GSC confirms S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Prypiat
Plus: sequel and console P.O.R.T. promised.
GSC Game World has announced a second standalone expansion for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. called Call of Prypiat, which will be released on PC this autumn.
The developer also revealed to Russian magazine Igromania that a console port of the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game is under way. Plus, GSC president Sergei Grigorovich said during an online-conference that "we will certainly develop S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2". Both translations are courtesy of nV News, although there's no further detail offered for either project.
Call of Prypiat takes place in the faithfully-recreated eastern part of the eponymous city, which was abandoned after the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl.
The story picks up after the conclusion of S.T.A.L.K.E.R., following a government airbourne military manoeuvre to assume control of the nuclear power-plant zone. Alas, something goes wrong and you, a Ukrainian special agent, are sent to investigate.
Call of Prypiat has a tweaked A-life system based on player feedback from the first two S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games. And GSC has decided to hand-make around 70 new quests to abolish the random-generation feel of them.
Nuclear blowouts have become more frequent and deadly forcing players to keep an eye out for nearby safe-zones, and explorers will face two new monsters: the Burer, a telepathic dwarf, and the Chimera.
The interface has been revamped, we're told, and the sleep function - created by the mod community - has been added. Players can also free-play after the conclusion of the story.
More importantly, however, GSC Game World has returned to the original tone of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: a sparse, scary and lonely land with no place for large groups and gunfights.
The first screenshots can be found in our S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Prypiat gallery. Looks like Newhaven.
Head over to our S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky reviews to catch up on perhaps the most atmospheric openworld PC shooter there is.