History NightmareFuel / Stalker

* One of the most disturbing scenes in the game in spotting the monolith guard at the beginning of the red forest, spinning their head maniacally around a fire. It only gets worse when the player finds an entire battalion of equally disturbed soldiers in the middle of a destroyed theater at the heart of a deserted and radiation-filled city, doing the same around a huge sculpture of "something".

* The [[http://www.miserymod.com/ Misery mod]] for ''Call of Pripyat'' is so ridiculously [[NintendoHard Nintendo Hard]] that it practically [[UpToEleven redefines the trope]]. Everything, ''everything'' that could have been exploited for an advantage has been ruthlessly suppressed. Relied on artifacts to stave off radiation? Tough luck. Now they ''all'' are hotter than a rod of depleted reactor fuel, weigh a ''ton'', and unless you brought lead-lined containers you'll be glowing in minutes. Considering you even survive the treasure hunt, that is. If you once could, say, wade into an anomaly with your trusty detector and bolts and leave with your treasure slightly worse for the wear, now venturing without the proper gear will kill you in seconds. And even if you have the proper gear don't expect to last long. On top of the anomalies being [[EldritchLocation little pockets of hell on earth]], the usual share of competing stalkers and always hungry mutants will make that an ordeal even for the [[CrazyPrepared crazy prepared]]. If fleshes and boars were pests your Protecta or SPAS shotgun could easily deal with, now they'll need anything between four shots and a full magazine/drum each. ''Even a single cat can ruin your day''. Just imagine how deadly the rest of the monster cast is. The whole Zone is such a [[DeathWorld cruel and pitiless place]] now that you shouldn't expect to make money hunting for artifacts anymore - your main source of income will be other stalkers you hunt down and kill for their gear. And just when you thought things couldn't get any worse, now the mod even makes stalkers completely unpredictable in their behavior. Oh, you just stumbled upon what appears to be a group of regular Loners? Cue the sudden cruel twist of fate when you quickly find out to your horror that these are actually bandits and/or mercenaries in disguise and they will immediately turn their guns on you. Oh, and the mod also removes the compass-map that you were so used to in the vanilla version as well as other mods for this game; now you have to resort to opening up your PDA to check your map to find out where you actually are. Thought ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' on [[HarderThanHard Hardcore mode]] was the epitome of NintendoHard? This mod makes that game on that particular mode look like ''[[VideoGame/{{Postal}} Postal 2]]'' on [[EasierThanEasy Liebermann mode]]. The series was already notorious enough to be considered the ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' of the FirstPersonShooter genre but this mod actually makes it feel exactly like you're playing ''Dark Souls'', except under a first-person perspective and with guns, yet with a less variety of mutants and no booby-traps (the only "traps" being anomalies, patches of radiation, and a minefield in one area of the game).

** All the bad endings are outright horrifying. [[spoiler: From getting crushed alive by the collapsing ceiling due to thinking it was raining gold from asking to be rich, to be turned into statue to stand for eternity when asking for immortality, to being absorbed by Wish Granter when asking to rule the world, to being mindraped and tossed into an empty void from asking humanity to be destroyed/controlled, to finally asking for Zone to disappear. Hope Spot for a moment....until Strelok opens his eyes....]]

** By the way, in case you're wondering just what the Controller is [[InterfaceScrew doing to you]] when it attacks, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GhhmUgs_-Mk here's a clip from a Call of Pripyat mod that makes it a little more...]][[DrivenToSuicide obvious.]]

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* The C-consciousness, especially when you find out that the people kept in the pods are the researchers behind the experiment and they willingly sealed themselves inside those tubes in order to take the experiment to its logical conclusion.

