It’s a shame the issues that plagued Shadow of Chernobyl are still largely present in Clear Sky because the premise is great and the design is far more interesting and ambitious than your average shooter. But ultimately, the bugs, technical issues, and brutal difficulty are tough to stomach. If you’re looking for a challenge, then this is your game, but the average player will tire of its shortcomings long before things even get started.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky
GSC Game World · Sep 15, 2008
About
The Great Emission, the largest anomalous energy blowout from the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, has once again shaken the world. Investigating its cause and preventing future cataclysms is your only chance to survive in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky, a prequel to the original story — now recalibrated for a console journey.
MYSTERIES OF THE PAST
As a mercenary named Scar, take a key role in determining Strelok’s fate and uncover new details about the original game's story, revealing its major secrets. Visit familiar places as they were before the original game started and witness the events that shaped the Zone in the years ahead.
WAR OF FACTIONS
The transformation of the Zone map destabilizes the fragile balance of power in the Zone. Hostilities over new territories, artifact fields, and spheres of influence flare up among groups. To survive, join one of the factions and dominate opponents across the Zone... Or, like a true mercenary, benefit from working for all the factions at once.
NEW TOOLS
Artifacts, the treasures of the Zone, now require not only your gumption but also special detectors to reveal them amidst the new and old anomalies. For less delicate tasks in the Zone, meet new additions to your arsenal: the HPSS-1m pistol, double-barreled hunting rifle, and RP-74 machine gun, along with the new option to upgrade your weapons and armor.
EMERGED PATHS
The safe and trusted pathways are no more. Known places disappear into impenetrable fields of anomalies; stalkers and entire expeditions vanish or remain trapped within. Mysterious territories that have been lost since the appearance of the Zone are opening up: the Swamps, Red Forest, and Limansk. Your mission is to become a pioneer and explore them in “Clear Sky”!
Trailers & screenshots
Scores by platform
Critic reviews
- 7.0You come for the atmosphere, and few games deliver dread and desolation better than this. Too bad it's as buggy as its predecessor, and throws in some new quirks of its own that break the spell. Nevertheless, while Clear Sky may get even better with some patches and fan modifications (much like Shadow of Chernobyl did), it's still a worthwhile journey through a stark world that, at times, feels all too real.
- 7.0The graphical improvements help build the game's atmosphere and sense of immersion, and the upgrade system for your weapons and armour give the player greater freedom to customise the main character according to their play style. As a prologue to Shadow of Chernobyl, Clear Sky undoubtedly fulfils its remit, and in many respects is the superior game, but a further few months of polishing and honing could have banished that faintly damning tag "flawed masterpiece" entirely.
- 7.0Overall, Clear Sky is a game with its fair share of problems. Bugs and technical issues are all too common and shouldn't be present in this capacity. The multiplayer, while fun at times, is difficult to get into and seems a little tacked on for a game in the FPS genre, where multiplayer is generally a primary focus. On the other hand, it is nearly unrivaled in creating a truly immersive and creepy setting.
- 7.3The story doesn't offer much of a foundation for the action, either. The real shame of it all is that the game was let out the door with so many bugs, some that merely slowed our progress and dampened our enjoyment, and one that actually stopped us cold. Many of these issues are bound to be addressed in upcoming patches but we'd wait until the game has at least a few under its belt before trying to tackle it again.
- 7.0Being a prequel you’ll visit the same places, see familiar faces and experience the same difficulty as before. The game includes a fast travel system and it’s still broken up into large sections with fairly quick loading screens. Multiplayer contains a ‘capture the artefact’ mode that’s worth a pop, but it’ll unlikely hold your attention. Clear Sky fails to amaze this time around, but does offer a solid shooting experience. Consider it a warm-up for the holiday season, a game to tide over your destructive urges until the big boys arrive.
Related games
Rate this game
Drag or use arrow keys to rate
to rate this game.