D'Arcy on 2/1/2009 at 20:11
Just finished it. Frankly, I'm disappointed. The best things about it, which I would actually like to see in SoC, were the artifact finding, which made them a lot harder to get, and the anomalies being almost invisible, so one can't just go running carelessly around, or we'll risk going straight into one. I also like the possibility of modifying weapons and armour, although the down point of this is that you can get pretty powerful weapons and armour very early in the game.
The Zone is too crowded. If we used to complain about respawning in some point in SoC, then the factions war is simply idiotic. Particularly in the Garbage, where bandits or mutants keep attacking the same control points over and over and over again. Sometimes I finished defending one such point, and as soon as I was getting ready to leave I'd receive another cry for help for that very same point. Along with help requests for other points too, so it would become impossible to defend all points simultaneously. Which basically made me give up on the whole thing. The game got confused at some point, when the Stalkers that were supposed to reinforce a couple of points that I had cleaned out got stuck along the way, so the objective to hold those points until help arrived just stayed there until the end of the game, and I dind't care about it anymore. Knowing better, I didn't bother to join the Duty vs. Freedom war.
The feeling of loneliness is almost gone. Clear Sky isn't anywhere near as atmospheric as SoC. There was no point in the game where I experienced the same feeling of fear and isolation that I had going into the underground labs or the Agroprom underground in SoC. Also, somehow I felt that I had a lot less freedom in CS. I didn't like it that I couldn't go back once I got to Limansk, and that I was somehow put on a rail leading me towards the end of the game. Ending which, by the way, seemed pretty rushed and uninteresting to me. The hospital level is nothing but a big FPS firefight, and we have almost no time or freedom to move around in the Chernobyl NPP - I loved the eeriness of the whole NPP level in SoC, whereas in CS it almost felt like the Normandy beach landing in MoH all over again. Also, the storyline was relatively weak, and not very elaborated. So we're chasing Strelok to try and stop him from reaching the center of the zone. Supposedly, to avoid a huge blowout, if I understood well. Apparently there's no problem in having hordes of people running around, shooting each other and throwing grenades around in that very same center of the zone. I couldn't even understand if I actually stopped him or not. I shot him, alright, but then the game ended (with what I think was that huge blowout). What did he do to cause the blowout? What the hell happened to Fang, Ghost, or The Doc? (we know that from SoC, but in CS, apart from the time we spend following their footsteps, then they suddenly disappear from the story). Maybe it was the bad storyline that made me somehow lose interest and stop following it, but I really can't remember what happened to the rest of Strelok's group.
I don't think I'll be playing CS again anytime soon. On the other hand, I'm feeling pretty motivated to fire up SoC again, and start a new game on the hardest level setting :)
Koki on 2/1/2009 at 21:14
Quote Posted by D'Arcy
The best things about it, which I would actually like to see in SoC, were the artifact finding, which made them a lot harder to get, and the anomalies being almost invisible, so one can't just go running carelessly around, or we'll risk going straight into one.
Hah, I would say it was the opposite for both points. Having the artifacts universally hidden in anomaly fields(Often marked on the map) makes finding them really easy, since, well, you just know where to look. As for running into the anomalies, that is exactly what does not happen since majority of them are concentrated in the fields so you can merrily jump around.
242 on 2/1/2009 at 23:02
Pretty much my current feelings about CS; still, half a loaf is better than no bread as they say.
Anyway, it's SoC time again for me, that's THE game.
D'Arcy on 3/1/2009 at 02:54
Quote Posted by Koki
Hah, I would say it was the opposite for both points. Having the artifacts universally hidden in anomaly fields(Often marked on the map) makes finding them really easy, since, well, you just know where to look. As for running into the anomalies, that is exactly what does not happen since majority of them are concentrated in the fields so you can merrily jump around.
Only if you stick to travelling exclusively in roads. Which I don't do; I prefer to travel cross-country as close to a straight line as possible. And even though artifacts can only be found in anomaly fields (which actually makes some sense, since they are indeed formed by anomalies), they are a lot more scarce than in SoC, and the really useful ones are hard to find. In SoC at some point I can have some 400 artifacts stashed in the Yantar mobile lab, which doesn't exactly fit with the notion that artifacts are valuable because they are rare. And I also know where to find many of them, e.g., look near electrical anomalies for Moonlights, Flash, or Sparklers, or look near fire anomalies for Fireballs or Teardrops, and so on. I know perfectly well that if I want a stamina improving artifact, I just need to wait until midnight and go into the Agroprom undergrounds, or near the rails in the Wild Territories.