* People seem to overlook the fact that the whole Clear Sky faction disappears suddenly after the events of ''Clear Sky''. The Monolith Faction seems to become proportionally more powerful at the same time, a Monolith faction entirely made out of brainwashed stalkers.
* One of the most disturbing scenes in the game in spotting the monolith guard at the beginning of the red forest, spinning their head maniacally around a fire. It only gets worse when the player finds an entire battalion of equally disturbed soldiers in the middle of a destroyed theater at the heart of a deserted and radiation-filled city, doing the same around a huge sculpture of "something".
* The underground labs: You just fought your way across an extremely dangerous area of the Zone, swarming with bandits, various mutants (including bloodsuckers and snorks), and boatloads of anomalies, not to mention the radiation. You killed the bandit leader, and made your way to an abandoned factory, to find a blast-type door hidden in a tunnel underneath it. You enter the lab, and it's about 90% pitch black the whole time. There's a dead body literally five feet from the entrance, and a skeleton in the corner. You loot the body, keeping in mind you're guaranteed to be on the edge of your 60kg carry capacity already, hear a noise, and turn around. [[NightmareFuel The skeleton seems to have moved about a foot towards you.]] Getting goosebumps on the back of your neck, you turn back towards the staircase to see a floating crate in the air. Cue the crate smashing you in the face, taking out half of your health bar. Bandaging up, you proceed onwards to find snorks, which are the remains of a military team sent into the lab. You take them out, pushing the innate desire to shudder at their ragged, strained, barely audible breathing into the back of your mind. After navigating a hallway full of [[KillItWithFire burner anomalies,]] you find the corpse of a scientist who used to work in the lab who has a passcode on him. Keep in mind the whole time you're being pelted with anything that isn't nailed down (literally), and the only way to stop it is to kill all of the poltergeists in the lab, which are fast moving and near-impossible to hit, much less kill, especially considering that the only light you're guaranteed to have is your flashlight. Then you encounter a [[OhCrap pseudogiant,]] which isn't that big of a problem since you took an AK-74 with grenade launcher earlier in the lab. Or at least you would have, if you could carry any more. After using up what little ammo you may have left on the beast that you could hardly see, you find another passcode. After finally making your way to the room with the documents you need, you find indescribable experiments, evidently on the psyche of the human mind, going by the wires hooked up to their brains, and the Poltergeists, as well as a special poltergeist that shoots flames at you. But the fun doesn't end there, you then have to fight your way back out of the lab, through a mix of a [[EliteMooks Spetsnaz]] strike team, and bandits who showed up wondering what all the commotion was about. [[SarcasmMode Have fun trying to get out of there as fast as you can while being unable to move at any rate faster than a hobble due to wounds and a bulging backpack.]] Oh, and this is your introduction to the labs.
* There are mods for ''Shadow of Chernobyl'' that patch up the bugs, unlock extra monsters and crank the realism UpToEleven, such as the AMK mod. Want to use a sniper rifle? Learn to use the sights' rangefinder and [[LeadTheTarget remember the bullet velocity]]. Want to shoot that suspiciously glowing chimera? [[ShockAndAwe It hits you with electric arcs]]. Remember these pretty head-mounted flashlights? [[ArtificialBrilliance Now the enemies turn them off and start walking back-to-back if they know they're being targeted]]. Love using your trusty HollywoodSilencer? Now the enemies can hear you well, and just have some trouble figuring out where you are. Want to use cheap night-vision goggles? Try to aim at enemies ''cross-eyed'' because of the simple lens. See that slow, rotting, unarmed zombie shambling towards you? [[MadeOfIron He takes a dozen headshots to stop]] [[FinishingMove and a knife stab to kill]]. You just saw a Burer? You have less than a second to hide or kill him. Have the feeling of the air ''tingling''? Prepare for [[PlatformHell 15 minutes of nervous bolt-throwing]], because the anomalies change their location every day.
* The entire trek in ''Call of Pripyat'' through the underground tunnels from Jupiter into Pripyat. 4 squad members + the player versus: a 3-mile hike through poison gas-filled abandoned power plant tunnels, filled with [[GoddamnedBats hamsters]], snorks, anomalies and zombies. And that's before you're attacked by wave after wave of heavily armed fanatical Monolith troopers, including snipers from walkways dozens of feet up. Did we mention it's pitch black nearly the entire time?

* ''Call of Pripyat'''s X-8 Laboratory has one room in particular where you can hear what sounds like a little girl crying (in an abandoned Soviet-era lab in the middle of Pripyat). After wandering around the room for a while, you finally nail the source of the noise down to a rusty old door. On the other side is a Burer.
** Worse. That lab has a secret room with ''three'' Burers. Depending on whether you're playing a mod that 'fixes' them and patches the game or not, these same Burers may be nigh invincible; even by Burer standards, as they are tough little bastards. They can see through the walls. That means as you wander around the lab, random bits of scenery will assault you with no apparent reason.

