It is very rare for a game franchise to receive 3 good games. Even 2, no even 1 is quite rare, since gaming is in such a sorry state these days. Then there’s the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. franchise, which is now a twelve year old franchise. It has not only 3 pretty good games, but when you include new story/total conversion mods, it’s as if it has no fewer than 10 good entries in the franchise!

Mods have kept the series alive for twelve years. Had the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games been unmoddable like most games today, the series would’ve died out and lost its fanbase a very long time ago, shortly after the release of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call of Pripyat which finalized in 2010. This serves as an excellent example as to why all games should be moddable.

In this article, we will list what we consider the must-play mods for the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series for English speaking fans, from overhauls (mods that improve and expand upon the base game without totally changing it) to total conversions (mods that totally change the story, although they may use assets and mechanics from the base game). Note that many of the total conversions are completely standalone free games! Yet GSC Game World, the company that owns S.T.A.L.K.E.R., does not send Cease and Desist letters, instead they encourage them and are working with modders on S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2.

But by all means, don’t limit yourself to just these mods. Go and see what’s out there on websites like Stalker-worlds, AP-PRO, and ModDB. Note many of the best mods are only on Stalker-worlds and AP-PRO and not on ModDB. Also keep track of my modding and mod tweaking progress here.

First we will list overhaul mods for each game, which should be used on your first playthrough since they are universal enhancement mods, adding back cut content too, without changing the quests.

Table of Contents

Shadow of Chernobyl Overhaul Mods

OGSR plus its database files

Clear Sky Overhaul Mods

Call of Pripyat Overhaul Mods

Total Conversion Mods

Upcoming Total Conversion Mods

Shadow of Chernobyl Overhaul Mods

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl is the first game in the series, and the best one unmodded. It is the only one with a good all around story, although Clear Sky has good world building and dialogue in some places. Skipping over the earlier games and going straight for the newer ones is nonsensical, so don’t skip this game! Don’t play the franchise backwards either, play it in order. Use common sense.

But all of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games are quite flawed, so much so that I cannot recommend playing them unmodded. Not only do mods improve stability, they make necessary gameplay improvements and often add back cut content, and many even improve graphics without seriously changing the art style, therefore there’s no need to play unmodded (aka “vanilla”).

There are various great, universally improved overhaul mods, such as Autumn Aurora 2.1, Mod Pack 2013, Oblivion Lost, and Old Storyline Restoration (also referred to as RMA), but one mod really outshines the rest, and that is the one covered below.

Old Good Stalker Remastered (OGSR)

The ultimate version of Shadow of Chernobyl. Only a slightly expanded plot, infinitely more side quests, and the best gameplay mechanics in the series along with NLC 7 Build 3.0.

Sorry, but I can no longer recommend plain vanilla+ mods. OGSR is simply too superior. It is the ultimate version of Shadow of Chernobyl, the caption above sums it up but if you want details, check out this list of its noteworthy mechanics:

Several fully customizable guns in which you can upgrade the magazine (e.g. 30 round, 45 round, or 60 round mag for AK-74 type weapons), use multiple optics, use a picatinny rail mount on dovetail mounts to use NATO optics on Russian guns. The AK-102 allows for all of this as well as a custom furniture set and a vertical foregrip. Another example is the Stechkin APB for which you can attach a stock, silencer and vertical foregrip. Here’s a quick glance at one such gun: https://streamable.com/92oid

Double optic weapons, or the ability to aim down an optic and switch to a backup iron sight.

Dual render/picture-in-picture scopes.

Aim sway, weapon bobbing, first person movement inertia.

Separate slot for night vision goggles or thermal vision goggles. Using night vision/thermal vision and then aiming down a magnified optic will force night vision/thermal vision to disable.

Artifact detectors.

AMK repair kits (all you need is a repair kit and a similar item to the item you want to repair).

Exoskeletons are ATTACHMENTS that work with existing outfits.

Mask slot for outfits without an integrated helmet, but there are only two gas masks available.

40mm grenades and RPGs don’t detonate at short range, safety precaution.

Can fire both barrels out of breach action sawn-off shotguns at the same time.

Emissions, which move anomalies like in the lore.

Companion/squad system.

The hand radio item has an actual use now: it can be used to give orders to companions.

Vehicles with fuel tanks and a very nice trunk system with item filters. This is one of the only mods that improves vehicle handling too.

Cut mutants and some new mutant variations.

