S.T.A.L.K.E.R. will stalk again

A second S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky will be mutating onto PCs at the beginning of next year.

Clear Sky will take place a year before the events of the first game, which took place in 2011. In it, a group of people who call themselves S.T.A.L.K.E.R.s (for Scavengers, Trespassers, Adventurers, Loners, Killers, Explorers, and Robbers) has breached the heart of the Zone--the Chernobyl Power Plant itself--for the first time. The Zone has become unstable, and the amount of anomalous activity is off the board. The main character is a mercenary who plays a key role in the events that led up to the start of the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. game. The developer, GSC Game World, promises that the title will explain many of the unresolved mysteries of the first--including how Strelok ended up in the death truck, and why the Zone changed.

The original S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl was released in March 2007. The atmospheric first-person shooter was set in the radioactive city of Chernobyl, as the gamer fought a variety of hideously mutated creatures lurking in the postapocalyptic nuclear wasteland. Developed by Ukrainian company GSC Game World, the game took place in an alternative reality, where a second nuclear leak happened at the plant.

Clear Sky promises to be as atmospheric as the first title and to allow gamers to explore new parts of the Zone, including Red Forest, Limansk, and the Pripyat Undergrounds. The game will also have a new animation engine, improved artificial intelligence, and a new upgrade system for weapons and armor.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky will be coming to PC in the first quarter of 2008. GameSpot will bring you more details on the title as they become available.