Reviews - KadotuksenVarjo

Difficult, but wonderfully immersive, Anomaly greatly overhauls S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and turns it into a sandbox of your desire. Play as any faction, and lose yourself in the harsh misery of the Zone as you dig around for loot and better gear. Happy hunting, stalker!

That aside, this game is amazing, a real hidden gem lost to time. It is brutal in difficulty. It does not hold your hand, and it will kill you fast. As such, you must learn fast to get through. The game's story progresses at your own pace. There are times where it will be utterly confusing and you will have no clue what to do, but once you figure it out, it feels great. Puzzles are complex, but few in number. The skill system is alright, but is workable enough that if you wanted to dual-class it'll work.

The magic system is amazing. You have to write the runes (in other words, you move your mouse in the shape of the runes) to cast the spells, and you can three set in reserve for quick-casting in a pinch. My only qualm there is that when writing the runes, the detection can be finicky and thus one must be precise. The magic system definitely takes some getting used to.

The stealth mechanics are decent once your stealth skill is high enough. Combat is fun, especially when scoring a critical hit. It is quite enjoyable to see a decapitated enemy spurt blood everywhere, or even explode from the raw force being projected from your blow.

A major highlight is the sound design. Absolutely amazing, every part of it. The footstep sounds and ambience really help set the tone of being deep beneath the earth in a winding system of caverns. The OST is awesome and remiscient of that of Thief: The Dark Project (another favorite of mine I recommend). In fact, some of the devs from Looking Glass helped make this underrated gem.

Point and case? RPG fan: get this game. Dungeon crawler fan: get this game. Thief fan: get this game. This gem is guaranteed to keep you captivated for a while.

Best addition to Call of Pripyat I have played so far. I especially love Shadow of Chernobyl's maps and having them here is just so nice.