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Go back one year from the events of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl. In Clear Sky, a group of stalkers has reached the heart of the Zone - Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. An immense blowout of anomalous energy changes the Zone. There are no more reliable and relatively safe roads. Entire levels vanish in the outbursts of anomalies. Stalkers and even expeditions die or end up sealed on the lost territories. New areas, which remained unknown since the time of the Zone emergence, appear on the Zone map. Changes of the Zone map known to stalkers shake the fragile balance of forces in the Zone. Among the groupings, there flare up hostilities for the new territories, artifact fields and spheres of influence. Everyone is now out for himself. You are a mercenary who appeared at the edge of the opposition between stalker factions, Strelok and the Zone itself. You play the key role in the events that led to creation of the Zone up to the point from which the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game begins. Which faction will take the upper hand?
Varied behavior of NPC stalkers in the A-Life world Advanced spectacular storyline scenes Improved AI of computer-controlled characters Skirting around dynamic obstacles by NPCs Use of grenades by NPCs Fast Travel Improved concept of detectors, artifacts and anomalies New system of upgrades for weapons and armor Weapons and armor repair Reworked HUD and PDA New version of the game engine - X-Ray 1.5 DirectX 10 renderer Improved DirectX 9 renderer - parallax bump, soft particles, depth of field, motion blur, eye adaptation effect Cutting-edge and detailed game graphics (normal map) Inverse kinematics New animation engine
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky Accessories
 Crysis Warhead
Far Cry 2
Fallout 3
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
Dead Space
Spore
Iron Man (Single-Disc Edition)
The Witcher Enhanced
Crysis
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky Reviews
The stashes are still there as well. As long as we continue to buy these limited install games, we'll keep getting that as part of the DRM "reward". The option to fix the navigation map in place has been removed so it aways rotates like a compass. Many of the same weapons are there, except they are now repairable and upgradeable.
Be aware that it also has a set number of installs as part of the DRM. There are still side missions and free roaming. Until you get used to that it's very easy to stray into contaminated regions and die without knowing what happened. In some areas such as tall grass the map is so transparent it is impossible to see terrain details. The graphics bugs, including periodic stuttering and random slowdowns are still there as well.
The biggest play change is the clicking of the radiation detector is gone so you have to watch a radiation meter to see when you are in a hot area. There is no adjustment for that, either. If SoC drove you nuts from all the above, skip it because it's more of the same. I gave it a 5 star rating for fun because it is lots of fun when it works. I prefer the fixed position option myself. Many of the same mutants and monsters are there, but most have enhanced abilities.
You revisit many of the same areas so in ways it's like coming home again. If you liked Shadow of Chernobyl you will like the prequel to that story with Clear Sky. People posting in the forums have reported getting the run around and/or no response from the game publisher when the reinstall limit was exceeded. Again, as a PC gamer you alredy know the industry attitude of "You're a pirate until proven otherwise and even then we will doubt you." So, with all that in mind, if you don't have an issue with the install limit and the bugs that infested Shadow of Chernobyl, this is an OK game. From various forums about the game I have concluded that multi core processors are not fully utilized, the game used only a single core and SLI video configured PCs do not run the graphics any better than good single video cards. As with Shadow of Chernobyl, I enjoy the gameplay, the interaction, the missions, and the characters. My feeling is this is an infringement passed onto us PC gamers that creates needless problems for us when the pirates DRM is designed to thwart beat it anyway and so don't have the install limit.
Apparently, just like with SoC it's a matter of adjusting the settings until the game works OK, or is at least tolerable. This game is very similar to Shadow of Chernobyl in gameplay and story. Was the storyline not so engaging I wouldn't put up with the haphazard performance and bugs. Had I known that I likely would have passed on the purchase as I did with SPORE. I gave it 2 stars overall because of the bugs and especially the install limit with the DRM.
I patched it and it played very smoothly on my older PC. The environments and audio are stunning. I started this game without the latest patch and had many crashes. I highly recommend this for shooter fans.
At first I wasn't very impressed it was like you were being rushed. All in all a very good game but if you haven't played the first one yet I would start with that one. It seemed you were forced along a path, the whole game was pretty linear it kind of lost that free roaming feel that the first Stalker game had. Don't get me wrong the game play is execellent, the graphics are great - better if you have a monster machine to run it. and the atmosphere is still twich inducing. Nice game- I played the first one alot and was really looking forward to this release.
Great game, fun to play, long story mode, plus the story is really great if you have played the first one. Sure their is bugs, but what's S.T.A.L.K.E.R without bugs. Not much more to say.
Latest patch only fixes some scripting issues. Definite potential to be a good game, but it's very buggy. Game frequently crashes to desktop and some quests are still bugged and uncompleteable. Hopefully the company will fix these issues, because until then it's just taking up space on my hard drive.
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