Anyone who's played last year's "S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl" knows that it was a love-it-or-hate-it first person shooter/role playing game hybrid. On one hand, the massive open-ended world, beautiful yet terrifying environments and stunning artificial intelligence created a fresh and engaging experience. On the other, the long stretches of walking from place to place, the dated graphics and the punishing difficulty produced a game without broad appeal.
The new prequel, "S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky," adds a new layer of polish to the same world, making an already solid game even more appealing without tinkering with what made the first game so unique.
"Clear Sky" takes place in the same "Zone" as the first game, the area where the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl took place, which after a second fictional nuclear explosion, has become a battleground where bounty hunters called Stalkers search for rare and valuable artifacts while trying to survive and battle mutants and monsters that inhabit the Zone.
The familiar "Stalker" formula remains in place with "Clear Sky." It's impossible to run-and-gun through the game thanks to a highly realistic ballistics system that makes most guns inaccurate at long range. Instead, you'll spend a lot of time taking cover from enemies who'll cut you to pieces if you spend too much time out in the open. Ammo is scarce and there's a weight limit on the guns and ammo you can carry, so every shot counts.
The oddest change to the game comes from "anomalies," which range from swirling transparent portals to columns of flame that are scattered about the zone. In "Shadow of Chernobyl," these anomalies were easy to spot and often produced "artifacts" that the player could equip for special abilities like additional damage resistance or increased agility. In "Clear Sky," the player can't easily see these artifacts; you have to equip a special detector, and wade right into the dangerous anomaly to get it, and you can only hold one at a time, depending on your armor. Since the bonuses granted from artifacts aren't worth the trouble it takes to get them, this element of the game has been changed for the worse.
The most substantive change comes from the improved faction system. Players can join different factions and help them gain control of the different areas from the first game, Battlefield-style, by controlling specific points on the map. The factions will battle it out amongst themselves regardless of the player's actions. The only downside is that lousy music now kicks in if the player gets involved in a faction battle.
"Stalker's" artificial intelligence is still shockingly smart. Enemies will move from cover to cover, only coming out for a good shot, will run away if wounded and will move to flank the player. On a macro level, the different factions engage in small skirmishes all over the levels that will start and end with or without player impetus. Mutated animals and other monsters will move in packs, though sometimes it's unclear if they're attacking or running away.
"Clear Sky" gets points for sheer originality and expanding on the gameplay of "Shadow." It's also worth mentioning that like "Shadow," "Clear Sky" will take a long time - around 15-20 hours - to complete. While the game has certainly benefited from an extra layer of polish, it probably won't be enough to appeal to people who didn't like the slowly paced, tough-as-nails formula to begin with.
You can reach this writer at thescene@theeagleonline.com.
