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The Stalker series of games has always been pitched as a hardcore survival simulator in a bizarre, sci-fi world, and Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl does feel like that sometimes on its harder difficulties.
While the Anomaly mod for the original trilogy is the peak of Stalker survival mode, fans have asked GSC to officially add a more realistic, hardcore mode to Stalker 2 that increases damage, and removes the player’s HUD for a more life-like experience. Could we ever actually see this?
In a response to fans, alongside claiming that mods will make their way to Xbox faster in the future, GSC Game World couldn’t confirm whether or not they will ever officially add a more hardcore survival mode to the game. However, the Ukrainian development team did tease that this idea could be added sometime in the future.
Players asked for a mode in the game that completely removes the game’s HUD and harder difficulty including the removal of “headshot sound effects, anomaly hazard beeps, less loot” and more. The developer explained that developers working on the game often play the game without their HUD while working on iterations for the game, and teased that it could be added eventually.
“This is a cool idea, and I know that some of our devs, f.e., like to play HUDless playthroughs to torture themselves, but it is too early to say whether the idea will move to the next stage,” GSC Game World explained. “So, let’s see that atm the answer is ‘NDA’, good old classic”.
GSC Game World has not yet announced its Q3 roadmap, but the studio is hard at work on additional improvements for Stalker 2. Additionally, the studio is working on bringing cut content during development back into the game as well as working on future expansions and a multiplayer mode for the future.
Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl may have gotten off to a rough start, but the game is steadily improving with major patches. Nevertheless, as we said in our review of the game last year, all versions of Stalker 2 have been fun, even with their broken features.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl
- Platform(s): PC, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series S/X, Xbox Series X
- Genre(s): Action, Adventure, RPG, Shooter, Survival Horror