[3/3] .. enters STALKER: Clear Sky - full 2008 game - [post apocalyptic open world fps classic]

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GEM - Great Entertainment Media

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Published on July 26, 2025 2:33:00 PM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TubSWU5MVd0

Game:

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky (2008)

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[For Area-13, here is a very useful shortcut to deal with Strelok which I discovered by accident lol. I think this is a good strategy to do as I think it's almost impossible to chase him around until he gets into the plant because there will be lots of soldiers slowing your chase down. So Strelok will wait until you move to the next segment of the map and you can just shoot him at that point while he is sitting still at the transition point to the next area lool

For the last video segment of this series, we will look and explore the maps provided with the game Stalker: Clear Sky which you can play against other players online or with your friends on a LAN (Local Area Network). The maps are quite good and interesting, and there are a few new ones provided in addition from the previous Stalker game (Shadow of Chernobyl) featuring some interesting locations throughout the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. A big chunk of the number of maps in this game are from the previous one, but they look a bit better due to the new upgraded engine of the current game.]

After some time after playing the 1st Stalker game, I got a little curious as to what is else is new and happening in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone in the world of Stalker ;p and so I installed this game and fired it up, but it quickly cooled me down..lol

During night time the game is mostly unplayable because everything is so dark, pitch black in fact, plus with the dark shadows on top of it too, you really can't see anything at all. Which brings me to my next point which is gunfights are very bad (because you can't see well most of the time with the muddy dark graphics) and clunky with your gun aim jumping all over the place and the guns 88% jamming rate for no apparent reason (even if they are new and not broken), with the enemies being very accurate from far away, leaves you throwing your arms up in frustration and saying to yourself....wtf!....lol.

Playing through this game is like trudging with [heavy] lead boots [wearing no socks ouch!] through mud filled rocks, you are always tripping and falling lol. Well that was the bad, well just to summarize everything:

The Good:
the graphics are somewhat better in realism;
you can visit older locations from the first game with improved visuals;
the game writing is pretty good, and it's humorous and interesting;
the music is more moody, atmospheric, nostalgic and memorable compared to the first game.

The Bad:
everything else lol;
horrible shadows which you can't see much of anything as a result, you have to squint too much;
unplayable at night because you can't see anything (compared to the first game which was ok at night);
terrible mouse/ gun handling and battles, with frequent and no reason gun jams, thus making the game a chore to play rather than an enjoyable experience;
plays/ moves terribly;
has plenty of bugs, the most severe one is getting stuck so be careful and the battle music kicks in many times without reason and won't go away/ stop even if you killed all enemies in the area. A fix for this is leaving the area entirely and re-entering it, thus re-loading the whole section of the map in the process and getting rid of the annoying looping battle music;
the NPCs seem confused and lost in doing their assigned tasks, and at some point in the game, I panicked because I thought the game wouldn't progress, but after a [very] long time, they seemed to go back on track and resume their mandatory game-progressing duties (phew! there for that one);
the game seems like a patched up mess and with lost direction at times, like a lot of stories (and quests) being just thrown into the game without a coherent and cohesive meaning.

So having said all this, this game earns only 4/10 gems for me and that's with me being generous. It is definitely below average (5) for all the reasons and cons given. However, and this is a big however, if you are a Stalker fan (like me) this game can be worth playing just for experiencing the [somewhat] interesting things in it, but if you aren't or you don't want to suffer playing this game, it can also be easily skipped - it's up to you - after I have said everything about it.

Well so finally, being dissatisfied with this game, I started playing the next one (Stalker: Call of Pripyat) after finishing this one. Well and so the great news about that one is that it seemed to have went far and being to fix the reputation of the last [bad] Stalker game and it seems to be even better than the first game (whoa big surprise ;D), which is a really astronomical achievement and something of a wonder to behold, so that's great for the whole Stalker franchise to be lifted up like that with a great quality game to end this Stalker trilogy. But for the full scoop on that one you will have to read my next review of that one and watch me play it to see why ;p

Until next time game peeps! *wave
-Gem out :o)

#Stalker #Clear #Sky

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