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| S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky | 
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| From: Deep Silver
Category: Video Games
List Price: $39.99
Buy New: $16.99
You Save: $23.00 (58%)
New (9) Used (5) from $14.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  26 reviews
Sales Rank: 1873
Format: Cd-rom
Platforms: Windows Vista, Windows Xp
ESRB: Mature
Media: DVD-ROM
Age: 17 - 20 years
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: ECD950001D
Model: 895678002001
UPC: 895678002001
EAN: 0895678002001
ASIN: B001C4VU5C
Release Date: September 15, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: New Factory Sealed
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| Features:
| • | Atmosphere of the Exclusion Zone | | • | Research of new depths of the Zone - Red Forest, Limansk, Pripyat Undergrounds, etc | | • | A-Life-driven War of the Factions | | • | Possibility to play and lead any faction to victory | | • | Advanced A-Life system |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Go back one year from the events of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl. In Clear Sky, a group of stalkers has reached the heart of the Zone - Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. An immense blowout of anomalous energy changes the Zone. There are no more reliable and relatively safe roads. Entire levels vanish in the outbursts of anomalies. Stalkers and even expeditions die or end up sealed on the lost territories. New areas, which remained unknown since the time of the Zone emergence, appear on the Zone map. Changes of the Zone map known to stalkers shake the fragile balance of forces in the Zone. Among the groupings, there flare up hostilities for the new territories, artifact fields and spheres of influence. Everyone is now out for himself. You are a mercenary who appeared at the edge of the opposition between stalker factions, Strelok and the Zone itself. You play the key role in the events that led to creation of the Zone up to the point from which the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game begins. Which faction will take the upper hand?
Varied behavior of NPC stalkers in the A-Life world Advanced spectacular storyline scenes Improved AI of computer-controlled characters Skirting around dynamic obstacles by NPCs Use of grenades by NPCs Fast Travel Improved concept of detectors, artifacts and anomalies New system of upgrades for weapons and armor Weapons and armor repair Reworked HUD and PDA New version of the game engine - X-Ray 1.5 DirectX 10 renderer Improved DirectX 9 renderer - parallax bump, soft particles, depth of field, motion blur, eye adaptation effect Cutting-edge and detailed game graphics (normal map) Inverse kinematics New animation engine
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| Customer Reviews: Read 21 more reviews...
 Best find in since the original Far Cry! January 3, 2009
I had been reading the reviews for a couple of months before I spent the money to buy it. It cost about 20 bucks and I thought, I could try it out for that. I loaded it up and didn't install any of the patches before I tried it out. Maxed out my graphics and play for some time. I didn't realize that there was no autosave and I had to replay the intro several times before I figured out that this is not a guns-blazing type of game!
I finally saved it manually and then applied the patches to the most updated version. Save not compatible with update and I had to sit through the into...again. Finally an autosave feature! BUT, only when you cross between maps. There are still some minor crashes after a couple of hours of playing. I blame it on Vista's poor performance as other games have the same issue regardless of 4 gigs of RAM. Best part though is the autosave completes first before the crash. The updates helped with some bugs but there are still some minor annoyances like the military outpost respawning when you come back from the swamps.
I played the original Far Cry through several times and installed every mod available to keep playing it. This game is much more! This requires strategy and many hours of walking between points to earn funds to upgrade and repair your equipment. The manual is not very helpful and there are no hints to be found online. It took some time to get used to the tasks and how to walk to different areas. Straight-lines will get you killed! The graphics are amazing and the environment is very detailed. Even drinking the vodka will give you an intoxicated point of view!
