Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl's meaty 2.0 update brings functional fog, a suite of A-Life improvements, and more when it arrives next week

Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl's big 2.0 update is right around the corner, and developer GSC Game World have shared a plethora of details of what you can expect from it. For starters, the shooter is getting a visual upgrade, with a particular emphasis on lighting adjustments. Indoor lighting should look more realistic, the general landscape and foliage should look more natural, and hundreds of items that were previously inadvertently floating have been fixed too.

The A-Life system has received some updates too. "A-Life now simulates more believable behaviour - the Zone isn't one constant gunfight," a blog post explains. "Living creatures now have more places to be. More campfires, bus stops, and other points of interest are contested between stalkers and mutants. Stalkers across the Zone loot the fallen all the time - not just when you're around to see it."

Next up, custom rules! This one lets you fine tune different elements of the game to make it easier for yourself. That includes things like turning the tutorial on or off, setting how much loot there is to find, the difficulty levels of both people and mutants, and deciding how hazardous you want the Zone to be. The master difficulty and expedition mode that arrived in previous updates are still available too.

Fog also serves a mechanical purpose as opposed to just an aesthetical one. "In the fog you and your enemies will see less - and even hear less. Use it to your advantage to play things sneaky, or simply soak in the atmosphere it brings to the Zone. It's up to you." On top of this, the team has "reworked the Light Rainy weather scenario to look even more breathtaking."

You'll be able to pick up three types of binoculars, useful for bioncularing friend or foe, and several weapons and scopes are also being added in with this update. Those of you statistically minded may also be happy to see the new PDA page that tracks things like your favourite weapon, how many kills you've performed and more. Lastly, the Zone Kit, the game's official modding tool, has received some fresh tools, like narrative scripting, audio, and localisation. Hefty update! And it arrives August 20th, the same date as its Cost of Hope expansion.