* In ''Call Of Pripyat'', Vano is one of the more friendly characters, always smiling and cheerful. In one quest, you need to help him take out some Monolith in a bookstore. As he stands outside the store, he is likely to be attacked by wild animals, so to prevent the quest from failing before you even start, the developers made him invulnerable and had him ignore enemies while he waits for you. How could this become terrifying, you ask? [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imoMRuVYMFM Look. Look and weep while you still have eyes and a soul.]]

* The Jupiter factory complex in ''Call of Pripyat''. It is an insanely large abandoned factory complex with fully modeled interior of most of the buildings. The majority of the rooms have no lighting, and certain rooms in the complex have hidden anomalies in them. Due to the often murky weather and the color pallet used in the game, it makes the entire place looks significantly more menacing than it seems.
* ''Call of Pripyat'' gets the S.M.R.T.E.R Mod. Does plenty of things that the other game's mods do, but comes also with the nifty little addition of throwing in Monolith troopers outside of Pripyat. Remember the old Water Treatment Plant where you had to take on a dozen mercs? Now there are twice as many Monolith forces there. The old factory in Jupiter? Used to have only a few blind dogs, pseudodogs and hamsters? ''Crawling'' with Monolith now. Going there without a metric ton of ammunition, a good armor, upgraded weapons and a hefty dose of luck is suicidal. You may turn the difficulty down just to make that section ''playable''.
* The [[http://www.miserymod.com/ Misery mod]] for ''Call of Pripyat'' is so ridiculously [[NintendoHard Nintendo Hard]] that it practically [[UpToEleven redefines the trope]]. Everything, ''everything'' that could have been exploited for an advantage has been ruthlessly suppressed. Relied on artifacts to stave off radiation? Tough luck. Now they ''all'' are hotter than a rod of depleted reactor fuel, weigh a ''ton'', and unless you brought lead-lined containers you'll be glowing in minutes. Considering you even survive the treasure hunt, that is. If you once could, say, wade into an anomaly with your trusty detector and bolts and leave with your treasure slightly worse for the wear, now venturing without the proper gear will kill you in seconds. And even if you have the proper gear don't expect to last long. On top of the anomalies being [[EldritchLocation little pockets of hell on earth]], the usual share of competing stalkers and always hungry mutants will make that an ordeal even for the [[CrazyPrepared crazy prepared]]. If fleshes and boars were pests your Protecta or SPAS shotgun could easily deal with, now they'll need anything between four shots and a full magazine/drum each. ''Even a single cat can ruin your day''. Just imagine how deadly the rest of the monster cast is. The whole Zone is such a [[DeathWorld cruel and pitiless place]] now that you shouldn't expect to make money hunting for artifacts anymore - your main source of income will be other stalkers you hunt down and kill for their gear. And just when you thought things couldn't get any worse, now the mod even makes stalkers completely unpredictable in their behavior. Oh, you just stumbled upon what appears to be a group of regular Loners? Cue the sudden cruel twist of fate when you quickly find out to your horror that these are actually bandits and/or mercenaries in disguise and they will immediately turn their guns on you. Oh, and the mod also removes the compass-map that you were so used to in the vanilla version as well as other mods for this game; now you have to resort to opening up your PDA to check your map to find out where you actually are. Thought ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' on [[HarderThanHard Hardcore mode]] was the epitome of NintendoHard? This mod makes that game on that particular mode look like ''[[VideoGame/{{Postal}} Postal 2]]'' on [[EasierThanEasy Liebermann mode]]. The series was already notorious enough to be considered the ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' of the FirstPersonShooter genre but this mod actually makes it feel exactly like you're playing ''Dark Souls'', except under a first-person perspective and with guns, yet with a less variety of mutants and no booby-traps (the only "traps" being anomalies, patches of radiation, and a minefield in one area of the game).

