S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky
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S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl was a very good game with plenty of charm and fun but the game had some technical issues which kept it from being one of those instant classic titles. The game took place in and around Chernobyl after the nuclear power plant accident which has mutated people and animals in what people call the zone. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky is a prequel to the Shadow of Chernobyl which takes place one year before Shadow of Chernobyl and offers a few new areas to explore as well as a welcome graphical update. But does this prequel bring enough to the table for first person shooter and role playing game fans to enjoy the experience? Maybe, if you are willing to over look some nuclear buggy issues.
Clear Sky plays just like your average first person shooter with some slight role playing elements added to the table. During the game you can loot various items such as weapons, armor, food, medical supplies and more then sell them to buy new items. Each weapon and armor has a condition value and will degrade with use during combat and when their condition becomes too low, your weapons will jam and your armor will not protect you. So micro-managing by replacing or repairing your equipment is a necessity as keeping the best weapons and armor you find is important.
As you play the game there will be one nagging annoyance which could be a game ruining experience for some players. As you loot various items in the zone you will reach the limit of how much you can carry quickly, just like the first game, so if you want or need money you must hump it across the zones from trader to trader and this is a very slow and annoying process.
One of the better aspects to Clear Sky is the factions you must deal with in the game. Helping one faction will put you in their good graces but can shift your position with other factions and this is a balance you will have to play as you work your way through the game. Each faction has several missions and locations they control and will battle for and joining one faction will reap you the benefits of cheaper prices and their help or you can go at it alone and try to survive.
Clear Sky is difficult, very difficult at times which is a bit of a turn off at times when you are playing and some very easy gameplay is suddenly jumped by some extremely hard gameplay out of the blue. There needs to be a patch for the difficulty changing so wildly and almost random at times, but perhaps it is a bug, one of many bugs which plague the game. Clear Sky is so buggy, you will want to save often as the bugs are more then simple broken gameplay bugs, but system crashing bugs in the worst way. On both of my test rigs the game crashed every few minutes at first until I realized that it hated 1680x1050 with my nVidia cards and I had to drop the overall quality down, even when I can play Crysis and Crysis Warhead on very high. But even then it will crash at seemingly random times.
Graphically S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky is a big step up above the first game with all of the Direct X 10 support adding much polish to the overall look of the world. The level design is excellent almost everywhere with plenty of variety across all of the zones from the swamp and forests to the camps. Where the graphics begin to fail are the repetitive character models and the graphic bugs such as the 1680x1050 support seems broken and maxing out the detail will completely crash the game direct to the desktop.
Clear Sky has some great voice over work through out the game, with each character giving that extra bit of life in their conversations with you. Some of the dialog is repetitive but the true greatness of the audio is the environmental audio which is outstanding and gives the game a sense of realism and life we rarely see.
One major “value” issue with the game is the boring multiplayer, which while it works up to 32 players it just does not bring anything new to the table and feels like a much tacked on for a game which was supposed to be a big step up above the first one. If they drastically patch the buggy single player game the single player side of things will be a treasure and classic.
If you enjoyed the first and are willing to work around some bugs and issues, the game is very fun and a worthwhile experience. A must buy for first person fans who like a touch of role playing in their games but this is no Fallout 3.
Pros
+ Good graphics
+ Nice missions and environments
+ Good voice over work with nice sound effects
+ Same good gameplay from the original
Cons
- Buggy as all hell with a ton of crashes
- Too many loading screens
- Difficulty issues
- A.I. Issues
- Not as good as the first which felt more original
- Multiplayer…
Final Verdict
Here's a small guide to help you understand our evaluation of games.
PRESENTATION GRADE
Can be from the game's box to the contents of the booklet, and even the game introduction. (Intro, menus, options, etc)
GRAPHIC GRADE
Up to what point the graphics have been worked on my the developper. The design type, the effort used for textures and environments, as well as animations and framerate.
AUDIO GRADE
Is the soundtrack a good match to the game's style, he ambient sounds keeping with the gameplay and the sound effects clear and convincing?
GAMEPLAY GRADE
Placement of the controls and the inferface that the player with be using during the game.
REPLAY VALUE GRADE
The most important factor in the evaluation of a game. It identifies the lifespan of the game and the fun of coming back again and again.
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