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

After the completion of clear sky, i must admit;

Even though the bugs are very annoying to deal with, i think the story recompenses it all, not to mention the weapon animations are beautiful and the upgrading suit and weapon system is cherry on top.

I am not sure why this game is folks least favorite in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series. I like it just fine. The series might seem a little limited and/or dated, but there are many ways to improve the experience with it. Just google the game and ways to improve it.

Good game kind of short I would play CoP or SoC instead.

So, I've finally finished Stalker: Clear Sky. Like the original Shadow of Chernobyl from the year before, this is a game with many flaws. Yet, also like its predecessor, it manages to be deeply compelling all the same. Not everything it does works, but what does is great.


Pros:
- Once again, GSC delivers in spades with the atmosphere of Clear Sky. The Zone is as mysteriously menacing as ever, and is still a fantastically realized setting; somber and stunning. I adore how tonally different this game manages to feel from Shadow of Chernobyl. As a prequel, Clear Sky depicts the Zone in a more favorable state, before unchecked warring between the factions and the loosening of the military's grip over Zone security; and it shows. The game immediately looks brighter and more vibrant, reflecting not only the health of the Zone itself, but the relatively lesser hostility of it in the moment. It truly feels like a nostalgic window into the past, before everything fell apart.
- I already thought Shadow of Chernobyl was graphically stunning for its time, but Clear Sky? Wow. This game is unbelievably gorgeous. The lighting and day/night cycles are gorgeous, and the dynamic weather system is as impressive as ever. And not only is the game beautiful technically, but its art direction is fantastic as well.
- As with Shadow of Chernobyl, Clear Sky's enemy AI is very impressive. Enemies openly strategize and will do their best to flank you, flush you out, or otherwise put you in as unfavorable a position as possible. Firefights become incredibly dynamic because of this, and so always keep you on your toes. While the gunplay itself is questionable at best (which I'll delve into later), Clear Sky's enemy AI does a lot of heavy lifting in keeping the combat fresh and interesting.
- One new thing Clear Sky introduces is a weapon upgrade/modification system, which is a godsend for a franchise like Stalker. Shadow of Chernobyl had nothing of the sort and suffered for it; the difficulty of some areas started to feel artificial because you simply couldn't have some of the ideal equipment for them. Clear Sky's upgrade system not only alleviates that issue, but introduces a robust system that allows for a good bit of player expression/build variety.
- Clear Sky features many of the same areas that are in Shadow of Chernobyl, though they are reworked to represent the prequel timeframe. In addition to these familiar places, Clear Sky introduces a few new areas, all of which are some of my favorites in the franchise. The Great Swamps stand out in particular, serving as a fantastic opening level for Clear Sky's narrative setup and a great tutorial for the faction system. Speaking of...
- The final major addition Clear Sky makes is factions. While Shadow of Chernobyl featured various groups that inhabited the Zone, Clear Sky actually allows you to interact with these groups. The result is a dynamic and interactive system that portrays the politics of the Zone in an extremely compelling manner. Clear Sky allows you to ally with a handful of these factions, letting you fight side-by side with them to secure better loot, learn more about their philosophy towards the Zone, and occupy certain areas of the map.
- Going off of my points about the factions, I will admit story is not one of Clear Sky's strong suits. Conversely, the premise and setting of the game more than make up for that. Learning about the various factions and what their motivations for going into the Zone are is fascinating, and the game does a great job not only at showing you what these factions stand for, but also making you realize that none of them are lacking a valid justification for their own beliefs. All of them are arguably right about how the Zone should be treated by humanity. And that's just good writing, plain and simple.


