Of all three parts, Clear Sky is the worst. My main complaint is that the developers destroyed the atmosphere of the “Exclusion Zone” due to the inclusion of “gang wars” in the game and an increase in the total number of people roaming the territory of the map (there were more people than monsters). As I wrote in my review of Shadow of Chernobyl, the main advantage of the first part was the creation of an oppressive atmosphere of the “Exclusion Zone” by creating a deceptive silence, when the player was surrounded by the illusion of a lifeless space, where the “Zone” itself was the main monster. This was the key to the success of Shadow of Chernobyl and what differentiated the game from all other games like it. Clear Sky, as well as Call of Pripyat, destroyed this atmosphere, which is why the game turned into an ordinary shooter. Yes, with its design, the success of which is associated with the beautifully presented Soviet style of dilapidated objects (we find something similar in the game METRO) and with the whole concept of the world of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. However, it was the atmosphere that determined which episodes would become legends and which ones would quickly be forgotten. When I say atmosphere, I mean not only the creation of a feeling of danger in the “Exclusion Zone” wherever the player is, with the exception of the places where groups live (the “100 X-ray” bar, for example), but also that all or almost all levels/ The locations of the game Shadow of Chernobyl are worked out in very detail/high quality. For example, the Agroprom dungeon, in the place where the Bloodsucker lives and where the developers added a light bulb that makes a creaking sound every time it makes a circle around its axis. This light bulb, light and shadow, the arrangement of objects and the design of the room itself are made so perfectly that in their synergy they create an unimaginably real picture, you get the feeling that all this is real, and not just randomly placed cardboard decorations. This is exactly the kind of atmosphere we no longer have in Clear Sky or even Call of Pripyat. It is important to clarify here that we are talking about synergy, and not about any separate part (room design or the work of light and shadow or sounds). I'm talking about the totality that made Shadow of Chernobyl a legend. Here's another example. In the first part, the authors took the trouble to give a brief description of anomalies, groups, artifacts, and various events, which, although it was not a perfectly composed lore, was still at least some kind of explanation. Clear Sky, like Call of Pripyat, has nothing like that. No lore, absolutely nothing, as if this is another version of Doom. Although this did not greatly affect the atmosphere of the game, it clearly indicates that the developers wanted to create a doom-alike game more. The only moment where I felt the classic S.T.A.L.K.E.R. in Clear Sky, this is in the very first location - “swamps”. Here you can feel that the developers tried to create a unique and well-developed location so that it does not look like “just another one, like hundreds of them.” I think those who played this part of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. They will forever remember the superbly drawn/created dilapidated church in these same swamps, as well as the Clear Sky base. Or there are sounds in the reeds, signaling that someone is there. It’s small details like these that ultimately create a genuine atmosphere. Alas, right after the swamps there is such an authentic atmosphere of the classic S.T.A.L.K.E.R. disappears. And then... BUGS begin.
Although there were bugs in the first part, it was in the second – Clear Sky – that the number and quality of bugs was noticeably greater. I absolutely don’t understand why the developers didn’t eliminate them all, because it seems that their main goal was to sell the product quickly, and they didn’t care at all about what would happen to it and what the consumer experience would be. I was especially annoyed by a bug where enemies could kill you by shooting through a wire fence, but you couldn't. Second after the bugs, there was a machine gun at a military checkpoint, which almost instantly killed the character, no matter what armor he was wearing and how much upgraded it was. Although this is not a bug, it was incredibly annoying. It is absolutely incomprehensible why this was invented, and even on such a difficulty that it is simply impossible to get through without dying. I would say that it is from this machine gun that negative aspects begin to appear.
It should be noted that in Clear Sky the developers did not come up with anything new, except to take the hero through almost all the old locations that were in Shadow of Chernobyl, only slightly changing them, + adding a few new ones (absolutely terrible). So, after the player suffers with the “machine gun” obstacle, he finds himself in a slightly modified location “Cordon”, then “Dump”, “Agroprom”, etc. Yes, the developers have added new locations, including the dungeon under Agroprom, the Red Forest, and Limansk. But the problem with the new ones is that they are not interesting, cardboard, created by people who had no desire to create something new, just as there was no desire to put all their efforts into it (all efforts dried up on creating the very first location - a swamp ) and it was obvious that the developers were in a hurry to release the product as quickly as possible. As a result, the game lost its atmosphere not only because of the influx of NPCs, but also because of the cardboard and boring decorations. And if the Red Forest, which is visually inferior to the forest located in the “Radar” location in Shadow of Chernobyl, still looks more or less beautiful, then the new dungeon in the Agroprom location, as well as Limansk and the abandoned hospital, look simply terrible. It is about them that I said that they look very poor quality, artificial, i.e. these locations can belong to any game. It is obvious to the naked eye that the developers did not try to create beautiful rooms where every detail would be carefully worked out and where it would be located exactly where it should be, creating the perfect picture. It feels like this is a draft version, that the development of new locations is only 30-40% done.
But, of course, the greatest dissonance was caused by the location of the NPCs. If the very first location was huge and therefore NPCs got lost in it, then immediately after this first location, i.e. starting from the Cordon location, the number of NPCs has increased significantly. We can say that groups of stalkers stood at every step so that there was nowhere for an apple to fall. And this is in the most dangerous “Zone” where any step could be fatal and where dangerous mutants roam?! This became fatal for the oppressive silence of the “Exclusion Zone”. Now it's more like FarCry, although even there there were fewer NPCs in the sense that they weren't crowded together as much. The developers have actually populated every building with stalkers, every hollow, every little shelter. But this simply cannot happen in the “Exclusion Zone,” because it simply neutralizes all the danger emanating from both the “Zone” and the consequences of the “Zone” in the form of anomalies and monsters, as well as the isolation of the “Zone” by the military. The developers have created a “Zone” that feels like going to Disneyland or a zoo.
Of course, the most terrible sight is presented by the last locations - Limansk, Abandoned Hospital - in which there are no anomalies at all (except for one special one) or monsters. The last two locations are pure FarCry, because there is only one enemy here - mercenaries and the monolith. Let's add to this that both locations are a tunnel (or gut) in the open air, which are made so boring and monotonous that you want to quickly go through them or simply quit the game without completing it. It is noteworthy that entering these locations means that you can no longer go back to buy something from the merchant. This is, firstly, and secondly, before going to Limansk, the player receives a huge amount and the best weapon in the game. And if until this moment he had to carry out the same type of tasks and collect artifacts in order to improve weapons and armor, then at this moment we are given the opportunity to go to the last two locations with the best weapons and upgraded armor. The problem is that there is a clear imbalance. If you reward the player, then you need to do it throughout the game, and not just once and with such a huge amount, which means that there is no point in saving money closer to the middle of the game. Those. you can buy and upgrade better armor, but in principle this does not make much sense. The meaning is lost when the player is simply given 50,000 and the best machine in the game. Which means that the developers were never able to solve the problem with the economy in the game either in the first or in the second part.
The only positive change is the extraction of artifacts. This is where it became much more interesting, although all the artifacts are in the same places, which, however, is typical for all three parts of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game. However, it is in Clear Sky that the feeling is created that artifacts are located precisely in ordinary anomalies, and not, as was done in Call of Pripyat, in “corrals” with anomalies specially designated for searching for artifacts.