The best Controllers in the series. They emit a psy-field and up close they really disorient you and spin you around so that you can’t just blast them, and they can easily make you kill friendlies if you’re not careful. They also zombify NPCs.

Can ignite light sources.

Not only is it mechanically only rivaled by two mods (New Arsenal 6 and NLC 7 Build 3.0, and only the latter is actually a good overall mod), it is one of the best written S.T.A.L.K.E.R. experiences, really capturing the mysterious and eerie nature of The Zone. It also has lots of very authentic Russian slang if you play in Russian. OGSR expands on the plot near the end, lengthening it a bit, and also generally gives you more ways to complete quests. And the English version of OGSR includes an adapted version of OGSE Weapon Expansion Project, so the total amount of projectile weapons is over 160.

Main Download

Database Files

Clear Sky Overhaul Mods

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky is the second game in the series, and the most neglected one. It is perhaps the least enjoyable by default due to how insufferable the weapon balance is. Pistols are inaccurate at 20 feet, while even $20 airsoft pistols are accurate at 20 feet. Rifles are less accurate than $150 airsoft electric rifles, it can take four shotgun shots at point blank range to kill an unarmored person. It’s stupid.

Luckily, all those things are EASILY fixed. For this game, we only recommend one overhaul which is comprised of several mods.

STCS Redux + Atmosfear

The ultimate version of vanilla Clear Sky

STCS Redux is the best weapon overhaul for Clear Sky, and this version includes SRP 1.1.2 for stability improvements. SRP is an absolute necessity to play Clear Sky reliably, otherwise you run into crashes and save game corruption. Clear Sky’s gameplay is also intolerable by default, with your bullets disappearing at short range (artificially reduced weapon range to the point where they are outperformed by airsoft guns in range/accuracy, not even exaggerating) and unarmored NPCs being able to survive up to and including 3 shotgun blasts at point blank range (partially due to invincibility frames). STCS alleviates that.

Atmosfear 1.3 is a wonderful graphics overhaul made by Cromm Cruac who makes perhaps the best weather mods for the series. This also reduces the bad design choices from Clear Sky (primarily excessive gloss and bloom).

Install in the order they’re listed below:

Atmosfear 1.3

STCS 2.6.3 Redux

Optional Dynamic HUD for STCS 2.6.3 Redux

Call of Pripyat Overhaul Mods

GUNSLINGER, Absolute Nature 4, Absolute Structures, and Atmosfear 3

Prettier version of the base game that has some of the best shooting mechanics and animations ever, better first person animations than modern AAA FPS games, and even picture-and-picture scopes

Call of Pripyat is the weakest game in the series and needs all the help it can get. The best way to experience it is with these mods which makes it one of the best FPS games ever mechanically, and much prettier.

The links for these mods can be found below. Install them in the order they’re listed.

GUNSLINGER (alternate download 1, alternate download 2)

Atmosfear 3

Absolute Nature 4 – Choose your preferred season!

Absolute Structures Texture Pack

INSTALLATION INSTRUCTION VIDEO HERE. GUNSLINGER goes first, Atmosfear 3 has to be installed a certain way shown in that video. Then for Absolute Nature 4, install it into its own separate random folder and copy only its gamedata folder to the gamedata folder in your GUNSLINGER folder created during Atmosfear 3 installation, and then delete gamedata\shaders.xr.

Total Conversion Mods

Each of these mods amounts to its own game. There are countless total conversion mods, this list only includes what we consider “must plays” due to their quality and/or innovation and creativity. Only play these AFTER beating all three games.

Oblivion Lost Remake 2.5

Top 3 best story experiences for English speaking players, most atmospheric S.T.A.L.K.E.R. experience for English speaking players

This is NOT Oblivion Lost. Oblivion Lost is an overhaul mod for Shadow of Chernobyl, while Oblivion Lost Remake is a fully standalone total conversion mod. Its goal is to try and restore GSC’s original vision for Oblivion Lost, before it became Shadow of Chernobyl. This means it is more ambitious than Shadow of Chernobyl, and is almost entirely new maps. The old, cut maps from Shadow of Chernobyl were replaced by smaller, less realistic, less atmospheric inferior maps in the final game, which are also in Clear Sky and mods like Call of Chernobyl and Anomaly. The maps here however are much better made and infinitely more immersive.

So immersive is Oblivion Lost Remake that I consider it the most atmospheric S.T.A.L.K.E.R. experience to date, and the most atmospheric shooter to date. This mod really tries harder not only to emulate the original greatness seen in alpha builds of Shadow of Chernobyl, but it shows influence from Tarkovsky’s masterful Stalker movie, and the atmosphere is at times similar to that.

