One of the biggest surprises in gaming last year was the reveal that STALKER was getting a sequel, after it having been years (thirteen years, to be exact) since the original game was released. Since then we’ve only gotten a few expansions, but this is an actual sequel with next-gen power.
According to the tweet that announced this, the Xbox Series X version of the game will include ray tracing on both the Xbox Series X and the Xbox Series S. The Series X also has been confirmed to have 4K resolution.
The STALKER games take place in Ukraine, specifically around the Chernobyl area. In the game, the area has become a hive of activity as various scavengers called Stalkers enter the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone in order to try and find loot they can sell.
However, things in the Exclusion Zone haven’t been quiet, and the place is fulled with monsters and all sorts of other hazards instead of radiation. As we saw in the game’s debut trailer, even gravity appears to be out of wack in some areas, making the Exclusion Zone the realm of only the brave, or the mad.
While the game has no real release date yet (they did give one in its trailer, but it was later retracted on the grounds of being premature), STALKER 2 has definitely gotten the fanbase excited, especially with the power that we can expect from next-gen consoles.
We also don’t know exactly what we can expect in the Exclusion Zone now. It’s been over a decade after all, so developer GSC Game World may be taking advantage of the greater power of consoles to bring in all sorts of new threats. While we didn’t see any enemies in the trailer, there’s no telling what we might find.
Along with the 4K resolution and ray tracing, STALKER 2 will also be coming to Xbox Game Pass day one when it releases, whenever that will be. STALKER 2 will be releasing on the Xbox Series X (and S) and PC. There’s been no indication of a Playstation 5 release.