* In the endgame of [=SoC=], you're fighting through the CNPP, slogging through dozens of Monolith's elite. It's dark, cramped, massively irradiated, and very short on supplies. This would be bad enough, but then you start hearing a voice speaking to you in Russian. That voice? ''It's the Wish Granter.''
* Pay attention to all of the background that you're given on the Zone in [=SoC=]. Not only does [[spoiler: Strelok meet a brutal fate in the bad endings, but the good ending is the only one where the Zone is stopped from expanding. If C-Consciousness is still around, the Zone continues to expand.]]

* There are few video game which come close to the level of creeping, grinding dread this game and its sequels inspires. The atmosphere of crushing horror is made far worse by the fact it [[NintendoHard holds quite old fashioned views]] about what the average player should be capable of. In other words, it wants you dead. [[EverythingTryingToKillYou Very dead.]] Remember those other [=FPSes=] where you had limitless supplies of ammo which took up no room in your [[BagOfHolding magic bottomless bag]]? No. Remember those games where there'd be some guy who would helpfully fill you in on the [[ForMassiveDamage boss's weak point]] before you fought him? No. Remember those games where the people not shooting you spoke the same language as you? Nyet. Remember those games where you didn't have to eat, [[CriticalExistenceFailure where being injured was just a reason to be slightly more cautious]], and you could heal by simply walking away and waiting for a bit? No, no, no, no, no.

* There is something telling about the sheer level of dread this game inspires that by mid-game in the first instalment snorks, the things that can jump out of the darkness at you and take 70% of your health with a single slash (which leaves you bleeding, meaning you have literally seconds to patch yourself up 'OR' shoot the damned thing) are basically considered an 'annoyance'. There are things far worse around.

* A section in ''Shadow of Chernobyl'' has the player fight through a sewer of military officers and bandits, which is chock full of deadly anomalies. This is one of the first missions. You see the exit and finally want to get out, but wait, what was that noise just the- the camera shakes, the health goes down, and you notice...Leatherface.

* The [[http://www.miserymod.com/ Misery mod]] for ''Call of Pripyat'' is so ridiculously [[NintendoHard Nintendo Hard]] that it practically [[UpToEleven redefines the trope]]. Everything, ''everything'' that could have been exploited for an advantage has been ruthlessly suppressed. Relied on artifacts to stave off radiation? Tough luck. Now they ''all'' are hotter than a rod of depleted reactor fuel, weigh a ''ton'', and unless you brought lead-lined containers you'll be glowing in minutes. Considering you even survive the treasure hunt, that is. If you once could, say, wade into an anomaly with your trusty detector and bolts and leave with your treasure slightly worse for the wear, now venturing without the proper gear will kill you in seconds. And even if you have the proper gear don't expect to last long. On top of the anomalies being [[EldritchLocation little pockets of hell on earth]], the usual share of competing stalkers and always hungry mutants will make that an ordeal even for the [[CrazyPrepared crazy prepared]]. If fleshes and boars were pests your Protecta or SPAS shotgun could easily deal with, now they'll need anything between four shots and a full magazine/drum each. ''Even a single cat can ruin your day''. Just imagine how deadly the rest of the monster cast is. The whole Zone is such a [[DeathWorld cruel and pitiless place]] now that you shouldn't expect to make money hunting for artifacts anymore - your main source of income will be other stalkers you hunt down and kill for their gear. And just when you thought things couldn't get any worse, now the mod even makes stalkers completely unpredictable in their behavior. Oh, you just stumbled upon what appears to be a group of regular Loners? Cue the sudden cruel twist of fate when you quickly find out to your horror that these are actually bandits and/or mercenaries in disguise and they will immediately turn their guns on you. Oh, and the mod also removes the compass-map that you were so used to in the vanilla version as well as other mods for this game; now you have to resort to opening up your PDA to check your map to find out where you actually are. Thought ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' on [[HarderThanHard Hardcore mode]] was the epitome of NintendoHard? This mod makes that game on that particular mode look like ''[[VideoGame/{{Postal}} Postal 2]]'' on [[EasierThanEasy Liebermann mode]]. The series was already notorious enough to be considered the ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' of the FirstPersonShooter genre but this mod actually makes it feel exactly like you're playing ''Dark Souls'', except under a first-person perspective and with guns, yet with a less variety of mutants and no booby-traps.

