The action takes place one year prior to the events of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, one year before Strelok’s most successful trip to the center of the Zone – the third one. A lot of stalkers die, but newbies keep on arriving.
Stalker factions fight for the new territories and key points. The Zone is shaken by frequent and powerful blowouts, which move anomaly fields, opening new routes to previously inaccessible locations.
Five years passed since the Second Disaster, which eclipsed the events of April 1986.
