S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky - Russian Collector's Big Box Edition PC NEW & SEALED.

RUSSIAN voiceover

The Collector's Edition also includes:

Exclusion Zone Map

User guide

Storybook

Glowing Artifact

Bandana

Group patch

Petrol lighter "S.T.A.L.K.E.R."

CD with bonus material

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

The story of "Clear Sky" begins a year before the events of "Shadows of Chernobyl".  The mercenary Scar led several scientists to the Zone, but their group fell under a powerful anomalous release.  As a result, everyone died, except for our hero, who was found in the swamp by members of the Clear Sky group.  Hiding from other groups, the members of this organization are engaged in completely peaceful exploration of the Zone, and along the way fight off unbridled bandits.

Having regained strength, we try to leave, but it was not there.  Debt in payment is red, and we are offered to serve for the benefit of "Clear Sky".

The zone continues to shake from anomalous emissions.  And we again fall under one of these "eruptions".  Once again, Scar is the only survivor in this inferno.  However, the invulnerable chosen superhero does not come out of it.  The doctor at the base says that gradually the hero's nervous system after such influences, I quote, "burns out".  We must seek salvation and try to understand what is happening.  Assuming that the turmoil was caused by a human factor, Scar will have to find the perpetrators of the turmoil in order to stop the emissions.

First, we have to clear the swamps in order to clear the way to Cordon.  Like the original game, Clear Sky gives us a certain amount of freedom.  Within the same location, we are free to choose our own path, method and order of missions.  In addition to the main goals, there are many secondary tasks.

Having wandered around the Clear Sky base, you can get acquainted with various stalkers and at the same time pick up tasks for yourself.

The first nice innovation concerns quests, because now we are not limited by rigid time frames for completing them.  And, most importantly, you can pick up the award at any convenient time.  In the last game, it was a shame when, not having time to return in time for a reward, instead of a sum of money, we received a donut hole.

Yes, the side quests are slightly different.  This is not only a banal shooting of mutants or representatives of an enemy group.  Some stalkers are looking for missing things.  At first, we are offered to find and bring some ammunition for the base.  There will be tasks to protect and rescue lost stalkers, return personal PDAs or devices from dangerous anomalous places.

Troubled times are forcing to unite, and therefore at each location there is at least one base of any group.  Each base now has several key figures.  There is a leader who participates in the main story and can give some side quests.  There is a merchant, a gunsmith and a local technician-engineer.  The last character upgrades our weapons.

There are many possibilities in this regard.  Installing some bonuses gives an increase in shooting accuracy, others reduce recoil, you can increase the capacity of the magazine or improve other characteristics.  And some bonuses are multi-level, opening one, we get a new one.  There are about a dozen upgrades available on the AK-47, and there may be even more in the future game.

All this is not free and costs a round sum.  Unlike the original game, the money has something to spend on.  Moreover, there are many such reasons for spending, but at first there are not enough funds.  Perhaps there will be no excess of finance at the end of the game, as in the previous game.

And from the killed enemies there are no longer so many things left.  There are more than enough weapons and ammunition, but there are not a lot of medicines.  And given the increased complexity, first aid kits are becoming more relevant.  The treatment system is no different from the first part.  From wounds, we start bleeding, which must be covered with bandages, and only then treated.  If there are open wounds, then we continue to lose blood, which means life.  The life bar decreases very quickly.  In "Shadows of Chernobyl" it was still possible to do something with bleeding, but now there is barely enough time to hide and apply a bandage.  And the number of bandages needed depends on the type of injury.  For some, you have to spend up to three bandages at a time.

The complexity of the opponents has grown.  Since there is a war of factions, the loners have sunk into the past, and everyone is kept in small groups.  But this is not the most difficult thing.  Enemies gained remarkable superiority in accuracy and eagle vision.  The range of our weapons is limited.  From a distance from which the enemy hits us well, we can release the entire clip in vain until we get a few steps closer.

The bleeding model applies to computer bots as well.  Therefore, they do not die immediately when receiving less than maximum damage.  At the same time, even at the first location, the bandits have excellent health and are in no hurry to leave for another world.  Each skirmish turns into a test, because each bot has to spend several bullets (or even clips), and we can easily die from one or two shots.  Further, when getting armor and more powerful weapons, it becomes a little easier, but not with all opponents.  The most disgusting thing is that computer doodles have excellent vision and are able to hit us by shooting through the bushes, while we see nothing but thickets.  But sometimes they suffer from dementia and are able to run around us blindly.  But in another second, running back into the bushes, they can finish us off from there.  Learned how to use bots and grenades.  Also now they are more active in using shelters.  If earlier they ran back behind the walls, now they like to sit down behind a barrel or a car.  At the same time, they act quickly, and it’s almost impossible to catch them in the same place, if the radius of action of a computer dummy is not strictly tied to some place.

There are episodes where the passage, to put it mildly, is almost impossible.  At the entrance to Cordon there is a military checkpoint.  Their machine gunner is able to see us from a great distance on a dark night and kill us before we even look around.  Moreover, the height of such insanity is that regardless of whether our lamp is on or off, we are equally noticeable.  And this despite the fact that we can’t see a damn thing further than two meters, only lights in the distance.  But it is worth sitting down with the flashlight on, like with a lighthouse, behind a stone, we are immediately lost sight of.  To save you from this torment, I will give you a hint.  Run to the big rock and then dash to the tree on the left.  Near it is a hole in the fence through which you can escape.  If it doesn’t work out, don’t worry, half an hour of training and everything will work out ...