Changes in World Design and Exploration in the “S.T.A.L.K.E.R.” Series in the Context of Nostalgia, Strangeness, and Technological Development
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7494/human.2026.25.1.8029Keywords:
player experience, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, DDE structure, Unreal Engine 5, ZoneAbstract
This article will focus on the changes in the world’s design and exploration that have taken place in the game S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl (2024) compared to earlier games in the series. The starting point is the observation that the game developers faced a unique challenge. First, they had to reconcile two, to some extent contradictory, factors – the nostalgia of the series’ fans for the old game world and its strangeness, which is a fundamental feature of the Zone. Second, they also had to account the significant technological changes in game production that occurred between the latest instalment of the series and its predecessor, Call of Pripyat (2009). The article is divided into three main sections. The first section describes the experience of the first three parts of the series using the DDE structure, with particular emphasis on the game world and its exploration. The second section describes the aforementioned technological changes and their impact on the design of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2. The third section compares the most important changes in the latest instalment of the series with the findings concerning the trilogy from 2007–2009.
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