Players eager to return to the Zone have kept their ears to the ground throughout the development ofSTALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl. Fans of the tactical survival horror franchise got a special treat whentheSTALKER 2gameplay trailerwas released by GSC Game World in June 2021. It gave a few glimpses at some weapons returning from past games including the PMm, Viper 5, GP 37, and what appears to be an updated model of the Gauss Rifle. Viewers also caught a short look at what looks like a Saiga-12 Automatic Shotgun in bloodsucker-infested laboratories as well as a new model of anomaly detector in the swamps.
This indicates that GSC is looking to go beyond merely copying the old favorites of the previousSTALKER, and that means all-new weapons and equipment floating around the Zone. The firstSTALKERfeatured an impressive range of handguns, shotguns, assault rifles, sniper rifles, and explosives. But many shooters with large arsenals have come out in the 13 years since the game’s release. IfSTALKER 2intends to compete withthe hefty arsenals ofEscape from Tarkovand the memorable scrap weapons of theMetroseries, they’d better bring out the big guns.
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New STALKER 2 Guns in the Zone
The AK-12 is a strong contender for inclusion inSTALKER 2’s Exclusion Zone. This modernized iteration of the classic AK-pattern, with rails that allow troops to easily mount accessories like sights and grips, lends itself well to the field-modding mechanic observed in the trailer. The platform could serve as a replacement for the rusty AK-74s associated withSTALKER’s early game.
Out of Ukraine comes the IPI Malyuk, a homegrown bullpup used by Ukrainian Special Forces. Given the rifle’s compatibility with common AK replacement parts and its overall design, it could easily fill the role of a late-game assault rifle, offering better performance while allowing players to keep using theAK ammothey’ve amassed during their playtime.
Many WW2-era weapons could still be floating around the Zone, most famously with the DP-27 Light Machine Gunaka the Tachanka rifle fromRainbow Six Siege.While the large pan magazine makes the weapon look bulky by modern standards, it also gives the gun an unmistakable profile. Combined with its strong reliability, large cartridge, and low rate of fire, it would be a trusty partner for clearing mutants out of Chornobyl’s ruins.
Stalker 2 Explosives
Sometimes, even a hefty bullet doesn’t send a strong enough message. For the Stalker facing down a Chimera or Pseudogiant,a good grenade launcher will help them survive. The GM-94 Grenade Launcher would fit this niche nicely, being a (comparatively) slim profiled pump-action launcher capable of sending 160 grams of explosives into the face of whatever monster is currently trying to eat the player.
Of course, given the sheer amount of equipment, armor, ammunition, food, medical supplies, and valuable artifacts a Stalker is dragging around, perhaps they desire something a little more multipurpose. To that end, the colossal KS-23 rifled shotgun would be one of the most valuable weapons of the zone. The gun seems like it was purpose-built (out of aircraft cannon parts no less) to take on the horrors of the Zone, firing the largest-bore shotgun round in modern use and able to fire everything from buckshot to solid slugs to miniature grenades.
STALKER 2’s updated Unreal Engine visualscontinue to impress with every new trailer and screenshot released by GSC. Players can expect this new excursion into the shadows of Chornobyl to be full of exciting new ways to carve their path into the deadliest reaches of the Zone.
STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobylis in development for PC and Xbox Series X/S.
