There's one Helen in the Zone. But this time it's not so simple…Helen is the name given to the reactor's upper biological shield — scheme "H." Before the incident, it was a massive metal structure about 17 meters in diameter, through which fuel and control cables passed. A kind of head of the reactor, except weighing close to two thousand tons.During the explosion, it was torn from its regular position, thrown upward, and left standing almost on its edge inside the reactor shaft. And dozens of bent pipes now hang from it; they came to be called "Helen's hair." In reality, these are the remains of the technological channels. They say some of the fuel may have stayed behind among them.After the incident, people could only approach it remotely: drilling holes, sending in photo-probes, installing sensors. Too dangerous of a place for a stroll.And Helen herself stands as if she still hasn't decided: whether to fall, or wait a little longer.

Do you think they built the Sarcophagus to bury the fourth block?No. They built it so the fourth block wouldn't bury everything around it.After the first incident, there was nothing left to repair there. Over 206 days, an entire mountain of concrete and metal was raised over the destroyed reactor — 345 thousand cubic meters of concrete and 7 thousand tons of metal structures. They were assembled at a distance, because it was impossible to stand nearby.The Sarcophagus was built from new structures and from what survived of the block itself. From the very beginning it was considered a temporary solution, meant to buy some time and quickly seal off whatever remained inside.And what remained inside was almost all the fuel, fragments of the reactor core, radioactive dust, and places people couldn't reach for decades. Then the second incident happened — and since then, people speak of the Sarcophagus in a whisper. Because who knows, maybe the Monolith will hear.Or maybe it's listening right now...

Youth have learned nothing; those schools nowadays are useless!It was the reactor itself that exploded. The Turbine Hall just happened to be right next to it, and it took the full brunt too: fire, debris, dust, and radiation, of course.The place was enormous — over four hundred meters long. Two turbines per unit, five hundred megawatts each. When they were running, there was no point in shouting because no one would have heard you.The floor shook, the pipes hummed, and cranes crawled overhead. A real electricity factory.By the way, it was the turbogenerator that the night test was planned for. They wanted to check whether its residual rotation would be enough to keep the pumps running without external power. Well, you know the rest…After the explosion, the roof caught fire. And everything inside — oil, cables, and generators — began to burn. Personnel shut off the oil lines, switched the generators over to nitrogen, and put out whatever could still be put out.Now it's quiet there. The turbines stand still, the paint is peeling, and light breaks through the roof.So don't make noise in there. The echo travels a long way on its own, without your help.https://store.steampowered.com/app/3765020/STALKER_2_Cost_of_Hope/[/p]

As for the Golden Corridor: it didn’t just run between the power units. Behind some of the doors lay the plant’s true nerve centres — Unit Control Room (UCR).The Unit Control Room. Each power unit had its own separate one. From there, the operators controlled the reactor, turbines, pumps and the electrical system. Before them were entire walls of light bulbs, pointers, diagrams and recorders. Hundreds of different signals. The plant had already demonstrated on one occasion that not every button does what is expected of it...That night, tests were being carried out on one of these panels; the operators were monitoring the parameters, and then they pressed the emergency protection system that was supposed to shut down the reactor. But the operators could not see nearly everything that was happening inside it. After the explosion, people remained at their consoles for some time, trying to work out whether they could keep anything under control at all.Some of the UCRs were subsequently cleaned up and returned to service, and the station was operated from them for many years to come. Others remained part of the accident site: chairs, control panels, buttons, telephones. Everything is still in place — just covered in dust and radiation.After the Second Incident, rumours circulated that the lights on the dead control panels would sometimes come on of their own accord. Most likely, this is a myth – who would have checked? But if you see anything like that, it’s best not to press anything at all.

Besides the legendary Monolith, there’s another urban legend around the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The story of the Golden Corridor.It’s a beautiful name, but don’t be fooled. Before the accident, it was just a regular service passageway between the power units. Staff used it to get to the control rooms, reactor buildings, and turbine halls. But on the morning after the explosion, two shifts were already passing each other there: one rushing to help at Unit 4, the other returning from there, covered in radioactive debris.Later, they tried to clean the corridor, but they never quite managed to do so completely. That’s why the walls and ceiling were covered with golden metal panels to at least slightly reduce the background radiation. That’s where the name comes from. No luxury but ordinary protection against what can no longer be cleaned away.I don’t know if anyone has walked through it since the Second Incident. Rumors, of course, have circulated, but in the Zone, every other rumor is a lie, and every third is a myth. After all, Chornobyl is the heart of the Zone, so few are willing to find the truth. But to see that corridor with my own eyes… I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to.In short, in the Zone, gold isn’t just for the show. Here, it’s used to cover up mistakes of the past.Although who knows what kind of joke the Zone might play. Maybe the corridor really is made of pure gold.

