I really enjoyed the original Chernobylite; its presentation of the exclusion zone was exciting, tense, and rewarding to explore with a number of welcome mechanics, such as building your base, that attached me more to my experience. I was more than happy to dive into the world of Chernobylite again in the form of Chernobylite 2: The Exclusion Zone, which has just released into early access. I was offered a preview build before this release, and I came away intrigued by its potential but also somewhat confused about what Chernobylite 2 is aiming to be. and most of all, this is a title definitely very early in the development lifecycle with plenty of work ahead.
Chernobylite 2 is a post-apocalyptic action RPG that puts you in the role of a Planewalker, someone that uses the power of Chernobylite for extraordinary powers in a world that is now centred around the very substance itself. From being a mysterious unknown element in the first game to now being an element that the world was built around.
This narrative change in itself is a big move, removing the initial mystery of the Chernobylite mineral but instead looking at the possibilities that it could deliver, with your Planewalker jumping to other dimensions to retrieve more of the mineral. It certainly is a step in a different narrative direction; it’s something that’s too early to tell if it will have the same hooks as the first game, but I can see its potential in offering a grander, comprehensive narrative scope.
Chernobylite 2 starts off laying the groundwork for this world and then a series of tutorials that ask you, “What class do I want to be?. This again was a very different choice than what I was expecting. I was presented with 3 different classes, akin to melee, ranged with a gun, or magic-based feeding off radiation. Gone are the days of a soldier trying to make his way by the skin of his teeth through a horrific hazardous zone, but instead a hero that is shaped into an archetype like a fantasy title. This choice was jarring, but I was interested to find out how these classes played out.
The first class that focused on ranged damage with guns and explosives’ felt the most stock standard and is a safe bet for players wanting to recapture the feeling of the first game. The second class that focused on magic was an interesting idea, but when it came to combat, it felt awkward and strange. Magic power is gained from radiation, which damages my health in return. This felt like an uneven tradeoff, as my magic drained quickly, whereas my health was happy to whittle down considerably. The final class that places you in a melee-focused build felt like something from an entirely different game; it was taking on the role of a Souls-like. The camera perspective and the enemy movements recreated that Souls-like feel, and this is the point where I asked myself, “What is Chernobylite 2 trying to be?” seemingly departing from the mechanics and systems that made the original game a fan favourite. I decided to take on a hybrid class of ranged and melee to see how this played out, as the magic-focused option seemed like it needed a lot of work and fine-tuning to make it a viable option.
I stepped forward into the world of Chernobylite 2, and visually it does look great, capturing the mysterious nature of this strange new world, but after a while it all felt quite empty. Enemies I ran into were sparse and repetitive as they approached, feeling like clones of the same enemy using the same attack animation and sounds. As you explore this world, you travel in a first-person perspective, switching to third person when in combat. This felt jarring as I was forced into camera perspectives depending on my current action, with my environment scanning seemingly available only in first person. I had a detailed menu system accompanying me, full of a detailed skill tree, reputation info of the characters I meet, and a vitals screen. These systems capture the essence of the original title, but I was not able to get a full grasp on their implementation just yet and will be something to keep an eye on throughout the course of early access.
Throughout my preview session, I ran into characters that guided me in my journey, some with well-timed comedic jokes, others with hair that would disappear as I was talking to them. The mission structure appeared bare-bones at this stage, pointing me in new areas with a base-building mechanic eventually introduced that seemed elaborate and full of potential. After a few missions, I was pointed in the direction of an abandoned base, which culminated in a boss battle along the lines of a souls-like. This in itself was an interesting fight but clearly needed some work when it came to hitbox detection and combat fluidity.
As my time went on in this world, it became clear that this is an early access title very early in its lifecycle, as there were a number of bugs and issues that got in the way of playing. A number of these, such as audio cutting and spelling mistakes, are all cosmetic and are expected in an early access title such as this, but more serious things, such as a navigation compass that would point me in the wrong direction and memory leaks and crashes, made it difficult to press on in Chernobylite 2. After my third crash, I decided it was time to call it a day.
At this stage, I can see the potential in Chernobylite 2: The Exclusion Zone with familiar systems building on what made the first game tick. I also see a confusing combination of gameplay systems that makes it hard to understand what Chernobylite 2 is aiming to be. At some points, it does feel like two different games stitched together that don’t gel well and lack a cohesive vision. For now, Chernobylite 2 is too jarring and difficult to play with its myriad of game-halting issues, but it is something I am willing to return to and see if it can recapture the great feeling of its predecessor.
Chernobylite 2: Exclusion Zone is available now on Steam in Early Access.
