Chernobylite is a sci-fi exploration through the Chernobyl disaster zone. This game, which was announced back in July, is coming to Early Access on Steam next month. The developers have described the game as a non-linear science fiction survival experience. Your choices dictate the story progression over the course of nin missions.
This is the first game in recent years to explore the Chernobyl Excursion Zone, and it comes with eight hours of gameplay to experience. The entire area has been baked with radiation making it uninhabitable since the reactor overloaded. Although the event was a terrible thing, it does inspire some interesting radioactive themed horror for game developers to explore.
The story is basic and simple, but the true gem lives within the area your exploring. You are tasked with finding your girlfriend who went missing 30 years prior to the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. You learn that you can communicate with your long-lost lover through another dimension. The story gets stranger, but there is not much that can be explained without ruining the experience of the game.
In Early Access, players get to explore an area of the Chernobyl Excursion Zone. The Farm 51, who have developed the game, says that the entire map is created using an accurate 3D scan of the area. So this is a digitally faithful reconstruction of some of the actual Excursion Zone, with roughly the same amount of digital radiation.
The Steam page says that player feedback from the Early Access experience will influence the final design of the Excursion Zone. The developers say the area is far too large for a 100% recreation, but the small segment we do see is accurate as can be.
It is up to you to ally or compete with other stalkers in the zone. You can spend as long as you need to prepare for your journey, but every passing moment reduces your chances of survival in the area. Each day brings new challenges creating a sense of increasing severity of your current situation.
This game does have a crafting mechanic and a harvesting feature built-in. It is important to make use of tools to aid in your struggle, and while you survive the dangerously contaminated environment, you must stay undetected and gather all the evidence you can to unveil the truths of your past.
Chernobylite will stay in Early Access for 10 to 14 months before full release will happen. The full version will include additional areas, story events, characters, weapons, and gameplay mechanics for fans to experience making it a game that is best played twice.
