STALKER 2 is nearly here — now's the time to play the first game with its best mod [UPDATED]

Original article: It's hard to believe it, but STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl — first planned for release in 2012 before cancellation, then revived in 2018 — is finally launching in a little over a month on September 5. The open world survival shooter sequel was originally slated to come out in 2022, but as a result of Russia's ongoing war of aggression in Ukraine, developer GSC Game World had to temporarily pause development, delay it multiple times, and move headquarters from Kyiv to Prague in the Czech Republic. At long last, though, the game is almost here.

With STALKER 2 so close, there's never been a better time to play the first suite of STALKER games from the late 2000s, especially now that they're available on consoles. Of the three in the cult classic trilogy, the one I recommend the most is the original, 2007's STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl — and while I do think first-time players should play through it vanilla to get acclimated with STALKER's overall gameplay and atmosphere, there's a mod project for it I love that's perfect for anyone who wants to experience it again with gunplay, graphics, animations, and audio that's modernized, yet faithful to the original release: Radiophobia 3.

Radiophobia 3 is a free, standalone version of Shadow of Chernobyl built on an upgraded version of STALKER's engine, X-Ray (it went open source many years ago). It features significantly improved textures and lighting, new models and animations for weapons, consumables, and NPCs, a completely revamped soundscape, overhauled shooting mechanics, and even a handful of additional lore-friendly side quests that give longtime players a good reason to revisit the original journey through The Zone. First released in beta years ago, Radiophobia 3 has been steadily tweaked and updated over time, and after recently playing through the latest version released in December last year, I can confidently say it's my favorite way to enjoy modded STALKER.

Early versions of Radiophobia 3 were too divorced from vanilla Shadow of Chernobyl for my liking — the gameplay was absurdly harder, and some of its added mutants felt unbalanced and out of place — but this latest one toned things down a bit and trimmed some of the fat, and overall, it feels just right. It's definitely still tougher than the original release as a result of the higher damage and accuracy of its firearms, but the general difficulty and progression curve is now relatively similar to the vanilla experience.

Those damage and accuracy reworks also apply to guns you're using, by the way, which makes firefights far more enjoyable. One criticism often levied at the STALKER trilogy is that its weapons are woefully inaccurate and generally feel weak unless you have a high-quality rifle with a good scope to go for headshots with, but in Radiophobia 3, their higher reliability and lethality makes them incredibly satisfying to use, as does their explosive sound effects and realistic reload animations.

The project's visuals are its other big draw, and look phenomenal for something built on an engine from over 15 years ago. It's definitely a bit more colorful than Shadow of Chernobyl was, but all in all, it still has the dreary, tense, and ominous "dead autumn" atmosphere I fell in love with when playing vanilla for the first time. Ballistics, explosions, and the visual effects for STALKER's supernatural pockets of elemental energy, "anomalies," have all gotten sizable visual upgrades, too.

It's not perfect, of course — hostile NPCs and mutants can be tough to see at times without a good sight on your weapons if you're using high grass settings, for example, so you might need to turn them down until you get your hands on a rifle with a scope — but it's a fantastic mod nonetheless. Notably, it comes with tons of tweakable gameplay options, so if you don't like how it feels to play out of the box, there's quite a bit you can do to fine-tune your experience.

Again, I'd play Shadow of Chernobyl vanilla first if you're new to STALKER, but definitely check out Radiophobia 3 if you like the sound of a modernized, pseudo-hardcore take on it (installation is easy, as the mod files come with an installer). It may even end up feeling rather similar to STALKER 2 itself, which seems to have similarly accurate and deadly gunplay based on what was seen in this recent gameplay trailer.

Another mod worth your time is STALKER Anomaly, which is a complete free-roam experience that combines the maps from all three of the games in the STALKER Trilogy and gives you the freedom to explore and take on jobs all throughout The Zone. It's great on its own, but with some of the best STALKER Anomaly mods and add-ons, it gets even better.

STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl is coming to Xbox Series X|S and Windows PC via Steam and the Microsoft Store on September 5. It has a $59.99 MSRP, but notably, you can preorder it with a significant discount at CDKeys right now. On day one, you'll also be able to play it through Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass, and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl | $36.39 at CDKeys (PC, Steam)

Survive The Zone's glory and horror in the first new STALKER game since 2009's Call of Pripyat. Built using Unreal Engine 5, STALKER 2 will tap into the series' classic gameplay elements and atmosphere using the latest and greatest tech available. It's scheduled to launch on September 5, but is available to preorder now.

Also at: Amazon (Xbox, $59.99) | GMG (PC, Steam, $59.99) | GOG (PC, $59.99)