I've just spent the past couple of weeks bailing water from the sinking rowboat that was STALKER Clear Sky. Re-load times and difficulty were enough misery but ring-mastered via an Radeon HD card and this game was a constant ten car pile-up.

Last night's crash was the last that I could deal with and Clear Sky is now uninstalled and sitting in the closet waiting for that new rig, somewhere off in the future, with an nVidia installed in it.

Today, I installed the first STALKER and I'd be shitted if it didn't run the sweetest of all my games even with all visuals turned up full blast!

So now I'm thinking it may not be this video card (even though the card leaves a lot to be desired) but more so that the programmers went slack when they shifted from Shaoow of Chernobyl to the second game in the series.

So is the third and final installment the worst of all of them (if this is following a pattern) or did they manage to resurrect the last game with the first game's quality again?

These things I must know before making the purchase.

Call of Pripyat is the best STALKER iteration to date. Think of it as a tweaked and refined version of Shadow of Chernobyl.

Thanks man, that's what I needed to hear.

If you're still in any doubt you can try the Call of Pripyat Benchmark (~400MB); it lets you experiment with all the graphics settings and is mostly representative of how well the full game will run.

EDIT: fixed double quote.

The latest STALKER is both the best AND the most stable,by far.

It also has among the best quests I have seen in any game.

Thanks, man.

And it would even be better once Call of Pripyat Complete MOD is released. Can't hardly wait! :)

So this is an user modification and not an official expansion from THQ?

Indeed. You could also try other artistpavel's (the author) mod for and [url=http://artistpavel.blogspot.com/2010/01/mod-clear-sky-complete.html]CS. IMO, the best mod compilation for the stalker series.

Cool. Thanks for the links. =)

Clear Sky was a real dog. Further canined by the godawful DRM. As the others have said, Pripyat is vastly superior in every sense.

Naturally it's still advisable to get a few mods for it.

Yeah, Pripyat was great. I wish more developers would create games like that (non-linear, open quests, tons of atmosphere, loads of great stuff to discover off the beaten path, et.c. - a lot like an open world role-playing game, but still very much a proper first person shooter).

I had very few technical issues with it, and that was when I played at launch (no patches as far as I can remember).

Pripyat is definitely superior to Clear Sky, although I find the ending a bit sudden.

/thread

I absolutely loved the upgrades for your stuff. They should implement some more RPG and characterization elements! This open world setting almost BEGS for you to create your very own no-name S.T.A.L.K.E.R., doesn’t it? Regarding the RPG elements, how about levels? Obviously this should be done in a “Shoot ten meat to get to the next level” but rather something different and innovative. But in general a complementing development apart from the purely materialistic one (better gear etc.) as you progress would be nice. And professions? Why not be able to choose whether to become an artifact searcher, a mutant hunter or hitman? This could add even more depth to this great series if done correctly.

STALKER Shadow of Chernobyl with mods is still the best STALKER game IMO however, Call of Pripyat is by far the most stable. I think I did a run through with the vanilla copy of CoP the first go round and had very few if any crashes of any kind and only minor graphical glitches. As others have mentioned after you go through it once or so try out the COMPLETE mods 'cause they are fantastic!

I avoided Clear Sky due to the many issues I've always heard about it. Is it worth playing when stacked up to the other two? I can look over flaws but is the story or game play that much different that it warrants a play through?