Muzman on 3/1/2009 at 05:15
I can't really disagree with any of that, I still rather enjoy the game though.
I've been having fun messing around after completing it once.
I do find their runs to the end pretty lame (it was a bit much before, but at least, after some scripting, Pripyat, one of the most impressive areas, opened up for you to play with. The only really locked down level is the south side of the reactor (ok, and the inside) and that was a pretty impressive setpiece at least). It's like they don't know what's fun about the game. I compared it to Freelancer once before and it does the exact same sorts of things; the big, open, random, free adventuring game that conistently <i>grabs you by the sleeve and drags you through it</i>. Stop doing it people! I know it's hard, but try.
Anyhoo, the mechanics can be fun with a bit of effort. Sounds bad I know, but I'm lucky enough to enjoy running around the place. The more detailed trading and AI etc are pretty cool.
I wrote about some escapades over here (down the page)
(
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2008/12/17/now-that%E2%80%99s-why-i-love-a-best-2008-ever-august/)
Actually I could just paste them in couldn't I;
some of it is a bit conversational but should hold (and most of the trickery I was imparting came from 242's tips)
Quote:
"I'm still playing Clear Sky, I'm weird like that. I can see why people might not like it, but I enjoy it all the same. The central quest doesn't make a lick of sense and is actually kind of lame (yes, the original story was weird and disjointed while having some foreign film charms. but this one is quite meh actually. Usual mistake of tying the stories together in plainly contrivied ways. They should have just told a different story altogether about an earlier time. Or if they must include Strelok's actions have them be a bit of a side plot players might recognise would amount to something later).
I'm having a lot more fun now that I've just ignored the story and mucked around with the factions (have yet to try and join the ‘bad guys' though)
I found it solid as a rock and I started at v1.5-whatever. Interesting tidbit is that my ancient 163 nvidia drivers ran the game at pretty high res with everything maxed (DX 9) and it was generally a smoother experience than Stalker on the whole (though not as pretty actually). The latest nvidia drivers, however, choke whenever the sun comes up quite badly. So anyone should look out for that.
I guess I'm a bit of a zone junkie actually. I'll let it off the hook for a lot because of the maps and general atmos. I find the AI and factional stuff does actually make up for a lack of wildlife and keeps things interesting (Some more spooky sections would be nice though. They totally nerfed bloodsuckers, for example). It's a decent cheapie though, as a sort of double-dip with extras and plenty to do to keep you amused."
Quote:
Regarding Clear Sky's faction battles: You can take enemy bases and remove the faction from the game almost entirely. I've done so with the bandits and duty. And depending on when you do it, it changes who is around in Army Warehouses and Red Forest.
The trick (and it's a stupid trick, let's be sure. Not sure if it qualifies as a bug though) is that your guys have to occupy the nearest camps to the base you're attacking. Often this does mean driving off the other (possibly) friendlies who hold it already. So in the case of the bandit base in Garbage the Stalkers need to occupy the way to Agroprom. Otherwise they won't come through from Agroprom to occupy the Bandit base, even if you clear it. Once they do, however, they even have been known to mount assaults all by themselves. Once they take the base its pretty much over. Sometimes I do get the message that the bandits have come back and so on (but I've never seen them respawn myself. I'm always elsewhere) and shortly after I get the message that the Stalkers have retaken the base again by themselves.
When I joined Freedom and waged war on Duty it was even better. They took most of the Garbage by themselves (and there had been constant skirmishes between duty and freedom there for much of the game) and sent me off to get a few key points inside Agroprom. I took the crossing post and reinforcments came right away and held it against repreated Duty counter attacks. Then I did an assault on a small camp over-looking the Duty base. They said hold it until reinforcements arrived like usual, but watching on the map I could see several squads coming in. Three squads of six or seven Freedom guys came to this camp across two maps and, with no provocation or communication from me, promptly staged and moved for an all out assault on the Duty base. reinforcements came during the fight as well.
Now, they didn't always win (Duty have those scary heavy gunners) but sometimes they did, and sometimes without much help from me. And then Duty were no more.
That kind of thing is fun. Like the first game it's quirky and obtuse and frustrating at times but also produces really amazingly unique stuff.
(I disagree that the AI is worse. I've done quite a few steath missions with silent weapons make a huge difference. The enemy sneaks and uses cover better as well. It's not Vietcong yet, but they're smarter to fight than they were)
