While the original S.T.A.L.K.E.R. title Shadow of Chernobyl had a rather bumpy time in development, the new prequel S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky is shaping up much faster than its delay-plagued older brother. Officially announced on the first day of E3, GSC Game World was ready to show the new title to the press in the form of a short demonstration of a level of game play, highlighting the improvements made over the previous release. As you may have heard this game takes place roughly a year before the events in SoC, following the story of another Stalker as he climbs the ranks of various factions, seeks out the power plant deep in the middle of the zone, and ultimately finds himself at odds with the protagonist of the first game.

Oleg Yavorsky, PR Director for GSC Game World was on hand to give me a guided tour of the newly revamped world surrounding the alternate-universe ravaged by the second Chernobyl power plant meltdown. Immediately upon starting the demo the changes to the graphics engine were readily apparent. The whole game has a look much more crisp and saturated than its predecessor, giving the world a more realistic feel and making it easier to lose yourself in the story. All of the game's lighting is dynamic...there is no light source that cannot be snuffed short of the sun itself, and even that's a little hazy.

Yavorsky explained that story is a big focus this time around. They wanted to give the game a more cinematic feel, and to that end they've not only spent a great deal of time giving NPCs and plotlines a specific voice, but also tweaked the character models and added custom animations that give each character unique interactions in the game. Having explained all of this, the demo kicked into high gear.

The Stalker and his team are holed up in an abandon Russian government hospital, trying to break through enemy lines, but a nasty sniper has entrenched himself in the worn rafters of the building and it is up to our protagonist to take him out and clear a path for his teammates to advance. As the team provides covering fire, the main character ducks down a side passage that leads to the courtyard of the building, and another burst of gunfire from his comrades gets him across the courtyard to sneak up behind his unsuspecting foes.

The same realistic gunplay from Shadow returns this time around, and aiming is still very important. This isn't a game where you can run in guns blazing, and Oleg is very careful how and when he takes his shots. Ducking behind some wood nailed across a gap in the building's stone walls, he explains that the AI in the game is very intelligent, trained to take full advantage of cover and avoid open spaces. As he speaks the importance of cover becomes quite readily apparent as the wood he is ducking from is shot away, calling for a quick dash behind some more substantial cover before systematically taking the bad guys down.

Once the top level is cleared and the sniper is no longer a threat, his buddies move in, taking out a wall that previously blocked their way with some good old-fashioned explosives. Later in the demo I watch as the hero takes down waves of enemies as his team gets into position and drops a grenade into a machine gunner's nest, once again clearing the path. Sort of like a game of leapfrog really, only with more bullets and a giant helicopter boss at the end that goes down amidst streams of duck and cover gunfire.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky promises to be everything Shadow of Chernobyl was and much much more. A heightened focus on story as well as tweaked graphics and UI should bring back old fans as well as usher in some new ones to the slowly growing series.