STALKER series...

[Delavan]

Howdy,

I got Stalker Clear Sky from NCIX for $7. No biggie.
I don't understand all the hype about this Stalker thing. I'm at one of the first missions and I feel like uninstalling the game really...it's a little bit like Far Cry 2 in the fact that you go out on missions and return to base kinda deal, but Far Cry 2 looks better.

Graphics are good (playing on my HD5870), but nothing to write home about.
The game, although running the latest patch, is not impressive. The hit registration is cr4ppy at best. The whole dialogue (text+soundtrack) looks really outdated...I feel like playing an old cr4ppy game from an unknown game studio ( I know GSC gameworld is known), a game that I found at the bottom of the games bargain bin at the grocery store..
could it be that Clear Sky is the lemon of the series?

Again I payed $7 for it (one would say NO WONDER!), so it's not a big loss.

Any STALKER huge fan that can make me change my mind? Something that I'm missing here?
Metro 2033 is made by the same guys right? I mean same developpers that left GSC?

[Zero82z]

Clear Sky is kind of the lemon of the series, but the games are a bit difficult to get into. The thing about STALKER is that it's very realistic, very difficult, and not very forgiving. The real draw of the STALKER series is the atmosphere and the survival-style gameplay. Try to keep going for a bit until you get some good weapons and armour, and chances are you'll start to enjoy the game more.

[Kommie986]

I hate the series too...

[SKYMTL]

Me three. Hate it an the graphics are some of the worst I have seen.

[Delavan]

Hate it an the graphics are some of the worst I have seen.

So it's kinda funny (and quite weird) that STALKER is often part of the benchmarking suites of many sites. I guess it's a matter of comparing apple-to-apples..

There is so many games now that are so-so...I finished AvP, to realize that I probably won't feel like playing it again...well maybe in the long run. STALKER Celar sky, no thanks...

I'm even considering installing PREY! Own the game, never quite got into it.

[Full Speed]

Prey was a good concept but I didn't really turn out that well. Worth a look though.

[Kommie986]

Metro 2033 is better. I actually finished the whole game and only raged quit once (the part when these respawning green blobs keep on attacking you and your teammate).

[frontier204]

As someone who played through all three of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games, I think that Clear Sky is the worst of the three games. STALKER is a game where you have to "outsmart" each one of the encounters (by preparing specific equipment / weapons or planning how to approach combat), but many points ruin that in Clear Sky. I found the beginning of the game to be rather frustrating since stray shotgun pellets or radiation patches pretty much force you to reload with the puny amount of restorative items that you get, but it picks up after that when you get to the first trader in Cordon. (although immediately before that point in the game was the dumbest sequence in the game IMHO)

I'll admit to rage-quitting twice for Shadow of Chernobyl, and twice again for Clear Sky before finishing those games.

You can try the Clear Sky complete mod which gives improved sound/graphics over the stock game and (thankfully) reduces some other annoyances:
artistpavel.com: [Mod] Clear Sky Complete 1.1.2

[TheWanderer]

I liked the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series mainly due to the higher level of difficulty in it, the atmosphere etc.
Quite a steep learning curve, but you get used to it.
Clear Sky had issues with the Faction Wars system, but if you leave it alone, it becomes an okay game.
Shadow of Chernobyl was the best, Clear Sky tried to be innovative and failed, and Call of Pripyat brought many more nice game features and side quests, but was too short. Hopefully we'll get a longer next game.

[Dazmode]

Part of the hype is simply because of hugely popular "stalker" sci-fi short story from 70s, the game series is just one of the things revolving around that phenomena. Metro 20033 is also based on book.