Cons:
- For everything Clear Sky does right, a lot of it is poorly executed or simply unfinished. The game is quite buggy: during my playthrough, I experienced everything from small audio/visual glitches to full-on softlocks mulitple times. Additionally, the game is not stable, and crashes often. The ending sequence of the game is a particular victim of all this, which itself has other glaring design flaws. And as cool as factions are, most of the time the faction side quests bug and never resolve, leaving you with less resources than when you started and no reward in sight. Therefore, I soon became disincentivized to explore, because the state of the game means I am only punished for doing so.
- Many of the mechanics surrounding Stalker's survival and gunplay elements are particularly overblown in Clear Sky. The rework of bandages and bleeding is absolutely ridiculous, making gunfights and resource management far more annoying than necessary. Similarly, the gunplay in Clear Sky feels even worse than it did in Shadow of Chernobyl. Bullets just go wherever the hell they want - you might as well not even aim to begin with. I've emptied entire magazines of ammo just to land only a handful of bullets, and the enemies are still far too tanky for their own good.
- On a similar note, the weapon upgrades are a double-edged sword. On paper they are great, but in practice, the existence of the upgrades meant that GSC felt the need to nerf unupgraded weapons even further into the ground. Any semblance of gun accuracy in the early game is out the window now.
- The economy of the game is also just straight up broken. While Shadow of Chernobyl had an overabundance of everything, Clear Sky has a lack. Mainly, money is way too hard to get, and this can be easily traced back to the technical state of the game. The combination of the fact that most story missions do not have a payout and the broken state of factions wars mean that you will pretty much never have enough money to do anything. Scavenging also doesn't alleviate this issue, because for some reason every single vendor gives you absolutely piss poor prices for selling off items. This issue directly impacts gameplay, particularly in the sense of weapon upgrades, because you will simply never have the money to do them. They are far too expensive for the return they give and the utter lack of player funds at any given time means you never really get to engage in this system much in the first place.
- Finally, Clear Sky has wayyyyyy too much combat. This is a common critique of the game, and for good reason. The combat mechanics of Stalker simply aren't designed around being a typical FPS game, but Clear Sky tries to be. Most of your time with this game will be spent in gunfights, meaning you will spend relatively less time than any other game in the franchise soaking in the incredible atmosphere of the Zone. And the ending sequence of the game exacerbates these issues to a staggering degree. This sequence is one insanely long fight - proportionately, this finale took 20-25% of my entire playthrough by playtime. While the locales you battle through are gorgeous and tightly designed levels (especially Limansk, which I honestly really liked), they force you into engaging at length with Stalker's least refined mechanics, while also being extremely prone to bugging and even softlocking.


Clear Sky is a follow-up to Shadow of Chernobyl in the best and worse senses. While the game does greatly improve on a lot of the issues Shadow of Chernobyl had, it also makes a lot of changes that ultimately take a step backwards. The game's technical state is dismal, and the gunplay is somehow worse, while also being far more frequently featured in gameplay. But once again, I can't say I disliked my time with Clear Sky. The charm of Stalker's world and atmosphere is undeniable, to the point where I can still enjoy a game as clearly and deeply flawed as this. My rating is again quite low, but Clear Sky proves how amazing Stalker could be with the proper care and attention; I am ecstatic to play the trilogy's finale.

6.5/10

I never thought CIA NATO bugmen funded by soros would nuke STALKER over drawings of soviet lions, but here we are.

Since GSC announced and released the new Stalker Trilogy port for current gen consoles I've worried at the back of my mind that they'd commit to the absolute stupidity of unlisting the original steam games someday.
For a while there my paranoia seemed unfounded, but now with the steam release of the censored, politically motivated, buggy "Enhanced Edition" I know past me was right on the money, sad to say.

I think the last 8 years has made me want Russia to win the war purely out of spite for all the psyop crap I've seen plastered everywhere in regards to it. Maybe I'm just tired of my taxes going to fund and arm a neo nazi battalion while I get banned from social media platforms for saying "communism is evil" or "don't trust the government."

Acquire a GOG copy of the original, non-enhanced STALKER games, avoid the lackluster content lacking Sequel on Unreal Engine 5, and never buy anything GSC peddles out the door again.

Maybe I'll consider changing my opinion on your company and government when you guys start importing 80$ Mosin Nagants and 300$ SKS' again. Till then, take a hike.

The only one I've never finished more than once because I keep getting the bug that just stops me from continuing the story and I'm stuck in the fucking swamps.

Its good if you can get it to not do that though

woke company, they removed russian stuff from the remaster.

Good enough, sometimes buggy because devs tried new mechanics

Wonderful classic that i played for days when i was young.

