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S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky Review (PC)

Overview

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The Zone is a bleak and barren wasteland left in the aftermath of a fictionalized explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. It also happens to be the setting for the first person action role playing game S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky. Much like last year's S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl, players are immersed in a massive and beautifully detailed world littered with small outposts of humanity and warring factions. However various bugs and unbalanced gameplay/AI make the game, at times, downright frustrating to play.

Game Details

  • Publisher: Deep Silver
  • Developer: GSC Game World
  • ESRB Rating: M for Mature
  • Genre: Action/Role Playing
  • Theme: Survival Horror
  • Game Modes: Single player, Multiplayer
  • Pros: Massive and beautifully detailed world; War of Faction; Enhanced graphics; AI controlled world
  • Cons: Too many bugs/glitches; Unbalanced game play

Game play and Graphics in the Exclusion Zone

With the introduction of warring factions S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky offers a slightly new look into the vast wasteland of the Exclusion Zone surrounding Chernobyl. Territory and control of the Zone hangs in the balance as alliances between factions are made and broken. Set one year prior to the events of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl, players assume the role of Scar, a mercenary rescued from near death by one of the Zone's factions known as Clear Sky. It becomes Scar's mission to discover what is causing the new and frequent radioactive emissions coming from the power plant. Rumor is that someone or something has gained access into the power play and is causing these emissions that are disrupting the Zone.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky is a survival horror, first person shooter with some role playing elements, players will purchase and find various weapons, gear and artifacts that will help them survive in the hostile world of the Zone. Having been rescued by Clear Sky players are aligned with that faction for the entire game but as the storyline progresses opportunities arise to align with most of the half dozen or so other factions. The current state of the Zone is in a bit of a flux as strange emissions from the plant have been occurring on a regular basis, reshaping the Zone and sending factions into deeper conflict. As in Shadow of Chernobyl, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky uses a sandbox or non-linear game play style in which players have the freedome to accomplish tasks as they see fit. You'll have the ability to explore most parts fo the game world without having to complete specific tasks before hand. Of course there are tasks that will eventually need to be completed in order to move the story forward.

The graphics for Clear Sky has been upgraded over what we saw in Shadow of Chernobyl. Specifically character models have been improved, becoming more detailed with higher polygon counts, likewise textures used in detailing landscapes and buildings have been updated and enhanced. In addition to the graphics and animation, the HUD and PDA of the game's interface has been updated to a cleaner look. The updated graphics is the star attraction, coupled with the sound effects and score the atmosphere created in Clear Sky is excellent.

Unfortunately under the hood there are a lot of issues that prevent Clear Sky from being a really good game. At times game play is unbalanced and inconsistent, even the easier difficulty levels offer little remorse. While enemy AI is quite impressive it can also be downright frustrating as can be seen in how enemies seem to have the ability to throw grenades or fire on you from great distances with pinpoint accuracy; something you will be unable to replicate with the mouse and keyboard. It should be expected that you're not going to get through every battle or task on the first try, there would be no fun if you did. However, having to replay portions 20-30 times can make you pull your hair out. The lack of a real tutorial also causes some unnecessary frustration. Crashes to the desktop were another source of frustration although not a regular occurance, the fact that they occurred at all hints that the game may have been rushed to production. At the time of writing, one week after the North American release, GSC Game World had already released a patch, so some of the above mentioned issues may have been modified/fixed.

Weapons and Equipment

Weapons and equipment have also gone through a number of changes, most notably the ability to modify and upgrade weapons. Each faction base will have both a trader and technician who, for a price, can sell you weapons and equipment or upgrade/modify your current weapons. The Zone is a hostile place, to survive in it you'll need both armor and weapons to help protect yourself another part of the unbalanced game play is the difficulty or some may say the inability, to obtain the weapons or armour needed to get through the Zone. Upgrading weapons can enhance or change a number of features such as range, accuracy, stopping power and more. Special artifacts can also be obtained from anomalies found in the Zone, each having their own benefits and drawbacks.
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