Factions
The coolest feature added to the game play of Clear Sky is the ability to align with different factions depending on how the game unfolds and the tasks you try to accomplish. There are a little more than half a dozen factions in Clear Sky, some of which have their own bases with leaders, traders, barmen and more. As mentioned previously you'll always be aligned with the Clear Sky faction but during game play you'll find yourself aligning with others depending on the specific task or tasks you're trying to accomplish. Aligning with factions is a necessary part of the game and the war of factions works well adding an innovative new element to game play.
The "A-Life" or AI controlled simulation of the game world is another game play element that has been added to S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky. At it's basic level A-life makes the Zone an AI controlled world or "living world". AI controlled stalkers go about their lives as your character would; exploring, fighting, and accomplishing tasks, some of which you may be trying to accomplish and more. The goal of A-life is to give the game a changing or dynamic feel, each play through of the game may be different depending our your actions and the ripple effect they may have on the other inhabitants of the Zone. Sounds good and works nicely for some secondary tasks but in the end the storyline still flows to the game's overall objective.
Bottom Line
Like Shadow of Chernobyl, Clear Sky definitely has some bugs that need to be worked out, but overall I was left with a positive feeling about the game. It's easy to see that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky looks terrific, the graphics are excellent and the massive scope of the environments add to the game's playability.