DO NOT BUY THE ENHANCED VERSION. It's in every aspect inferior to this.

رَقَّت حَواشي الدَهرُ
وَغَدا الثَرى في حَليِهِ يَتَكَسَّرُ
أَرَبَيعَنا في تِسعَ عَشرَةَ حِجَّةً
حَقّاً لَهِنَّكَ لَلرَبيعُ الأَزهَرُ
ما كانَتِ الأَيّامُ تُسلَب بَهجَةً
لَو أَنَّ حُسنَ الرَوضِ كانَ يُعَمَّرُ

Pretty fun. takes a while to get used to how shit the guns are and having no money ever but it makes you make due.

You're not asking the right question bro. You should ask how Ganja the barman, Ganja the hookah man, Ganja the man who partied with all sorts of friends in all sorts of places, ended up in the zone.

Price increased
72 PLN to 90 PLN
(17 euro to 21,2 euro)
ITS NOT POLISHED, price in euro is lower than PLN
Yeah i know we will get a free Enchanced edition upgrade in a week but thats still a dick move GSC

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky is an atmospheric prequel to the cult classic Shadow of Chernobyl, immersing the player in the dark and mysterious world of the Zone a year before the events of the original. The game significantly expands the series' lore, offering a glimpse into the origins of the conflict between factions and the beginnings of key events.
One of Clear Sky's main strengths is its improved graphics and revamped engine, which make the Zone feel more alive: rain, fog, lighting — all of it creates a truly oppressive and realistic atmosphere. Combat mechanics have become more challenging and engaging thanks to enhanced enemy AI and the ability to take part in faction wars.
Overall, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky is a worthy addition to the universe that every fan of the series should try. It offers a deeper understanding of the Zone and a chance to see familiar locations from a new perspective.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Чисте Небо — це атмосферний приквел до культової гри Тінь Чорнобиля, який занурює гравця в похмурий і таємничий світ Зони за рік до подій оригіналу. Гра помітно розширює лор серії, пропонуючи зазирнути в витоки конфлікту між угрупованнями та в походження деяких ключових подій.
Однією з головних переваг Чистого Неба є покращена графіка та оновлений рушій, що роблять Зону більш живою: дощ, тумани, освітлення — усе це створює по-справжньому гнітючу й реалістичну атмосферу. Механіка боїв стала складнішою та цікавішою завдяки вдосконаленому штучному інтелекту ворогів і можливості брати участь у конфліктах між фракціями.
У цілому, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Чисте Небо — гідне доповнення до всесвіту, яке варто спробувати кожному прихильнику серії. Воно пропонує глибше розуміння світу Зони та дає змогу побачити знайомі місця з нової перспективи.

Clear Sky is a prequel to Shadow of Chernobyl and sets the scene for the original game. Recommend playing with an overhaul mod called ABR CS, which fixes bugs and glitches and adds some more content, the vanilla story and quests remain the same.

i recommend you play shadow of chernobyl before playing clear sky but for lore reasons you may wanna play clear sky first but if your new to stalker buy the trilogy bundle and start with shadow of chernobyl

gameplay is nice, a fair ammount of bugs, very emmersive, and has fast travel from location to location by talking to certain NPCs! Amazing lore that ties into the series as a whole with its factions down to emission events.

And you can join a faction so this is worth playing!!!

People seem to hate this one, but with some mods to fix bugs and broken mechanics, this one was almost as good as the first one. The Emissions were extremely sick tho

a very good game , very entertaining , but watchout for bugs as it has quite a few.
And here is an agvice from a gamere to other gamer brothers, heed it well. Go prepared before the second last mission . As the game wont let you go to a market and specially prepare before the real shit begans.:steamthumbsup:

Clear Sky is the middle child of the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. trilogy. It's the one that tried some new things, some of which worked, some of which... didn't, and all of which are covered in a thick layer of jank. You play as Scar, a mercenary with a mysterious ability to survive anomalies that would turn a lesser man into a fine, irradiated mist.

