Stalker: Clear Sky
| STALKER: Clear Sky | |||
|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio | GSC Game World | ||
| Publisher | GSC World Publishing, Deep Silver (Koch Media) | ||
| Erstveröffent- lichung |
 August 22, 2008 September 5, 2008 September 15, 2008  |
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| platform | PC ( Windows ) | ||
| genre | First person shooter with RPG elements | ||
| Game mode | Single player , multiplayer | ||
| control | Mouse and keyboard | ||
| medium | 1 DVD-ROM , download | ||
| language | German, English, Russian | ||
| Current version | 1.5.10 (July 7, 2009) | ||
| Age rating |
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STALKER: Clear Sky (often just called Clear Sky ) is a computer game that combines elements of a first-person shooter and computer role-playing game and was released in late summer 2008. It is the prequel to STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl and like this one was developed by the Ukrainian game developer GSC Game World .
action
The fictional story ties in with the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. In 2006 there was another explosion in the sarcophagus of the fourth block of the decommissioned nuclear power plant. As a result, the environment - called The Zone in the game - was permanently changed. The action begins before the action of the previously released STALKER: Shadow of Chernobyl .
The player slips into the role of a mercenary named Scar (in the English version "Scar") and receives the order from the scientists of the faction ClearSky , to prevent the stalker Strelok (the main character of the first part) from the center of the zone to reach. Scientists fear that stepping into the immediate vicinity of the sarcophagus would trigger another large explosion.
First, however, the player character must help the ClearSky faction to victory in order to be able to advance into other areas of the zone. There, Scar gradually encounters other factions and individual characters. They have to complete various tasks in order to receive certain rewards in the form of items, information or money. Little by little, the player gets on the trail of Strelok and can follow him through the zone. Finally he catches up with Strelok shortly before Limansk, but Scar is held up by some attackers while Strelok escapes through a tunnel, which he blows up behind him. The only scar left is the path over a bridge guarded by opponents, which is cleared together with the Clear Sky faction.
Then the player character traverses Limansk and the abandoned hospital, with the number of opponents to be overcome increasing steadily. Finally the sarcophagus is reached. Here, after further fighting, Scar finally meets Strelok, whose protective screen is to be deactivated. Despite all plans, however, as feared by the scientists, another outbreak of anomalous energies occurs, which kills Scar.
Gameplay
The gameplay is based on that of the predecessor Shadow of Chernobyl . The player is given great freedom of action. So he can join four of at least eleven factions and lead them to victory over other factions, but this has no influence on the further course of the story.
As in Shadow of Chernobyl , the game world is largely free to explore and overall larger and more detailed than that of its predecessor: five new areas were added and eight old ones were revised. Furthermore, longer distances between regions can now be bridged with people familiar with the area, usually against payment .
In the zone around the Chernobyl nuclear power plant , many different anomalies have formed, which produce artifacts that the player can collect and sell or wear on his belt in order to enjoy various bonuses.
The player can interact with other stalkers such as talking and trading. In the zone, traders provide the player with weapons, ammunition and other equipment for money. In the camps of some factions, mechanics offer the repair and upgrade of weapons and suits.
In contrast to the previous game, the player character does not suffer from hunger. The use of food only increases health. Energy drinks temporarily increase stamina, which can be useful in escape situations. In addition to damage from the effects of weapons, health can also be impaired by environmental influences. This includes heat, poison and of course radioactivity. The resistance to any possible environmental impact is determined individually by the equipment of the player character. Radioactivity remains in the body even after leaving an irradiated area, but it can be treated with medication.
In addition to humans, mutated animals and humanoids as well as zombies populate the game world. Mutated wild boars, blind dogs with a sixth sense or simple perversities, which are known as "meat" (English "Flesh"), for example, are a constant threat.
technology
Version 1.5 of the X-Ray engine developed by GSC is used in Clear Sky. Compared to its predecessor, it now supports additional effects such as volumetric lighting , and in DirectX 10 environments (from Windows Vista) also additional graphic effects such as volumetric smoke. In this environment, antialiasing is now also supported, which was used in the DX-9 version and in the predecessor and a. could not be used for performance reasons.
Ratings
The first tests in the game magazines PC Games and Gamestar were partly negative, as the early tested versions often crashed due to bugs . " Community patches ", ie bug fixes created by players themselves, have eliminated a number of sources of crashes. With the patch 1.5.04, the manufacturer itself delivered a much more stable version a week after it was released. Gameswelt and Eurogamer also warn of the mistakes and rate the game with 72% and 70%, respectively. At the end of September GSC Gameworld released patch 1.5.05, which fixed further bugs and brought minor improvements. The course of the game was changed, however, so that saved games of older program versions are not compatible. Further versions followed, most recently 1.5.10.
Web links
- Official website
- German-language wiki about the game ( Memento from September 8, 2012 in the Internet Archive ); Completely
- Brief summary of the plot of Shadow of Chernobyl and Clear Sky
Notes and individual references
- ↑ Zombies were introduced as a faction, presumably the mutants also form a faction. The factions of traders and scientists each consist of only one character.
- ↑ PCGames.de: In the PC Games Test: STALKER: Clear Sky - End times mood in the motivation curve from September 11, 2008, accessed on September 26, 2008
- ↑ GameStar.de: Test: Stalker: Clear Sky from September 11, 2008, accessed on September 26, 2008
- ↑ Gameswelt.de: STALKER: Clear Sky - Review of September 5, 2008, accessed on September 28, 2008
- ↑ Eurogamer.de: Clear Sky from September 9, 2008, accessed on September 28, 2008
- ↑ GameStar.de: Stalker: Clear Sky: Patch v1.5.05 fixes further bugs from September 30, 2008, accessed on October 4, 2008
