S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat vs S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat is the third and final installment of the pretty successful survival-horror first-person shooter franchise, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Assume the role of Agent Alexander Degtyarev, a undercover modern-day treasure hunter, a "stalker", as you once again venture into the vicinity of the highly-contiminated zone of the ill-fated Chernobyl nuclear explosion in 1986 in hopes of finding out what happened to the five military helicopters that went missing around the area. The game is as brilliantly creepy as ever with the addition of new yet equally gruesome monsters as well as a world environment that's built based on real-life photos captured in the exclusion zone. The survival aspect of the game has also been revamped with the addition of a sleep function, a new A-life system and emissions that can influence the game environment.There is even a free play mode after you've completed all the main quests, as well as a slew of side quests that you can pick up and do. Interestingly, the game has a Battle Royale-like multiplayer component that can support up to 32 players, has four different game modes along with multiple maps.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat has been hailed as the best S.T.A.L.K.E.R game yet, and obivously, it is for good reasons. If you think you'll enjoy playing this, you might be interested to get the S.T.A.L.K.E.R bundle which includes all 3 games.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky is the second installment in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series and yet is the prequel to the original game. In this game, a group of stalkers have unwittingly triggered an explosion of anomalies when they ventured into the heart of the exclusion zone - the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant itself, turning the entire zone into an unstable mess that continues to quake with anomaly outbursts. Stalker factions have also erupted, further adding to the overall chaos of the region.S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky is essentially similar to the previous game, though it does have some significant improvements. For instance, the game is a lot more stable, which is ironic considering that all the storyline in this game talks about is how unstable the zone is. The weapons and armor in the game work better than in the original since they can, finally, be repaired. Artifacts are harder to find here but is a lot more rewarding and well, generally the overall setting feel a lot more realistic.
This is definitely a nicer game to play than its first game, but it's not really comparable to the third game of course. However, if you love the S.T.A.L.K.E.R., you might still want to consider buying all three games via its Steam bundle.