Chernobylite on Next-Gen Consoles: What is on the Update? How About Characters & Setting?

Chernobylite has launched on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Stalkers on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One can upgrade to the next-gen version of Chernobylite through a free update, and a new PC Enhanced Edition is also available as a free update.

Chernobylite on next-gen consoles

Chernobylite originally launched on PC in July 2021 before leaping onto PS4 and Xbox. The Farm 51 is now on the cusp of launching Chernobylite on PS5 and Xbox Series X. In doing so, the developer is pushing the capabilities of the latest tech to great effect.

“We already believe Chernobylite looks fantastic on last-gen consoles, but it’s been a great experience making it look even better on PS5 and Xbox Series X,” says All In! Games producer Kuba Karolczak, the publisher who has helped bring Chernobylite to current-gen hardware. “We definitely had some fun with my favourite star of this generation, which is the PS5’s DualSense controller.”

But what does this update do?

Updates will introduce ray tracing and will greatly improve the game’s already hyper-realistic visuals. The next-gen versions specifically will also add two new graphic profiles: 4K (Dynamic) 30 FPS and 1080p (Ultra Details) 60 FPS and the PS5 update will additionally add features for DualSense Controllers such as advanced vibrations and adaptive triggers as well as compatibility with PlayStation’s Activity Card feature.

We’ve also learned more about Chernobylite’s upcoming DLC, Blue Flames. It will include new events and activities while also unlocking the Silent Assassin crossbow weapon for survivors to use in-game.

Here’s an overview of the radioactive shooter from The Farm 51, developers of Get Even:

Stealth, Survival, & Combat – Survival in the Zone is not easy, and each day brings new challenges as your comrades die and supplies diminish. Avoid detection with stealth takedowns or engage in open armed combat. Danger lurks around every corner.

Base Building & Crafting – Construct a base from which to plan your daily operations and excursions. Utilize workstations to craft gadgets, traps, and weapons, or modify existing equipment to your needs.

Resource & Team Management – Companions are key to your survival and the resolution of your journey. Each day requires careful planning and assignment of resources and tasks to your comrades.

Non-Linear Storytelling & Strategy – No playthrough is the same. The choices and story are in your hands. Choose wisely whether to trust your comrades or not, use resources for survival or research, and to face conflicts or avoid them.

Chernobylite – Official Next-Gen and Enhanced Edition Launch Trailer

Chernobylite, the survival horror RPG set in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, is available now on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, featuring visual improvements, ray-tracing support, and more.

Explore this one-to-one, 3D-scanned recreation of Chernobyl’s Exclusion Zone with beautiful next-gen graphical upgrade options like dynamic 4K resolution (30 FPS cap) and a smooth 60 FPS (1080p resolution) on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.

In addition, the free Season One Update launched today on PC via Steam, GOG.com, and Epic Games Store, coming to consoles this summer. Season One introduces a new free mission ”Memories of You” full of original collectibles to discover, the free Silent Assassin crossbow, and the paid Blue Flames cosmetic item pack. Three more content additions are planned for 2022, with the next in line for release titled Season Two, offering a story expansion, new map to explore, and side quests, for free in Q2 2022 for PC first.

How to upgrade Chernobylite to the next-gen version?

On Xbox, if you already own Chernobylite, the next-gen update will be downloaded automatically once it is available on the server.

If the update doesn’t start automatically, please do the following:

Enter “My games and apps”
Scroll to Chernobylite
Click the “More options” button
Select “Manage game and add-ons”
Select “Updates”
Download the Chernobylite Update

Since the PlayStation 5 version is a separate product, the next-gen version won’t be available in the form of an update. You need to download a full version of the game separately.

If you already own Chernobylite, you will be able to download the full PS5 version of the game for free from PlayStation Store. Follow the steps below:

Go to the “Game Library” in the PS5 menu and find Chernobylite in the “Your Collection” tab. When the next-gen upgrade is available, you should see an option of downloading two versions after clicking on the game’s icon: PS4 and PS5.

Choose the PS5 version and begin downloading the game.

Chernobylite next-gen Gameplay

Despite its sci-fi RPG trappings, Chernobylite feels real. Every barren landscape, vast grey sky, and mortar-shelled building somehow feels familiar. And while this is partly owed to real-world Chornobyl’s myriad guises in TV and film over the last 36 years – and, sadly, in reality amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine – it’s also a direct result of state-of-the-art 3D scanning on-location in the Exclusion Zone. Developer The Farm 51 has spent years capturing Chornobyl in real life, you see, and whereas video games often strive for realism through an artistic lens, Chernobylite aims to recreate a gamified 1:1 scale setting, where the setting itself is as much the star of the show as its cast of fictional characters.

The player plays as a physicist, formerly employed at Chernobyl Nuclear Plant who is suffering from the loss of their loved one in the Chernobyl Disaster 30 years ago and returns to the disaster zone to look for their partner. Most of the single-player gameplay revolves around exploring the exclusion zone, gathering supplies and tools while encountering “Stalkers” and hostile military personnel.

The player is also forced to make decisions which affect the nonlinear story line. There is also a crafting system, which allows the player to craft their own equipment and weapons. Any character can die and any task can be failed. Deep in the contaminated environment also lie strange supernatural threats, due to the “chernobylite” created from the nuclear aftermath.

Chernobylite next-gen Setting and characters

The game is set in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone 30 years after the Chernobyl Disaster. After the disaster, a strange material dubbed “Chernobylite” began to appear in the Zone. Interested in Chernobylite’s potential applications, the military contractor NAR has leased the entire Zone in order to carry out experiments that are led by Chernobylite specialist Dr. Semonov. The presence of Chernobylite also attracts Shadows, extradimensional creatures that are hostile to humans. In order to secure their investment, the NAR enlists the services of former Soviet General Kozlov and the mysterious and dangerous Black Stalker to remove any intruders into the Zone by any means necessary.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian physicist Igor Khymynuk arrives in the Zone to search for his missing fiancée Tatyana, who disappeared shortly before the Chernobyl Disaster. In order to find her and uncover the conspiracy behind her disappearance, Igor may recruit allies in the Zone, such as the Canadian mercenary Olivier, guerilla freedom fighter Olga, the mysterious hermit Tarakhan, outlaw Sashko, and local Stalker Mikhail.

What is a Next Gen?

(NEXT-GENeration) A common label applied to a major upgrade of a hardware or software product. For example, NextGen TV is the latest over-the-air TV specification.

Is Chernobylite easy?

It isn’t an easy game by any means though, and will not hold the players’ hands for too long. Eventually, players have to make the effort to dive into its immersive world and discover its secrets on their own. These few tips might help players who feel slightly overwhelmed with all that Chernobylite has to offer.

What’s considered next gen?

Consoles are considered “next gen” if they have better hardware and can run games with better graphics. For example back in the day when we played on NES, SNES was the next gen thing. For Playstation 1, Playstation 2 was the next gen thing. Similarly PS4 and Xbox One are next gen.

Should I press the button in Chernobylite?

You have to decide if you want to press the button. If you don’t do this, your comrades will be forced to eliminate the guards while you are moving through the next corridor. When you reach chernobylite, interact with it to trigger a cut-scene.