The first large-scale story expansion for STALKER 2: Heart of Chernobyl, titled "The Price of Hope," has been released. On the Metacritic aggregator, the expansion for PC received an 85 out of 100 score, which is significantly higher than the score of the base version of the game at the time of its release (73 points).
The first large-scale story expansion for STALKER 2: Heart of Chernobyl, titled "The Price of Hope," has been released. On the Metacritic aggregator, the expansion for PC received an 85 out of 100 score, which is significantly higher than the score of the base version of the game at the time of its release (73 points).
Along with the release of the DLC, Ukrainian studio GSC Game World published an appeal to fans, noting that for the team this release feels "like a new addition to the family." The appeal notes that the addition carries familiar DNA, but tells an independent story, immersing players in the familiar confrontation between the "Duty" and "Will" factions.
"Working on "The Price of Hope", we allowed ourselves to experiment more. To take risks. To surprise. We can't wait to hear your impressions. Very soon you will be among the first to visit "The Price of Hope". Experiencing this moment again is no less exciting than experiencing it for the first time," said Yevhen Grigorovich, game director and CEO of the studio.
After the release of STALKER 2: Heart of Chernobyl, Yevgeny Grigorovich stated that the team was aiming to get the game's score to 90 from the press, but due to technical issues and lack of time, the base version was rated only 73. "The Price of Hope" almost reached the desired score and currently has 85 points on Metacritic and 87 on OpenCritic.
Along with the release of the add-on, the price in Ukraine became known, which is 700 UAH on Steam .
Along with the paid add-on, the developers released a free update 2.0 , which became available to all owners of the base game. The culmination of this update was the transition of STALKER 2 to the Unreal Engine 5.5.4, which, according to the developers, radically changes the look and feel of the Zone. The size of the patch is 126 GB.
The previously announced Cost of Hope expansion brings back locations that fans of the series have been asking for since the release of the base game: the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and Lymansk will once again be available to players. According to early reviews, the expansion makes the Zone noticeably more dangerous, shifting the emphasis towards horror and exploration, and the player's decisions now have irreversible consequences that will directly affect future games in the series.