* There's a reason why some of the more horrifying mutants aren't actually natives of the Zone themselves. Those abandoned underground labs that are there? Apparently, a few [[AmbitionIsEvil ambitious]] [[MadScientist Mad Scientists]] who were present back then likely captured a few animals and may or may not had willing human beings to be their guinea pigs for their experiments. The scientists must have gone their way to creating some real BodyHorror on their subjects that eventually resulted in some of the abominations that you see in the Zone nowadays. And this is supported by the bits of info that you eventually pick up when you stumble into those labs. It's probably all ForScience

* There's a reason why some of the more horrifying mutants aren't actually natives of the Zone themselves. Those abandoned underground labs that are there? Apparently, a few [[AmbitionIsEvil ambitious]] [[MadScientist Mad Scientists]] likely captured a few animals and may or may not had willing human beings to be their guinea pigs for their experiments. The scientists must have gone their way to creating some real BodyHorror on their subjects that eventually resulted in some of the abominations that you see in the Zone nowadays. And this is supported by the bits of info that you eventually pick up when you stumble into those labs. It's probably all ForScience

* The [[http://www.miserymod.com/ Misery mod]] for ''Call of Pripyat'' is so ridiculously [[NintendoHard Nintendo Hard]] that it practically [[UpToEleven redefines the trope]]. Everything, ''everything'' that could have been exploited for an advantage has been ruthlessly suppressed. Relied on artifacts to stave off radiation? Tough luck. Now they ''all'' are hotter than a rod of depleted reactor fuel, weigh a ''ton'', and unless you brought lead-lined containers you'll be glowing in minutes. Considering you even survive the treasure hunt, that is. If you once could, say, wade into an anomaly with your trusty detector and bolts and leave with your treasure slightly worse for the wear, now venturing without the proper gear will kill you in seconds. And even if you have the proper gear don't expect to last long. On top of the anomalies being [[EldritchLocation little pockets of hell on earth]], the usual share of competing stalkers and always hungry mutants will make that an ordeal even for the [[CrazyPrepared crazy prepared]]. If fleshes and boars were pests your Protecta or SPAS shotgun could easily deal with, now they'll need anything between four shots and a full magazine/drum each. ''Even a single cat can ruin your day''. Just imagine how deadly the rest of the monster cast is. The whole Zone is such a [[DeathWorld cruel and pitiless place]] now that you shouldn't expect to make money hunting for artifacts anymore - your main source of income will be other stalkers you hunt down and kill for their gear. And just when you thought things couldn't get any worse, now the mod even makes stalkers completely unpredictable in their behavior. Oh, you just stumbled upon what appears to be a group of regular Loners? Cue the sudden cruel twist of fate when you quickly find out to your horror that these are actually bandits and/or mercenaries in disguise and they will immediately turn their guns on you. Oh, and the mod also removes the compass-map that you were so used to in the vanilla version as well as other mods for this game; now you have to resort to opening up your PDA to check your map to find out where you actually are. Thought ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' on [[HarderThanHard Hardcore mode]] was the epitome of NintendoHard? This mod makes that game on that particular mode look like ''[[VideoGame/{{Postal}} Postal 2]]'' on [[EasierThanEasy Liebermann mode]]. The series was already notorious enough to be considered the ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' of the FirstPersonShooter genre but this mod actually makes it feel exactly like you're playing ''Dark Souls'', except under a first-person perspective and with guns, yet with a less variety of mutants.

