The first thing I experienced when handed a laptop to play S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2: Heart of Chornobyl at Gamescom was suffering, and a lack of control. The 15-minute demo began with my legs being mauled by a dog in a cutscene, giving me no option but to watch my health drop. As soon as I took control of my character, I was surrounded by gravity anomalies that would throw me painfully backward if I didn’t navigate around them, and areas of radiation setting off my Geiger counter, warning me of yet more impending sources of gradual damage.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2’s demo wastes no time dropping players into the brutality of its setting. This world is bleak, barren, and full of invisible forces of nature ready to kill you at any moment if you don’t take care. Sure, you can throw out bolts to get brief windows of time to rush through gravity spots, but the world itself remains a space to be navigated on its own unforgiving terms.

While the demo build I played set me up with a well-stocked inventory of healing items, guns, and remedies to cure radiation sickness, the difficulty was nonetheless unforgiving. In a bandit camp I encountered, I barely had enough time to realize I was being fired upon before my health was nearly gone, forcing me to retreat to safety, fleeing for my life, hoping that my sprint to compose myself wouldn’t stumble into health depleting terrain. My weapons had high levels of kickback, and I was outnumbered. Survival was far from guaranteed.

One change compared to the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R that I really appreciated in this demo was the presence of a compass at the top of the screen that highlighted the location of and distance to objectives and points of interest. While the combat and traversal are as unforgiving as ever, this one concession makes S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2 feel a little less daunting and directionless to navigate. As someone who sometimes gets a little overwhelmed with choice paralysis in large open world games, having general pointers for locations made keeping track of things a bit more manageable.

The demo also contained a few interesting interactions with NPCs that were deliberately vague in how the player should respond to them, opening up options for making decisions on the fly. One example was a lodge where I heard gunshots, and saw a pack of rabid dogs swarming. I decided that this was likely one lone gunman defending themself, and that they might appreciate some backup. That choice led to progression on an optional quest, rewarding me for taking a risk.

The demo ended with a chaotic dash to reach a bunker before a dangerous lightning storm became unsurvivable. The sky became gradually more rust red, as I leapt down slopes and ran through buildings, scrambling for refuge. I made it, but barely.

While 15 minutes isn’t long to get a sense of a game as potentially large as S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2, I walked away feeling like the game is largely what I would expect, and that’s not a criticism. It’s viciously difficult, and relentless in how it expects you to navigate its world. That bleak tone is intact, and if anything more approachable, which is a welcome thing to see.

You can wishlist S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2: Heart of Chornobyl on the Epic Games Store now.