Cordon

Think of it as the Zone's antechamber - it's a good place for rookies to get their head around. You'll find a trader in the vaults at the back of the village, next to the army outpost. Don't miss the chance to talk to him. You'd be advised to steer clear of the outpost itself, however. You don't want the soldiers to catch a sight of you - most of them shoot first and don't bother asking questions later. Yet, as always, there are some who can be bribed as long as the top brass is looking the other way. Attacking the soldiers is not recommended, unless they pose a direct threat.
― Shadow of Chernobyl PDA description

The Cordon is a location in both S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky. It is only mentioned in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat on several occasions.

Overview

It's the outermost edge of the Zone, guarded by the Military and therefore quieter than most other areas. Stalkers often refer to the Cordon as the Zone's antechamber. Most rookies stay at the Rookie village north of the actual military cordon outpost until they have enough gear and experience to head deeper into the Zone.

The single defining characteristic of the Cordon, present in all revisions, is the railroad bridge in the center of the map, dividing it into two halves. Depending on the revision, however, it can be either collapsed or still intact.

The area does not appear in Call of Pripyat. It is, however, mentioned on several occasions, such as by Beard when asked about the military^[1]

STALKER_Army_Outpost_Announcements — STALKER Army Outpost Announcements

Army Outpost Announcements

Locations

Major

Rookie village
Military checkpoint
Vehicle station, also known as the Bus station or Carpark
Railway bridge
Mill
Northern farm
Outpost

Minor

Military outpost

Rookie village

Car park

Mill

Railroad bridge

Northern farm

to Garbage

Map of Cordon

Population

Cordon is largely populated by Rookie Stalkers and Military border guards. It's possible to run into a few Bandits, especially around the Vehicle Park. Mainly you'll be fighting Bandits, Blind Dogs, Boars, Fleshes, Pseudodogs, and the Military. In the later stages of Shadow of Chernobyl, one may also encounter Mercenaries as part of a mission given by Fanatic.

Some Stalkers have reported sightings of Bloodsuckers in Cordon, it should be noted that they may only appear in the abandoned mill after you have completed the quest in Lab X-16.

Notable characters

Soundtrack

Day theme

Night theme (Clear Sky)

Development

Originally, the Cordon was supposed to be far larger and have more locations.

The Cordon was originally called the "Escape" but was renamed "the Cordon" in the release of the game. However in its script designations, and character designations it is still called "Escape" or "esc".

Build 1114

In this build the most noticeable difference is the scale – the Cordon feels about two times bigger than its original rendition in terms of raw area. In terms of content, though, it has less (it's an alpha, though, so nothing can be said about the intended content). It also feels more cramped, due to the fact it's set in a valley enclosed from all sides by cliff spaces, with two military checkpoints at each end. The palette of colours used is limited and very, very gloomy.

Build 1472

This revision retains the size of the predecessor, but is far more detailed and uses a more vibrant palette of colors. There are also several, minor tweaks to the environments (such as size of cliffs and placement of buildings), but overall, it's closer to the final version.

The Rookie village is present, as destroyed as it is in the release version, and includes the first version of Sidorovich's bunker, which is far smaller, with red walls and placed in a cellar of one of the village houses, not a bunker outside of it. The factory from 1114 is still there, except lower. A second military checkpoint has been added on the side leading out of the Zone, where it will stay (albeit revised) until Shadow of Chernobyl. There is also an additional village located on the other side of the ridge with the railway bridge.

References

↑ "Think about it. What would those jarheads be doing in our camp? Trust me when I say that they prefer to steer well clear of this place. Too many of us here remember what it was like to crawl through dirt at the Cordon, under fire from their damn machine guns..."

[1] "Think about it. What would those jarheads be doing in our camp? Trust me when I say that they prefer to steer well clear of this place. Too many of us here remember what it was like to crawl through dirt at the Cordon, under fire from their damn machine guns..."

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b

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