Recent reviews by DarkCenturionIX

Well since I wrote a review for Shadow of Chernobyl, I might as well make one for my favourite S.T.A.L.K.E.R game. So as I mentioned in my previous review, I used to be obsessed with this game in my teens. In fact, This has always been my favourite in the series. Again, I own this on disc and GOG so more hours have been clocked on there. Clear Sky is the prologue to the whole S.T.A.L.K.E.R story and has solid story writing, But I can't help but feel like it leaves more questions open than it does answered.
This game focuses a lot on the faction wars that happen in the Zone. During this time there are a lot of people in the Zone, Here the Army really failed at stopping people from entering the Zone. Because of this there are constant faction wars going on and they're not really not subtle about it.

So Clear Sky introduction..
You play as a hardened mercenary/S.T.A.L.K.E.R who goes by the alias of Scar and he's an old fella, but very experienced in the zone and even has some witty banter, which is always welcome in the Zone. Whilst leading a science expedition as the hired gun things go very wrong, very quickly. The team is hit by an emission and Scar is the only survivor. His body is eventually picked up by a group known as Clear Sky and when you awaken, it's time for banter, bad jokes then business. After you get a brief history lesson about these guys. They send you away to help they're 2nd outpost which is under attack. When you get there.. it goes wrong again..another emission hits and yet again, Scar is knocked out whilst everything else dies in the area. Again Scars body is picked up by Clear Sky and they patching together how the bloody hell you made it through two giant blow outs. After a while they discover that Scar have a minor immunity to these emissions BUT each one that happens is damaging Scars nervous system. So you make a deal with the faction leader Lebedev, You help them take control the swamps and they help you find out what's causing the Zone to keep having these emissions. Now the story really begins.

Since Clear Sky are a secret military/science group they have to blindfold you every time you enter and leave they're base. As mentioned they're base is located in a swamp, because of this, No one will bother them except one faction.. the Renegades. This is the introduction enemy faction used only for the purposes of learning about the faction wars and how it all works. Your start in a little fishing hamlet owned by CS. You can take minor jobs from them like help find they're comrades gun in a certain area or grab a scouts PDA etc. Again, These pay bad but this time you gain more trust from that person and faction, making your life a little easier around them and you can stack the rewards since now you have to go to a factions bar to claim the reward. Talking of the rewards, they are now better since you can get anything like cash along side some new gear to use with anti rads or health kits. As for the faction wars themselves you get a call on your PDA from faction members asking for backup because an enemy or mutant is on the way to hit them. You can also help them take over marked areas which lead to some amazing gun fights. But the faction war with Clear Sky is one big introduction to the game and it's new mechanics. Once you make it to the Cordon.. Then the game has a major take off. Now your kinda free to roam.

The whole story itself it somewhat short but excellent. It's about chasing a group of stalkers who made it to the centre of the Zone. As the story progresses, you'll be told why that's a big deal and of course.. why they must be stopped. The only reason the story seems long is because Scar must help the main factions with they're own problems and in some cases take part in the faction wars with each reasonable faction so in turn, they can help Scar with any information he needs about these mysterious stalkers he's chasing, Plus this a good way to learn about the factions and what they stand for.

The faction wars.. Now this is the main thing I love. Once you get to a certain part of the story, complete freedom opens up and your free to join various factions and assist them in a faction war. This a minor objective and doesn't have to be done. But it's good for multiple reasons like getting more cash and loot which is always better from a unified faction, rather than some random loner. By default you a loner/merc but you have the options of joining a Unified Loners group, Clear Sky, Freedom, Duty and the Bandits. I was very surprised that Scar could join the Bandits, But it seems he has the cheek and sarcasm to join they're ranks if one wishes. Although joining them can be a messy process because you have to take various steps to not piss them off. Renegades, Monolith, Ecologist, Organised Mercenaries and the Army are non join-able. Each faction has a really cool base with great dialog from each member and they're own theme music at the bases. Hands down the Bandits have the best base, music and dialog so of course this is where I feel the whole Cheeki Breeki memes came from. Once you join a group of psychopaths they show you they're little campaign and what they want done. Again, the whole thing is like a sandbox experience, So the enemy faction will also fight for territory and once you capture they're final base, The old faction will reclaim it back after a while. You sometimes see other faction in the background duking it out, Great immersion.

As always, this masterpiece has a PvP mode and it's very similar to ShoC just a little more updated if anything, Y'know, Join a lobby, faction, grab your guns, grenades and armour then off to battle. This game being about faction wars, I just wished they put all the factions in MP mode. Would have been an fine addition. But there also some new maps I believe.

I'm not gonna lie though, this game can be very hard at times and is only to be played on Master difficulty, Anything else the enemies become a bullet sponges. It's still the same as always, One bullet to the head and you'll be going down fast or bleeding out, So make sure you get them bandages ready! Also, Bandits will mug you in this game and if you let them, you will not get the money back, even if you kill them. This isn't Fallout kid. There is a point where you do get mugged and there is nothing you can do about it for the most part. I've seen many people complain about this but, it's kinda realistic.
They be plenty of guns and armour for your choosing as well as weapon and armour mods. But you need to find flash drives and them in to the right faction mechanic.

I think that pretty much sums the game up! Great characters and dialogue like when a squad commander tells his men "C'mon it's time to be hero's" to which one of the loners miserably said "Awwh, I should have just died at birth" along with other brilliant lines from different faction members. I'm sure one can imagine what the Bandits would be like. Fantastic music and atmosphere and this time they even added combat music which sounds like Eastern European rave music, but unfortunately this can be a little buggy sometimes and loop when out of combat. The graphics as always are great, and there are loads of mods for this game. I used to have a mod that lets you join any faction including Monolith, Boy that was something. So.. What are you waiting for?

Good hunting, Stalker.