A beta of S.O.C. Shadow of Chornobyl in Heart of Chornobyl is out on the Steam Workshop, a mod that brings the story of the first game, 2007's Shadow of Chernobyl, into S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2. Same characters, same lines and the first game's original voice acting. Three locations are done so far, Cordon, Garbage and Agroprom, and the author is working through the story in order, just as in the original. The mod is 1.4 GB, went up on October 12, got its latest update on October 18 and has about 350 subscribers after a week.
What you can play already
- Cordon. Sidorovich, the Rookie Village, the car park, the military checkpoint by the embankment, Wolf, Nimble, Tolik and Fox. Story quests and the trader's special jobs, a military helicopter over the Cordon and radio chatter, as in the first game.
- Garbage. The depot, the vehicle graveyard and the Duty checkpoint on the road to the Bar. Seriy, Bes, Yurik and other stalkers who need your help.
- Side quests. The box from the checkpoint for Sidorovich, Nimble's jacket, the vehicle graveyard for Bes and the Hunter's family rifle, with the same reward as in Shadow of Chernobyl.
Agroprom and the underground
Agroprom is where the mod goes furthest right now. There's the courier, the military landing and the fight at the factory where Mole and his men need help, followed by the research institute's underground: the Strelok group's stash, bandits, a military patrol, a bloodsucker and a controller, Ghost's note and the exit through the hatch. After the military documents and a meeting with a deserter, Sidorovich calls on the radio and sends you to the Barkeep. That's where the beta ends for now, with the Bar and later locations being added as the author goes.
How to install
Just subscribe to the mod on the Steam Workshop, no mod managers or third-party tools needed. You don't have to start a new game either: the story begins once you talk to Sidorovich, and you can visit him at any point in your playthrough. Main quests are marked in orange, side quests with a blue flag over the quest giver, and everything goes into the journal with map markers. Radio and PDA calls sound the way they do in the base game, and ambient lines don't pause it. Russian and English text with the original voice acting are included, with a Ukrainian localization in progress.
It's a fan mod with no connection to GSC Game World, and the author asks for bug reports in the comments with the quest name. If you're playing through the second game itself right now, our guide on how to get to Pripyat and how fast travel works may come in handy.
Sources
The S.O.C. Shadow of Chornobyl in Heart of Chornobyl page on the Steam Workshop (3818645331): description, size, publication on October 12, 2026 and update on October 18, 2026, subscriber count as of October 19. PlayGround.ru story in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 news feed on Steam, October 19, 2026.
Images: official S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl screenshots from Steam, the mod preview from its Steam Workshop page.
