Stalker 2 Desolation mod overhauls GSC’s survival game into a “punishing” adventure of “realism” and “nihilism”

GSC Game World’s Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl is already quite hard with jammed guns, powerful weapons and those pesky bloodsuckers. However, for gamers who want to be punished even more, a brand-new mod is here to virtually push you back into the dirt.

Created by modder DeadlyStr1ke, the new Stalker 2 Desolation mod aims to be a much more punishing take on the game’s core gameplay.

Stalker 2 Desolation wants to hurt you

Available to download right here, the mod aims to “expand the game via in-depth mechanics, content additions and overall fluid blending of gameplay, world and lore” with a major focus on realism.

With the mod, almost everything has been overhauled with particular focus on NPCs and how they interact with the player. For example, weapon damage across the board is now more even with a single bullet being able to take out players with unprotected heads.

NPC weapon properties are now “mostly identical to the player”, and they no longer spam grenades like firecrackers in a cliched school hallway. This also has an effect on the loot system which is not only more realistic, but aims to make the game feel more rewarding when you finally discover a really good gun.

For its damage system, Stalker 2 Desolation is much more unforgiving than the main game. Bleeding is now much more dangerous, rapidly draining your health while medicine costs substantially more. Bandages also only exist to stop bleeding, no longer resulting in additional health, but there are now more ways to combat radiation poisoning.

Other tweaks to Desolation include a much reduced pool of ammo to find across the world, and loot stashes that aren’t afraid to leave you disappointed. Mutants are also more powerful with their own loot such as meats, trophies and very expensive samples, and there are over 200 new items to find, including sleeping bags as sleeping is now essential to surviving.

In the mod’s description, modder DeadlyStr1ke explains that the goal of Desolation is to provide Stalker 2 players with an experience “where the Zone will be a being that will punish everyone inside of it mercilessly for their mistakes, bend and break them at every chance they give it, yet reward the curious and smart stalkers in moment’s of it’s grace”.

Stalker 2 Desolation is available right now in a beta form with huge improvements and changes planned for the future. It’s a much more nihilistic take on the Stalker franchise—and maybe a style of experience many were expecting with the base game—but it’s also incredibly rewarding.

For more news on GSC’s awesome survival game, check out our review. Additionally, read about how the studio is already hard at work on expansions for the new game as well as bringing back cut content from the base title.