Reviews - kruglov

This mod is absolutely fantastic, immensely addictive and curiously satisfying in ways I'd not anticipated from Stalker in general. The implementation of story and side quest mods with the utterly massive world map and the variation in faction choice make it even appear daunting initially, and with the emphasis on survival it becomes even more challenging. But with time everything becomes familiar enough to eventually correct a failure of nerve preventing you from exploring further than your starting area, and what awaits is endlessly entertaining.

I'm not so well versed in the mods upon which Anomaly is built as others who have been modding Stalker for a long time, so this must be taken into consideration when considering my review, but I've researched into its history and the origins of its dozens of complex systems to the point where I feel I have a solid grasp on the background. I've since tried few of these mods (Misery, Call of Chernobyl) and I believe that Anomaly comes closest to my ideal vision of Stalker. It plays the way my mind anticipated when I first read about the original Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl on paper. I would honestly have given this mod a 10 were it not for a few minor instances of imperfection, mainly related to its being incomplete, as it is remarkably stable. The difficulty and progression sliders offer the capacity to fine-tune your experience with the game, in determining how mercilessly difficult or relatively relaxed you prefer the hostile encounters or economy to be, even controlling the rate at which weapon and armor degrade. Mutant and human population is also variable in-game, and the incredibly different experiences available between Story Mode and Warfare essentially deliver two different games.

Visually stunning, the most gorgeous of the Stalker series.