Oblivion Lost Remake also happens to have better default balance in weapon statistics than most other mods, it doesn’t even need tweaking really since guns generally perform like they should. A-Life in this mod isn’t quite Call of Chernobyl/Anomaly tier, but it’s fantastic. It only has a few significant shortcomings, and those are a general lack of guns (only about the same amount as unmodded Call of Pripyat), and weapons are not properly distributed among traders and NPCs, making it so the only sustainable rifles are 5.45×39 caliber. In other words, you will be using a very small selection of weaponry throughout the game. Still a far bigger selection than Metro: Exodus though.

I also don’t like a few story elements in it that reek of fan fiction, but luckily there are very few, in fact it’s limited to one small location (X-18). Mutant spawns can also be too high at times, especially in X-18. Also note there will be a version 3.0 in the future, with full A-Life and many other improvements.

Full Download

Vector of Alienation

An authentic “build mod” like Oblivion Lost Remake with even better writing.

Vector of Alienation was once an addon for Oblivion Lost Remake but is now optional. The story is a bit different than that of Oblivion Lost Remake, but the writing is deeper. Due to the differences, it is vital to play both. The downside to Vector of Alienation is that it is limited to static lighting. The download includes tons of optional addons, and there is a separate weapon replacement pack which uses OWR 3 guns which is highly recommended since like with Oblivion Lost Remake the default gun models are 2003 quality.

ModDB Page

SFZ Project

An innovative mod inspired by Silent Hill with an intriguing premise and much needed updates to the engine and UI

SFZ Project is a work in progress mod, but Episode Zero is currently available. It takes place after another massive emission that changes The Zone as we know it. During Episode Zero, the entire area of the Cordon is occupied by a strange space-time anomaly and is covered in fog, which along with the Silent Hill menu sounds are direct Silent Hill references. The next release will be the rest of the mod and its story. SFZ Project makes use of OGSR engine so it is filled with modern graphics features and fast loading times thanks to multithreaded texture loading.

Episode Zero English download (Alternate link)

AP-Pro Page

Narodnaya Solyanka 2016

The original Soup mod, pioneer of ridiculous quest design and synthetic difficulty, but less ridiculous than the other two Soup mods featured in this article

Narodnaya Solyanka is the original Soup mod as mentioned above (it translates to People’s Soup). This version on ModDB is being translated by hand into English, and has various gameplay and significant visual enhancements, so it is the definitive version of NS2016. It doesn’t have as much content as OP2.1, but is less extreme with its synthetic difficulty and fetch quests.

Full Download

NLC 7 Build 3.0

Ultimately the very best S.T.A.L.K.E.R. experience one can have, but the only English localization is machine translated.

The naming for this mod is confusing in two ways: NLC stands for New Level Changer, but that just makes it sound like all this mod does is add new levels. Then there’s the versioning in the name; it is not typo’d above, it is actually ‘Version 7 Build 3.0’, and to make things more confusing there is an NLC 7.5, but that one is out of date. NLC 7 Build 3.0 is the latest.

In fact, it’s another Soup mod, but the most different one. It might as well not be a Soup mod. It has a totally different global map than the other Soup mods (less maps in fact), and distinguishes itself through its own quests, writing, and gameplay. The main quest is very different than every other Soup mod, so it serves as yet another reimagining of SoC’s story. It is often hailed as the most mature, professionally made S.T.A.L.K.E.R. mod.

There are more ways to approach quests, with more cascading effects later on down the line based on how you do them, than most RPGs. Its quest design is utterly unmatched in the series, and so is its character development, as it makes it a point to make every NPC, even less significant ones if you do business with them, actual people instead of just obstacles for your gun.

It also has uniquely good shooting mechanics in the series; the best aim sway, the ability to switch on/off reticle illumination on scopes (and change reticles on the Kobra red dot sight), it’s one of few SoC based mods that lets you mount more than one optic on guns, and a one of a kind inventory that shows real gameplay evolution. It takes a bit of a “tacticool” approach, and it has the best economy in the series which involves artifacts in the process. Every single area of this mod is exceptionally well thought out and integrated into the game, while every other S.T.A.L.K.E.R. mod except perhaps Goldsphere has some traces of inexperienced modders just trying things for kicks. No, NLC 7 Build 3.0 is truly professional and creative.

