STALKER - SoC

Wow, this game really is amazing! The immersion and atmosphere in this game and the downright creepiness has got me hooked, I haven't felt this "inside" of a game for quite a while. The graphics are top notch and the gameplay really does feel so much different than most games out there now.

I've had it since almost launch, but haven't really been able to play it until now. It took a long time for me to even get into. When the game first came out and was unpatched it was almost unplayable for me, but I still put a couple of hours into it. I picked it up again several months later and after I patched it, my saved games were corrupted, forcing me to start over.... The game was pretty frustrating with a lot of the bugs, but I still enjoyed it. Now that the fall and winter rush of games has ended, I have picked it up again and just got to the point in the game where it has picked up significantly. The engineers of this game were geniuses imho.

I've been thinking about picking up Clear Sky when I'm done, but I've heard on the forums that it's not quite as good. It's supposed to be more of a factions war getting rid of the creepy running around by yourself, dodging mutated zombies feel. Also, have some of the bugs been worked out since launch or is it still bad off?

I had to share my experience with ya, even though a lot of you have probably already went through it thinking this is kinda dated. I'm so glad that I didn't put this down for good

In a way they are very different and still the same. If you have played SOC you'll find yourself quite comfortable
in CS when it comes to movement and the general feel of things. However, that's where it ends.
The story in SC promises a lot but fails to deliver. I never really felt as a part of the story as I did in SOC.
And the final, without giving away any spoilers, feel like it's been copied from HALO. No, in my book that's
not good. I hate that game. Period.

Some things have of course been improved and most noticeably is the graphics. Of course, this has also raised
the HW bar quite a bit and you might have to fiddle around before you find a balance between the eye candy and
playability. And for quite some time in the game atleast I found myself just struggling with fighting bandits, especially
in the Garbage area, without feeling that the story progressed.

With that said, if you really liked the first game you should pick up the sequel as you'd probably like it as well.
My personal recommendation though, is to pick up one of the mods, like Priboy story e.g, for the SOC since
you probably will find that it will give you another 20+ hours without having to dish out another €30.

Id say that you should give CS a chance, altho it is more combat orientated, it is kind of a trip back to the zone, artefacts are cool to find, and gunplay is as good as ever.

There ARE less creepyness in CS, but you still become nervous at night when hearing some mutant scream in the distance.

To be honest I prefer CS over SoC, because I could just walk around in the world, killing off bandits and kill off thier base so nomore of that faction would come.

I hope the 3rd one (if any) would go back to the roots tho, while keeping alot of CS mechanics.