If a game looks really promising, we’ll pass on our excitement.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky is a prequel to the epic survival FPS, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, both of which are developed by GSC Game World Studio.

Now GSC Game World is working on S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky, a prequel that takes place one year before the original game.

Here are our S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky PC previews.

SCREENS: Click the image above to check out all S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky screens.

Considering how long that game was delayed, it was first announced back in 2001 as Oblivion Lost and shipped in March of 2007, it’s surprising to see the prequel, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky, getting ready for release so soon.

So with that taste still on my tongue, I set out for another trek through the ruins of the Cold War world in the soon-to-be-released follow-up, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky.

Oleg Yavorsky, public-relations director for developer GSC Game World, insists the prequel, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky, will be similarly tuned “for the hardcore.”

The player may choose which out of the eight factions they wish to join and do battle against the other factions and dangerous wildlife, among other things.

The guys over at Games Radar have a new preview of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear Sky up for your reading pleasure.

GSC Game World, the game’s Ukrainian developer, absorbed American role-playing games and first-person shooters and then used that knowledge to create something they could relate to a game about surviving in the wastelands of Chernobyl.

2002-2008 Ziff Davis Publishing Holdings Inc. All Rights Reserved.

You’ll be able to choose from eight different factions during the game, who fight each other for territory, resources, and scientific points.

We take a look at the upcoming PC prequel to the innovative Russian shooter S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl.

The 1UP Network previews games with the philosophy that people want to hear our honest opinions on titles before they are released.

If you cannot follow these simple rules, you can and will be warned or banned from the comments, site or the entire network for any period of time.

August 5, 2008 It’s been over a year since we first stepped into the Zone, the irradiated wasteland that served as the setting for GSC Game World’s S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl.

1UP and the 1UP.COM logo are a trademark of Ziff Davis Publishing Holdings Inc. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Ziff Davis Publishing Holdings Inc. is prohibited.

They populate the top two ranks on the new faction top six list, located in tab within your PDA menu, which shows who’s strongest at any given time.

The player doesn’t have to join any of the factions to complete the game, but joining a faction has many advantages over going solo, such as guides to take you to certain areas of The Zone so you don’t have to travel all the way on foot.

The prequel will fill you in on the events one year prior to the first game while also giving you new features and levels to play with.

If you gain more territory, you’ll gain more faction members; if you gain more resources you’ll get more cash.

These upgrades should mean less crippling bugs this time around.

It’s thoroughness that GSC’s shooting for, and from what we’ve seen, they’re well on their way…even down to the gear, as you can modify every piece of equipment with various items and artifacts.

When S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl hit, it was both beloved and decried for disposing entirely any such “modern” notions and simply throwing the player into the world, expecting that the broad legacy of first-person-shooter gaming would already be intimately familiar to anyone wishing to participate in the Ukrainian sleeper.

The prequel returns us to the same alternate reality where a second nuclear disaster has occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl was a very ambitious and creative game.

We don’t want to prematurely shout from the rooftops that Clear Sky will be the next messiah of FPS gaming, considering it doesn’t ship till late August, but we think there’s legitimate reason to be excited.

You’ll play a stalker/mercenary character who is actually working against the character from the original.

Because this is the same region that was explored in the first game, you’ll get to experience some of the same areas again, albeit under different circumstances.