NLC was originally the worst mod ever created as it had microtransactions (which supposedly went to charity) and required account registration to play. Luckily that’s gone now, this is an open version of NLC 7 Build 3.0 which is quite easily the most intelligently designed mod there is.

Full Download

Machine translation plus optional addons

Fun fact: there’s a version of NLC 7 being made on Call of Pripyat’s engine that adapts build levels (e.g. Lost Alpha, Oblivion Lost Remake). Follow that mod here. It might be dead though.

Valley of Whispers

A short and sweet mod that feels like an official expansion to S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call of Pripyat with only improvements

The caption above says it all. This mod takes place only on a single map that’s very well designed. It is a story driven mod and now has improved gameplay since this version comes with Original Weapons Renewal 3, and graphics are enhanced by Absolute Nature 4.04 and Absolute Structures. This is not standalone and requires Call of Pripyat 1.6.02, and is only in English. This doesn’t seem to work on DX10 or DX10.1, at least not with the Absolute Nature extended grass distance (I haven’t tried DX9).

Full Download

Alternate Download

Spatial Anomaly

Spatial Anomaly is a fairly recent but popular mod for Call of Pripyat. Here’s how the mod creators describe it: “Spatial Anomaly tells the tale of the notorious mercenary Beast and his attempts to survive inside a mystical place dubbed by stalkers as the “spatial anomaly.” Inside reign completely different laws, and everything is in short supply: cartridges, medicine, drinking water, food, and even bolts. This, however, does not stop the mercenary from searching for a way out of the death trap.”

I have yet to play it, but from what I understand it is pretty short (no more than about a dozen hours), mostly excellent except the ending is universally said to be a letdown. It is not standalone, it requires Call of Pripyat to be installed.

ModDB Page

Dollchan 7: Inception

A very different Call of Chernobyl fork with some of the best level design in the series. Very good gameplay but incomplete story currently.

While it doesn’t have a great name, Dollchan 7: Inception is one of the more different Call of Chernobyl forks, implementing its own takes on the vanilla maps; expanding them and significantly redoing them. The end result is some of the best level design in the series, right up there with Lost Alpha. It lacks all the freeplay customization of Anomaly and Call of Chernobyl, it is destined to be a story driven mod instead, although version 7 here has an incomplete story set in 2008. The upcoming Dollchan 8: Infinity will have a new story set in 2012 right after Marked One disables the Brain Scorcher. It’s also going to have vast gameplay improvements, so keep an eye out for it.

Download Repository – First download everything here and run setup.exe. This will get the outdated version 643 up and running.

Version 816 Update – Apply this update by merging the database folder with the one in your install directory, and overwriting. Note the mod will default to Russian, you’ll have to change it from “rus” to “eng” in the game options.

Under the Guise of Death – Klondike 2.0

A very well liked but only machine translated story driven mod for Call of Pripyat 1.6.02.

Under the Guise of Death is another mod about finding a fabled artifact klondike. I haven’t played this to completion yet, but it is a well liked story driven mod. However, the English machine translation is sadly incomplete so broken string references are common. Just one of many mods that make you want to learn Russian.

Note the DX10 renderer instantly crashes for me and I have to use DX9, so be warned (there is no DX11 oddly enough).

AP-Pro page

Broken machine translation

F.O.T.O.G.R.A.F.

A rather well known story driven mod, weird but mostly well liked.

People have been telling me to play this mod for years, but reading about some of its really peculiar quest design made me hesitant. Well, I’ll be getting around to it soon enough, and if you want to then see below for a version with a very extensive weapon mod, shown in the video above.

MEGA page

Call of Chernobyl by stason174

Currently the best freeplay mod, it is a compilation of Call of Chernobyl 1.4.22 and numerous enhancements along with improved level design.

stason174’s Call of Chernobyl pack is one of the most popular mods in the Russian community. It consists of Call of Chernobyl 1.4.22 which is the final stable version, MLR 8.3 (a content expansion mod that adds characters, quests, and significantly overhauls/improves some of the levels), DoctorX Dynamic Questlines, A-Life enhancements and additional dynamic quests, improved graphics, and hundreds of custom addons with the most prominent one being Extended Offline A-Life (preinstalled in the English version). I applied Call of Chernobyl’s English localization and MLR 8.3’s English translation to it, and machine translated the rest which accounts for very little. Furthermore, I applied an existing 64-bit engine upgrade mod to it!

Many of you are probably familiar with Call of Chernobyl, the ultimate open world freeplay base mod that includes every map from the base game, yet many of you are unfamiliar with MLR. MLR is a content expansion that redesigns the levels using alpha SoC build inspired design, and even combines some levels into one. It also incorporates STCoP 2.9, a high quality weapon expansion mod, albeit an outdated version.

