A dreadful place. Easy to vanish without a trace there, no matter how lucky you have been in life so far. Whoever gets close to the Brain Scorcher immediately goes insane, turns into a zombie and starts stalking the Zone restlessly. A human shell is all that's left. No-one has ever returned with a sound mind.
― Encyclopedia
This used to be a wildlife reserve, and I was the local forester. I protected the forest and its animals from poachers. Now the Zone itself protects this place, and it does it so well that people are willing to travel a dozen extra miles just to avoid it. If a stranger sets his foot in the forest, he's as good as dead. I may be Forester, but even I don't know exactly what goes on here. A man walks into the mist and just gets sucked off into nowhere. You could be walking right behind him and still not know how he met his end. So that's that, sonny.
― Forester
"Red Forest" is the name given to large areas of woodlands surrounding the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, which turned into a ginger-brown color after the pine trees died when they absorbed high levels of ionizing radiation following the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. Forester, a well-known resident of the forest, has been living in the area for a long time, working as a park ranger. The Red Forest continued to flourish with wildlife until the emergence of the Zone in 2006, which caused wild animals to disappear; instead, mutants and anomalies became widespread within the forest.
Some time after 2006, the eastern half of the Forest became inaccessible due to the Brain Scorcher. The surrounding area became a fortified Monolith outpost, which the fanatics use to launch regular raids on the Barrier. The western half was not affected by the antennas, but its human population remained low due to the large number of anomalies. The Second Emission in 2011 opened new paths to the Forest, allowing stalkers to scout the area and the nearby city of Limansk.
Appearances[]
Shadow of Chernobyl[]
The Red Forest can be accessed the player from the Barrier, but the deadly levels of psi emissions makes exploration impossible without acquiring the Psi-helmet from Sakharov. The main objective there is to disable the Brain Scorcher in the Lab X-10 in order to gain access to Pripyat.
The Red Forest is a dangerous area: not only most of the map is full of hostiles, whether they're mutants or Monolith fighters, but most of the available cover is heavily irradiated, making Anti-rads and anti-radiation artifacts a must-have. As well, the player will be confronted by snipers and heavily-armed fighters. Therefore, a sniper rifle and an assault rifle with sufficient ammunition and medical equipment is advised.
There are two ways the player can go towards the Brain Scorcher: either they can follow the road or cross through the forest. The road is the fastest way, but has most of the resistance here, i.e. all the Monolith fighters. The forest road is longer, but has less resistance (only the aforementioned mutants), at the cost of being the most irradiated part of the map, as well as being filled with anomalies of various kinds. The forest way leads towards a grate that gives the player direct access to the main road.
The Brain Scorcher itself is a large bunker protected by no less than 20-30 Monolith fighters, including snipers. As well, in the vicinity of the antennas, the player will see apparitions caused by the intense psi-emissions. The bunker has a tunnel with the secret passage leading towards Lab X-10.
After the player deactivates the Brain Scorcher, the area is populated by Loners, who usually set their camps on the roads to the antennas. Also, as the player comes out of Lab X-10, the area is raided by squads of military just by the trains near the emitters, leading to a large cross-fire between Monolith fighters and the soldiers. As the player approaches the road to Pripyat, the player can witness a three-way firefight between Monolith fighters, as well as teams of Duty and Freedom experts - whoever wins will guard the entrance to Pripyat. If the player decides to go back to the Army Warehouses, they will have to encounter a contingent of soldiers guarding the entrance checkpoint.
Clear Sky[]
In Clear Sky, the player goes to another part the Red Forest, pursuing Strelok. There is a tunnel that leads to the other part of the Red Forest, featured in Shadow of Chernobyl, which Strelok destroys so that Scar cannot apprehend him. Prior to the emission that begins the game, it was deemed impossible to get to the Red Forest, due to anomalous fields and due to the Brain Scorcher blocking the other parts. The emission opened pathways to the Red Forest, and some stalkers ventured into the Red Forest hoping to strike gold. The Red Forest is home to Forester. It also has a bridge that leads to Limansk, which needed to be lowered so that Clear Sky and Scar could advance through Limansk and into the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.
The Red Forest in Clear Sky is different from the Shadow of Chernobyl version. Instead of being filled with armed stalkers (most likely the Monolith), it's home to a variety of dangerous mutants, such as Psy dogs, Bloodsuckers, Snorks, and a lone Pseudogiant in the Symbiont anomaly, along with huge clusters of gravitational or Electro anomalies and a large area of radioactivity beside the road that stretches from the gate of Forester's site, to the access point from the Garbage that is only opened after the player completes some main quests in the area.
Stalkers have also occupied some of the territories; Renegades and Bandits have occupied the old mine that leads to the Compass and also the bridge leading to Limansk itself. Duty fighters established outposts near Forester's tower and will occupy the Renegades' mine after the quest to retrieve the Compass, and Loners have made a camp near the entrance from the Garbage. They offer a mission to the player to establish a camp near the Symbiont anomaly.
Originally, in Shadow of Chernobyl, it was going to be called Radar, and was similar to the Garbage as it had peculiar line-shaped garbage piles; and hardly any trees. The location is still referred as such in the game files, as well as on a road sign at the Military base.
It should also be noted that in Build 1935, the current entrance to Pripyat used to be a direct road to the NPP.
Gallery[]
Shadow of Chernobyl[]
The Red Forest in Shadow of Chernobyl.
The Monolith outpost in Shadow of Chernobyl.
The tunnel at the Monolith outpost leads to a dead end.
The locked door near the crossroads that lead to Pripyat and the Brain Scorcher.
The location of the secret door on the PDA.
Clear Sky[]
The Red Forest in Clear Sky.
Ditto.
Behind Strelok's tunnel.
The clearing and claw anomaly in the eastern section of the Red Forest.
"Limansk Reserve".
PDA showing the Red Forest in Clear Sky". Multiple factions operate within the Red Forest (green, due to player faction choices).
An early map of the Red Forest for Clear Sky.
The Red Forest concept art for Clear Sky.
The drawbridge concept art for Clear Sky.
Reference photos.
Trivia[]
In Shadow of Chernobyl, near the crossroads that lead to the Brain Scorcher and Pripyat, there is a locked door that leads to a small room containing three Medkits. The passcode required to unlock the door is 1287975.
In Shadow of Chernobyl, a diary of a Monolithian refers to this area as the Dark Forest and Black Forest.