History NightmareFuel / Stalker

* 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 [[http://themiserymod.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. [[FromBadToWorse That's not all]]; if you're used to making stupid amounts of money in the vanilla version of the game? This mod takes an emphatic exception to that; [[AdamSmithHatesYourGuts now weapon/armor repairs and the purchasing of items suddenly became three times more expensive in the game just to ensure that you won't be feeling rich anymore]]. Thought ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' on [[HarderThanHard Hardcore mode]] was the epitome of NintendoHard? This mod makes that game on that particular mode look like ''VideoGame/Postal2'' 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).

** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMwSU3W5RZY ambient gunfire mixed with screams of stalkers getting shot or getting mawled by mutants]] is absolutely horrifying, specially considering some of these screams actually do play when a stalker in the area was killed by something.

** It's even worse at night. You might be out for a late-night stroll, when suddenly it's noon-time bright at three in the morning. Yeah, that's not creepy. And the TetrisEffect can set in if [[http://media.tumblr.com/cc6fdfe5158906436dd4cac29f74a142/tumblr_inline_mo2m7nG6OZ1qz4rgp.jpg the sunset looks just right]].

* The [[http://themiserymod.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. [[FromBadToWorse That's not all]]; if you're used to making stupid amounts of money in the vanilla version of the game? This mod takes an emphatic exception to that; [[AdamSmithHatesYourGuts now weapon/armor repairs and the purchasing of items suddenly became three times more expensive in the game just to ensure that you won't be feeling rich anymore]]. 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).

* 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. [[FromBadToWorse That's not all]]; if you're used to making stupid amounts of money in the vanilla version of the game? This mod takes an emphatic exception to that; [[AdamSmithHatesYourGuts now weapon/armor repairs and the purchasing of items suddenly became three times more expensive in the game just to ensure that you won't be feeling rich anymore]]. 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).

* The NightmareFuel in ''S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'' for some doesn't require monsters, just realizing that this is what the end of the world looks like.

[[caption-width-right:350:Blowout soon fellow Stalker. Oh really? when? [[AC:NOW.]]]]

* '''[[HostileWeather The emissions]]'''. Whenever you hear the nuclear explosion-like sound, the ground starts shaking, the sky turns hellfire-red, the light getting temporarily snuffed out, the sky erupting in hurricane-like lightning storms, the '''[[HellIsThatNoise unmistakable droning noise that you hear before the titular event starts]], you have never been so inclined to [[RunOrDie run and hide like a little girl for proper shelter from it until it passes.]] And this is an '''very wise idea''', unless you have Anabiotics.

* '''[[HostileWeather The emissions]]. Whenever you hear the nuclear explosion-like sound, the ground starts shaking, the sky turns hellfire-red, the light getting temporarily snuffed out, the sky erupting in hurricane-like lightning storms, the '''[[HellIsThatNoise unmistakable droning noise that you hear before the titular event starts]], you have never been so inclined to [[RunOrDie run and hide like a little girl for proper shelter from it until it passes.]] And this is an '''very wise idea''', unless you have Anabiotics.

* The emissions. Whenever you hear the nuclear explosion-like sound, the ground starts shaking, the sky turns hellfire-red, the light getting temporarily snuffed out, the sky erupting in hurricane-like lightning storms, you have never been so inclined to run and hide like a little girl. And this is an ''excellent'' idea, unless you have Anabiotics.

** That is, unless you encounter them out in the open fields. If you're outside of their [[Franchise/MetalGearSolid MGS-style]] field of view, they will not attack and you can snipe them from a hopefully safe distance, thereby making their telekinetic ability useless. But if you happen to be in an enclosed, tightly-packed building and you're unfortunate enough to stumble upon them (which, by the way, is going to be inevitable in three particular sidequests in ''Call of Pripyat''), knifing them is the only way to defeat them for good.

** Max, a Freedom soldier, tells the player that at some point, a Freedomer sniper was wandering around nearby the Bloodsucker Village until he saw [[NothingIsScarier something]] in there that "knocked a few screws loose in his head". The player is tasked with killing that sniper and returning his flash drive, [[TheUnreveal but never learns what exactly that sniper saw that made him go crazy]].

[[caption-width-right:350:Blowout soon fellow Stalker. Oh really? when? [[AC:NOW]].]]

* The ''Bloodsucker Village', a village located in the northern area of the Army Warehouses that is absolutely infested with Bloodsuckers and one of the quests you may receive from some Freedom soldiers is to go over there and clear it out. Up to the challenge?
** Max, a Freedom soldier, tells the player that at some point, a Freedomer sniper was wandering around nearby the Bloodsucker village until he saw [[NothingIsScarier something]] in there that "knocked a few screws loose in his head". The player is tasked with killing that sniper and returning his flash drive, [[TheUnreveal but never learns what exactly that sniper saw that made him go crazy]].

** When you get inside, after probably hours of fighting monolith soldiers and avoiding radiation, you're greeted with a mostly empty bunker with just a [[Nothingisscarier few bloodsuckers]] and nothing more. Chilling...

* The [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Brain Scorcher]]. A series of huge, rusty, damaged antennae outside an old military bunker turned deliberately into a psychic weapon. Sidorovich describes it as something that "boils your brain", and anyone who ventures anywhere near it immediately becomes a drooling brain damaged zombie. When you are sent to disable it, you are given a flimsy helmet to protect you from it's effects. What if that helmet [[OhCrap gets damaged when you're standing right next to it]]?

