Stalker: Anomaly 1.5 is a worthy fan-made successor to the series

(Image credit: Anomaly Developers)

It would be selling Stalker: Anomaly short to call it a mod. Based on Stalker: Call Of Pripyat, GSC Game World's haunted Ukranian survival sandbox, Anomaly feels more like a sequel than a user-made collaboration. Built on the now open-source and community-maintained X-Ray Engine, it features the combined and overhauled environments of all three official games in the series (plus some new ones) making for a sprawling, unpredictable sandbox full of mutants, mercenaries and murder.

More surprisingly, from the dozen hours I've played so far, it seems far more stable and polished than any official game in the series. Impressive, considering that it looks and runs better, too.

Anomaly has been kicking around for a while, but this week Version 1.5.0 was released, effectively a re-launch, overhauling huge swathes of the game and adding tons of new content and features. There's a deep and involved crafting and maintenance system, a mask system inspired by the Metro series and a reworked, far more polished UI. On top of the procedurally generated missions and faction quests, there are now four main story arcs to follow, several leading you to new factions trying to exert their influence on the Zone.

If the story mode doesn't appeal, then you can play in Warzone mode instead. Without the need to keep story NPCs alive, the AI is free go wild. Every faction is now vying for control of the Zone, and you can become commander of one of the factions, leading your forces across the map, RTS style.

Or maybe if you prefer a more solitary, dangerous life, Azazel mode will appeal. A fun take on Ironman that puts you in control of a random NPC somewhere else in the world upon dying. You might even find your old body (or whoever looted it after killing you), or perhaps you'll just get eaten by roaming mutant cats. Truly the Dark Souls of Stalker modes.

Be warned, though: Anomaly is a tougher, less forgiving sandbox than the original game, with a greater focus on survival and simulation. You need to eat, drink and sleep, although it's easy enough to keep those gauges in line, so long as you're making a bit of money from random missions. Read the manual, keep your PDA batteries charged, and good hunting.

You can find Stalker: Anomaly on ModDB. It's entirely standalone (no purchase needed), and takes up a hefty 19.1gb of hard drive space when unpacked. If ModDB's servers are creaking, then it's mirrored here on Google Drive.

Dominic Tarason
Contributing Writer

The product of a wasted youth, wasted prime and getting into wasted middle age, Dominic Tarason is a freelance writer, occasional indie PR guy and professional techno-hermit seen in many strange corners of the internet and seldom in reality. Based deep in the Welsh hinterlands where no food delivery dares to go, videogames provide a gritty, realistic escape from the idyllic views and fresh country air. If you're looking for something new and potentially very weird to play, feel free to poke him on Twitter. He's almost sociable, most of the time.

Latest in Action
Monster Hunter Wilds' stockpile master studying a manifest
Monster Hunter Wilds' new gyro controls are a fantastic option for disabled and able-bodied players alike
Commander Shepard in Mass Effect 3.
Mass Effect's Jennifer Hale, who played femshep, 'saw no line' before she recorded them for Bioware's flagship trilogy: 'It was all cold reading on the spot'
A hunter hefts a massive Mega Barrel Bomb in Monster Hunter Wilds.
Monster Hunter Wilds players can't stop blowing themselves to smithereens with its rollable barrel bombs
A hunter poses with a large hammer as their palico cheers nearby in Monster Hunter Wilds.
Monster Hunter Wilds weapon tier list
Naoe looking at the wrist blade in Assassin's Creed Shadows
Ubisoft backflips, says Assassin's Creed Shadows will support Steam Deck at launch, but I doubt I'll actually want to play it there
character creation in Monster Hunter Wilds
The best Monster Hunter Wilds mods
Latest in News
Will Poulter holding a CD ROM
'What are most games about? Killing': Black Mirror Season 7 includes a follow-up to 2018 interactive film Bandersnatch
Casper Van Dien in Starship Troopers
Sony, which is making a Helldivers 2 movie, is also making a new Starship Troopers movie, but it's not based on the Starship Troopers movie we already have
Assassin's Creed meets PUBG
Ubisoft is reportedly talking to Tencent about creating a new business entity to manage Assassin's Creed and other big games
Resident Evil Village - Lady Dimitrescu
'It really truly changed my life in every possible way': Lady Dimitrescu actor says her Resident Evil Village role was just as transformative for her as it was for roughly half the internet in 2021
Storm trooper hero
Another live service shooter is getting shut down, this time before it even launched on Steam
Possibility Space concept art.
Possibility Space owners sue NetEase for $900 million over allegations it spread 'false and defamatory rumors' of fraud at the studio that ultimately forced it to close