It is a prequel, meaning it takes place before Shadow of Chernobyl. Think of it as the "S.T.A.L.K.E.R." equivalent of Solo: A Star Wars Story, but with more radiation and less Han Solo. It attempts to expand on the world established in the first game, and it does so in some... interesting ways.

What Clear Sky Tried to Improve (and Sometimes Did):

Faction Wars: Clear Sky introduced large-scale faction wars, where different groups of Stalkers battled for territory. This could have been epic. In practice, it often devolved into you running back and forth between capture points, wondering why your allies were all standing around a campfire instead of, you know, fighting. When it worked, it was chaotic and thrilling. When it didn't... well, at least the scenery was pretty.

Weapon Upgrades: Remember how in Shadow of Chernobyl, your guns degraded faster than a politician's promises? Clear Sky let you upgrade them! This was a genuinely good addition, allowing you to customize your boomsticks and keep them in (somewhat) reliable condition. Finally, a reason to visit those shady mechanics besides buying more vodka and medkits.

Graphics: Clear Sky is arguably the prettiest of the original trilogy. The Zone looks even more hauntingly beautiful, with improved lighting, textures, and particle effects. It's like they took the already stunning environments of Shadow of Chernobyl and gave them a makeover... with a generous application of post-Soviet grit.

What Clear Sky... Didn't Quite Improve:

The Bugs: Clear Sky launched with a reputation for being even buggier than its predecessor, which is a bit like saying a black hole is "a bit dark." Crashes, broken quests, AI that would spontaneously decide to stop working – it was a wild ride. Patches helped, but Clear Sky will forever be known as the janky one.

The Difficulty Curve: Clear Sky's difficulty curve is less of a curve and more of a vertical cliff face. You go from "exploring spooky ruins" to "being swarmed by an army of heavily armed bandits who apparently have aimbot installed in their eyeballs" in about five minutes. Prepare to die. A lot.

The Story: While Clear Sky's story attempts to be more coherent than Shadow of Chernobyl's amnesiac adventure, it's... less memorable. It's there, it involves factions and a mysterious artifact, but it lacks the same haunting, personal touch of its predecessor. It's like the story is wearing a slightly less interesting tracksuit than usual.

In conclusion, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky is a flawed but fascinating game. It tried to expand the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. formula with some ambitious new features, and while it didn't always succeed, it's still a unique and atmospheric experience. Just be prepared for a little bit of a bumpy ride, and remember to save often.

I switched to PC for Oblivion and STALKER in 2018. (I really like Clear Sky almost more than CoP. Alot of people complain about "issues" or they "avoid it". I never understood that. I beat it with no issues as I can remember in 2018.
These days I play on a separate exe, thats why my hours are relatively low.
GAMMA, CoC, Goldsphere, VOA

very good, i think this one's my favorite stalker game lol

Very good game in the series I have some favorite gamplay mods

Wonderful! I love all parts and mods of STALKER!

Guns feel janky, bad start

Just ehh

Unbalanced filler game, just skip it and read a synopsis instead :)

Stupid good fun,good old russian jank

Cool game ngl.
Should be played before Shadow of Chernobyl to understand the story better.

Fun game, love the infinite money bug.

why does everyone hate CS? its probably the hidden gem of the franchise.

Phenomenal game. There is a reason it's a classic! Very immersive survival horror. Just buy it, you won't regret it!!

Ograłem. Było fanjo tak za Naznaczonym biegać. i kopanie Monolitowców nie najgorsze.

The STALKER franchise is my alltime favorite. On par with the Metro games.

It's a very old game. BUT - there are mods that fix almost everything.
Actually there are a LOT of mods.

For the price its worth it. Very much so.

Such an incredible letdown compared to Shadow of Chernobyl

Mixed feelings about this chapter.
It doesn't have the same creepy and eerie atmosphere as the first one. It's more focused on war between factions, which in my opinion it really doesn't work.
Your allies are so bad and suicidal that they keep loosing control of the outposts you claim, putting you in an endless loop where your presence is required at the same time in multiple locations across the map. So you constantly have to hear "Please help, where are you, do something!".
So I started to hate that feature and only focus on the main story.

