S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky, is the stand-alone prequel for Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl, a first-person shooter computer game by Ukrainian developer GSC Game World.[3] The game consists of a roughly 50/50 mix of new areas and old, remodeled areas from the previous game. The X-ray graphics engine has been updated to version 1.5 and includes DirectX 10 support (later patch 1.5.06 included DirectX 10.1). Additionally, the AI received an overhaul to accommodate the new faction wars feature.
en.wikipedia.orgMy viewsFirst off I played the First game (Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl) to death I played it so much I could go from start to finish in a few hours and still have the best stuff the game could offer.
The concept is one that fascinates me, Chernobyl was the big word back in the 80s I was only 4 years old at the time but I still vaguely remember hearing about it on the news. The explosion effected allot of Europe and its effects reached as far west as the high lands of Wales in the UK where even today you can get a good click on a Geiger counter up on the black rocks of Snowdonia.
So here it is... Chernobyl, a place I would love to visit for my own morbid fascination and now I can and have in the safety of my own house.
The first game left allot of questions unanswered and It takes you half the game just to figure out who the hell you are playing as, as you start the game with nothing but a PDA and have to rely on hand outs. so any way In the first game you wake up you have S.T.A.L.K.E.R. tattooed to your arm and a PDA with Kill Strelock flashing on the screen.
It soon becomes apparent that this Strelock fella is going to be hard to find oh and did I mention you lost your memories from before the game started? no? well you did. So to sum it all up you do a series of missions for different peeps and find out that you can't find Strelock because you are him.
Now in comes S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky set a whole year before the first game and it here to fill in some blanks.
In the last game Strelock was a legend because he went to the centre of the Zone (in other words he went to the Chernobyl NPP) 4 times no less by the end of the first game that is. and by doing this he caused stuff to go wrong the Zone woke up and violently so. In steps protagonist Scar a Mercenary minding his own escorting a bunch of eggheads through the swamps when all manner of critter come streaming past. But what are they running from so Scar steps up to the high ground to take a look in the middle distance the sky has turned red and violent crimson arks fo energy are swiftly making their way toward him... to late.
And so the game begins yes you guessed it by the fact I said he was the protagonist you play as Scar... your objective? to stop strelock from going to the centre of the Zone.
Ok so the Graphics are nice and the game supports DirectX 8 to 10.1 and can run on lots of machines. Now unlike the original game Clear Sky is extremely stable. I have only had one CTD and that was an Isolated occurrence so thumbs up on that aspect. Game play, its an FPS RPG for starters and not like Fallout 3 at all, apart from the FPS RPG style
. In Clear Sky you really have to fight to survive and the game can be very hard one moment to blissfully easy the next its trying to work out when the balance will shift that is hard but this makes it all the more fun its gritty realistic and immersive.
I have spent many an hour with sweat pouring off me whilst engaged in an intense shoot out not daring to break cover but all the time aware of that Bandit making his way around my flank with his sawed off Double barrel shotgun, knowing that a well placed grenade could spell my demise and then hearing the spine chilling shriek of a not so far off monster.
However the gun battles are not the bits that got me scared in the first game it was those moments where there was nothing but silence where you could hear the squeak of the yellow warning lights above the doors and then watching in terror as a lone paint can rises to head height and then flings at your face bloodying your nose. Sadly Clear Sky is lacking in that department don't get me wrong its still gripping and frightening but not in the same way.
So what's It all about? well the main plot is not the focus of the game there is tones to do and despite the headway I have made I have not even began to break the surface of the game. There is a faction war that you can join, By signing up with one of the factions this involves taking territory and doing missions for them and killing off the other guys. Or you can do what I chose to do on my first run and go solo I help out now and again but im more or less staying stuck to the main plot.
The ZoneThe Zone is an area around the Chernobyl NPP its there in real life but in game its allot different.
The Zone is like another world... so the Zone is the land around Chernobyl and its full of people trying to strike it rich some nice, some honest and some are just bastards. The only thing stopping them is the sauce of their desire. The Zone is covered with anomalies little pockets where the laws of physics have been told to bugger off but these anomalies generate Artefacts that give advantages and disadvantages and they all have good names.
One of my faves is the Meat chunk this one looks like a chunk of meat and comes from the whirly Gig. The Whirly Gig is hard to spot at first but you will hear it before you see it it gives of a low rumbling sound that gets louder as you get closer if you look carefully some times you can see leaves being pulled skyward into a vortex. I once chased a bandit into one and the results where quite amusing. first he tried run out the other side but was pulled back and up where he was spun violently then he exploded turning the soundings red then all his bits where sucked into the middle and splatted against the ground after about 3 hours of ingame time I got the meat chunk artefact.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky is a good game i recommend it to all