* The [[http://www.miserymod.com/ Misery mod]] for ''Call of Pripyat'' is so ridiculously [[NintendoHard Nintendo Hard]] that it practically [[UpToEleven redefines the trope]]. Everything, ''everything'' that could have been exploited for an advantage has been ruthlessly suppressed. Relied on artifacts to stave off radiation? Tough luck. Now they ''all'' are hotter than a rod of depleted reactor fuel, weigh a ''ton'', and unless you brought lead-lined containers you'll be glowing in minutes. Considering you even survive the treasure hunt, that is. If you once could, say, wade into an anomaly with your trusty detector and bolts and leave with your treasure slightly worse for the wear, now venturing without the proper gear will kill you in seconds. And even if you have the proper gear don't expect to last long. On top of the anomalies being [[EldritchLocation little pockets of hell on earth]], the usual share of competing stalkers and always hungry mutants will make that an ordeal even for the [[CrazyPrepared crazy prepared]]. If fleshes and boars were pests your Protecta or SPAS shotgun could easily deal with, now they'll need anything between four shots and a full magazine/drum each. ''Even a single cat can ruin your day''. Just imagine how deadly the rest of the monster cast is. The whole Zone is such a [[DeathWorld cruel and pitiless place]] now that you shouldn't expect to make money hunting for artifacts anymore - your main source of income will be other stalkers you hunt down and kill for their gear. And just when you thought things couldn't get any worse, now the mod even makes stalkers completely unpredictable in their behavior. Oh, you just stumbled upon what appears to be a group of regular Loners? Cue the sudden cruel twist of fate when you quickly find out to your horror that these are actually bandits and/or mercenaries in disguise and they will immediately turn their guns on you. Oh, and the mod also removes the compass-map that you were so used to in the vanilla version as well as other mods for this game; now you have to resort to opening up your PDA to check your map to find out where you actually are. Thought ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' on [[HarderThanHard Hardcore mode]] was the epitome of NintendoHard? This mod makes that game on that particular mode look like ''[[VideoGame/{{Postal}} Postal 2]]'' on [[EasierThanEasy Liebermann mode]]. The series was already notorious enough to be considered the ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' of FirstPersonShooter genre but this mod actually makes it feel exactly like you're playing ''Dark Souls'', except under a first-person perspective and with guns, yet with a less variety of mutants.

* The [[http://www.miserymod.com/ Misery mod]] for ''Call of Pripyat'' is so ridiculously [[NintendoHard Nintendo Hard]] that it practically [[UpToEleven redefines the trope]]. Everything, ''everything'' that could have been exploited for an advantage has been ruthlessly suppressed. Relied on artifacts to stave off radiation? Tough luck. Now they ''all'' are hotter than a rod of depleted reactor fuel, weigh a ''ton'', and unless you brought lead-lined containers you'll be glowing in minutes. Considering you even survive the treasure hunt, that is. If you once could, say, wade into an anomaly with your trusty detector and bolts and leave with your treasure slightly worse for the wear, now venturing without the proper gear will kill you in seconds. And even if you have the proper gear don't expect to last long. On top of the anomalies being [[EldritchLocation little pockets of hell on earth]], the usual share of competing stalkers and always hungry mutants will make that an ordeal even for the [[CrazyPrepared crazy prepared]]. If fleshes and boars were pests your Protecta or SPAS shotgun could easily deal with, now they'll need anything between four shots and a full magazine/drum each. ''Even a single cat can ruin your day''. Just imagine how deadly the rest of the monster cast is. The whole Zone is such a [[DeathWorld cruel and pitiless place]] now that you shouldn't expect to make money hunting for artifacts anymore - your main source of income will be other stalkers you hunt down and kill for their gear. And just when you thought things couldn't get any worse, now the mod even makes stalkers completely unpredictable in their behavior. Oh, you just stumbled upon what appears to be a group of regular Loners? Cue the sudden cruel twist of fate when you quickly find out to your horror that these are actually bandits and/or mercenaries in disguise and they will immediately turn their guns on you. Oh, and the mod also removes the compass-map that you were so used to in the vanilla version as well as other mods for this game; now you have to resort to opening up your PDA to check your map to find out where you actually are. Thought ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' on [[HarderThanHard Hardcore mode]] was the epitome of NintendoHard? This mod makes that game on that particular mode look like ''[[VideoGame/{{Postal}} Postal 2]]'' on [[EasierThanEasy Liebermann mode]].

* The Monolith faction. BrainwashedAndCrazy is a good way to describe them, though they are also religious fanatics who display a devotion to their skewed "faith" that could make the [[{{Halo}} Covenant]] take pause. One of the crazy bastards in ''Call of Pripyat'' starts giving a ''sermon'' while his comrades start slaughtering you and your friends. As if that was bad enough, they somehow have access to the best arms and armor in the zone, including [[MagneticWeapons Gauss rifles]].

