S.T.A.L.K.E.R.; SOC or Clear Sky? Which to buy?

I played Clear Sky before SoC because that's the chronological order And boy was it awesome.

shifty68 said:

Comparing FO3 to SOC is like comparing Saving Private Ryan to The Longest Day. They are both great movies but one is way more gritty and intense. while the other is a lot more light hearted though with the same general feel. Not that FO3 feels any thing like SOC.

If you liked FO3, play New Vegas its way better. The only dlc worth getting is old world blues, its kinda got that crazy, funny, sciency feel akin to portal. The other dlc suck

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Though I liked FO3,and am in the process of playing New Vegas now,they just don't compare to the STALKER games.As you pointed out,they have a much grittier,serious tone to them,and do a far superior job of creating an immersive world.They are much better graphically as well.I think the Fallout games tried to emulate STALKER,but there are obvious concessions to the limitations of consoles that hurt the atmosphere of the games,the endless subway sequences in Fallout 3 seemed like annoying fillers to me,while the underground X labs and tunnels in SoC were truly creepy. I'll give Fallout big points for not going the tired old linear run 'n gun route,but they could have done better.

michael.pa2 said:

Though I liked FO3,and am in the process of playing New Vegas now,they just don't compare to the STALKER games.As you pointed out,they have a much grittier,serious tone to them,and do a far superior job of creating an immersive world.They are much better graphically as well.I think the Fallout games tried to emulate STALKER,but there are obvious concessions to the limitations of consoles that hurt the atmosphere of the games,the endless subway sequences in Fallout 3 seemed like annoying fillers to me,while the underground X labs and tunnels in SoC were truly creepy. I'll give Fallout big points for not going the tired old linear run 'n gun route,but they could have done better.

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I am new to the FO series (haven't played FO NV yet, I am playing FO3). I have to agree with you that STALKER is much creepier in general. For some reason the game gets under my skin (in a good way) like no other. The play mechanics are far superior although I guess that is not the point with FO3. FO3 is funnier though, if that is what appeals to you. It is entertaining.

The one thing that is pissing me off about FO3 is that it is still buggy... it crashes more than any other game I have played, I have encountered broken quests and disappearing people (I am only at level a level 4 or something, so I haven't played it a lot yet...). After 3 plus years, I would think all that crap would be ironed out! I still like the game though, it isn't a deal breaker. The story line keeps you going.

tuaarita said:

I played Clear Sky before SoC because that's the chronological order And boy was it awesome.

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Lol, I played CoP first, I am on SoC and will finish with Clear Sky. I am effing the order up royally!!

kilgore777 said:

The one thing that is pissing me off about FO3 is that it is still buggy... it crashes more than any other game I have played, I have encountered broken quests and disappearing people (I am only at level a level 4 or something, so I haven't played it a lot yet...). After 3 plus years, I would think all that crap would be ironed out! I still like the game though, it isn't a deal breaker. The story line keeps you going.

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Sooooo... it's a lot more like unmodded Stalker:ShoC than you thought?

clear sky can be pretty enjoyable with no mods whatsoever, on the other hand vanilla SoC really needs some third party stuff to shine, the good thing about it is that because of its dynamic nature ( lots of factions - side quests - different endings etc ) you get a good deal of replay value, i found CS to be much more linear especially near the finale ! personally i've already finished SoC twice and tried 3 different mods, oblviion lost 2.1 / lurk 1.1 / stalker rebalanced,my interest in the zone hasn't died off yet ! I can install it right away and try the priboi story mod or patiently wait for lost alpha, modified gaming ftw

djsb said:

Sooooo... it's a lot more like unmodded Stalker:ShoC than you thought?

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Worse. Much worse. I've played SoC unmodded and had very little problems with it. Fallout 3 on the other hand is a veritable crashfest. Even New Vegas has it's problems.
The big pain with Fallout is getting mods to work properly,something I never had a problem with on STALKER. The games themselves are entertaining,but that engine clearly needs to go!