ZERO Sievert Loot fast, get out alive

You start each raid with a gun and a bottle of water, in a fictional post-apocalyptic Eastern Europe. Six biomes wait out there, and every map is generated fresh: hiding spots, loot locations, weather and layouts all change from run to run. Bandits, hunters and worse roam the ruins, and the nuclear fallout has done something to the local wildlife. You recover items, take out whoever gets in the way, and above all, get back alive. Runs are short, so one more raid before bed is always tempting. It rarely stays at one.

More than 50 unique guns and 150 mods let you build a weapon that fits how you fight, or just chase the stats until you are the biggest threat in the wastes. The weapon skill system levels up each weapon type separately, boosting reload speed, damage and movement speed, and unlocking perks specific to that gun. Your hunter levels up too, earning perks that help with the wasteland's tougher challenges. A shotgun loaded with slugs for an infestation, a sniper with armour-piercing rounds for a human boss: planning the loadout before a raid is half the game.

Between raids you return to your bunker, filled with traders, modding stations and space to make your own. Building it out gives your excursions a sense of progress: better gear, better supplies, more options before you head back into the wild. More than 100 different items can be looted on runs and used to craft, upgrade the base or trade. The bunker is the quiet part of the game, the part where you sort a full pack of scavenged goods and decide what a rusted engine block is really worth to you.

In the city of Zakov you can side with the Green Army, who keep what order is left, or the Crimson Corporation, a global pharmaceutical and tech giant. Picking a faction earns you reputation, unique quests and high-tier loot.