Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare catapulted the FPS series into the stratosphere, and STALKER 2 pays homage by recreating. Modern Warfare famously sends players into a lengthy flashback exploring the abandoned city of Pripyat — one of the residential areas closed to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The historical disaster is the backdrop for both games, and if you use the real-life location as a guide, you can find a hidden Easter egg in STALKER 2 referencing the big sniper scene in Modern Warfare. You won’t get a Barret 50. Cal Sniper Rifle, but you’ll still get a pretty great reward. Here’s where to find the Easter egg.
Call of Duty Easter Egg Location
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Before talking about the Easter egg, let’s talk about where to find it. The Easter egg in STALKER 2 is located in the Pripyat region — one of the final locations in the main story. Pripyat is located in the far northeast of the map — north of the Red Forest and through Yaniv Station.
- Easter Egg Location: In Pripyat, go to the area marked Polissya Hotel. It is a large hotel in the north of the city at the large square where the Enerhetyk Palace of Culture is located.
- Go to the roof of the hotel to find a M701 Super Sniper Rifle on a table with two boxes of ammo. This is the same location where Captain McMillan shoots the renegade Russian General Zakhaev in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.
The Sniper Rifle is different, but the location is the same. Chernobyl is heavily featured in a pair of missions in Modern Warfare — All Ghillied Up, and One Shot, One Kill. In the second mission, the pair of snipers shoot their target while contending with wind speed using a Barret 50. Cal Sniper Rifle. Unfortunately, you won’t find a weapon that heavy in STALKER 2, but you’ll still get one of the better Sniper Rifles in the game at this location.
Normally the path through Yaniv Station is blocked until you progress the story, but if you search carefully to the west of the settlement, there are ways to jump over the trains and reach the other side. The Pripyat region is extremely dangerous so bring plenty of medkits and bandages before attempting to get this gear. The Polissya Hotel is also a total nightmare — you’ll have to deal with swarms of zombies and multiple hidden Controllers that can attack you just for being near them. They’re hiding out on one of the many, many floors of the iconic hotel. At night, there’s also a chance to encounter Bloodsuckers.
The hotel itself is extremely dangerous, so save before entering. I don’t recommend hunting down the enemies. Inject yourself with Psi-Block and sprint to the rooftop. Grab the gun and ammo, then sprint back downstairs and escape. You’ll have to use medkits constantly just to survive the constant Psi damage you’ll be experiencing for being in the hotel at all.
This is just one of the Easter eggs we’ve found in STALKER 2 — in a game that’s this difficult to explore, we don’t expect you’ll want to search specifically for silly references. What’s best about this Easter egg is that you don’t need to get the reference. This is a perfectly fine place for a Sniper Rifle and it’s a great reward no matter what. It also happens to mimic one of the most memorable missions from a much-less hardcore FPS.
