S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky Reviews

achilles123

10
perfect

No other game is so immersing, creepy and alive - all at the same time. None. Not even one. Nada.

  • Posted Jan 6, 2009 1:18 pm GMT
  • Recommended by 9 of 11 users.
Difficulty:
Just Right
Time Spent:
40 to 100 Hours
The Bottom Line:
"Underappreciated"
OK, I admit the game has its demons. There are one or two annoying bugs and even a broken mission or two. But it really isn't THAT bad, at least not deserving the humiliation of a 7.0 score. For Christ's sake, GS gave 8.5 to Far Cry 2 and 9.5 to Crysis! Come on, Crysis!?

But later on that, let's go through the things that made this game so great.

Atmosphere. Nothing really changed here, which is good news. No other game is so immersing, creepy and alive - all at the same time. None. Not even one. Nada.

Gameplay and content. Here's where things really changed since Shadow of Chernobyl. And for the better, that is. Improvements include:
- Money. Unlike Shadow of Chernobyl, money now really matter, thanks mostly to the weapon/armor upgrade system. It now makes sense to do side missions or artifact hunting just to earn some extra cash.
- Artifacts are now much rarer and much harder to get, which is great! That's how the Zone was supposed to be in first place! This is obviously a tribute to the original Roadside Picnic book (which you should read if you still haven't).
- Factions. Haven't really experimented with them a lot, but most people say they offer great replay value.
- Already mentioned upgrades, which are a great new RPG element.

There are, of course, a couple of things I didn't really like in Clear Sky:
- Too few mutants, especially the "high-level" bloodsuckers and poltergeists. I only encountered one (1!) poltergeist in the entire game, which is a shame. Also, there were just one or two new mutant models, but I could live with that if there were more bloodsuckers and poltergeists...
- The ending of the game is just not right. It is obvious the guys were in a hurry and kinda put the end credits right in the middle of
where they were in terms of development. But since the ending is linear and it only takes an hour or two to complete, it doesn't really matter, compared to how big and long the rest of the game is. Just for the record, it took me little over 50 hours to complete the game (finishing all side missions, collecting all artifacts and making almost all possible upgrades).

And a few words on bug criticism...

Sorry, I really don't get it how so many people (including GS) can criticize a game like Clear Sky for having a lot of bugs, without defining a proper set of criteria first. What are you guys comparing it against when you say "it has a lot of bugs"? Do you take into consideration the fact that there is no other game on the market that gives such freedom in an open and breathing world? A world, in which you are just a small part, and most of the events happen regardless of your presence. Isn't such a game allowed to have a little more bugs than your average scripted shooter? What are everybody comparing the game with, Crysis? Yes, it's almost bugless, but let me ask you this: what's there to break in Crysis? The scripted events, the linear storyline or the AI, which only cares about you and the triggers you activate?
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