The following gameplay modes are available:

Story – Self-explanatory, story mode pushes you into a story driven campaign, but it is just a gimped version of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl’s campaign so don’t even bother.

– Self-explanatory, story mode pushes you into a story driven campaign, but it is just a gimped version of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl’s campaign so don’t even bother. Azazel – Named after a demon, on this mode when you die, you take on the role of another Stalker, first someone from your squad if you have one, otherwise it is random.

– Named after a demon, on this mode when you die, you take on the role of another Stalker, first someone from your squad if you have one, otherwise it is random. Survival – Replaces all monsters with zombies, a joke mode.

– Replaces all monsters with zombies, a joke mode. Ironman Mode – When you die, you lose a life. When you run out of lives, it’s game over and all saves are erased. I only recommend using it with Azazel mode and 1 life; so when you die you take on the role of another stalker, and when he dies the cycle continues. Compatible with all modes.

Compared to Anomaly mod, it has less glitchy A-Life with all the same features as Warfare, and is overall more alive. It also does not use Misery, therefore it doesn’t contain the insane item bloat (e.g. Anomaly has multiple cooking systems and tools for it, literally hundreds of spare parts for repairs plus a million repair kits, it is an inventory management simulator above all). This also means it doesn’t have Misery’s awful mutant balance, unlike Anomaly which makes mutant movement silent and gives them extraordinary hit boxes and power and durability for some.

On top of that, both are 64-bit so they won’t have out of memory crashes like other Call of Chernobyl based mods. Be sure to close all other applications when playing. It is technologically behind Anomaly in all regards (graphics and stability), but still greatly improved over the original and runs much better than Anomaly (often around twice the frame rate for me). It just has more dynamic content, and while there’s no real story mode beyond Call of Chernobyl’s default gimped Shadow of Chernobyl story (ignore it), the focus of these mods is freeplay and faction warfare, and Call of Chernobyl by stason174 is the best there is for that.

Main Files (alternate download)

Data Files (alternate download)

Optional mods part 1

Optional mods part 2

Back to the Roots

Another freeplay mod, but the most up to date one.

Also known as Call of Chernobyl – Back to the Roots, this is an up to date Call of Chernobyl mod pack, like many of the others out there (e.g. CoC by stason174, Anomaly) but newer. It is basically the best of Call of Chernobyl 1.5r7 + 1.4.22 + STCoP 3.2 in its full glory with its 3D picture-in-picture scopes (by far the best weapon mod for the game) + AMK integration (artifacts and transmutation) + lots of customizations, all on Open X-Ray 64-bit. But it has some limitations right now and other issues; the field of view is synthetically limited for some reason, limited to stereo sound output only, permanent mask overlay, and it’s still in beta and has some bugs. Progression is largely nonexistent with rookies wielding high end guns, like Anomaly.

Requires Visual C++ 2019 redistributable and OpenAL. Install those if you never have.

Torrent download (recommended, fastest)

Translation

Lost World Origin

This mod takes place in the early days of The Zone, and showcases level design from the old builds making for a very interesting world to explore

Considering this mod is only machine translated, its strongest attribute for those who don’t understand Russian is level design and exploration. But it certainly does impress there, and has a very immersive upgrade system for the “Stalker Suit” (also known as Sunrise Suit) outfit and other interesting gameplay features including vehicles. It requires SoC 1.0006 which is what you get from GOG and Steam.

Install the files below IN ORDER!

Main Download

Translation Part 1

Translation Part 2

New Arsenal 6

Only machine translated (broken English), asinine quest design but awesome gameplay, not to be taken seriously

This mod uses OGSR 64-bit engine like OGSE 0693 does now, so you will see some similarities. Unlike OGSE 0693 however, it isn’t quite designed to be a perfected version of SoC. No, Arsenal Mod tells its own story that largely revolves around Nazis. It is absolutely retarded and the balance sucks; it is easy to kill most enemies in just two shots or so, and you die this easily as well. I will be rebalancing all of it, however.

So why is this even recommended? Because of the GUNS as the name implies. It has some of the most customizable guns and best shooting mechanics and animations in the entire series, and tons of guns too. And almost all scopes utilize dual render picture-in-picture technology! Play it for the guns, don’t take it seriously. It’s only machine translated anyway so the English is broken and laughable.

