The Anomaly Mod is perhaps the best overhaul mod for classic STALKER. So, time now to find out whether a heavily modded version of STALKER can compete with STALKER 2. Let’s find out.
The original STALKER came out 17 years ago, and it’s powered by the X-Ray Engine. On the other hand, STALKER 2 uses Unreal Engine 5, and takes advantage of Nanite and Lumen.
Hilariously, enough, some players claimed that STALKER Anomaly looks as good – or even better – as STALKER 2. Well, as you will see, that’s not the case. STALKER 2 looks way, way better than STALKER modded.
The only downsides of STALKER 2 right now are two. The first one is that the flashlight does not cast shadows. The second is that there are some noticeable pop-in issues.
Thankfully, you can address both of these issues with mods. For the flashlight, you can use the mod I shared a couple of hours ago. As for the pop-in issues, you can use this mod that enables higher LOD values for vegetation, trees, and grass.
As I’ve said, STALKER 2 has major bugs. It also suffers from some traversal stutters. However, it has incredible graphics. This is one of the best-looking PC games of 2024. By fixing the aforementioned issues, the game becomes a graphical showcase. Moreover, this is one of the few games in which HDR can tremendously improve the visuals.
Speaking of STALKER 2, I also suggest taking a look at these other mods for it. Let’s start with the Draw Distance Mod. This mod will reduce the pop-ins of trees and vegetation. However, it comes with a pretty big performance hit. On my NVIDIA RTX 4090, I got a 10-20FPS performance hit. So, use it only if you have a high-end GPU.
Then we have this mod that attempts to restore most of the online A-Life functionality. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than the vanilla version. This is a must until GSC GameWorld fixes A-Life 2.0. Let’s also not forget this mod that adds a Parkour-like climbing system to the game. This is another must-have mod for all STALKER 2 players.
Finally, you can download a mod that will remove the inventory carry/weight limit. I’m not a fan of this last mod but hey, some of you may like it.
For what it’s worth, the devs have already released two patches. The first patch had over 650 fixes, whereas the second one focused on quest blockers. Sadly, these patches do not address any of the aforementioned issues. The good news here is that these mods are compatible with the game’s latest version. As such, you will be able to use them without experiencing any conflicts.
Have fun and stay tuned for more!
John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved – and still does – the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the “The Evolution of PC graphics cards.”
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Heavily modded sht. Even Alpha version looks better than Anomaly. Which is on par with Half-Life 2 retail.
"Heavily modded sht."
You seem to be biased against mods.
"Hilariously, enough, some players claimed that STALKER Anomaly looks as good – or even better – as STALKER 2. Well, as you will see, that’s not the case. STALKER 2 looks way, way better than STALKER modded."
Yes anomaly looks better than this generic unreal engine 5 asset flip, everything is so clean, there is no mood, unreal engine 5 was a mistake. This video in combination with the music was depressing to watch, all that insane requirements for a game that looks worse than the old games modded. We should stop boycotting unreal engine 5 games.
I guess you meant "we should START boycotting", and not "we should stop", right?
yes cant edit for some reason.
UE5 is a joke of an engine. It promotes laziness from devs. However if there are passionate devs the game could look great(wuthering waves), however most devs and publishers aren't going to waste time and money to optimize their game
yeah threat interactive has pointed out how trash it is.
A game that is using UE5,lumen in 2024 and it's flash light doesn't cast shadows!!
what the hell?!
Bet Johnny Greece are going to torture us with Stalker 2 mods years to come!
Try Johnny Clickbait. Yeah any popular game he begins to spam nonsense.
Playing vanilla Clear Sky ATM and I have to be that guy and say it feels more immersive than Stalker 2. I don't know what went wrong, but UE feels flat and lifeless in comparison.
To be fair I only played ~20 mins of Stalker 2 so far as It doesn't support full keyboard binding.
Well the A-Life system is notoriously missing from S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 right now so that doesn't come as a big surprise.
works great for me on my 50 hours of playtime
Vanilla or modded? Try the mod Last Fallout Overhaul, it's one of the best. I'm of the opinion that it's useless to play the game today without modding.
Vanilla. It’s my first play through even though I bought them so long ago.
What mod(s) is this video using with STALKER Anomaly (I never played Anomaly)?
screen space shaders, it's probably using mods for textures and models too.
Manuel is a frickin god of screen space shaders, seriously.
Probably Anomaly Custom or HayZee's Anomaly Custom Remaster
Probably Anomaly Custom or HayZee's Anomaly Custom Remaster
Hit up Discord and search for HayZee's Anomaly Custom Remaster. It's an all in one version of Anomaly with over 100 add-ons and ModOrganizer 2 to manage it all.
Here's some video of a playthrough: https://youtu.be/heu–xGEnbc?si=4l-HSX_FlArUb7d4
After the first minute and a half of that footage, I'm convinced. A 17 year old game with mods does look better than brand new UE5 trash. What a surprise…
This video makes me glad I chose to not waste time pirating that s*** and to stick to the original games.
And to think that the new game weighs like, what, 170 GB? lol What a joke.
the flashlight shadows mod is bs, it fakes the shadows, they like hang up in the air, they don't stick to surfaces. Bad mod
nope, that's how shadows work. A modder has explained why it's happening.
" the shadows are ok, what I mean is that the light source should be in a different position from the camera to avoid this behavior."
You can easily replicate this in real-life. Just go outside at night and place your flashlight at your forehead. You'll get the exact same shadows as those of STALKER 2 :P. So, I guess real life is also fake now 😛 . Or people should touch grass and start going out more frequently 😛
Wait, what? Both games have the same locations? What's new about the new game then?
"Hilariously, enough, some players claimed that STALKER Anomaly looks as good – or even better – as STALKER 2. Well, as you will see," yeah hilarious , looking good is just partially technical advantage and more about the immersion and color pallet which anomaly is miles ahead. and just look at the shadows at 5:26 and tell me which one is looking better?
Sometimes shadows look as bad in real life too, but i agree modded looks better with shadows.
"STALKER 2 looks way, way better than STALKER modded."
No, it does look better, sure, but only marginally better for twice the power required to run at high settings. Stalker modded have better shadows, it mostly show it's age with character models, which Stalker 2 wins by a large margin but the advantages stop there.
If you want a better video just watch user Sidorovich Jr's Anomaly Custom vs Stalker 2 videos. You can argue aesthetic choices but AC or HACR both have better lighting and atmosphere. Stalker 2 doesn't even have dynamic lights for your weapon's muzzle flash, or shadows from YOUR HEADLAMP. 😞
If i remember correctly, even the flashlight of NPC's cast shadows, which is quite amazing to look at.
Amazing but the older one appeals to me more, cant put me finger on it, Why? definitely wetter and wetter is better…
get that UE5 payola jonboi, go get your dogfood!