* The [[http://www.miserymod.com/ Misery mod]] for ''Call of Pripyat'' is so ridiculously [[NintendoHard Nintendo Hard]] that it practically [[UpToEleven redefines the trope]]. Everything, ''everything'' that could have been exploited for an advantage has been ruthlessly suppressed. Relied on artifacts to stave off radiation? Tough luck. Now they ''all'' are hotter than a rod of depleted reactor fuel, weigh a ''ton'', and unless you brought lead-lined containers you'll be glowing in minutes. Considering you even survive the treasure hunt, that is. If you once could, say, wade into an anomaly with your trusty detector and bolts and leave with your treasure slightly worse for the wear, now venturing without the proper gear will kill you in seconds. And even if you have the proper gear don't expect to last long. On top of the anomalies being [[EldritchLocation little pockets of hell on earth]], the usual share of competing stalkers and always hungry mutants will make that an ordeal even for the [[CrazyPrepared crazy prepared]]. If fleshes and boars were pests your Protecta or SPAS shotgun could easily deal with, now they'll need anything between four shots and a full magazine/drum each. ''Even a single cat can ruin your day''. Just imagine how deadly the rest of the monster cast is. The whole Zone is such a [[DeathWorld cruel and pitiless place]] now that you shouldn't expect to make money hunting for artifacts anymore - your main source of income will be other stalkers you hunt down and kill for their gear. And just when you thought things couldn't get any worse, now the mod even makes stalkers completely unpredictable in their behavior. Oh, you just stumble upon what appears to be a group of regular Loners? Cue the sudden cruel twist of fate when you quickly find out to your horror that these are actually bandits and/or mercenaries in disguise and they will immediately turn their guns on you. Oh, and the mod also removes the compass-map that you were so used to in the vanilla version as well as other mods for this game; now you have to resort to opening up your PDA to check your map to find out where you actually are. Thought ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' on [[HarderThanHard Hardcore mode]] was the epitome of NintendoHard? This mod makes that game on that particular mode look like ''[[VideoGame/{{Postal}} Postal 2]]'' on [[EasierThanEasy Liebermann mode]].

* The [[http://www.miserymod.com/ Misery mod]] is so ridiculously [[NintendoHard Nintendo Hard]] that it practically [[UpToEleven redefines the trope]]. Everything, ''everything'' that could have been exploited for an advantage has been ruthlessly suppressed. Relied on artifacts to stave off radiation? Tough luck. Now they ''all'' are hotter than a rod of depleted reactor fuel, weigh a ''ton'', and unless you brought lead-lined containers you'll be glowing in minutes. Considering you even survive the treasure hunt, that is. If you once could, say, wade into an anomaly with your trusty detector and bolts and leave with your treasure slightly worse for the wear, now venturing without the proper gear will kill you in seconds. And even if you have the proper gear don't expect to last long. On top of the anomalies being [[EldritchLocation little pockets of hell on earth]], the usual share of competing stalkers and always hungry mutants will make that an ordeal even for the [[CrazyPrepared crazy prepared]]. If fleshes and boars were pests your Protecta or SPAS shotgun could easily deal with, now they'll need anything between four shots and a full magazine/drum each. ''Even a single cat can ruin your day''. Just imagine how deadly the rest of the monster cast is. The whole Zone is such a [[DeathWorld cruel and pitiless place]] now that you shouldn't expect to make money hunting for artifacts anymore - your main source of income will be other stalkers you hunt down and kill for their gear. Thought ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' on [[HarderThanHard Hardcore mode]] was the epitome of NintendoHard? This mod makes that game on that particular mode look like ''[[VideoGame/{{Postal}} Postal 2]]'' on [[EasierThanEasy Liebermann mode]].