This game is definitely in my top five of all-time favorites. You can breeze through it faster if you avoid all of the tasks and stick to your guns - literally. What's the point though? With the graphics, the changing environment and the interesting Russian commentary, be prepared to be entertained!
 buy this game December 15, 2008
If you loved the first game, you'll love this one too. Even though it does have bugs, this game is totally worth it. You have to be patient with it just like you had to be with the first game right? Clear Sky is a level up from the original no question about that. The new look of the map. new PDA. Better graphics. The game itself is harder to play than the first one, but as you progress through it and acquire new weapons and armor it all makes sense. I'm still not very far through it yet, but I gave it a shot insted of waiting for all of the bugs to be fixed, and I have no regrets. Just keep getting all the new patches, and be patient with it. Buy this game.
absolutely a must for serious gamers!! November 24, 2008
First off, to enjoy this game, you HAVE to spend time to explore because there is a HUGE amount of stuff out there to see and do. There are many factions and joining any particular one won't change the ending of the game, but it will change how you get there. Also, each choice you make will have consequences, so its important to think before you do something, because you never know how that will effect you later. The most fun thing IMO was that the weapons are very customizable so you can have ALOT of fun with them. There is nothing like a AK-72/2 with 70% rate of fire increase and 70% recoil reduction and a 45 round mag with a grenade launcher to make the bad guys go away!! Or if that isn't your thing, howabout a giant revolving grenade launcher? Tons of bad guys? Boom! Problem gone!!! Scared of the dark? Howabout 2nd generation night vision upgrade and a shotgun?
So, to summarize, if you have the comp for it, this game is a MUST HAVE!!! I had some problems with it crashing, but I got the newest patch and haven't had a problem since.
My specs are: vista 32, Q6600 2.4 cpu, ATI X1300 pro, 3 gigs ram. I highly recommend a good video card thats DX10 compatible because its a world of difference for sure (mine isn't) With my specs it runs very smoothly on low settings. Just to say it again, without a good video card, you can't have the eye candy that this game deserves.
 More sorry DRM and as buggy as Shadow of Chernobyl but still a blast! (PC version) November 3, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This game is very similar to Shadow of Chernobyl in gameplay and story. You revisit many of the same areas so in ways it's like coming home again. Many of the same weapons are there, except they are now repairable and upgradeable. There are still side missions and free roaming. Many of the same mutants and monsters are there, but most have enhanced abilities. The stashes are still there as well. The biggest play change is the clicking of the radiation detector is gone so you have to watch a radiation meter to see when you are in a hot area. Until you get used to that it's very easy to stray into contaminated regions and die without knowing what happened. The option to fix the navigation map in place has been removed so it aways rotates like a compass. I prefer the fixed position option myself. In some areas such as tall grass the map is so transparent it is impossible to see terrain details. There is no adjustment for that, either. The graphics bugs, including periodic stuttering and random slowdowns are still there as well. From various forums about the game I have concluded that multi core processors are not fully utilized, the game used only a single core and SLI video configured PCs do not run the graphics any better than good single video cards. Apparently, just like with SoC it's a matter of adjusting the settings until the game works OK, or is at least tolerable. As with Shadow of Chernobyl, I enjoy the gameplay, the interaction, the missions, and the characters. Was the storyline not so engaging I wouldn't put up with the haphazard performance and bugs. If you liked Shadow of Chernobyl you will like the prequel to that story with Clear Sky. Be aware that it also has a set number of installs as part of the DRM. Had I known that I likely would have passed on the purchase as I did with SPORE. My feeling is this is an infringement passed onto us PC gamers that creates needless problems for us when the pirates DRM is designed to thwart beat it anyway and so don't have the install limit. As long as we continue to buy these limited install games, we'll keep getting that as part of the DRM "reward". People posting in the forums have reported getting the run around and/or no response from the game publisher when the reinstall limit was exceeded. Again, as a PC gamer you alredy know the industry attitude of "You're a pirate until proven otherwise and even then we will doubt you." So, with all that in mind, if you don't have an issue with the install limit and the bugs that infested Shadow of Chernobyl, this is an OK game. If SoC drove you nuts from all the above, skip it because it's more of the same. I gave it a 5 star rating for fun because it is lots of fun when it works! I gave it 2 stars overall because of the bugs and especially the install limit with the DRM.
Great game after it's patched October 30, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I started this game without the latest patch and had many crashes. I patched it and it played very smoothly on my older PC. The environments and audio are stunning. I highly recommend this for shooter fans.
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