Pros:
- Parts of the game is fun, if you ignore the side quests.
- Interesting story.
- Atmospheric and immersive.

Cons:
- Badly optimised and very buggy.
- You'll need to save very frequently because of the bugs.
- Side quests are very boring and repetitive. They add nothing to the game.
- A.I. is bad, enemies are bullet sponges on higher difficulty.

cordon machine gunner.

this game aint got the best graphics but ngl its pretty fun to play dont regret buying it would recommend.
if you like this give a try to STALCRAFT:X

This is more relating to my second play through I've done for this game.

I find more annoying things in this game than good things with clear sky, but for some reason i love it.

I usually try to stick with Vanilla with older games but you really do need the SRP mod, without it you'll just end up getting soft locked in the story. The faction system is cool when it wants to work, but I feel that exploration was more of a chore in this game than SoC and artifact hunting isn't as good. But even will all that i still had a good time.

Solid 7/10 if you wanna get into STALKER Series then its a cool game, but honestly get any of the other one's and skip this one if you don't feel like dealing with janky gun play and constantly dealing with MGs and Nades in front of you.

хуйня пройшов 85-90% гри, після чого гра тупо вилітає. Єбав у сраку.

One recommendation: No matter what... just use AP rounds in ANY rifle or SMG, and when in the CNPP: USE EXOSKELETON and the PK-74 (Upgraded), believe me... its gonna make all less painful.

best S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game oat

I was right to delay playing this one for years and years. We'll put it that way

Would only play this to get the context on what the world just happened on the first game. After that, I don't see a reason why you would torture yourself again (the grenades... THE GRENADES).

I love not being able to hit someone 20 feet in front of me. PEAK GAME!!!

this game is very buggy. without a mod this game is sucks

og STALKER trilogy so peak. play if you cant run the new one!

Great game. Best new mechanic was gun modifications & actual faction quests. Not as legendary, but still almost improving in most things (aside from story) and linear end missions.

I'm not a tech savvy person and I haven't researched how to make this game playable. It's glitchy and buggy to the extreme. Whenever I get around to this game again, maybe I'll change the review.

This game is pretty much just a worse Shadow Of Chernobyl with the highlight of it the entire game definitely being Limansk. The faction system is cool but isn't fleshed out nearly enough to be that interesting. I enjoyed the prequel feel of exploring a map I already knew but at times thought it was a bit lazy. Limansk made the entire game worth playing, the depraved and hopeless feeling of it was palpable throughout the entire experience. It was similar to Pripyat but a much heavier feeling of it being over. I feel like the story could have been much more interesting if we had seen some sign of clear sky in SOC or COP (besides the body armor) but since we don't it's pretty hard to care about the story or lore of a faction in the zone that never shows up again.

Overall Clear Sky is not a bad game but it is certainly the middle child of this franchise. It has neither the amazing story of SOC nor the refined gameplay of COP, regardless of this it's still worth playing just for some of that classic stalker kino.

Worst of the trilogy. After you enter Limansk, it becomes worse by every minute.

The game is very good until Limansk, sadly the AI is far worse than in SoC or CoP, but it helps a lot during the last section. Exploring, artifact hunting and the gunplay is good, the bleeding is terrible (you can bleed out from 3 bullets, and ofc most of the time 1 bandage isn't enough to stop the bleeding).
Enemies love grenades, you won't be able to kill anyone with it though... I wasn't able to finish the game, gave up after the hospital section, it was just too repetitive and unfair (enemies spawning behind you, allies do nothing, etc.).

Overall, I had a good time with the game for the first ~29 hours, after I reached the Red Forest, it went downhill, after Limansk, it just sucked ass. It shows that Clear Sky came out after the first game about a year later, it was rushed.

If it wasn't for the last few missions, I would recommend it. The new zones are far better, than the ones in CoP. It isn't so much worse than the other 2 game and FAR BETTER, than the Heart of Chernobyl.

If you are interested in the story, I don't recommend it, if you just want to explore, I do recommend it, just buy it when it is on sale. The best option is to play Call of Chernobyl, which has every zone from the first 3 games, so you can experience the red forest, limansk and the swamps of course.