S.W.A.N.: Chernobyl Unexplored

A cheese way to get this is if and when you die and are on "You are dead" screen, select "Exit to menu" option and reload your last save and game will think you haven't died as long as you don't select "Repeat" option and you'll get this achievement along with

I could not get my achievement to unlock by using the above method, although I have heard of it working for others. In any case, if that doesn’t work or if you want to really attempt it, here’s a few tips for the riskier areas.

And this is also assuming you are not attempting this on your first playthrough and are somewhat familiar with the puzzles and how to move the story forward. I’ll just give some tips and pointers for the sections where you could potentially die.

You could practice some sections before attempting a no death run, to get a good feel of what is required for them, notably the Memory Wasteland sections and the Nadya Filter ones, because those are the most likely to end your run. You can practice them a few times if needed using the Chapter replay feature.


Obviously do not run in the direction of the forbidden hallway. You’ll die if you do so. In the RUN hallway just go straight to the 3 doors ahead and avoid the right hallway.

Memory Wasteland 1 – Applies for every Memory Wasteland. The goal is to use Thought Catching Mode (which is setting #1 on the gun) by pressing RT to find a particle in the sky. Once you’ve located one, lock it in by looking straight at it. Then switch to setting #2, grab any of the red orbs floating around, aim at the particle and shoot at it to obliterate it. Be extra careful where you walk to avoid falling down any of the black holes that will appear and KEEP RUNNING. Always run around and stay as far away as possible from the shadow/light monsters. You don’t need to destroy any of those, just focus on the particles in the sky to leave this place as fast as possible. Also, don’t go too close to the edges of the map since you’ll hit radiation and could potentially die if you don’t turn back in time. Once you’ve obliterated the number of particles required, a void will appear. At this point, the holes will disappear but the monsters will not. Don’t run straight at the void, take your time and make a beeline if necessary to avoid the enemies and make your way to the void. Those sections aren’t too hard if you watch your step and if you keep running away from the monsters.

Nadya Filter sections – This is where you really need to be careful. You need to collect energy balls to break down crates/doors. The Nadya Filter makes a faint beeping sound whenever you’re aiming it in the general direction of an energy ball. It’s not very reliable when you are in a zone with multiple floors so be aware of that. The most important thing is to keep your filter level up so you don’t find yourself blind if it runs out. This is the only way you’ll be able to see/banish the spectres that will float at you. The music will change when one of those spawns so be aware of that as a sign of one of them coming after you. They’ll always come one at a time and, from my experience, they come after every 2-3 energy balls you collect. Just make sure you can see them coming and blast them with an energy ball as soon as you can. If you are near a room, go inside, to the back wall, and face the door you just came through. Spectres will come in from that lone entrance and they’ll be easy to blast. Again, when the music shifts, stop running around (you don’t want to run straight at one around a corner) so stay alert. The Blind Man (the tall enemy walking around) is only lethal if you run straight into its arms and is just following a path around the area. If you get too close, you’ll get a radiation warning and need to walk away before you die. But generally speaking, avoid him by making large loops around the area, you will never be trapped in a dead end and always have rooms/stairs to retreat to. In the later Nadya filter sections, the hallways are generally large enough for you to run next to the Blind Man so long as you stay as close as possible to the walls. So just make sure to keep the filter charged as high as possible using the batteries lying around (they eventually respawn) and be extra careful when a spectre has spawned. Most of all, do not try to rush these sections, that’s how you get killed by being careless.

As a side note, it is also possible to banish the Blind Man using an energy ball, but this is a waste of time as he will respawn instantly elsewhere.

Be extra patient for the last few Nadya Filter sections. You have to run on multiple floors and it’s not always easy to figure out where the energy balls are, so take your time and be very careful of any spectres coming your way. I would add that in the last one (where you need the power 8 energy balls), be extra careful when climbing up and down the stairs leading to the upper floor. The Blind Man patrols both floors and you don’t want to run straight into him in the stairs because there’s no way around him. Be patient and take your time. The most important thing is to always have some battery left otherwise you’ll be at the mercy of the spectres which often leads to instant death. And as silly as it sounds, I once found myself so low on battery after blasting open the door on the bottom floor of the final section that I did not have time to go through it before running out of energy. And since blowing open the door triggers the end of the section, batteries stop spawning. So had to re-do the whole section. Try to avoid that.

