Stalker 2: Heart of Chernobyl Launches In April 2022, On Xbox Games Pass At Launch

After its reveal last year, Stalker 2: Heart of Chernobyl received an extended gameplay trailer at the Xbox-Bethesda E3 2021 conference, with confirmation that the survival-horror shooter will be out on April 28, 2022. The game is coming first to Xbox consoles and PC and will be available on Xbox Games Pass at launch.

The trailer is set against the backdrop of a few Russian survivors telling tales around a campfire, with details cutting to tense encounters across the wasteland with horrifying creatures. In typical Stalker style, you'll be doing as much slow adventuring as shooting, with moments where you'll have to scan for radiation and investigate strange anomalies (like tossing a bolt into a strange-looking portal).

Of course, there's still plenty of shooting with weapons both traditional and outlandish. Enemies follow this structure too, with a variety of foes that bounce between regular soldiers to a gigantic monster with tentacles on its face that grabs you out of thin air. The mood of the gameplay is striking, with loads of dimly lit corridors, oppressive-feeling structures, and the wide expanse of the desolate wasteland around the doomed reactor.