Good one. I'm actually playing this game now and this review is pretty spot on.

^he seemed to nearly say it was worth picking up then. Is it fun?

Good game. Make sure you play Shadow of Chernobyl First. Then before playing this one, make sure you patch it first. GO YAHTZEE!

Sadly, I think this is one of the only ZP reviews I don't agree with completely. He clearly didn't understand a lot about the game and didn't play the first one. Crouching too high? There's a way to crouch MORE (ctrl + shift). As far an enemy difficulty goes, once the bad guys have ridiculous armor (exoskeletons, etc) you've got to aim for the head to get an effective kill. Frankly, he totally missed the whole story because, again, he tried to play an EXPANSION without playing the normal game through first. It explains why there are anomolies and why it's all centered around Chernobyl.

Lastly, I'll admit the AI had some real problems perpetuating states between saves. I remember in the first one having to fight off 8 Monolith guys at once. I killed a couple, quick saved, and when I loaded the rest had forgotten I existed.

For my part, this is a buggy game but still one of the most enjoyable in years.

That was awesome, especially the stuttering crash!

....and whistled for a baboon!

It's a great time for gamers right now. Between now and Christmas I plan to play Far Cry 2, GTA 4 PC version, Left for Dead, and Mirror's Edge PC version. Funnily even though I loved Stalker I don't feel compelled to pick up Clear Sky.

>> ^budzos:
It's a great time for gamers right now. Between now and Christmas I plan to play Far Cry 2, GTA 4 PC version, Left for Dead, and Mirror's Edge PC version. Funnily even though I loved Stalker I don't feel compelled to pick up Clear Sky.


Add Fallout 3 and Fable 2 to that list, and the same prettymuch goes for me.

I'd replace Fable 2 with Red Alert 3, since I don't have an XBox.

That ending was so brilliant it actually hurt a bit.

Big fan of stalker, but the thing crashes....and crashes.... and crashes.... versions 1.05 or something

Great game, for the most part I've really enjoyed it, but then I'm a big fan of the series (again, for the most part).

Wait six or eight months for a few more patches though, and then buy it when you're tired of all of the holiday-season releases and the price has come down to $20. If you buy it now it WILL crash. This is not a computer dependent thing where some people have problems with it crashing, it crashes randomly for *everyone*.

Liked the review, pretty spot on. It's interesting because I usually haven't, and don't intend to, play the games he reviews. Excellent ending too, of course.

I bought this through STEAM and yes, it's buggy, but the fact that he doesn't completely rip the game a new one means he probably likes it pretty well.

I think it is good, but I would definitely take the advice above and wait 6-8 months for some patches to come out and the price to come down.

Till then, play Fallout 3

>> ^Aemaeth:
Sadly, I think this is one of the only ZP reviews I don't agree with completely. He clearly didn't understand a lot about the game and didn't play the first one... Frankly, he totally missed the whole story because, again, he tried to play an EXPANSION without playing the normal game through first. It explains why there are anomolies and why it's all centered around Chernobyl.

Clear Sky is a stand alone game, not an expansion and it's a prequel taking place before the events of the first STALKER, so Clear Sky should be explaining what happened and why there are anomalies around?

I like the first STALKER, but I haven't picked up Clear Sky yet. The main reason is the DRM, activation and limited install crap, but mainly because I learned my lesson from the first one. The first one didn't have any show stopping bugs or crashes, but when they did patch it, it was not compatible with saved games so you had to start over from scratch if you patched. I'll pick up Clear Sky after they iron out all the bugs, and remove the DRM, activation and limited install BS.

I haven't finished the first one yet, and I'm still using the original version because I didn't want to have to go through everything again. I'd planned to finish it, patch it and replay it, but I got distracted with other games. I've gone back and played it a few times. I know I'm close to the end, but I just haven't gone back to finish it.

Clear Sky is good (i have both S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games), but pretty flawed, too. my litany of complaints:

-AI grenade accuracy is sick. Quick save often, because if the enemy has grenades, you are going to die a lot.

-No clipping on NPCs, and they love to block doorways. Why can't you nudge them? They sure as shit nudge you. This is most problematic when you are fighting alongside NPCs that PUSH YOU OUT INTO THE OPEN.

-Enemies can you see you at night, even if your flashlight is off. Using the cover of darkness to sneak up on the military outpost would be awesome, but they see you creeping in from 100 yards.

-The stamina system. You run out of energy too quickly for the amount of ground you must cover. You can pay to be escorted (i.e. teleported) but it can be very expensive and money is tight in this game.

-One of the major components to this game is the faction warfare. In some areas, you aid one faction in ridding the map of another faction, and your results are measurable. I.e., you don't see as many red dots on the map anymore. What I don't get is that you can't ever completely eradicate them. In some areas, you can destroy a little encampment over and over, but they always return. Maybe the game wouldn't be as fun with no enemy factions, but it could have been thought through more.

What I like about Clear Sky:
-the weapon upgrade system--gives you a huge range of weapon combos.
-the faction wars--working with the NPCs to push through enemy outposts is still great fun, even though you can't completely eradicate them in some areas.
-the slow pace--in the beginning of the game, you don't see much in the way of mutants. as the game goes on, you start to see them more and more, and it freaks you out more.
-the new anomaly system--makes anomaly hunting more fun, and more rewarding imo

I actually thought my computer froze...

*comedy, I think. Awesome.

I wonder whether he had that crash gag in mind for a while, or if he came up with it for this one in particular? Regardless, hilarious.

Adding video to channels (Comedy) - requested by Krupo.

Finally a ZP i like again! Hilarious ending.

What I dont understand is why I can play Crysis on High but this game on High is a slideshow for me.

I pretty much completely agree with Yahtzee's Clear Sky review in that regardless of the stupid AI, crashing and the many, many bugs, the game is still somehow oddly fun to play. If any other game were as buggy as S:CS, I'd be foaming at the mouth tossing things out the window. And yet I'm pretty patient with this game and willing to wait for further patches for some odd reason

Big upvote, just for the ending alone.

I disagree with pretty much everything in the video. I've had no problems with crashes or bugs in BOTH Shadow of Chernobyl and Clear Sky. I love them both, they're probably the best FPS's I've played. The storyline is interesting and the weapons / gameplay is versatile. In Shadow of Chernobyl you can buy / find silencers and scopes that are attachable to most weapons, and this is great. Running around with an AK-47 is awesome amounts of fun, but when you fix a silencer on and a scope, then snipe out your enemies from a distance, it's even more fun.

I love both games, and they're a must buy in my opinion.

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