S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat

- NOT A REVIEW OF THE VANILLA GAME - I'm writing a review on "Call of Pripyat" only because it's the game which gets associated by Steam when playing STALKER G.A.M.M.A. which stands for Grokitach's Automated Modular Modpack for Anomaly. Anomaly is a total conversion of the conjunction of the 3 original STALKER games: Shadow of Chernobyl, Clear Sky and Call of Pripyat. It serves as a highly configurable game engine with the backbones of Stalker assets. It works much like nowadays anyone who plays Skyrim. Playing unmodded vanilla Skyrim in 2026 is comparable to have lived under a rock for 15 years. Stalker GAMMA is yet another total overhaul of Anomaly itself. It is a huge and expanded compilation of game changing, quality of life, content and technical improvement mods to an already expanded total overhaul of the game. Some say you should first play the original games, then Anomaly and then GAMMA but honestly i don't see why you shouldn't aim for the best experience already. Stalker GAMMA gifts players with the ultimate dream: being able to finesse and tinker an already beautiful game into something really unique and personalized. Hunt for bounties, search for loot, explore the zone, kill the opposite factions and rescue your pals, track down mutants, contribute to the economy, build your own hideout, craft your gear, manage your different type of ammo for different type of enemies, eat, drink, smoke, sleep, keep your eyes peeled for anomaly hazards, beware of radioactive zones, heal your body parts with the proper medical tool, manage your stashes. Each play is different. First play as a no-name lone stalker, doing errands and tasks for anyone. Then maybe play as a Monolith faction's soldier, spreading your religious propaganda to everyone else and shooting before asking questions. Play as a zombie. Tired of normal sandbox mode? Replay as Warfare mode, where factions actively search and destroy others. Enable Soulslike mode and lose your gear when dying, which you then need to retrieve manually. Want some rogue-lite gameplay? Enable Azazel mode: respawn into another random npc with their gear and skills and reputations if you die. Want to barricade into your base and fortify it from invading enemies? Enable Survival mode. Did i mention that you can also install more mods and graphical improvements over it, if you're still not happy? The Mod Configuration Menu also allows you to tweak and balance every single thing in the game, from the lenght of the grass bushes to the price of the trader's wares. I forgot to say everything of this is TOTALLY FREE and, if you've got some patience to follow the modlist's instructions on how to properly set it up, it's easily the best hardcore survival game there is that humanity can offer. Last but not least, the combination of graphical mods and Reshades really makes this game look like it's from the recent years. Do you like Escape from Tarkov / Fallout / Horror survivals? You must play this, even if it requires some initial efforts to set it up.

Favorite stalker game out of the trilogy, no game will ever top the feeling of dread of kid me felt back then when the emission warning came to be and realizing that a burnt farmstead won't be enough to cover me from those waves. For those newcomer who want to start with Pripyat, use the ABR mod. Not only it's still a vanilla experience with tons of QOL added, you also be spared of any RNG crashes from the anomaly that is the Xray-Engine. Second playthrough with Gunslinger(no time tracking as the mod use seperate .exe) and third with ABR as of writing this review.

A very good game for what it offers. While Clear Skies felt disappointing and underwhelming, this is where the franchise picks up again. I'm still in favor of the repair and upgrade system, but bigger fan of no timed quests which leaves the player to do things at their own pace. I love how the game kept itself to three areas only, but they felt neither small or empty, absolutely plenty of things to do. All in all 9/10.