Annihilation wears its inspirations on its sleeves: Stalker, most notably, but references to Apocalypse Now, the Mandelbrot set, H.R. Giger, and 2001 abound. In turn, Annihilation influenced one of my favorite games, Control, and it was so cool seeing where the game picked up many of its ideas.
Annihilation revels in colors and luminance --- in contrast with Stalker's Zone, Annihilation's Shimmer glimmers and glows underneath a prismatic sky. I've never seen such a gorgeous display of horror. And to…