"There's a storm coming": S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky Preview

The game not only includes STALKER features first coded way back in 2003 (and then cruelly excised), but brings an entirely new dynamic to the wastes.
"Once you decide to go join your chosen faction, you'll open up lots of new gameplay possibilities," explains GSC frontman.

[MK_Red]

I'm still waiting for a 360 / console port :(

[fermcr]

why do some people always say "waiting for a console port" for the pc games? Do you realy need all the pc games ported to the consoles... lol

[MK_Red]

I was once a PC gamer until I realised that my income can't handle big and frequent expenses needed to be a PC gamer so I shifter to consoles. I do play PC games on my friend's systems and can wish for the games I like to come to consoles, can't I? Why would anyone disagree? Is it wrong for a gamer to wish for more games and specificly, good ones like this?

(Which so far only include Witcher and STALKER)

[Gazman]

same it would be nice

[Charlie2688]

If you have actually played it, I got thru both endings the complete and the true one (got lazy for the other ones) it will be hard being ported with out butchering certain areas or changing some other to a heavy degree to be fully playable 8and enjoyable by the console people)

for example the realistic shooting, it was no joke when the devs said that they will be implementing a shooting physics engine were you actually take into consideration wind, gravity, terrain ect and even I that thought it was another point and shoot found out you have to actually learn how to properly aim every single gun and lets not even start with the sniper rifles that proved to be the most complicated of all so I find it VERY hard to adapt such a tricky system to be handled by analogs (wonder why there is almost always targeting assisting in console shooters? or some sort of help?) and then deal with the usual console gamer quick-gain-or-no-game thing with usual forum stuff "ZOMG this game zucks I shoot with X gun and I miss all the time ZOMG the game is SO crappy"

the deal with everything being in real time, fixing the bone/cut or radiation poisoning etc is either handled by the shortcuts in the keyboard or you got to the menu that DOESN'T pause the game...you still die again the console gamer quick-gain-or-no-game comes to mind"ZOMG I cant heal they always kill me ZOMG what a crappy game"

at the end more than adjusting stuff that will make the game a completely different experience and potentially turn the game into a regular fps I find the whole console gamer quick-gain-or-no-game mentality (the one that created Oblivion) as the one that could hurt the game the most while I am not generalizing that everyone is like that being enough time in the forums I realized there is a HUGE chunk of those people

[MK_Red]

I see your point Charlie2688.
The type of difficulty that console gamers like and accept is completely different than PC gamers and a 100 percent port of something like STALKER for console will indeed many people unhappy simply because many of the things that made it perfect for PC may be considered weakness on console version.

[TheIneffableBob]

I'm surprised at how few awards STALKER is getting. In my opinion, it was one of the best games of 2007. The game is an absolutely phenomenal shooter with an engrossing atmosphere. I'm really looking forward to Clear Skies. If they clean up the game a bit by fixing the bugs that plagued the original and add the features originally intended to be in the game, then Clear Skies will be a masterpiece.

[Korosuke]

Tottally agree. I'm glad to know STAKER fan here in N4G, bubble for you.
STALKER is my goty of 2007 though it has some bugs.
And I think the biggest news in game industry of 2007 is STALKER was finally released. It might be continue till duke nuken forever is released.

[Skerj]

Damn Gamespot told the ending to STALKER in their Clear Sky preview months ago, I hadn't even beat the game yet and it was a HUGE spoiler. In any case I can't wait for this, the first one nearly touched Deus Ex in the complexity and depth of the world you were in, I know they've gotten a chance to fix the issues that plagued SOC in Clear Sky.

[MK_Red]

Wow, are you sure? Thank God I don't read their preview :)
While I disagree on original STALKER touching Deus Ex (STALKER had a whole different feel and atmosphere plus it didn't come close to Deus Ex though I didn't finish it to fully compare it to Deus), I do agree that it was a really deep and complex game.

[Skerj]

Hah "Nearly" touched it, it still will never be Deus Ex, no game will ever be not even Deus Ex 3. But it was the first time I jumped in an FPS world since DE and was like "wow, what will I do now?".

When I first got to the bridge military checkpoint I pulled out the binoculars to check on the firefight, I waited it out to let them kill each other so I could free loot. Then I see off to the right side one of those pig/spider mutant things came from nowhere it seemed and start dragging bodies from the the fringes of the battle to feast on. I was like "WTF is THAT!?" considering it was my first time seeing those at the time and I had to go kill it because that was my rightful dead loot.

