THQ will release S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl for PC in 2007, and to wet everyone's appetites the publisher is releasing a series of development diaries. The fourth dev diary can be found below and focuses on the different groups within the game. A number of new screenshots have also been released to show the game in action.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl - Dev Diary #4

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Since the time the Zone first emerged, many different warring factions have developed. Many flourished into prominence and some, inevitably, did not. By time the game begins Duty, Freedom, Monolith, as well as regular communities of stalkers, bandits, military personnel and scientists all fight for survival in the Zone. The challenge for us at GSC was to define how the groupings differ from each other and what would make each of them unique. Ultimately it is the different priorities, politics and goals (peaceful, violent or otherwise) of the various groupings that give them their personalities.

Stalkers


Duty represents the remnants of the survivors who became trapped in the Zone following the initial military operations.

Freedom is a volatile mix of an anarchist movement and a terrorist grouping.

Of Monolith, little is known other than they are a mysterious band of empty, violent souls who show contempt for anything or anyone unlike themselves.

Not all the stalkers belong to groupings and a large number of them have chosen a solitary, independent life and these Loners choose to play their own game.

Scant information is available on the Zone's other Mercenaries other than that funding comes from outside, they accomplish missions on order and are aggressive towards everybody. All of them are extremely professional, possessing both combat and stalker experience.

Military


The military have long shown a great interest in the Zone and it is these government-funded armies that initially setup the exclusion zone and now patrol it. Charged with 'controlling' the region, the military aggressively pursue their own mission objectives and frequently operate within the Zone to dispatch enemies, retrieve artefacts and vie for power.

Mutants


The Zone's contaminated grounds have spawned a staggering number of mutated life forms, most of them territorial, aggressive and likely to employ brutal or sophisticated tactics against intruders. Going hand to hand with a pack of mutated dogs is the best way to leave an ugly corpse...