Deep Silver picks up S.T.A.L.K.E.R. prequel
Make your own jokes.
Deep Silver has picked up the publishing rights to S.T.A.L.K.E.R. prequel Clear Sky.
It ends citywide speculation over who would put the title in shops, as Valve had already pointed to Steam as the digital place to get it.
So buses can once more chug past the clock tower and bakers can bellow out orders for fresh bread and chimney sweeps can scuttle along the cobbled paths and plunge into dark and clogged shoots.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky takes place one year before the acclaimed original. Some stalkers have reached the heart of the Zone - you know, the one with Chernobyl in it - and you then have to shoot people in a free-form manner to, er, just because. I stole that from Tom.
It's due out "later this year" on Steam, although Deep Silver has kept its mouth closed about retail dates.
If the atmospheric and "really bloody actually terrifying underground bits" Dan goes on about from the first game are anything go by, then this should be a sumptuous follow up to a rather unsung hero. As Dan puts it, "Broken, but brilliant".
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. was our 10th and was your 14th favourite game of 2007, beating the likes of World of Warcraft and Crysis along the way.
Pop over to our S.T.A.L.K.E.R. review to find out why, or head to our Clear Sky first impressions for an idea of what to expect.