It's moments like that which stick in my head well beyond Crysis and other FPS ilk of late. Bioshock had a few of those as well but they were scripted so I'm giving it to STALKER.

Oh yeah GameSpot tells you the ending in Clear Sky's preview within the first paragraph and I was pissed with them from then on.

[MK_Red]

Uh, I see. Gotta agree. BioShock was also amazing but indeed felt much more scripted. The world they created in STALKER was insanely realistic and had a huge chaotic feel.

And indeed no game will ever be Deus Ex unless Warren Specter's super secret project is something similair because only the creator of Deux can top it if that's even possible :)

[Skerj]

Right about that, it has ninjas in it too so Spector + Ninjas = Awesome game no matter what. I still can't help but wonder what Invisible War would have been like if they had listened to him. Every single one of my complaints on that game stemmed from people on the dev team thinking it was a good idea to do "this" or omit "that". May I never see unified ammo ever again.

[MK_Red]

"Spector + Ninjas = Awesome" Awesomly true :)
Personally I wasn't too disappointed in it since it was known that it will be a whole different game. Oblivion is the most disappointing sequel for a classic IMO.
Hopefully Fallout 3 doesn't follow it's path.

[TrevorPhillips]

lets see how its gonna be like =]

[Gilgamesh]

Man I can't wait to get back into the zone and away from my dead end job :) Those guys did real good work with the original. Very memorable. I remember later watching a documentary on Chernobyl and thinking "Hey that's the spot where I got wacked -yeah right there opposite the ferris wheel"

[kwicksandz]

Your so right about deus ex. i cant see any game in the near future topping its brilliance! if they had a game of all time award it would be my pick!

Also long live PC gaming. My PC is getting a little old now ( bought it when the bf2 demo came out) but i consider PC gaming to be where the "true" hardcore games come from. hell im typing this on my G15 and pointing with my Mx518 ( best mouse ever dont let G9 tards fool ya) and i hope that when i upgrade my PC next that they will get many hundreds of hours more of PC gaming bliss!

[MK_Red]

Thanks. Deus is indeed a godlike game.
But while I like PC gaming, I disagree that it is the place for true hardcore. I believe each platform is "true" place for a certain genre.
There is just no place better for RTS and classic RPGs than PC. FPS games are also the best on PC.
Fighting and Racing games on the other hand are best played on PS3 and 360. Finally, Wii is a good place for party games as well as FPS (Metroid Prime 3) and adventure (Zack & Wiki).

The problem is when devs try to make a game for both and in doing so fail to take full advantage of each side's streigths. Oblivion was a great game but insanely shallow compared to previous games in series and other western RPGs while it the other hand C&C3 ended up too PC-ish for 360.
I just hope Bethesda doesn't water down Fallout 3 like Oblivion. Also, hopefully Deus Ex 3 follows the path of original not the good but not great Deus 2.

[Gorgon]

I agree with MK_RED. PC is not the only place for hardcore, and to be quite honest I hate the term harcore player to be quite retarded. There are good games and bad games, just like there are good movies and books and bad movies and books. That doesn't make movie watchers and book readers more or less hardcore depending on what they read.

Personaly, I've been playing PC games for 18 years (some of you weren't even BORN by that time) and just 2 weeks ago I bough my first console: a PS3. You know what? I have a high-end PC right now and I'll keep my PS3, but when the XBOX 720 and PS4 come out I´ll drop PC gaming completely. Consoles are coming of age and there's no need to spend a lot of money on them to play the same things and more. Just graphics don't make a game anyway unless you play games that have nothing to offer but pretty scenery (I'm thinking of Crysis and Oblivion here...)

Stalker would work perfectly well on console format. Sure there would be some concessions, like stoping the game during PDA consultation, but honestly, PDA consultation in real time isn't exactely the thing that brough me to Stalker... As for ballistics, they can be done perfectly well on any console, and as for people complaining, well, I saw a lot of PC people complaining about hoe "bad" they were and in fact there are patches to "correct" those, so I don't think thats a console "croud" problem. Sure, there is always some "consolification", but in the right hands its no problem. At the worse, it will only contribute to raise console player's inteligence a bit higher... ;p

As for me, My PC will make the part of both PC and Xbox 360 untill the Xbox 720 comes along. After that its all consoles for me.

And by the way, the PS3 supports keyboard and mouse, so as long as devs want there should be no gameplay changes from PC to PS3 at least, provided players are given the option for controler or keyboard&mouse play. All it takes is to have devs that are not lazy.