STALKER 2's best easter egg references Call of Duty's most iconic campaign mission

What you need to know

• GSC Game World's new open-world survival shooter STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl is full of interesting secrets, surprises, and easter eggs for players to discover.
• One such reference is a callback to "All Ghillied Up," a beloved mission from 2007's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare in which players sneak through the ruins of Pripyat and attempt to assassinate a Russian paramilitary leader, the game's antagonist, with a sniper rifle.
• STALKER 2 includes Pripyat as an explorable space, and in the exact same hotel room that Call of Duty had players take their shot from, you can find a high-powered sniper rifle.
• There's also a STALKER 2-themed can of the Ukrainian NON STOP energy drink there that's a replica of the real-life Limited Edition version of the drink. There are only a handful of these special cans across The Zone, making them collectibles.

GSC Game World's new open-world survival shooter STALKER 2 has plenty of interesting secrets and easter eggs, including everything from an easy-to-miss reference to DayZ's Livonia to a flying car stuck in a tree that brings Harry Potter to mind. My favorite of these, though, is what is clearly a callback to one of the best Call of Duty missions in the first-person shooter's history.

That mission is "All Ghillied Up," a level from the original 2007 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare that's widely considered to be a standout. In it, you play as the ghillie suit-clad Captain John Price — a Lieutenant at the time — as he and his superior Captain MacMillan sneak past Russian paramilitary forces to attempt an assassination against antagonist Imran Zakhaev during a black market deal. Set in 1996 in the ruins of Pripyat, Ukraine, the mission tasks players with stealthily avoiding or neutralizing threats so as to not blow their cover, and is very memorable as a result of its extremely tense atmosphere.

"All Ghillied Up" concludes with the two-man team setting up a Barrett M82 anti-materiel rifle on the top floor of the Polissya hotel in the city, which is then used in the follow-up mission "One Shot, One Kill" to carry out the assassination attempt. STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl, being set in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, includes Pripyat as an explorable region of its map — and within its own rendition of the hotel lies a nod to the iconic level.

Specifically, on the top floor, you can find an M701 Super sniper rifle on a table in the exact same room that Price and MacMillan took their shot from in Call of Duty (see above). Notably, the M701 Super is the hardest-hitting sniper in the game, pretty much making it the closest thing to a .50 BMG anti-materiel rifle like the Barrett M82 that you'll find in The Zone.

Next to the weapon is a box of ammo, along with a special version of the Ukrainian NON STOP energy drinks that STALKER 2 includes as a stamina recovery consumable. It bears the same graphic that the real-life STALKER 2 Limited Edition versions of the drink do, and even restores more stamina at the cost of incurring more hunger. In-game, these are something of a collectible, as they're quite rare to find compared to the regular beverage.

Because of their scarcity, I've chosen not to use energy drinks like this one and instead just keep them tucked away in my stash as souvenirs. The M701 Super, though, is absolutely worth fielding if you don't already have one by the time you reach Pripyat, as its stopping power comes in very handy when facing heavily-armored stalkers and tanky mutants in the mid and late-game. Even if you do have one in your possession when you come across this one, it's worth grabbing to sell once you're back at a base.

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"All Ghillied Up" is probably my favorite Call of Duty mission of all time, so to see it referenced here in my favorite open-world shooter franchise is pretty awesome. Clearly, STALKER 2's devs like it as much as myself and countless other gamers do, which isn't exactly a surprise given that things like eerie atmosphere and intense moment-to-moment gameplay are what make both the level and the new game popular.

In general, I also love seeing easter eggs for fans to discover, as it makes open worlds a joy to explore naturally without guides (though there is a STALKER 2 interactive map you can use if you want to). GSC made sprinkling them throughout The Zone a priority — this page about surprises on the game's website makes that clear — so make sure you're keeping your eyes open as you continue your adventure. Who knows? Maybe you'll find something cool like this.

STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl has arrived on Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC, and is one of this year's best Xbox games and best PC games. It has a $59.99 MSRP, but notably, you can get it for a discount at CDKeys right now. You can also play it through Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass, and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl | $49.69 at CDKeys (Steam, PC)

Despite some issues with gameplay balance and irksome bugs, STALKER 2 stands tall as a triumph for GSC Game World. It's one of the most captivating open-world shooters I've ever played, and is a must-play if you have Xbox Game Pass.

Xbox: Amazon (Physical) | Game Legends (Limited Edition, Physical)
PC: GOG (Digital) | Game Legends (Physical)