S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Returns To E3 After All

If GSC Game World's shooter would have missed the E3 once again this year, I for one would have lost all hope of seeing it released during 2006. Fortunately however, the Ukranian developer confirmed that S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl is indeed one of the many titles being showcased this week in Los Angeles - despite THQ's original line-up having no mention of it - and that their strategy game Heroes of Annihilated Empires will also be on the show floor.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. will be hiding inside a Zone at the THQ booth with limited press-only access (the presentation is featuring a live single-player demo), while Heroes of Annihilated Empires will be part of CDV Software's strategic offer. Both of them are supposedly set for a September 2006... supposedly! And here's a bit about S.T.A.L.K.E.R., just in case you weren't familiar with it yet:

"S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is a Survival FPS set in the near-future Chernobyl exclusion zone. The player, as a stalker, is to go through 30 sq.-km area of the Zone exploring it, learning about its dangers and inhabitants, surviving deadly anomalies, radiation, collecting valuable artefacts, but ultimately solving the mystery behind the Zone: what caused it to existence, what’s controlling it etc. The opponents will include mutated animals, weird creatures, rival stalkers, the military and more. The complete freedom of actions coupled with A-life system implemented in the game will provide for unique experience for every player and the unlimited replay-ability. Building up relations with NPCs, playing different roles in the game, making friends and foes, collecting information will all impact the ending that the player comes to in the game."

(N.B. Archive text, links removed)