Haven’t seen doves in the Zone for a long, long time! We have at least one here for sure. Never seen it myself, but my trusted buddy told me about that dove. He said the administrative building of CNPP is crowned by a massive metal bas-relief called “Atomic Dove”. To be fair, it looks nothing like a dove… Deserves its “atomic” part in the name.This bas-relief was designed to symbolize the peaceful atom, and the building it decorates was the main entrance to CNPP, the administrative building where personnel was checked and where you would get the entrance permits and go deeper into the station.Everything changed in one night.Under the building hides a highly-protected bunker with a crisis headquarters. During that life-changing night when 4th block was on fire, people in the bunker were desperately trying to figure out what’s going on and how to fix it. Since then, the administrative building has ceased to be a grand gateway to the future and has instead become the place from which its consequences were dealt with.Now, machinery is rusting in front of it, the wind blows through the windows, and that dove is hanging on the wall. It was through the doors of the administration block that the path to the very heart of the station began. And I dread to think what has become of it now.If you find yourself around that place, don’t stick around for too long. Be safe.https://store.steampowered.com/app/3765020/STALKER_2_Cost_of_Hope/

Summer is at its peak, and so are the deals.Enjoy 30% off S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl, along with discounts up to 75% on other titles from GSC Game World.Whether you've been planning to venture into the Zone or discover Elhant's destiny in Heroes of Annihilated Empires, now is the perfect time to jump in.Just don't forget to stay hydrated.

In the summertime, when the weather is high... 🔥Radiation levels are too. Good thing the prices aren't.You can grab S.T.A.L.K.E.R.2: Heart of Chornobyl with a 30% OFF discount during the Steam Summer Sale. Get Ultimate Edition and secure Cost of Hope on day one.https://store.steampowered.com/app/1643320/STALKER_2_Heart_of_Chornobyl/The next journey into the Zone is closer than you think.

Most stalkers know that artefacts are born inside anomalies. Who creates them is a favorite topic of debate in the bars. Is it the Zone herself? Emissions? God?Duty sees them as a bane of humanity. Freedom calls them a blessing. Some stalkers go as far as saying that none of these philosophical debates matter.What matters is that every artefact feels like a gift left behind by something we don't understand, and in the Zone, gifts are rarely free.Step into the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Cost of Hope and be ready to face never seen anomalies, mysterious artefacts, and secrets the Zone has kept hidden until now.Wishlist S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Cost of Hope now

The story of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Cost of Hope revolves around the long-burning conflict between the Duty and Freedom factions. Two iconic rivals, who see the Zone differently — as a danger to humanity, and as a gift to it. But how did it all start?OriginsCaptain Tachenko was one of the military men sent into the Zone. When he witnessed the horrifying secrets hidden within this place, he realized he could never return to the Big Land. Not before the Zone was destroyed — no matter the cost.Tachenko later disappeared, but his ideas lived on. A group of like-minded followers evolved into a full-fledged paramilitary faction, Duty. Living by a strict code and organized along military lines, Duty grew into a major force — a shield protecting humanity from the Zone. But for every action, there is a reaction. Some believed the Zone should be opened to humanity. One such stalker, Chekhov, gathered people around him to explore the Zone for their own benefit and for the good of the Big Land. He believed an entire faction could be built on liberty and equality, even if others would later label them anarchists.And so Freedom was born. Living in harmony with the Zone, they became the second most powerful faction here, drawing more and more stalkers into their ranks.Two opposites could not live in peace. And so, a lingering war began.You can explore the full lore and story in the original trilogy games, which are now available as Enhanced Editions in the Legends of the Zone bundle on PC, Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo Switch.NowadaysS.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 takes place in 2021, many years after the founding of these factions. While we won’t share any spoilers about the lore and story of the whole series, let us give you a glimpse into Duty and Freedom, which have not stood still during these years.Duty With the arrival of the Ward in the Zone, everything changed. The D4 Treaty put an end to the faction wars. Duty withdrew from Rostok to the Cement Factory. It may seem that its current leader, Voronin, has lost his resolve. But is everything really so simple when it comes to the actions of a battle-hardened general?ZuluAnd yet there are still those within Duty who remain fiercely devoted to the idea of protecting the world from the threats of the Zone and are ready to act decisively. After mysterious events forced him to leave Duty’s ranks, Zulu, a familiar face from S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Prypiat, returns to the faction at Voronin’s personal request.Freedom For Freedom, meanwhile, a golden age has arrived. At least, that is what Miklukha, Freedom’s leader and the creator of a new currency — coupons — believes. And what is gold, if not money? Now, both coupons and customers from across the Zone are flowing into Rostok like a river.MavkaThe Arena is thriving too — thanks in no small part to its commentator, Mavka. She cuts into stalkers with words while mutants tear into them with claws, yet never withholds her sharp-edged praise from the victor. Still, this is far from why she came to the Zone in the first place — and more and more often, Mavka slips away alone on expeditions beyond it all.Is the conflict reemerging? S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Cost of Hope is a massive expansion that will take dozens of hours to complete and even more if you choose to fully explore two new regions: the Iron Forest and the legendary CNPP. New locations, arch-anomalies, and more await, but above all, this is a new chapter in the story of the renowned factions.  The non-linear story principle, present in the main game, is applied here as well. Your decisions will directly affect not only the outcome, but the general narration of the story, which you won’t be able to see in full in one playthrough.Stay tuned for more and jump into S.T.A.L.K.E.R. community to chat about all the lore details and speculate near the campfire about what awaits you next!https://www.stalker2.com/news/zone_between_duty_and_freedom*Illustrations source: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Interactive Almanac