Recent reviews by Cerrin

The editor is awesome and the game is overall fun to play.

My penis is augmented.

I manage to find ways to disappoint not only my family and friends but myself.

This game was something I'd play on my dad's pc when I was a young ♥♥♥♥♥♥ child. For a 2003 FPS it is a fun experience and infinitely better than WW2 and Vanguard despite the band of brothers and enemy at the gates cliches. The campaign is split between the US, British, and Russian campaign but they all have awesome themes to them. The campaign starts you as a US Soldier right on the invasion of normandy with you dropping in as a member of the 101st Airborne. The British campaign sees you fighting in backline covert ops missions as a SAS soldier. Then the Russian campaign sees you as this conscript send into the slaughter but quickly proving himself in the ranks to be a effective soldier and finally take over the Reichstag in Berlin at the end of the campaign. Load screens give you something neat to read from a personal diary to a official orders/notice for the oncoming mission.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky is the second game in the series and serves as a prequel to the evens of Shadow of Chernobyl. The game has similar or almost identical visuals to the previous game. The UI is a bit better with the inclusion of a minimap in the corner. However despite a number of changes a lot of people dislike the game because of the difficulty which I'll talk about later. This game is honestly my favorite in the series despite what people say and present but that might be because I like the series a lot.

Much like the previous game the setting is identical with old areas to explore along with brand new ones for you to walk through. Although some areas from the previous game such as the bar region being inaccessible but that doesn't mean you will not find a place as safe as it was. The atmosphere is still pretty top notch like the previous game and some of the new areas you explore are awesome. This game can feel smaller than the first with 1 major area being tied to the main quest.

The gameplay is almost identical in every way with weapon durability, Artifacts giving you bonuses, RPG elements, and the in-game economy as with the previous game. There are some new things though but you'll find much of the same from the previous game in terms of equipment. There is one new major gameplay mechanic added being emissions. These can occur pretty much any time during the playthrough. You have to seek shelter to survive these and not all places are exactly labeled as safe so be wary of holding too much gear and being ready for a mad dash to cover or relocate if the one you're in isn't as safe as it should be. Oh and yes the enemies can and will throw grenades often.

The new locations (such as the great swamp) are fairly fun to explore and have factions tied to them as with the old areas. The game includes a reputation and faction system meaning you can choose to help a faction and be more respected among them but become enemies with their rivals. It's a fairly basic but still a fun gimmick the game offers. There is the inclusion of light fast travel where you pay an guy some money to take you to certain locations they offer. Much like how the system was in TES Morrowind.

The economy is very much the same. Traders offer different prices for different equipment. Ecologist want your mutant bits and artifacts. You get super ripped off most of the time.

Artifacts have seen the biggest change in the game with the inclusion of detectors needed to locate them. They have also become invisible to you until you get close enough to them. This can be a very tough and infuriating thing since you're diving into an anomalous field and trying to chase- yes chase. The artifact down within it. They move around inside the anomalies now. Anyways there are several detectors used to locate artifacts. One being ♥♥♥♥, the other being kind of ♥♥♥♥, and the last being pretty good. You might not get the best detector in the usual playtime so get used to either the starting one or the other. Also Artifacts have had their properties changed completely from the previous game. There are however new ones to discover and locate.

The story is presented better than the previous game although it too isn't very special. However it does serve as a interesting prequel giving some context as to what happened before the events of SoC. Unlike the previous game there are no alternative endings.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky is a game for those who are fans of the first game and are looking to revisit some old areas along with new ones under a different story and see how things have changed between the two games. I personally would say for people to play it and give it the best chance they can and beat the game however there are some serious BS segments in this... I'm looking at you cordon machine gunner... ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥... Anyways you can also expect some jank like the other games.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl is a cult classic for those who dig the Russian/Ukrainian aesthetics coupled with some minor RPG and survival elements. Visually the game can be dated looking and same applies to the feeling of the game with it's controls and UI. To many new stalkers the game might come off as very weird, unappealing, or boring to people who start out for the first time. The atmosphere and world has a slow way of drawing you in slowly until you're deep into the game and it's setting.

The setting and atmosphere is definitely the strongest thing this game has. You explore the outskirts of Pripyat and the notorious Chernobyl NPP after a strange second disaster happens and alters the world and defies both science and reality itself with Anomalies and artifacts. The world is fairly decent sized and split into sectors. You'll explore most of them multiple times. The underground labs are probably some of the most horrifying experiences I've had in a long time with the sound design and darkness.

The gameplay is probably the weakest part of the whole experience. Guns have a tendency to be inconsistent but scoped weapons reign supreme due to how long range engagements can me along with seeing where your bullet went. Bodyshots are easily shrugged off by even lowly bandits so headshots are essentially a must to win. Mutants on the other hand are either weak or bullet sponges. The player character no matter what difficulty is weak. You might have to resort to abundant use of quicksaves and some save scumming since the game is fairly difficult in some sections.

The economy in this game is fairly brutal meaning you'll have to do some jobs and grinding by taking artifacts, loot, and risking your own life to make small amounts of cash only to save up and blow it all on buying that expensive ass new suit with exoskeleton support that looks awesome. Different traders offer different prices for specific items, such as the ecologist paying top dollar for any artifacts or mutant pieces you bring them. However everything has durability meaning when you purchase anything be ready to chuck it away or sell the broken gear for a mere fraction of what you payed for before. The game is also not very friendly to loot hoarders with bullets and all other things that go into your inventory taking up weight. The game punishes you for stocking up on too much gear (such as having like 1000 extra AK rounds) you do not need basically forcing you to take the bare essentials.

Now let me get into the artifacts. These are a staple of the game's experience and what really makes this game from shiny silver to absolute gold. Artifacts are found in stashes you find locations for or inside an anomaly which will instantly eviscerate your character. These things are high risk high reward and you can easily find them with the naked eye. Not all artifacts are good or sell for much. A number of them are pretty much junk artifacts that irradiate your character or offer very little benefit however when you find something like maybe 4 moonlight artifacts you can pretty much sprint infinitely even when you're carrying too much. Some items can effect different aspects of the gameplay such as stopping bleeding, increased resistances, increased health, and radiation removal. A lot of these do come with downsides such as emitting radiation, making you weaker to specific attacks, and overall increasing the bleed out rate.

The story in this game is basically next to non-existent. Like it's there but at the same time it's really nothing special. I know I said the gameplay is the weakest part but I think I take that back now. There are 2 main endings with the one having sub endings based on what you did and yes there is a true canon ending if you go out of your way to figure it out.

NO FAST TRAVEL. Expect to do some walking and rationing your gear alongside avoiding fights from point A to point B if you have to.

I'd say S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl is a must play game. It might not be for everyone but it is definitely one of the best for what it is. Also if I find someone who calls this game series Russian Fallout I will borderline hurt them.

It's a classic and still very epic.

Just play World of Tanks, War Thunder, or Girls und Panzer: Dream Tank Match over this if you can. It's pretty bland, repetitive, and overpriced for having so little content. 3.5/10 game overall.

I literally went through all the stages of grief after witnessing the death of my best team I spent hours working on. 10/10.

bad game