Underappeciated. Definitely the middle child in the STALKER franchise, Clear Sky is nonetheless a quality survival-horror game with some interesting, mixed-bag twists on the SOC mechanics, many of which were reverted for COP. First, the minimap (in SOC, shows visible units within a certain range) shows squads in PDA mode, including mutants. I'm glad this was reverted, it breaks immersion. Second, the bloodsuckers are invincible when invisible, save your ammo. Also glad this was reverted. The faction war system, which pits Stalkers against Bandits and Freedom vs Duty, is a little less well-fleshed-out than I'd like, but I'm sad that it wasn't tracked explicitly in COP.

Everything you hated about SOC drags on a bit here; the first gun you'll get that doesn't shoot in a 90-degree spread is the Akaban...which is far too late in the game. Shotguns against humans, don't bother. Pistols are a waste. COP is better, yes, SOC is better, yes, but play this one eventually.

fun little diversion.

Terrible. Pirate World Party and buy this game to make yourself feel better; it seems like Team 17 has really gone downhill since Armageddon. Too bad, because the core gameplay is still great.