This mod is standalone and doesn’t require any of the games. You will need all of the files which are listed below. I will also be rebalancing this entire mod at some point, but haven’t done so yet.

Core download

Database files

English machine translation – Follow the instructions, then customize and run New Arsenal 6 using loader.bat to use the translation.

Upcoming Total Conversion Mods

The mods below are either promising upcoming total conversion mods, or mods that are already out but awaiting either a new version to be worth playing or an English translation.

Goldsphere

A totally different perspective of The Zone, known for its atmospheric prowess

Okay, Goldsphere (also known as Golden Ball) is not yet ready for people who don’t speak Russian, but it will be in the near future. It is known as one of the absolute most atmospheric mods for S.T.A.L.K.E.R., ranking up there with Oblivion Lost Remake. It tells a brand new story and is filled with brand new gameplay mechanics. I haven’t even played it yet since I’m waiting for a proper translation (the only one available is an unusable machine translation). So don’t download this yet, but keep an eye on it for when the translation finishes. Sure, you can play New Arsenal with machine translations, but not a more serious story driven mod like Goldsphere.

Full Download

True Stalker

True Stalker is one of the more anticipated mod. Built for X-Ray 1.6, the lead developer is WolfStalker, whose YouTube channel is famous for covering mods and he runs AP-Pro, the number one modding website for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. True Stalker is a story mod that introduces a brand new story with a new protagonist, and significantly redesigns original levels. It is looking very impressive. It’s also going to be fully voiced.

AP-Pro Page

Edge of the Emerald Dawn

Edge of the Emerald Dawn is an upcoming total conversion mod that will be available in Russian and English. It is one of few mods that looks to change virtually every aspect of the game: it is no longer GSC’s version of The Zone, it is their own. It does not reuse any official locations, the layout of the game world is totally unique. The UI is completely revamped to have a modern neutral aesthetic like DayZ. The premise is intriguing and it uses Call of Pripyat as a base. Certainly a promising mod.

AP-Pro Page

VK Page

Farthest Edge

Farthest Edge is a story focused mod built on top of Call of Pripyat, using new areas and heavily reworked old ones. The UI aesthetics have been modernized like many other upcoming mods, and it uses GUNSLINGER as a base!

AP-Pro Page

Choice

Choice is a story driven mod based on Call of Pripyat’s engine. Not much is known about its story, but what is known is that it’s going to have some of the most weapon customization in the series, comparable to the likes of Escape from Tarkov Weapon Pack, Shoker Weapon Mod 3.0, and Gunslinger.

AP-Pro (recent news post)

A.R.E.A.

This is a terrible acronym that stands for Atmospheric Realistic Expanding Addon. It is yet another fork of Call of Misery/Last Day like the aforementioned Anomaly mod is, but a different one as it is based on Call of Chernobyl 1.5 and includes MLR (older than version 8.3 but I don’t know which exact version) which is a big content expansion for Call of Chernobyl with redesigned levels and new dynamic quests. It utilizes technology/features from X-Ray Oxygen and OGSR engine, and future versions will remove some crappy Misery effects and add new impressive technology such as actual impressive looking muzzle flashes, incredible particle effects that remind me of F.E.A.R., improved animations and inertia, and who knows what else they have in store for us. See this video demonstration here.

Right now I don’t think it is worth playing as it feels like a generic Last Day/Call of Misery fork even with MLR.

ModDB Page

Legend Returns

Legend Returns is a mod for Call of Chernobyl that is meant to bring back old build content, especially the levels. I’m not sure how much more it will offer than that, but Call of Chernobyl with Lost Alpha tier level design sounds like fun. The current version is not really worth playing, wait for 1.0 and an eventual English translation.

AP-Pro Page

ModDB Page

New Project

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. New Project is a funny name. It is from the creators of Lost Alpha, which is a mod that lied about what it is: it said it was going to be like the unreleased S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Oblivion Lost, but ended up being something new (and terrible) instead. It ended up being a new project. Well, now it looks like they’ve accepted this and are dubbing their expanded version of it New Project.

It is based on Lost Alpha Developer’s Cut, which does have the best level design in the series at least. They’re adding a boatload of new technology to it that makes its graphics look impressive even today, and rumor has it that multithreaded rendering will be a part of it as well. Video demonstrations of it are supremely impressive technologically.

But considering that it’s from the guys who made Lost Alpha, don’t get your hopes too high. They really aren’t capable of good writing, Lost Alpha remains unstable in its latest state, and they make many questionable design choices.

VK Page



