S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky to be Released Digitally as Steam

News Reader · Post by **News Reader** » January 25th, 2008, 8:00

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky to be Released Digitally as Steam Exclusive
Author: valve valve
Category: Valve news update Valve news update
Publish Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2008 11:38:21 -0800

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky will be available for digital download worldwide exclusively on Steam. The official prequel to the Survival FPS game S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl is currently slated for simultaneous release on Steam and at retail outlets later this year.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky brings the players one year prior to the events of the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game in 2011. A group of stalkers has, for the first time, reached the very heart of the Zone-Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant-and brings about a cataclysm on the brink of a catastrophe. Through a rich narrative and gripping combat action, players uncover new challenges and insights in the Exclusion Zone. A new version of the game engine, X-Ray 1.5, powers superior graphical details and realistic and non-scripted combat AI.

More information and a collection of new images may be found here.
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Post by **Dr. kitteny berk** » January 25th, 2008, 8:07

Post by **HereComesPete** » January 25th, 2008, 9:17

Oooh, crazy russian shinies! Win.

This game felt very alien to me. Don't get me wrong I think it's great, in fact I might spark it up for a bit more shoot the army guys fun.

I think it was more the very russian nature of it, they (to generalise russians horribly) have slightly different ideas/values on things to us, I guess as a product of the ussr and a very different climate and lifestyle etc, and it really shows in this game, I felt very immersed after a while, but it took a few hours to get my head round it, and not because of the post-apocalyptic insular feel to the starting zone.

Post by **Dog Pants** » January 25th, 2008, 10:10

Speaking of which, I got Roadside Picnic off Amazon the other week. I'll review it once I've read it.

spoodie · Post by **spoodie** » January 25th, 2008, 11:55

Can't wait to play more STALKER, I loved it. For me it was second only to Bioshock for atmosphere.

Speaking of Russian games, this looks promising: http://www.5punk.co.uk/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=18592
Looks a bit like a cross between STALKER, Bioshock and Cold Fear (the last one is because it looks like it's on a boat in rough, cold seas).

Post by **Dr. kitteny berk** » January 25th, 2008, 11:57

spoodie wrote:Can't wait to play more STALKER, I loved it. For me it was second only to Bioshock for atmosphere.

Though, in places it even pwned bioshock for me.

spoodie · Post by **spoodie** » January 25th, 2008, 12:09

Dr. kitteny berk wrote:Though, in places it even pwned bioshock for me.

You're probably right there. Maybe it was down to the scale of some of the environments.

Post by **Dr. kitteny berk** » January 25th, 2008, 12:11

spoodie wrote: You're probably right there. Maybe it was down to the scale of some of the environments.

yup, it did need to be more open in general, but they got some bits really very right.

buzzmong · Post by **buzzmong** » January 25th, 2008, 12:52

It occurs to me that after nuking my main pc and upgrading, I never did reinstall and play with shiney Stalker on my 1950xt.

I'll have to give it a blast at easter hols.

Post by **deject** » January 25th, 2008, 16:40

Bioshock was too much System Shock 2 to be all that atmospheric for me. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. got the desolate landscape almost perfectly in my opinion. I'll be picking this one up for sure.

Actually I hope they make a bundle deal so I can get both on my Steam.

buzzmong · Post by **buzzmong** » January 25th, 2008, 16:47

deject wrote:Bioshock was too much System Shock 2 to be all that atmospheric for me. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. got the desolate landscape almost perfectly in my opinion. I'll be picking this one up for sure.

Actually I hope they make a bundle deal so I can get both on my Steam.

TOO much System Shock 2??? Bioshock doesn't hold a candle to it.

SS2 is genuinely scary with a tense atmosphere, the first ghost always makes everyone jump.

The environment was good in Bioshock though, you geniunely felt underwater, just like Stalker gets the desolate nuclear fallout thing right.

Post by **deject** » January 25th, 2008, 17:01

I mean they basically re-made System Shock 2, just shinier and without an inventory then tossed it in the ocean. It definitely had a great atmosphere and lots of style, but that's about all that they did change.

buzzmong · Post by **buzzmong** » January 25th, 2008, 17:37

I see where you're coming from, and if it had been a PC only title you'd be 100% correct as I suspect it would have been MUCH more like it, alot more rpg should have been in it which was cut out for the consoletards.

It's similar, but they changed it into a pure fps pretty much, so I no longer compare it to SS2, it's now a "that's a shame, what if..." title.

For pedantic reasons: They removed the map, the dual interfaces, the whole cyberspace thing (Bioshock could have gotton away with something similar, say drug induced dreamscape), all the inventory management, weapon degradation, lack of ammo, the skills and augmentations.

Deus Ex is the closest thing to SS2 really now, in terms of FPS/RPG hybrids. I only hope DE3 conforms back to the first, then it should be excellent.

Baliame · Post by **Baliame** » January 25th, 2008, 20:03

deject wrote:I mean they basically re-made System Shock 2, just shinier and without an inventory then tossed it in the ocean. It definitely had a great atmosphere and lots of style, but that's about all that they did change.

Oh my, Deject is Yathzee!

spoodie · Post by **spoodie** » January 25th, 2008, 20:27

I didn't like SS2, it was too complicated, Bioshock was better.

Post by **deject** » January 25th, 2008, 20:46

Baliame wrote:
Oh my, Deject is Yathzee!

if you've played both games you'd know it's true.

Baliame · Post by **Baliame** » January 25th, 2008, 21:36

deject wrote:
if you've played both games you'd know it's true.

I have. While I find similarities, I don't believe BS is a cheap copy of SS2.

spoodie · Post by **spoodie** » January 25th, 2008, 21:51

I never properly played SS2 and my bait post didn't work.

Post by **deject** » January 25th, 2008, 22:11

Baliame wrote:
I have. While I find similarities, I don't believe BS is a cheap copy of SS2.

I never said it was a cheap copy, I said it was basically the same. Bioshock was a lot of fun, and it looked pretty great, but it's not really different. Just some plot details and different characters.

Post by **FatherJack** » January 25th, 2008, 23:51

I'd rather have moar Bioshock, but this will do nicely.

I enjoyed the actual game bits of Stalker, but started out not liking how big it was, before realising it* was actually very linear and triggered.

Getting into the big camp - playing one side off against the other - was fun, but finding the special container that led to the underground bit with ghosts twatting you all the while wasn't. The final bits inside, and the "extra" HL1-a-like portally bits were great, but getting into that hanger in the first place, with the time limit was an arse. Conversely, the Arena was piss-easy.

I really can't count how many saves I had to load playing Stalker to completion, but it must be well in the hundreds - with Bioshock, I died in most new areas, but was able to quickly figure out a way to not do so again. It's just a shame the Daddies lost all their menace pretty soon after the first encounter, and the only thing scary about them was if you accidentally hurt one you were controlling.

* as in the bits you had to do to continue the story