hundred pieces after GSC Game World shut down in all but name in 2011. They officially reopened in 2014 but since then have only released the RTS Cossacks 3, which was really only a remake of 2001's Cossacks: European Wars. So many of the people who made S.T.A.L.K.E.R. what it was had to get new jobs in new places making new games and it's not clear exactly who and what GSC have these days.
"Being inspired by everything you do (including arts, stories, cosplays, and mods), we fully understand that we can't let you down," GSC added. "The second chapter of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. saga will be our most ambitious game so far. It will live to the legendary legacy."
I would so very much like to be proven wrong here. GSC say they'll have more to show later this year. For now, I'll temper my expectations. And in the meantime, the fan-made sequel mod S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Anomaly might keep you busy and happy.