* The [[http://www.miserymod.com/ Misery mod]] is so ridiculously [[NintendoHard Nintendo Hard]] that it practically [[UpToEleven redefines the trope]]. Everything, ''everything'' that could have been exploited for an advantage has been ruthlessly suppressed. Relied on artifacts to stave off radiation? Tough luck. Now they ''all'' are hotter than a rod of depleted reactor fuel, weigh a ''ton'', and unless you brought lead-lined containers you'll be glowing in minutes. Considering you even survive the treasure hunt, that is. If you once could, say, wade into an anomaly with your trusty detector and bolts and leave with your treasure slightly worse for the wear, now venturing without the proper gear will kill you in seconds. And even if you have the proper gear don't expect to last long. On top of the anomalies being [[EldritchLocation little pockets of hell on earth]], the usual share of competing stalkers and always hungry mutants will make that an ordeal even for the [[CrazyPrepared crazy prepared]]. If fleshes and boars were pests your Protecta or SPAS shotgun could easily deal with, now they'll need anything between four shots and a full magazine/drum each. ''Even a single cat can ruin your day''. Just imagine how deadly the rest of the monster cast is. The whole Zone is such a [[DeathWorld cruel and pitiless place]] now that you shouldn't expect to make money hunting for artifacts anymore - your main source of income will be other stalkers you hunt down and kill for their gear.

* The [[http://www.miserymod.com/ Misery mod]] looks down on every other mod there is and laughs at them. Everything, ''everything'' that could have been exploited for an advantage has been ruthlessly suppressed. Relied on artifacts to stave off radiation? Tough luck. Now they ''all'' are hotter than a rod of depleted reactor fuel, weigh a ''ton'', and unless you brought lead-lined containers you'll be glowing in minutes. Considering you even survive the treasure hunt, that is. If you once could, say, wade into an anomaly with your trusty detector and bolts and leave with your treasure slightly worse for the wear, now venturing without the proper gear will kill you in seconds. And even if you have the proper gear don't expect to last long. On top of the anomalies being little pockets of hell on earth, the usual share of competing stalkers and always hungry mutants will make that an ordeal even for the [[CrazyPrepared Crazy Prepared]]. If fleshes and boars were pests your Protecta or SPAS shotgun could easily deal with, now they'll need anything between four shots and a full magazine/drum each. Hell, ''even a single cat'' can ruin your day. Just imagine how deadly the rest of the monster cast is. The whole Zone is such a cruel and pitiless place now that you shouldn't expect to make money hunting for artifacts anymore - your main source of income will be other stalkers you hunt down and kill for their gear.

* There's a reason why some of the more horrifying mutants aren't actually natives of the Zone themselves. Those abandoned underground labs that are there? Apparently, a few [[AmbitionIsEvil ambitious]] [[MadScientist Mad Scientists]] likely captured a few animals and may or may not had willing human beings to be their guinea pigs for their experiments. The scientists must have gone their way to creating some real BodyHorror on their subjects that eventually resulted in some of the abominations that you see in the Zone nowadays. And this is supported by the bits of info that you eventually pick up when you stumble into their labs. It's probably all ForScience

* There's a reason why some of the more horrifying mutants aren't actually natives of the Zone themselves. Those abandoned underground labs that are there? Apparently, a few [[AmbitionIsEvil ambitious]] [[MadScientist Mad Scientists]] likely captured a few animals and may or may not had willing human beings to be their guinea pigs for their experiments. The scientists must have gone their way to creating some real BodyHorror on their subjects that eventually resulted in some of the abominations that you see in the Zone nowadays. And this is supported by the bits of info that you eventually pick up when you stumble into their labs. It's probably all ForScience.

* One of the first really "HOLY SHIT!" moments is during the first underground tunnel level. You come to an old generator room, with some anomalies pinging off in the background, and if you are looking in the right spot, you can see a pair of white eyes looking back at you as well as a huge roar that you will never have heard in-game before. The only way to your objective is where the roar came from. And it's a tight corridor around the generators. You here the sounds of the monster breathing, and getting closer, until you turn, and BAM tentacles in the face, it slashes you then turns invisible so it can ambush you again and again. And you '''have''' to get past it. For the novice stalker how deadly this game is, when just one creature can annihilate you if you aren't prepared or if you make mistakes. And considering your weapons are quite poor, it's very possible your gun and your pistol will jam as you try to fight it, resulting in you going toe to toe with just your knife, trying desperately to slash the thing to death before it eats you.