Jolt writes: "Stop Talking And Listen, Keep Emergency Rations? Small Testicles Are Likely Killed by Enormous Radiation? What is it that S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is supposed to stand for, exactly? According to Wikipedia, it stands for Scavenger, Trespasser, Adventurer, Loner, Killer, Explorer, Robber, which is basically pants. Stupid Acronyms: Let's Keep-out Excessive Rubbish is more like it.
Anyway, with all the other mysteries surrounding the highly – some would say overly – ambitious original, it was a question easily overlooked. Unlike many questions it had an answer, but others may not – questions such as: 'why does GSC Game World hate the people who play their games'? They actually probably don't, but a casual FPS player wandering into S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky might feel akin to a weekend fetishist looking for a bit of slap and tickle and winding up in a full blown BDSM dungeon (that's Bondage, Discipline, Sadism, Masochism acronym fans).
Yes, Clear Sky is a game that likes to take you down a peg – sometimes several. It will strip you naked – quite literally – inflict frequent minor wounds in cruel and unusual ways and leave you alone in the dark for long periods at a time. When bad things happen, there's seldom any explanation or justification, you just have to suck it up and try not to scream, but if it all gets too much, there's always the safe word. As in 'quick-load'."
Review - S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky should be seen as an expansion rather than a full prequel, but it is one that fans will enjoy nonetheless.
The S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games have greatly influenced the Eastern European games that came later. In this, the second of a two-part miniseries exploring these influences, we investigate the gameplay mechanics that make "Stalkerlikes" what they are.
DSOGaming writes: "RemasterStudio has released the first beta version of a graphics overhaul mod for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky. STALKER Clear Sky Remaster ports the game to the latest version of the X-Ray Engine, and introduces a lot of modern-day graphical features."
