I'm glad the devs decided not to make the game like Misery, it's basically an endless grind with longrange firefights where snipers rule.

Didn't expect this many answers, thanks.

I do wonder though, what's really the difference between the games, they all kinda look the same honestly. Does, for example, SoC have any different features compard to CoP?

Basically:
SoC is the original, containing the perfect balance between freedom and linearity, horror and manshooting, emergent content a pre-scripted events. It's basically a mix of its own sequels (and one of them is actually a prequel. Ugh.).

Clear Sky is the most sandboxy of them all, relying on unscripted AI to provide as many diverse situations as possible. It's big, it's open and it does sandbox gameplay reasonably well. Probably the biggest disadvantage is recycling of areas from the original.

CoP has the most videogamey structure out of these games and game's progression is the most traditional. It's a bit more linear than SoC was, but the pre-built content is also a lot more interesting and polished. While I believe CoP to be the least replayable out of the three, I think it's the best one for a first-time player.

As for features, they are mostly the same, but further installments do generally offer more stuff - most notably better weapon and equipment upgrades, weapon repairing and so-called blowouts, which ... Well, you'll see.

I played the games in order with no mods, and basically this is what I found:

Call of Pripyat is everything I expected Shadow of Chernobyl to be when I first began playing it. And it is the worse game for it. SoC was not quite what I expected. It did have a lot freedom, but in the end it relied more on survival horror aspects, and it did so amazingly well. Going in to Labs was horrifying, because resources felt slim and the atmosphere was truly hopeless. SoC really felt like the world was in it's death throes. It was the end of the world, and it was brutal. Now, CoP was from the start way more open and free and that's great. But playing CoP I just never quite felt as hopeless as with SoC. It's great exploring the dilapidated landscape and there's plenty of good side quests, but I guess in the end SoC just held me in it's grip way more effectively.

That being said, they are both some of the best games I have played, and stand proudly as different experiences building on common ground. Clear Sky is also good, but sandwiched between the two masterpieces, it just feels less full, a bit hollow somehow. Still worth playing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6iW-8xPw3k

I'll keep this in mind, thanks.

Well try having that idea in mind in real life, mate. It won't go so well for ya. *wink*

I'm glad MDT made Misery. Made the game better =D