* It may be NightmareRetardant in that there's only 60 km (expanded to 200 km in one of the books) of the planet that are like this, and the rest of the world is doing phenomenally well. [[ALoserIsYou Doesn't help your case, though]].

* 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 [[AttackItsWeakPoint 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 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 [[AttackItsWeakPoint 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.
* 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, this is how deadly this game is, when just one creature can rip you apart in a hurry 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.
** Oh, and the name of this horrifying creature? A '''Bloodsucker.'''
* It may be NightmareRetardant in that there's only 60 km (expanded to 200 km in one of the books) of the planet that are like this, and the rest of the world is doing phenomenally well. [[ALoserIsYou Doesn't help your case, though.]]
** And then there's the implication that [[spoiler: the Zone is spreading out beyond Chernobyl alone, and could potentially cover the planet.]]

** It's even worse at night. You might be out for a late-night stroll, when suddenly it's noon-time bright at three in the morning. Yeah, that's not creepy. And the TetrisEffect can set in if [[http://media.tumblr.com/cc6fdfe5158906436dd4cac29f74a142/tumblr_inline_mo2m7nG6OZ1qz4rgp.jpg the sunset looks just right.]]

** In ''Shadow of Chernobyl'', it's probably in the Agroprom Underground. You're near the end of the tunnels, having fought your way past military and the game's first bloodsucker. The last stretch is a long, mostly straight tunnel to the surface. You've just started down it when the screen suddenly distorts and you hear a high-pitched ringing noise. If you have the presence of mind to turn around, you'll only see a shadowy figure standing behind you. [[InterfaceScrew Then it uses it's psychic attack...]]
** One particularly scary encounter occurs in ''Call of Pripyat''. There is a small cave in the northern part of the first area that can be rather easy to miss, or mistake for one of the fissures nor far away. You go down the dark cave, when suddenly you hear from out of nowhere "'''LEAVE NOW, MAN'''". If you continue on, out stomps a Controller. ''[[OhCrap Oh,]]'' ''[[ItCanThink shit.]]''
** 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...]][[GrandTheftMe obvious.]]

** Try facing their meaner, tougher, stealthier versions in Call of Pripyat (they are sometimes called ''Swamp spawns''). Barely visible? Not anymore. Floating visible eyeballs? Nope. Only the shuffling sound all around you, since you'll [[OhCrap never encounter only one of them.]]
*** In the swamps, pretty much your only way to detect them at a distance is if you're standing in the water...which slows down your movement speed. So either run and hope you can catch them with a lucky burst, or commit yourself to taking a ''lot'' of damage.
** There's a reason NPC stalkers seek shelter at night. Encountering one of these after sunset is the second-worst possible case scenario on [=CoP=] (the first one being stumbling upon a Chimera <shudder>): [[spoiler: rather than just jumping you and clawing the living shit out of you, they'll sneak up to you, slash at you once for horrendous damage, and cloak again. And do the whole number all over again until you're very dead.]]

** These guys will wreck the day of literally anyone they come across. There's a trio of Freedom guys [[TooDumbToLive hanging out on the outskirts of the village,]] and if they're fortunate, you'll happen to pass by while they're being ripped to shreds and you'll either [[VideoGameCaringPotential try to save them]] or [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential make sure all those useful supplies don't go to waste.]] In Clear Sky, when you pass through the Army Warehouses you pass through what the village used to be before the bloodsuckers moved in, or at least before they made it a permanent residence. There's [[BrainwashedAndCrazy Monolith guys]] sprayed ''all over the damn village.'' There's a merc team in the village, but the corpses are old, and can't be interacted with, so the mercenaries couldn't have killed them.

** Double points when you [[FridgeHorror realize that if you stay in the Zone long enough, that is what you will become.]]

* Burers deserve a special mention. They are the DemonicSpiders of ''Call of Pripyat''. When they were removed from ''Shadow of Chernobyl'', [[EvenEvilHasStandards the developers were being merciful]]. No longer. Imagine the telekinetic abilities of a Poltergeist with the mind-blast abilities of a Controller. Then give it the capability to paralyze you and rip the gun out of your hands and pummel you to death. Not that it does you much good anyway, because they can use their telekinesis to deflect bullets. And using the old anti-Controller tactic of throwing a grenade at their feet won't work either. They are fast, they could run away. But they won't. Instead, they will use their telekinesis to raise your grenade up to the point where it explodes harmlessly, just to crush any hope you had of killing them. The best solution is to [[AttackAttackAttack run right up to it and stab it with your knife until it dies, hopefully.]] And the best part of it all? You rarely run into just one of them, they come in pairs.

* 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.

* 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.]]
** 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 [[ProphetEyes opens his eyes]], for he has gone blind.]]

* 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.]]

** Their top-tier equipment is explained in Strelok's end-of-game confrontation with the C-Consciousness scientists: Monolith forces are made up of the elite Stalkers who [[ShaggyDogStory completed the quest of reaching the heart of the Zone]] inside the Chernobyl plant. Until Strelok disabled the various means the scientists put in place to protect the labs from interlopers, the organization was using the psychic draw (and, eventually, the legend) of the Wish Granter to summon, brainwash and recruit the Zone's top Stalkers into a force of fanatics hell-bent on preventing others from following.