I don't know who is sitting around greenlighting Stalker-like games, but they have my thanks. It's a good time to be a Stalker fan. Not only do we have Forest Reigns to look forward to, but The Farm 51, creators of Chernobylite, have announced a Kickstarter for the sequel.
The first game, released in 2021, has 82% positive ratings on Steam. It's as close as you can get to Stalker without calling it that, including a dead ringer for The Zone called Exclusion Zone. But it has its quirks too, like base building. In true Stalker fashion, user reviews also mention bugs and performance issues. One thing everyone seems to agree on is that the 3D-scanned environments look really good.
If you want to try the first game out, it is currently 75% off till January 28th on Steam.
Are you a techie who knows how to write? Then join our Team! Wanted:
- News Writer (Romania based)
Details here
It seems like Chernobylite 2 will offer more of the same with several quality-of-life improvements like a customizable character and a shift to third-person from first-person. The Kickstarter campaign has already reached half of its goal with 29 days still to go.
The landing page describes it as "a post-apo action RPG game, mixing free exploration of huge and extremely realistic open world, challenging combat, unique crafting, team and base management with non-linear storytelling."
Obviously, there is no release date yet, but the game's Steam listing has a release window of 2025. However, that might depend on the Kickstarter campaign.