Strelok, the player character from the first game, is apparently back too, and following rumours of his return leads into several large story quest arcs, in-between dozens of scripted side-quests and procedurally generated jobs. The Zone - the haunted, irradiated and mutant-infested land around Chernobyl - is bigger and more detailed than ever. That extra year has done wonders for stability and performance, too.Īnomaly presents itself as a sequel, set some years after GSC Game World's original trilogy, and combines and expands the environments from all three of those original games. An overhauled, polished UI, a main story to follow, a glut of alternative modes, and it's not too tough on the default settings. While this standalone mod has been around for a while, the recently-released version 1.5 brings a lot to the table after a full year of development. games feel like they're built exclusively for folks who've played nothing else this past decade (see the fittingly named Call Of Misery), Anomaly could almost pass for a commercial product. While some of these fan-made S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Free, standalone, polished and stuffed with irradiated promise, here's why Anomaly is a must-play whether you're new to Pripyat or know it like the back of your hand. The likes of Lost Alpha, Dead Air and the upcoming multiplayer Ray Of Hope are all impressive, but the recently re-released Anomaly is the closest we've seen to an unofficial sequel. Between a vague but permissive modding agreement and an engine-code leak, fans had all the tools they needed to make their own successor. The past few years have been amazing for fans of the gritty survival shooter sandbox series S.T.A.L.K.E.R.
Every other Monday, Dominic gives you a reason to dust off one of your old games and dive into its mods with Modder Superior.