STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl‘s Zone is a place where mutants lurk in the shadows, anomalies sparkle with deadly intent, and nighttime is very dark. If you’ve played previous STALKER games, you probably remember the good relief of using night vision goggles (NVG) to travel through the eerie nighttime wilderness and was quite useful.
So, does STALKER 2 also allow you to get night vision? Here’s everything you need to know about that.
Can You Use Night Vision in STALKER 2?
No, night vision is not available in STALKER 2. That’s right, you can’t equip NVGs or find a suit upgrade that lets you see through the oppressive blackness of the Zone. The feature that many considered a franchise standard has been MIA since launch, leaving fans squinting into the void with a flashlight that’s as powerful as a cheap keychain torch with only a 3 meter range.
Players have scoured every nook and cranny of the map for goggles, upgrades, or magical artifacts that could light their way but still can’t find the night vision. Before you break your Geiger counter in frustration, there’s a glimmer of hope. The game’s developers, GSC Game World, confirmed on Discord that they’re aware of the fan demand for night vision. They’ve hinted it can be included in a future patch or the major update.
How to Survive the Zone at Night Without Night Vision
Here are some survival alternatives to keep you from wandering into an anomaly or getting ambushed by an enemy you didn’t see coming.
Use Flashlight
The flashlight in STALKER 2 has enough glow to light up a dark hallway but is weak enough to make you think you’re using a dollar-store flashlight powered by hopes and dreams. It’s also always on regarding enemy awareness—light up your path, and your opponents might as well be handed a map to your exact location. Use it sparingly and strategically, unless you enjoy being sniped in the dark. The good thing is that it doesn’t require you to power it up with any resources and is available for unlimited use.
Crank Up the Brightness
Adjusting the game’s brightness settings or tweaking gamma can make nighttime slightly less unbearable. Just be warned: doing this results in your beautifully rendered Zone looking like someone cranked the saturation slider way past reasonable limits. You’ll be able to see, sure, but the graphics become like you are playing STALKER: Neon Zone Edition. It’s not ideal, but it works in a pinch.
Use NVG Night Vision Goggles Reshade Mod
When the official game is missing something that players desperately want, the modding community places their cards on the spot, and there are creative legends who can’t sit still when a game seems incomplete. While no official night vision mod exists yet, there are overlay mods that somehow bring the NVG effect, giving you a taste of what is like to stalk at night with some visual assistance. These are only aesthetic and don’t work as full-blown night vision goggles, but fake it till you make it, right?
Play the Waiting Game
If you don’t like to walk around in the dark, consider finding a safe spot and waiting until the night passes. While there’s no portable bedroll option (yet), the game does provide a few places to rest. Reddit users have even suggested GSC Game World add more ways to pass the time, so fingers crossed that happens soon. Until then, take a breather during nighttime. It’s better than wandering into a mutant’s dinner party uninvited.
Why There is No Night Vision?
The lack of night vision in STALKER 2 is a disappointment for many loyal fans, especially since previous titles not only had NVG but also offered different tiers of night vision. Some players think that it was left out due to balancing issues or time constraints during development. A few others claim that it should be part of a planned progression system by GSC Game World that hasn’t been fully added yet.
What’s particularly baffling is that NPCs have night vision goggles in the game but not you and you can’t even collect from them. You’ll see them on helmets or in the environment, but they’re only there to taunt you. But it’s not the end of the world or the Zone, for that matter. Using the available options as mentioned above, there are ways to survive the dark. The Zone is a dangerous place—don’t let the darkness consume you. Moreover, don’t forget to find the Bear Detector in STALKER 2 as it’s very useful for locating artifacts.
