1UP Reviews Stalker Clear Sky

[H.Bogard]

1up has reviewed Clear Sky, and as is the case everywhere... the game's a mixed bag.

Consider my nitpicking as the result of deep admiration. Clear Sky is a great game and a worthy successor to Shadow of Chernobyl, despite the identity crisis. Clear Sky's concern is the human struggle to control, contain, and exploit the Zone -- which is itself presented as a conscious character to a far greater extent than in Shadow of Chernobyl. While various factions scrap over territory and philosophy, the Zone bellows ominously in the distance. As the battle inches towards the fiercely guarded Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the Zone fights back with deadly blowouts that bathe the world in red light and force the belligerents to seek cover. Far from wanting for eerie atmosphere, the Zone is more oppressive than ever.

They gave it a B. Check out the full review (http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3169840).

[Rakael]

It is that oppressive atmosphere that actually makes me not want to play the game. They did too good of a job on that atmosphere in Shadow of Chernobyl. I can't make it more than a few hours without needing to go outside and realize the world is an alright place. I give them mad props though, as no game has actually caused me to feel depression before.

[Zurik]

Sounds like more of the same from the first one. Bad localization and lots of fetch it quests. Not sure why so many people love this game, I finished the first one and was bored outta my mind by the end.

[Wasson_]

The game takes a degree of imagination to truly enjoy. I see you are a fallout fan, you might have committed the mortal sin of approaching it like an RPG. Something it is not.

Anyone who is bored with Stalker, well, couldn't be a FPS enthusiast in my mind.

[H.Bogard]

A patch or two later, this will be game of the year... mark my words. An excuse that is only valid for a game like Stalker.

[Wackman3000]

I think this time I'll wait for a few patches. For some reason firing weapons was just very satisfying in the first game, and I have a feeling it will be the same for this one.

Add in more customization, deeper atmosphere and more faction rivalry and I think it will be a worthy successor/prequel when it releases in NA.

[Zacharai]

I see you are a fallout fan, you might have committed the mortal sin of approaching it like an RPG. Something it is not.
I think that was my problem. Very good point.

[digitalErich]

I just wanted to say that I love 1up's review layout, and I'm not talking about the letter scores. Lately, they've been able to pack more relevant information into their reviews/previews while using about half the word count when compared to the other big name sites. Outside of their features or specials, I can't remember a time when I had to go to page 2 of a review/preview and I love that.

[biosc1]

I just wanted to say that I love 1up's review layout, and I'm not talking about the letter scores. Lately, they've been able to pack more relevant information into their reviews/previews while using about half the word count when compared to the other big name sites. Outside of their features or specials, I can't remember a time when I had to go to page 2 of a review/preview and I love that.

Agreed. Back in the "days" of 4 page reviews, I used to skim the first page then go to the final paragraph.

[tayaya]

Welp..... I'll let you guys know what I think of it, as someone that missed out on the first one, after lunch today. Apprently my Gamestop got ONE COPY of it today. They just got it as I happened to be there, too.

[tayaya]

So far not so good.... just trying to tweak the video settings in-game and I discovered that whenever I hit Esc to bring up the in-game menu, the application immediately crashes and quits to the desktop.

Checked for a patch and there is one available (1.5.03 vs the 1.5.01 on the disc). Hopefully that'll help a bit... but it'll take like a half hour to download on the dogshit-slow network here at work!

[Shifter]

This is coming out on Steam next week, so I'm getting it there.

[tayaya]

Well the game is no more stable on my MacBook Pro using the new patch vs the game on the disc. I installed on my HP laptop and it is definitely more stable there - haven't seen it crash yet like the mac version, but kicking it into DX10 mode makes everything go to shit for sure. But... the machine's only got an 8400 so I didn't expect much out of that anyway.

The game runs OK on the 8400 after some tweaking, but it's not as pretty as I know it would be if my good machine would run it without crashing.