3. Better Weapons

The most important aspect of any first-person shooter is almost always the shooting part of the game. Stalker: Call of Pripyat is, of course, a survival first-person-shooter, and a great one at that. Thus, Call of Pripyat should have great guns, ballistics, and enemy shooting AI right? Well…kind of.

Call of Pripyat does have the basics down pretty well. Instead of a fast-paced, twitch-based focus, the Stalker series is more about intelligent firefights, utilizing effective approaches, cover, and controlled bursts of ammo. Unfortunately, CoP has its fair share of gun related missteps including bizzare gun names, weak sounding gun noises, and unrealistic ballistic effects.

Of course there is a mod for these ailments, and it is simply called Better Weapons. Better Weapons reworks every gun in the game to have a much more heavy, lifelike feel to it. The Ak74 is loud and in charge, with a powerful recoil mechanism, yet its bullets fly straight and far. Even shotguns get an effective facelift with this mod, as the Spas-12 can finally perform the heavy lifting it should for many indoor situations.

Aside from more realistic ballistics and noises, Better Weapons also slightly changes the way shooting from the iron sights works. While some may lament the loss of the added zoom-in effect of the traditional CoP iron sights, most will rejoice. Shooting from the irons is now an absolutely critical part of Stalker's gunplay, and you don't feel like you are firing from a telescopic lens for every gun. Frankly, Better Weapons is an absolute must try Stalker Call of Pripyat mod.

2. S.M.R.T.E.R. Pripyat

One of the most popular and best all around mods for Stalker: Call of Pripyat is the oddly named S.M.R.T.E.R. Pripyat. This is what is known as a compilation mod, and is a complete game changer. Some of the changes and improvements included in this mod pack are:

Stalker Sigerous Mod

The best part about S.M.R.T.E.R is that the list above is not even close to being comprehensive!

However, there are some unfortunate side effects of a mod pack this ambitious. First off, the mod makes the game quite unbalanced in the favor of the enemy. The AI now has what is seemingly a direct bead on your location if you so much as dare to breath loudly. Combine that with added ballistic damage and realistic bleeding effects and the lump sum of S.M.R.T.E.R's equation is one dead player character. Second, the intensity of all of these changes can be pretty overwhelming. Just when you are getting accustomed to the new and improved Zone, this mod throws something like an unpredictable and fast moving blowout that can completely destroy your enjoyable Stalker experience.

Still, the positives of this impressive Stalker CoP mod clearly outweigh the negatives. S.M.R.T.E.R. is absolutely one of the top 5 best Stalker Call of Pripyat Mods available right now.

1. Call of Pripyat Complete

Any Stalker mod list is not complete without mentioning the modding genius known as Artistpavel, and his seminal works Stalker Complete 2009, and Stalker Clear Sky Complete. Both of these mods were award winning professionally done works of art. Thankfully, pavel has decided to finish his latest project, Call of Pripyat Complete, which he sums up perfectly in his own words,

'Call of Pripyat Complete is the third entry in the Complete mod series, which is a set of modifications created by professional artists dedicated to enhancing the production quality of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game series. The Complete mods emphasize on improving the original graphics, sound, and atmosphere of each game while preserving the core game elements.

Built upon the success of Stalker Complete 2009, which was downloaded by one in every five S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl players, this entry in the Complete mod series is the cumulative culmination of the series’ achievements in aesthetically updating the game without introducing unnecessary or gameplay-redefining features.'

Basically, Call of Pripyat Complete is a texture, sound, balance, and atmospheric Stalker overhaul. While its improvements are too many to name, a select few such as 11 new realistic weather patterns, full constellation and moon maps, a complete texture overhaul and high resolution field of view effects are among the best graphical enhancements of any mod…ever. CoP Complete also effectively tackles gameplay issues, overhauling enemy AI and communication – prepare to be flanked, and better stealth options to create a much more tense environment.

Add numerous bug fixes and realistic sounds to a multitude of other improvements and you end up with the absolute best Stalker Call of Pripyat mod ever. If you even think you kind of like Stalker Call of Pripyat, you owe it to yourself to try CoP Complete.