Stalker 2 just got a free pre-DLC to gird you for its first actual DLC

Stalker 2 gets its first DLC—Cost of Hope—at an indeterminate point later this year, but before the DLC comes the pre-DLC: a free update that bolts on a new scary lab for you to explore, in anticipation of the presumably many scary labs you will encounter in Cost of Hope.

The update is called Sealed Truth and it's out now. It opens up the lower levels of Lab X-18 and tasks you with not dying in them for money. "Deep beneath the Zone, places like X-Labs remain sealed behind massive doors or buried under the consequences of failed 'research,'" the blurb explains. "Rumours are now spreading among stalkers that Diod, a technician from Slag Heap, has somehow gained access to the lower levels of X-18.

"No one knows what is really happening down there. This is your chance to find out." Probably nothing. Definitely not a 24/7 Controller soirée.

Poor Skif (that's Stalker 2's main character, if you forgot) isn't just popping down to X-18 on a jolly. Diod's tasked him with investigating the place, in return for a fat stack of cash. Or coupons, I suppose. "Expect a high-risk, high-reward excursion filled with mystery, danger, and unknown consequences. Aside from the payment, more may await—lost knowledge, useful gear, or something far more significant hidden deep within the lab."

So GSC is making it sound pretty meaty: a bonafide mission rather than a minor bagatelle, but it's all to wet your whistle for the release of Cost of Hope. "It serves as a complimentary update in celebration of the upcoming Cost of Hope DLC announcement, and is meant as a thank-you to the community for staying with the Zone."

Which sounds good to me. I fell head-over-heels for Stalker 2 even in its most ludicrous and buggy pre-release phase, and GSC's been hard at work banging it into shape in the time since then. Personally, I'm holding off returning to The Zone until the studio gets through with its reimplementation of Unreal Engine, which promises to bring the game from Unreal Engine 5.1 to 5.5.4.