S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky

Written by Jason Cisarano  on January 14, 2009

Review: Get back in the Zone with Clear Sky.

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It's the middle of the night, and I'm making my way through a place called the Red Forest. When I click off my night vision goggles, I see nothing but falling rain and the electrical anomalies firing randomly just off to my left. Their blue sparks don't do much to light my path, so I power the goggles up again. I'm surrounded by a grainy mass of bluish tree trunks and bushes, and I can just make out my objective: the Space anomaly that will take me to the wise old Forester. He should give me the next piece of the puzzle that links the enigmatic stalker Strelok to the powerful new energy emissions wracking the Zone. But right now, it's what I'm hearing that's running a chill down my spine. I can't pinpoint the source of the growls and rustling in the bushes, but I'm sure I'm about to face a gang of snorks, mutated humans with a powerful leaping kick attack. This is the Zone and this is S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky, standalone prequel to S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl.

The Zone is a dangerous place inhabited by mutated humans, dogs, boars, and a few creatures I couldn't begin to identify. Beasts are free to roam its swamps and hills under the control of a system the developers call A-Life. Animals take on a life of their own under this system. They wander, sleep, and get agitated. They fight each other for choice patches of ground. And they frequently attack humans in the Zone, so that group of allies you thought you had might not be there the next time you find yourself passing through their encampment. A-Life isn't always all it's cracked up to be, though. Some monsters clearly have a spawn point, and they'll keep coming back even once you think you've cleared an area.



Still, A smart stalker stays on his toes and maintains a healthy respect for even the smallest pseudodog. They travel in packs, come out of nowhere, and can bleed you dry on the quick. Bandages and health kits help out with the wounds. A bandage will staunch the flow of blood and keep you from losing more health, but only a heath kit can restore vigor in a hurry. They're expensive, but you'll learn to loot them from enemyЧand friendlyЧcorpses.

Looting and scavenging is a fact of life in the Zone. Weapons, ammo, foodЧa dead man has no use for them. But there are traders everywhere from the Red Forest to the Garbage ready to pay for them in cold, hard rubles. Scavenging and selling are a huge part of the stalker grind, and if you aren't ready for it, you aren't ready to live as a stalker. Raid an abandoned cache or kill a man for his rifle and the result is the same: you've got goods to sell. Do it again and again and you can grow yourself a wad of cash to buy the stuff you can't find. You'll also memorize the location of every trader on the map. The traders are a gruff, unimaginative bunch ready to overcharge you for everything in their limited inventories, but they'll pay through the nose for any artifacts you're willing to part with. More about artifacts later.

In a rugged land like the Zone, it would be tough to get by without the help of a few friends, and fortunately the area is populated by ten different competing factions. You can try and go it alone, but depending on your style and choices, you're going to win friends and make enemies with the different factions. At first, you'll be approached by members of the Clear Sky faction, a group of scientists and thinkers who are trying to understand the Zone and the disruptive emissions that threaten to kill everyone in the area. Early on, they'll simply need help fighting off the bandits encroaching on their territory, and you win points by escorting them and eradicating any bandit encampments in the area. Remember, though, if you choose to help Clear Sky, you'll quickly make enemies of the bandits. Eventually the Clear Sky mission becomes your own as you search for answers about what's happening in the Zone: Why are the emissions becoming more and more common? Why were you the lone survivor of two emissions that killed everyone around you? What does the mysterious stalker Strelok have to do with the upheaval in the Zone?

The faction war is a constant part of life in the Zone, and it can be tough to reconcile with your quest and the Clear Sky mission. You'll move from one area to another to talk to faction leaders and sages throughout the Zone, but each is so wrapped up in his own petty problems and conflicts that he'll almost invariably have a errand to send you on before giving the information you need. The constant errand running clouds the story, especially early on, before you've got a good grip on the factions and the names of the players involved. It isn't until much later when the story focuses on the pursuit of Strelok that the pace picks up and the pieces really start falling into place.

Until things start falling into place, some of the most interesting and compelling things going on in the Zone are the side missions you'll get from nearly anonymous faction members scattered around the various camps and bases. Sometimes they'll need your help for an assault on a key area or resource under enemy control. Other times, they'll want you to find a lost or otherwise essential item. Whatever the specific mission, it's always a quick way to earn quick cash and favor while exploring isolated corners of the Zone.

It's that last item that's most important, really: exploration. Weapons, ammunition, and all sorts of other items are scattered around the Zone, just waiting to be picked up and turned into rubles at the nearest trader. The choicest items are the artifacts, chunks of mineral transformed in the energy of the various anomalies so that they have near-magical properties. Wearing the УMama's BeadsФ artifact helps staunch the bleeding from all sorts of wounds, while the УBatteryФ artifact increases endurance and therefore running distance. Others provide protection from radiation, chemical and heat damage. Still others like the УNight StarФ increase a stalker's carrying capacity so that he can pack his inventory with sixty or more kilos of gear before suffering a movement penalty. All traders and stalkers will pay top dollar for artifacts, but they're hard to come by. Few anomalies have an artifact, and the ones that are there are difficult to harvest without upgraded armor and an improved scanner.

Upgrades, in fact, are the primary reason for earning money in the Clear Sky world. There's plenty of hardware spread around the Zone, everything from 9mm pistols to RPGs to a portable (if very heavy and unwieldy) machine gun. But even with all these weapons, combat in Clear Sky is tough, because a weapon's combat effectiveness is determined by a set of stats including recoil, accuracy and damage. And all of that is modified by the weapon's current conditionЧa worn-out rifle is less accurate and more likely to jam. Fortunately, engineers attached to each faction can repair and upgrade weapons and armor. You can buy parts that lower recoil, improve accuracy, and increase magazine size. Armor can be improved for durability and resistance to radiation and more. And night vision devices can be added to make the pitch black nights more navigable. Most importantly, extra artifact slots can be added to combine the effects of up to five at a time to help even the playing field. Equipping the best possible artifacts can turn a lethal firefight against a dozen Monolith fanatics into a cake walk.

But until you get there, you'll have to think tactically before getting into a firefight if you want to live through the encounter. Enemy weapons are deadly, and the soldiers behind them are smart enough to rely on numbers, cover, and flanking to take down aggressive stalkers in their territory. So a smart stalker won't start a fight without a plan and an eye for available coverЧrunning in with guns blazing is a sure route to an early grave. Combat gets more and more punishing the closer you get to the Chernobyl plant and the end of the story and would be impossible without upgraded weapons and good artifacts. And don't underestimate the effects of improved ammunition. Most weapons have multiple types of ammo, and choosing the right one can make the difference between a one-shot kill and a wasted magazine.