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

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. could be seen as the Metro 2033’s hardcore older brother. Both games take place in a Russian nuclear wasteland, but while Metro is relatively linear and story-driven, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is a marriage of tactical FPS, horror survival, and fully fleshed-out role playing.

The game takes place in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Exclusion Zone, a vast area divided into three free-roam worlds stalked by bandit gangs and mutants, as well as non-hostile NPC locals, all of which play into the game’s economic system. Working for the local villagers earns you more currency and goods, while the bandits deal in weapons, gear, and strange artifacts. In addition to fierce firefights, your relationships with the bandit gangs will also heavily determine your survival. While every gang is hostile to you by default, alliances can be formed to sway the odds in your favor.

Like Metro, the environment can be just as deadly as the enemies that populate it. Random psychic storms called "emissions" will ravage the land, killing everything in its path, forcing players to either find shelter quickly or take drugs that shut down the nervous system to provide immunity to the psychic wave. Assuming the player survives the emission, they might find new artifacts created by the anomaly which can be used to either upgrade their gear or to trade with locals.

 

 Friendly faces are few and far between in Pripyat.

Online play means you won't have to face the wasteland alone.