Chernobylite is a sci-fi flavored romp through the Chernobyl disaster zone coming to Steam Early Access October 16. The developers bill Chernobylite as a "non-linear" science-fiction survival experience where your choices dictate story progression across nine Story Missions and over eight hours of gameplay.
The story sounds basic enough on the surface. You're tasked with finding your girlfriend, who went missing 30 years prior in the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Then you find out you can communicate with your long-lost lover through another dimension, introducing the sci-fi elements of the story. It gets a lot weirder than that, but delving too much into the details would ruin the intrigue of the Chernobylite experience. If you fancy, check out the Gamescom demo for a more in-depth look.
Early Access will allow players to explore a limited area of the Chernobyl Excursion Zone, which developer The Farm 51 says is an "accurate 3d-scanned" replication of the contaminated area. The Steam page says Early Access will allow for player feedback to influence the final design of the Excursion Zone, which The Farm 51 says is too large and complex to recreate 100% faithfully. That said, the studio says the game is "fully playable" in its Early Access state, and that the full version will cost more to reward early backers.
The Farm 51 says they plan on letting Chernobylite stay in Early Access for 10 to 14 months before releasing the full version, which will introduce additional playable areas, story events, characters, weapons, and gameplay mechanics.
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