broddam

How many different Stalkers are there? 2 or 3?

Stalker
Stalker: Chernobyl
Stalker: Clear sky

Or are the first two the same game? Also I was looking at getting FEAR but cant find it on Steam, is it not there? So while looking on this website about FEAR, alot of people recommended Stalker over FEAR due to gameplay and length. They recommended FEAR if you wanted to get scared (like Doom3) I think. So if Stalker will run on my sig rig pretty good (don't want to turn the graphics all the way down) i will probably get it instead. I love RPGs and I do get into FPS and this seems like a mix of the two. Any help here, or do I have it all confused, lol?

TnB= Gir

There are two games.

Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl was the first game to be released.

Stalker: Clear Sky was just recently released, but is a prequel to SoC.

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giecsar

There are 2 STALKERs, Shadow of Chernobyl and Clear Sky. Yeah FEAR is scary, but not as much as DOOM 3. However I think you will like better the STALKER games, they are the most atmospheric games ever and can scare you sometimes too

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PaRaDoX_883

That's the way it goes!

You have it right in saying that Stalker is an RPG FPS. Kinda like oblivion but more modern and with the shooter element intact. F.E.A.R is extremely linear having you follow a path with story development but no real replay value. Stalker is longer and can be played multiple times with a little difference now and again.

Also, I have never been as scared by a game as I was Stalker. I had to stop playing at one point. F.E.A.R. never really scared me and left me scared. It was just a little jump outta my seat and I was on my way. Stalker holds that scary atmosphere in place for a little while and lets it build, and I like it.

P.S. When I say Stalker I mean S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl, I haven't played Clear Sky yet.

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broddam

Ok cool, thx guys. Now how do you think my rig will run it?

PaRaDoX_883

My rig sucks compare to yours and I run it at 1024 X 768, settings on High, AA at 2X, static lighting, and it never dips below 50 FPS.

Don't worry M8 you'll PwN it..

EDIT: I usually have an average of 75+ FPS..

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The Recording Setup:
Insturments -> TASCAM US-1641 -> Computer -> Behringer EURODESK SL2442FX-PRO -> Peavey SP 5 Speakers/Sennheiser HD 437 Headphones

broddam

Great! thx for all the input!

giecsar

Paradox i totally agree with you. STALKER maintains a scary atmosphere almost all the time, while the fast pace of FEAR makes the scary scenes kinda boring.


Shadow of Chernobyl will run on your rig with everything maxed out and you will still get a solid FPS, but even Clear Sky will run great on your system. I just installed Clear Sky and maxed out everything
and I still get a decent FPS with my 9600GT on DX9. Haven't tried it on Vista though.

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TheProfiteer

I give the thumbs up for the stalker games, but you have to be patient, they are both really hard in the beginning, with clear sky being harder than shadow of Chernobyl.

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angrysasquatch

I would go for Shadow of Chernobyl first. I loved SOC to death and Clear Sky just isn't the same game. I don't think I was scared even once in cs, but in soc I was always tense, waiting for something to pop out (with a subsequent "boom headshot"). Soc has a few dungeon areas, completely filled with mutant things and scary music (atmospheric describes it better). Cs just has one, and it really isn't filled with mutants (snorks are the least scary by far), just one controller. I killed at least 5 of the bloody things in soc's story, and then cs only has one. Then, cs also has every not-so-randomly-spawned mutant show up on your PDA in the regular game world, making it extremely easy to just sidestep a possibly scary moment (soc's PDA doesn't show enemies). Sure, Clear sky has some very nice graphics, but most of those options (notable exceptions include god rays, volumetric smoke and wet surfaces) are included in SoC, just needing to be enabled through the many mods available.

So, in short:

Clear sky:
impressive graphics
still buggier than the rather low benchmark of SoC's
imo, over-populated game world

Stalker of Chernobyl:
much more atmospheric, this game really pulls you in like no other
much creepier
longer
better replayablility, again imo

I have beaten both, and Clear sky is just SoC's cousin, who got neutered and brought too close to mainstream.