Basement section. When you enter the white room in the basement, you’ll start hearing a ticking sound and receive the objective “Do not allow the day to come”. Time for this section is VERY generous but you could still die if you get lost/take too long. (You’ll also encounter some apparitions that will run at you, those are harmless) Turn around and leave the white room the way you came from. Immediately go left into the hallway and follow it around to a dark cell at the end. In it is ray #1. Go back to the previous fork. With the white room on your right, go left and up the stairs (back the way you initially entered the basement). Turn left at the fork and into the small storage room for ray #2. Go back out and straight ahead you should see ray #3 at the end of the hallway (it’ll be in the right hallway if coming up the stairs). Now go back down the stairs, go through the white room into the following hallway. At the fork, go left for ray #4. Then turn around and follow the hallway in front of you around (it’s the right hallway if coming from the white room). The second cell (the dark one) has ray #5. Ray #6 is at the end of this same hallway past the cells. Now turn back around and head to the previous fork. Go into the operating room on your right for ray #7. This will stop the ticking timer and you are free to exit this area by going back into the white room (now dark) and using the door. Again, you have PLENTY of time to do this, just keep running and you’ll be fine.

When you have to trap the spirit in the microphone room using the radio/lights, do not run toward it in the hallway as the radiation will kill you. Grab the floppy disk, go around the outside of the room into the smaller room with a computer. Grab the microphone from the desk and go back to the previous room to use it on the sound system. Turn it on. Turn on the radio too. Go back to the computer, use the floppy disk and go into the Light System Management. Turn off every light except the 2 from the previous room (they are the 2 squares second from the left in their own cubic space). The tall lady will be trapped into the sound system room and you are free to go into the hallway she was previously blocking.

Shadow Wasteland/Observe the light. Try to stay in the blue on the light meter. You won’t die immediately if you drain it but be aware that going too far away from the light will bring you into the radiation that could rapidly kill you. Head toward the light by raising the blue bars to the top, interact with the body and leave this area. There’s really no reason to die here, but I figured I’d mention it nonetheless.

In the anti-radiation medicine section (with the constant radiation meter in the bottom left corner), the most important is to make sure you complete the section as fast as possible. Take the first left down a hallway when you can, go through the double glass doors into the following hallway. Go past the first hallway on the left/open room on the right into the next section of this hallway (there should be a broken door on the floor). Here, you want to head left into the room. The code for the safe is 2604. Inside the safe is a floppy disk you need so grab that. Listen to the cassette, go through the visions, and then wait for the door of the room to open for you. Turn left, wait for the ghost/whatever at the end of the hallway to run toward you (the game will automatically block you with an invisible wall until the apparition does its thing). When you’re free to move again, turn left and go all the way to the end, down the stairs and into a control room of some sort. Inside you can find medicine on the desk on the right and another medicine pack in the cabinet in front of you when you enter. Try to use the computer and you’ll trigger an alarm. When you can, exit the room the way you came in and go toward the staircase in front of you. A door will spawn on the left. Go through it. In the next room, there’s medicine on your immediate right as you enter. Now run from light source to light source (about 7 times and you have to be fast) until you spawn a door. Inside that room, hit the switches in this order : left, right, middle to shut off the radiation.

You’ll spawn back into the control room with the computer and be warned that “someone is blocking the door”. Interact with the computer, activate the elevator, and then turn off every single light under the light system management. This will banish the monster and you’re free to make your way to the elevator. (It is possible to not turn off every light but you risk running into radiation and be blocked by an invisible wall if you don’t, so I’d advise to just shut it all off).

Can’t think of other sections where it’s possibly to die. Most apparitions/ghostly figures are harmless (outside of the aforementioned sections). Overall, it’s not too hard but sometimes the RNG of energy balls during Nadya Filter sections can be infuriating.

Keep at it and good luck!